Papier Macheniacs: Benguet Strawberry Festival Masks

Buwan ng Wika.
A celebration of our language and culture.
And an ideal time to get cosplay crafting!
PAPIER MACHENIACS --ACTIVATE!

This year, the school assigned the Benguet Strawberry Festival as the theme for my boys' class. And because I was so sure every kid will be coming in Benguet native attire (read: red and black weaved cloth), I knew I had to push my boys gear up a notch. Naturally, that meant making strawberry masks! Creepily fruity, huh! :P

We found these eerie Jason canvas cloth masks at National Book Store and I just went nuts with glee!

Post haste, I went down to making paper mache leaves --which, by the way, was a very therapeutic exercise.

Can I be a dingus and tell you now that I totally forgot to take a picture of the freshly paper mache'd masks? Ugh. It was past midnight. I was working against the clock. Still, that's no excuse, you pathetic blogger! *whimpers*

Slathered the masks with red and green paint, complete with white teardrop details --and BOOM! We got strawberry masks!

I am extra proud of the leaf details!

Made tiny strawberries for necklace embellishments to complete the look, too.

And there you have it!
I was informed that my boys spent most of the school celebration sneaking up on people and scaring them with killer strawberry delight. So I guess that means this project's a success! :)

HAPPY BUWAN NG WIKA, GUYS! See you with more of these insane crafts next year!

Papier Macheniacs: Quick Warrior Armor

Another occasion, another costume.
This time, it's United Nations Day. And I am pissed that I didn't have enough time to do this. :(
You see the boys were representing Korea. And naturally, they totally bashed my suggestion that they go to the school event as colored-hair Kpop idols. Yeah, I have the lamest suggestions sometimes. My boys wanted to come as ancient Korean warriors. Yeah, why not? Kill me with that, huh?
I never back out of a challenge, so yeah --bring it!

Just in case you're tasked into making a warrior costume for your child under short notice, here's a short cut that I personally think still worked.

Just hunt for a huge box and fashion sleeveless shirts out of each side. These cardboard pieces are your warrior armor foundation so a lot of measuring is in order. Add texture.

Paper mache through the night. Only one layer will do if you're using a cardboard box of the hell-sturdy kind.

Add gold or silver paint for a metal finish and shoe laces to tie the two boards together. Kinda like a sandwich board at your favorite deli.

Throw in a quick paper mache head piece and you're set!

Honestly, I would've wanted to make shoulder and arm plates as well. :( But sometimes, a Papier Macheniac isn't given that luxury of time to go full-on.*le sigh*

Still happy how that armor turned out though. :)

Paper Macheniacs: PINTADOS!

Buwan ng Wika.
An entire month dedicated to celebrating the beauty and depth of the Fiipino language. It's myriad of dialects. And the culture that ties its more than 2,000 islands together in solidarity and love.

It's also that month when we get down to costume-making. Hey-yeah!

This year, the boys came to their school's Linggo ng Wika event as the Pintados of Leyte. A little backgrounder: the Pintados were warriors of this region, distinct for their body art that covered them from head to toe. Each tattoo showcases the accomplishment of the warrior. The more tattoos, the more the warrior is revered. And, boy, did I got to town inking!

I got two tight-fitting long-sleeved shirts and a bunch of markers and let loose with the nature and tribal art. No rhyme or reason. If I'd really put my boys' accomplishments on there, the shirts would have a drum set and archery gear which don't really look that good as tattoos. I mean, duh.

But wait --this is a Paper Macheniacs post, isn't it? Where's the darn arts and crafts?!!

Right here. the husband did the accessories and he can be quite as rabid as I am when inspired. So these paper mache'd head pieces and jewelry happened --complete with aquarium pebbles, shoe laces, and bristles from my trusty broom.

My dish rags were thrown into the ensemble, too.

And there you have it --PINTADOS!

Oh, did I tell you that I inked the pants, too?

Like I always say, 'Do it crazy or don't do it at all'. :)

Papier Macheniacs: PINGU!

Okay, okay... so June had been a busy summer month. But, as dedicated as we are, we still managed to squeeze in a couple of paper mache projects. You know about the land formation project, right? Yeeeah... I'm just gonna have to assume that you read that blogpost. Other than that, we also had our little Pingu project.

Hey, you know Pingu --that adorably naughty claymation penguin on TV? He was one of the most popular TV characters in this household. Well, back when we still watched TV. Now it's just all about Markiplier on YouTube.
But I digress. My kids decided to pay homage to their past fave so we did a little crafting.

You know the drill, re-use and recycle. Other than the usual glue and tissue paper, we never buy anything when crafting. The point is to always make something new and awesome out of something that other people may deem as junk. For example, this old Christmas tree silver ball ornament and this empty bottle of Vitamins. Just tape cardboard around these items until you get the shape you want. Before you know it --BOOM!-- the beginnings of an arctic flightless bird! I'm sure it looks like a tired astronaut right now, but give me a minute here.

We mummified the shape with glue and tissue paper. Basically, paper macheing the figure to hard, smooth goodness.

Then, we added the details. Alright, I added the details. Isn't it crazy how I went over the eyeball outlines like a thousand times?!! Ugh. Thank God that mess will be painted over. But still, Pingu looks more like a monkey here, doesn't he? Double ugh.

PAINTED!

This deserves a back story. We ran out of black poster color. BLACK. The single most important color on Pingu's body. Because patience isn't exactly our strongest suit, we went to the neighbor --who incidentally fixes cars for a living-- and got some left over paint. We're talking car paint. The kind you put on metal surfaces.
So yeeeeah... that's how our Pingu got that brilliant shine. Uh-huh, this Pingu won't need to bob sled himself over ice bergs. He can just glide over frosty slopes on his shiny tummy. Hehe.

