Show n Tell Friday

Hello & welcome to another Show n Tell Friday, hosted by the infamous Cindy @ My Romantic Home. I haven't posted in a few weeks cause I had a trojan & my puter has been in the shop but I have several completed projects that I am eager to share & this one is my favorite.


Would you believe that I created these snowmen heads "on a stick" w/ no tut, no instructions & w/ no experience....I am soo flippin' proud of myself! This picture doesn't do them justice!!!

My inspiration for the project came from these Halloween heads on a stick...remember them? I found them @ Tuesday Morning a couple of years ago & fell in love w/ the whimsy of them. I always knew I would attempt to paper mache one myself but was too intimidated by the project to actually start it. Until one day, when I came across this site w/ this wonderful paper mache clay recipe .

I rolled up a small piece of newspaper & taped it on a styrofoam ball for the "carrot" nose. Next time, I will just use balled & taped up newspaper for the head though as the "clay" didn't want to stick to the styrofoam but would w/ some encouragement. I didn't want a bright, attention-getting orange nose but I wanted it to look like a carrot so I tried out my new watercolor pencils on them. After giving them a wash w/ a wet paintbrush, the orange nose was just the right shade & the color seeped down into the cracks. POIFECT! I used pink chalk on the cheek bones for a subtle, rosy glow.

I first painted the heads cream & then swabbed on Tim Holtz's distress crackle paint in white (they call it swan)....only kissing it in areas. After a quick rub & wipe w/ shoe polish, the cracks look excellent....love them! For this one, I made a top hat out of sheet music, added rhinestone eyes, an embroidery floss smile & a dusting of glitter.

I didn't want them to look the same, so for this one, I added a little character to his face.... making him kinda goofy-looking but that only adds to his appeal, I think. For his hat, I rolled up a cone out of card stock & glued it on before covering the whole head w/clay. He got the same embroidery floss smile (I first carved a smile while the clay was still wet) but I used cream buttons (w/ silver metallic thread "pupils") instead of rhinestone buttons for his eyes. Isn't his expression sweet?

Since these were supposed to be snow heads, I didn't sand them smooth but this paper mache clay recipe can be sanded just like wood.

To add even more dimension to the cone hat, I covered it in MS's glass bead glitter.

I'm loving this paper mache clay recipe & my head is full of ideas to create w/ it. One lady on the site, made a life-size statue & painted it to resemble stone...how cool is that? Jonni is a wonderfully creative & talented artist & is generous in sharing her knowledge w/ us...for FREE! If you're interested in the clay recipe, stop in & thank her for her generosity.

Also, Cindy's apartment was featured in The Old Painted Cottage's cottage of the month for February (what an honor but I don't know of a more deserving cottage), if you haven't done so already, wish her "Congrats".

Hope everyone has a great week-end!