Q&A: Tombstone Eye Lights

Questions regarding my projects and papier mache regularly fill my mailbox. In an effort to answer these questions and share information some of these questions will be regularly featured on this blog.

Arlita wrote:

“This will be my first year trying papier mache thanks to you. I am going to try making your tombstones if I have the basics I do well expanding on them. If I could draw my limits would be endless it will just take me a little longer.
I have a couple questions was wondering what lights you used for the eyes? Also would like to know how you got a print out of the iris/pupils have seen them before but not able to find them.”

The lights used in the Character Tombstone eyes were simply miniature Christmas tree bulbs. I used a small strand containing 10 bulbs and inserted two of the bulbs into holes drilled into the eye area. The remaining bulbs just hung on the backside of the tombstone. Many dollar stores carry miniature tree lights year round in the craft section.

The eyeballs I use for my props are my own creations using Photoshop. There are several downloadable sources for eyeballs.

You can check out my friend Kim aka beadyeyebrat's site and print some eyballs.

Feel free to use my eyeballs if you wish, simply click on this link to get the full sized image for printing.

Q&A: Frog Legs

Questions regarding my projects and papier mache regularly fill my mailbox. In an effort to answer these questions and share information some of these questions will be regularly featured on this blog.

Verla wrote:

“ I am trying to make a monster frog any need to know the inches of the legs pieces. I hate to give him puny legs. Any help would be great. Thanks, Verla”

The length of the legs used to create my frogs was 8.5 inches, these legs were used on a body that was 16 inches long so my advice would be to make each leg segment approximately half the length of the body.

Example: If the body of your frog measures 20 inches long then make each leg segment over 10 inches in length.

When I created the patterns for this project it was basically trial and error. The sizes are not based on any anatomical specs but rather on what looked best to the eye.

Here are some photos of the templates or patterns that were used to create my papier mache frogs, the complete tutorial can be found here.

Hope this helps!

Prop Shots

Several weeks ago we spent a weekend cleaning and organizing our garage, during the process we took a few hours to photograph some of the papier mache props stored in our garage. The photo includes about 75% of the props that have been built over the past few years. Absent from the photo are zombie skulls, demon skulls, plain old regular skulls, the sentinels and 14 sets of ribs, arms and hands.

Photographing the props was fun because they were displayed in a fashion that created some interesting juxtapositions as you don’t normally see frogs mixed with pumpkins mixed with gargoyles mixed with whatever.

The whole group of props sitting in our back yard reminded me of a huge papier mache garage sale. Slapping a price tag on each piece would have probably been easier than hauling everything back into storage.

More photos here.

Thank You Glidden!

Received our free quart of Glidden paint via FedEx and I’m excited about trying the paint on some new props.

Here’s a little of the marketing material included with the paint.

“We’re so confident in the quality of Glidden Paint that we gave it away. Try it before you buy it. Once you do, you’ll never think of paint the same way again!
Glidden Paint’s new formulas are so good, we guarantee your results!
Exceptional quality! That makes Glidden Paint the easy choice for your next painting project.
Easy to choose, easy to apply, and results that are easy to love!”

Thanks again to Glidden for the great promotion and quick delivery. If the paint is as good as they claim they will get my future business.

Happy 4th of July

Wishing everyone a safe and festive 4th of July!
Remember to keep your papier mache props far away from the fireworks!

Mr. Bonehead

Finally completed the tutorial for the Mr. Bonehead prop, a large oversized skull created from papier mache and a beach ball.

Complete instructions can be found here.

Sentinel Improvements

After my last Frog Workshop class I had quite a bit of clay left over that needed to be used otherwise it would have to be tossed so I decided to make some improvements/modifications to my Sentinels that were created last Spring for The Mad Lab.



The Sentinels were somewhat unfinished still needing some additional detailing on the face, ribs, hands and wings plus I really wanted to use monster mud on the fabric to accentuate the draping and appear stone-like. The final paint job on the two pieces was also less than great so improvements were definitely in order.

First I removed the fabric shrouds and used my papier mache clay to bulk up the shoulder and ribcage and gave them some additional texture.





Additional clay was also added to the skulls essentially adding some width around the eye sockets.

A cookie press was used to add veins to the wings. The addition of veining to the wings really added some interest and gave the pieces some much needed visual flow and continuity, the wings now appear to be flowing from the body, they look like they belong on the statues.

Note: The aluminum can positioned between the skull and wing in the photos is a temporary support for the wing so it dries







Some more clay was applied to the joints and hands mostly for strength.

The next step will be to add fabric that has been coated with monster mud and draped onto the statues creating a heavy looking hood and robe.

The plan is also to add some twisted vines to the base of each Sentinel making them appear as if they have been overtaken by nature.