First 2020 Halloween Project

I have begun work on my first Halloween project.  As I blogged last week, I am working on completing a life -size figure.  The figure is complete, but it needs the accessories.  I decided the figure would be holding up some shrunken heads.  I have been working on the heads this week in spite of one hand being in a cast and the other injured in a fall. 

During the Halloween season last year, I picked up some plastic skulls.  They look like skulls, but... they did not seem quite right.  They looked cheap and cheesy and I just could not bring myself to use them in a project.  I decided that I would use them, but modify their shape as I worked towards making the shrunken heads.   

To begin, I covered the plastic skulls with a layer of Press and Seal.  This layer helps prevent the pâpier mâché from sticking to the original object.  After the Press and Seal was in place, I covered the object with three layers of strip pâpier mâché.  The piece will need more layers, but at this point it is rigid enough to remove it from the plastic skull. 

I marked the skull in four places.  Since I was taking photos for the blog I marked them in magic marker.  Otherwise, I might have used a pencil.  After that, I VERY CAREFULLY cut along the lines with a craft knife.  In other circumstances, I might have used a cutting wheel with a Dremel tool, but at this point after hand surgery, I am not supposed to hold anything heavier than a bottle of water.  I will have to experiment with the cutting wheel on some other project.  With a little effort, it worked well, and I did not cut through the plastic.  As I was cutting, I could feel the difference when I reached the plastic.

Once a section was cut free, I was able to pull it off.  Please note that I had to finesse it off.  If you pull to hard, it could rip.  If you have a little patience, the pieces will come off for you.  The Press and Seal actually remained stuck to the skull in most cases.  It will peel off the pâpier mâché with a slight tug. 

After the skull was in pieces, it was time to put it back together, with some modifications.  I wanted the face of the skull to be more upright and the back of the brain to be larger.   I added pieces of cardboard from a cereal box to the sides and bottom of the skull.  I also added some small supports along the top ridge of the skull to help it stay in place.  I used a hot glue gun to glue this project..  Pâpier mâché will fold in towards its center a little bit when it comes off the mold.  The pieces of cardboard help hold its shape while you are putting it back together.  It is better to glue it on the plain cardboard side of the box rather than the shiny side.  The glue will hold better. I also added a couple of extra layers of cardboard in the modified portions in order to build up the area so that there would not be a large divot in the project at those sites.

After the cardboard was glued in place and the skull shape was as I wanted it, I taped over the area with masking tape.  I use a heavy duty masking tape.  It is usually called contractor grade or professional grade.  It is sticky and has a much better hold than some of the tapes made for easy removal.

My next step is to add a nose.  These will be shrunken heads rather than skulls.  At least some of them may be shrunken heads.  I plan to try a different finish on each skull.  I don't want them to all look the same. 

Once the noses are in place, I will give the figures three more layers of pâpier mâché.  I will also build in loops at the top of the heads so I can hang the heads from some type of string or chain.  The life-size figure will be holding a bunch of them hanging from something (as yet to be determined).

That is about as far as I was able to get this week.  I will keep blogging about this project as I go along.  I am trying to start blogging more regularly again.  It is just a matter of finding the time.  Check back next Monday.

My projects for 2020

First, complete this project.

If you are a regular reader, you might have noted that I said I would start posting regularly again.  You might have noticed that I did not post the following Sunday.  At least I have an excuse this time other than procrastination.  Last blog post I mentioned that I had recently had surgery on one of my hands and wrists to remove a metal plate and reattach a tendon.  I was so enthused about soon being able to get back into the studio.  Then another setback.  I tripped and fell, injuring my other hand.  At least it was a relatively minor injury.  My hand was swollen, bruised, and cut, but at least it was not broken.  Four days later, my hand is still sore, but at least it is usable.  I feel up to typing at any rate.

She almost looks real from a distance.

Anyway, all that aside, I am still looking forward to getting to work on my projects.  One of my first plans is to finish a life-size doll.  I worked up to a certain point, and lost interest in it. I want to finish it now.   I painted a leotard on her because it just felt wrong to have her hanging around undressed.    Mostly, I just have to dress the figure and attach the wig.  Other than that, I just have to make a few accessories.

The doll is holding up her arm and hand as if she is holding something.  I wanted to give her a some shrunken heads on strings.  Maybe some beads and feathers with them to make them look like some sort of fetish.  I would use skulls, but there are so many projects out there using plastic skulls that it has been done too often.  I thought shrunken heads might be a bit of a novel change.  I will be making the shrunken heads myself rather than using a purchased item.  I will be blogging on those in the coming weeks.

