Occamy from Fantastic Beasts

Tags

Fantastic Beasts, Harry Potter, Occamy, Paper Mache'

After seeing the movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I thought I might be able to make an Occamy. This was in 2019, but I didn’t get very far before I had to abandon the project and didn’t do any paper mâché projects until September 2023. When my two year old granddaughter saw it and claimed it to be a snake, I knew I had to finish the Occamy.

The rough beginnings of the Occamy really did look like a snake, but I still had a long way to go to get it to look more bird-like.

Baba Yaga Hut Pumpkin

Tags

Halloween, Paper Mache', Pumpkin

Broken wrists, arms and pandemics have come and gone. For me, it has been quite hard getting back on this horse, but here I am!

A friend on Facebook is in a group that had a challenge to make a Baba Yaga Hut. Having absolutely no idea what that was, I looked it up. For those of you that have no clue like me, in Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a supernatural being who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. She dwells deep in the forest in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs. There is a lot of concept art rendering the hut in a more traditional view. Since art is open to interpretation, I decided to create a hut that resembled a pumpkin.

Vampire-Witch Pumpkin

Tags

Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, paper clay, Paper Mache'

With a broken wrist this summer, I didn’t get many projects started so when my dental office suggested that I make them a pumpkin for a contest, I jumped at the chance to get one of my creations done before Halloween.

Kreacher from Harry Potter!

Tags

Chris Walas, Harry Potter, house elf, JK Rowling, Kreacher, paper clay, Paper Mache', Sirius Black

At Christmas time 2019, I had an idea to do Kreacher, Sirius Black’s house elf in Harry Potter. I wanted him to carry a lantern, but wasn’t sure I wanted to go that far in making one since I felt Kreacher himself would be enough of a challenge.

Halloween 2019

Tags

Halloween, Jack Skellington, jack-o-lanterns, Pumpkin, zombie hands

Halloween started in July for me when I was asked to make some paper mâché items for the AZ Haunters’ Swap Meet in September. This post will be more photo intensive than instructional since I did not have the time to take a lot of progression images. I was asked to make a few pumpkins, but also wanted to stretch my abilities and see if I could also do some zombie-like hands.

Three-Headed Wyvern

Tags

dragon, fabric, paper clay, Paper Mache', Wyverns

In early December 2018, I came across some videos on YouTube showing you how to make cheap silicone molds. Mostly people used these molds with polymer clay. I had no idea if these would work with paper clay. I had the idea of making a three-headed wyvern and needed all the heads to at least appear similar. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do that with my limited sculpting skills. First thing I needed to do was sculpt one head out of Super Sculpey clay for something to press into the mold. I tried to just make the head as simple as I could because I didn’t know how well it would pull from the mold. Once the molds were ready, I pressed the paper clay into the molds. I tried to keep the clay about 1/8 inch thick so it would dry easier. It still took a long time to dry so I wound up pulling them before they were completely dry. Since this was the first time I had used molds, I didn’t realize how much shrinkage the head would have.

Translucent Dragon Wings

Tags

fabric, Translucent, Wings

When I started my first paper mâché dragon (Maleficent), I wanted to make wings that had a transparent effect. I just so happened to have some sheer scarves in my stash of scrap fabric so I thought I would try it.

Scorpion Pumpkin

Tags

Halloween, Paper Mache', Pumpkin, scorpion

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been gone for so long! Seems like life just got in the way this year so I have only managed to get one project done so far.

Pig Nose Pumpkin Rat

Tags

Creepy Creatures, Halloween, Paper Mache' Clay, Pumpkin

Whipping out the paper mâché pumpkin on these projects is a snap compared to the critter that goes with it. Guess I’ll start this post with the pumpkin since he took the least amount of time.

Pumpkin Batworm

Tags

Creepy Creatures, Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, Paper Mache', Pumpkin, Ultimate Paper Mache', Unhinged Productions

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays so after many years of thinking about this, I decided to embark on my first Halloween project! Before I get started with this tutorial, I want to give credit to Unhinged Productions and Ultimate Paper Mâché for their fantastic instructions and paper clay recipes. Thanks so much! You both are wonderful teachers!