Okay, okay, I'm done.
That's Pingu for ya! If you want to make your own Pingu or any other old TV show character to immortalize some glorious childhood memory --paper mache it!

Papier Macheniacs: The Grim Reaper

Whoa! I've been gone for 4 months?! That is so unlike me! I bet some of you thought I'd died or something!

And THAT, folks, is my train wreck of a segue to our latest Papier Macheniacs project: THE GRIM REAPER!

Handsome devil, ain't he? Who would've thought that this vile face was once a pretty little China doll mask?

We just love disfiguring the pretty little China doll mask. It's like a sport to us.

So we hacked away at the doll face's perfectly flawless chin without an ounce of remorse. Then, we proceeded to add abomination-like details. Rope for eyes, thick board for craggy teeth, and --oooh!-- more cardboard for that disturbingly skewed, hanging jaw.

Then, of course, we even things out by slathering the monstrosity with paper mache. For those who have just tuned in, that's a tissue-glue-water combo AND the very foundation of Papier Macheniacs' existence. Oh, look-- you can hardly see perfect little China doll mask in there now. Hello? Where are yooouuu?

Aaand,,, BOO!
Nothing like a spot of paint to bring out the color of its eyes, huh?
Okay, one tiny bit. If you're painting with your kid (provided creepy skull masks don't creep the heck out of him) and he accidentally spills over the lines, or if his strokes are a little too scraggly for Van Gogh --calm down. This is the Grim Reaper we're making! Believe me, this guy isn't the kind who'd drop by a salon before having a good time.

Now grab a black cloak and you or your kid is ready to go!
Oh, wait --Did you see the tiny add-ons we threw in there, too? THE SCYTHE Never leave home without it. This weapon of destruction we paper mache'd used to be a roll of cartolina. The blade is plain box carton.
Another add-on: SKELETON HANDS! These we made with surgical gloves. Surgical gloves have that bony color to it that makes it perfect for this project. For authenticity, we lined joints with a thick, black marker.

There you go! Now go ahead and scare people! When you own a Grim Reaper mask... everyday is Halloween!

Papier Macheniacs: The Chubby Atari Episode

Stand back, people! I'm doing a vintage post!

My little boy --whom I'm pretty sure is a reincarnated ancient soul-- has a thing for old stuff. His latest subject of fancy are old gaming consoles. Obviously, hitting the top of that very short list is the Atari. While I'm still looking for a local museum that actually showcases one, a little Papier Macheniacs just has to happen.

TA-DAAAH!

To shake things up a bit, we decided to go with a Chubby Chibi-type Atari. That, and the fact that we only had chubby household boxes to work with. Teehee…

So how did we get from here…

…to here? Sit back down and I'll tell you.

Perpetually running with the recycling theme, we got drinking straws and folder clips to make our console switches.

And another box, a plastic dome, and an empty Push Pop for the joystick,

Oh! And coins for buttons. Shinyyyy...

We slathered those babies up with PVC glue and paper towel strips. Then, we twisted the clips through the holes we made on the switchboard. The console won't be working for real, so the least we could do was make the switches toggle. :) Ah, simple joys.

The same manner of folder clip sorcery was applied to the joystick. We slipped it through a hole we bored through the dome. So when you move the stick, it toggles, too.

Then, we went on to add the killer details to our soap box game cartridges. My boy chose the games himself. Not that he's played any of these games in his young life… but yeah.

Next was just a whole lot of painting and nitpicking. The operative word being 'nitpicking'. And quite possibly 'a whole lot of'. But then, that would already be an operative phrase. Hmm…

And before you can say 'PONG!', we were done!

We even had the time to work the back features. Family Fist Bump!

Now, I wouldn't know if you'd like to make your own paper mache Atari console. I don't think half the population is as nuts as my brood. :P But if you do get the itch, just follow this step-by-step DIY, get messy, and have fun!

Paper Macheniacs: Fallout 4 Pip Boy

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OUT HOME-MADE FALLOUT 4 PIP BOY!

If you're a certified gamer, you'd know that this fully-loaded little mechanism is awesome stuff for post-apocalyptic Boston. If you're a certified Papier Macheniac, you'd know that this little mechanism is a heck-load of hard work to make! The amount of details on this thing is insane!
But then… so are we.

I'd have to admit, our favourite part in the paper macheing process is hunting for the random parts that would make up the pieces of the prop. For Fallout 4's Pip boy, it was a mad hunt. We decided to use a T-shirt's plastic tube container, a photo frame box, and yep --my own mobile phone. The things I do for love.
Oh, a tip when hunting --make sure to choose items that are light and easy to get tissue paper and glue on. Everything has to be paper mache'd for consistency and a smoother finish.

YAY! PAPER MACHE'D! Sculpted details --not too shabby. If you're wondering about the bottle caps, they're there to keep my phone in place. Safety first. Teehee...

The attachments we had to sculpt and paper mache piece by piece. because we're OC like that.

Then came the assembly part which was loads of fun!

Now, like we always do, we went to town with the painting part. Our Pip boy came with the distress, the wear-and-tear, and just about everything you can throw at a nuclear war aftermath.

Glue stick bits for buttons and an old charger cable for the Pip boy's cable were pretty nifty touches, too.

And don't get me started on the Doop Doop Theme cassette tape!

So there you have it --us overdoing it with Fallout 4's Pip boy. And it fits like a glove!

Hey, why not make your own paper mache Pip boy and customise it to a fun prop like we did? Great weekend warrior project. Especially if you're into this futuristic wasteland scenario kind of thing.