Other than that, I plan on making pumpkins this year.  I'll be making all sorts of pumpkins and Jack O'Lanterns from pâpier  mâché to hypertufa garden ornaments.  As soon as my hands feel up to it I will be working on one made from paper.  Once spring gets here I will be outside casting the hypertufa.  (Here's hoping that my hand that surgery will be up to it by then.)  I have some interesting ideas on how to make various shapes and finishes for the pumpkins.  As my husband said, "It sounds like it is going to be the year of the Pumpkin."

I always like to learn something new, so this year I am learning how to make molds and cast my own pieces.   I will be experimenting with different types of molds.  After a couple of experiments in learning how to make various types of molds, I will be making original pieces and making molds of them. It will be interesting to see how things turn out. 

If I should complete all of that, I have an idea for making a translucent skull lampshade.  I saw the technique for making the lamp shade on a craft show years ago.  It has always been in the back of my mind to try it one of these days.  I thought that a skull light would be an interesting Halloween decoration.  

Hopefully, I will be able to get that much done this year.  They are ambitious projects.I will be blogging about the projects as I go along.  None of the techniques are new, but I would like to think that the insights gained as I go along might help someone else along the creative path.

I have some initial pictures of the shrunken head project, but at the moment my hands are too stiff to try to download them from my camera.  I will post them on my blog post for next week (my plan is to post next Sunday.)  Fingers crossed.  If only I could cross my fingers right now.

The Late Reveal of My Halloween Project

I have not made a blog post since August, when I completed weaving a denim rug.  That project took several months to complete, and I felt like I had hit a burn out point.  I needed a break before going on to something new.

Also, I developed a problem with my thumb and wrist.  I have arthritis, and I thought that the weaving was causing an arthritis flare up.  I thought that if I rested the wrist for a while that things would settle down eventually.  After resting my hand and wrist for a long while without relief I went to my doctor.  My doctor recommended that I see a hand surgeon.  I put off going to the surgeon for a while because it was autumn and we travel a frequently at that time of year.  So, after Thanksgiving, I made an appointment with the surgeon.

Over using the joint was a part of the problem, but it was not the problem that I thought it was.  I had a metal plate in the wrist from an old injury.  Moving and twisting my wrist was causing the metal plate to damage the tendon.  So essentially the hand quilting and weaving I had been doing for the last year was aggravating the situation.  After making the appointment, and having an MRI, it was determined that I needed surgery, which I had mid-December.  My thumb and wrist are still in a cast.  Hopefully, the cast comes off at the end of the month. 

During the fall, I was working on a Halloween project,  but did not post anything about it.  I could only work on it for about twenty minutes a day or my wrist hurt.   I was at a point that could work on my project or I had could blog, but not both.  I chose to work on my project.  By the time it was completed, just before Halloween, I really did not feel much like typing at all.

So at long last, here is my Halloween project.  At least part one.  I plan to eventually turn it into a centerpiece by adding leaves and skulls around it.  One of these days I will get back to it.

For those interested in crafting their own piece the basic highlights of how it was created are as follows.

I covered a foam head from the craft store with Press and Seal.  I found that Press and Seal (available at most grocery stores) works well with paper mâché.  The Press and Seal allows the layers of paper to be released without damage to the original form.  My only caveat is that the material is difficult to cut.  I found that cutting strips of it using a craft knife and a cutting board worked much better than scissors or trying to tear small strips using the sharp edge on the package. 

I only wanted the foam head so I could create a basic head and neck shape.  After adding three layers of the paper mâché, I removed the head from the form.  (Specific instructions as to how I removed the paper head from the foam substrate can be found on previous project on my January 21, 2018 blog post.  Scroll through the year 2018 to see how I made a life size doll from paper mâché.and PVC.)

Once the head was removed and put back together, I began to build and shape the head.  I started out thinking that I was going to make a witch head for a centerpiece.  However, the more I worked on it the more it seemed like it should be a devil.  So I went with it. After the face had taken shape I made rings of paper and tape and stacked the rings on top of each other, sloping them backwards to get the curve of the horns to curve.  A word to the wise is sufficient here:  use a level and a ruler frequently to make sure that your horns are staying even on both sides.  It is easier to catch a mistake in the angle early than to try to correct it later.

After the horns, it was only a matter of painting the head.  I wanted the head to have a glow to it rather than being a flat red.  I under painted with two layers of acrylic metallic gold and used three layers translucent red paints to achieve the effect.   In some ways the red seems uncomfortably bright.  I decided to leave it as it is rather than trying to dull the reds.  After all, a devil should make you feel a little uncomfortable.

My burnout phase is over for the moment.  I am ready to get back into my studio and get some work done,  I will be blogging again next Sunday on my projects for 2020.