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Once upon a time, at a Dollarama far far away, there was a $$3 Styrofoam skull waiting on the racks, lost amidst dozens of other 20" Styrofoam skulls. Bob knew he was barely passable, and he was desperate to be so, so much more.
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Lucky for Bob, I saw his potental and bought him, because I am cheap and I'm all about transforming cheap stuff using a bit of ingenuity. (And paint. And hot glue. And cardboard scavenged from cereal boxes.) I started by sticking a $0.15 Styrofoam craft ball onto his nose-holes (teehee, nose-holes) and then covering him with a layer of paper-mache.
(As you read this tutorial, you'll realize the sad fact is that in addition to being cheap, I am also lazy. If you are not lazy, there will probably be many points where you think, "I could do that better. My paper-mache would be smoother, I'd touch up those little bits of paint, I would have masked off his eyes and mouth first, I'd make a stencil so everything matched perfectly." If that's your personality - go for it! As for me, I am a veteran and unapologetic corner-cutter, so things will look messy.)
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I covered Bob with two coats of white acrylic paint ($1 at the dollar store). If you aren't lazy, you can do a second layer of paper-mache using white paper so you don't have to do two coats of paint. Also you could make the paper-mache a lot smoother by using paper towels or toilet paper, or sanding it afterward. (Not that I've ever sanded paper-mache, but I know people who have. IT'S A REAL THING.)
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Painting began, using a variety of acrylic neon paints from the dollar store, as well as some black acrylic paint. ($6 for all of them.) After awhile I started sulking about just how uneven Bob's nose was, and it was kind of a big deal because it just didn't look right. So I went out to my Field of Cares and found one sad little care still clinging to its dried-out vine, brought it indoors, and used it to redo Bob's nose with a toilet-paper-and-neon-paint covering until the nose looked smoother.
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Next I scrounged through the recycling bin and found a wrapper from Tim Horton's that was thin enough to bend well. (I'm Canaaaaadian!) You could also use rice paper, or any form of thin paper that you can kind-of see through. I held it in place over Bob's gums and used a ballpoint pen to trace his teeth, to create a template. I made a lot of weird "URRRRGH!" noises while doing this, because it seemed appropriate, what with Bob's wide-open mouth and all.
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I transferred the template to a piece of cardboard from a cereal box, then free-handed some fangs. Learn from my mistakes, children: use pencil to do this, not ballpoint pen. It took me two coats of white paint and two coats of neon yellow to cover the pen marks later.
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I cut out all the fangs and painted them appropriately. (I'd only done the first three coats of paint when this photo was taken, so you can still see the pen lines. Argh.) I also finished filling in Bob's mouth with black paint. That must have tasted appalling, but Bob suffered in stoic silence. He has an admirable level of fortitude, considering he's made out of Styrofoam.
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I hot-glued his fangs in place. Afterward I wished I'd remembered that hot glue is also blacklight-responsive; I probably would have used a different adhesive, or been more careful to make sure all the hot glue was hidden. C'est la vie. I also outlined all his makeup in black Sharpie. ...what's that, Lassie? You say I have to use Sharpie because I suck at drawing lines with paint? God, Lassie, don't you have some kids to save or something?
This was also the point at which I realized he was no longer Bob the Styrofoam Skull. He'd become... Ernesto von Polkabutt. I picked his name because I have the sense of humor of a ten-year-old and references to derrieres still amuse me. Sorry-not-sorry.
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I painted most of his eyes red and added some pupils using contact paper, because I wanted them to shine in the blacklight. This could have been done with paint too. I added a line of white paint around the edge of the pupil to give it some added visual interest under the blacklight. I then used a couple broken toothpicks to secure a $2 clown wig (yay, dollar stores!) to Ernesto's skull, by sticking them through the wig into the Styrofoam until they held the wig in place. Look at you, Ernesto!
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Ernesto loves being under the blacklight. It makes him feel beautiful.
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Total cost for the build, assuming you already own paint and Styrofoam craft balls: $5. If you have to buy all the paint and a Styrofoam ball, it'll still be under $12. Total time was about 8 hours (spread out across several days, due to having to wait for paper-mache and paint to dry).
I think I'm going to end up turning him into the head for a big ceiling-hanging flyer; if I do, I'll add it to this tutorial later.
Lucky for Bob, I saw his potental and bought him, because I am cheap and I'm all about transforming cheap stuff using a bit of ingenuity. (And paint. And hot glue. And cardboard scavenged from cereal boxes.) I started by sticking a $0.15 Styrofoam craft ball onto his nose-holes (teehee, nose-holes) and then covering him with a layer of paper-mache.
(As you read this tutorial, you'll realize the sad fact is that in addition to being cheap, I am also lazy. If you are not lazy, there will probably be many points where you think, "I could do that better. My paper-mache would be smoother, I'd touch up those little bits of paint, I would have masked off his eyes and mouth first, I'd make a stencil so everything matched perfectly." If that's your personality - go for it! As for me, I am a veteran and unapologetic corner-cutter, so things will look messy.)
I covered Bob with two coats of white acrylic paint ($1 at the dollar store). If you aren't lazy, you can do a second layer of paper-mache using white paper so you don't have to do two coats of paint. Also you could make the paper-mache a lot smoother by using paper towels or toilet paper, or sanding it afterward. (Not that I've ever sanded paper-mache, but I know people who have. IT'S A REAL THING.)
Painting began, using a variety of acrylic neon paints from the dollar store, as well as some black acrylic paint. ($6 for all of them.) After awhile I started sulking about just how uneven Bob's nose was, and it was kind of a big deal because it just didn't look right. So I went out to my Field of Cares and found one sad little care still clinging to its dried-out vine, brought it indoors, and used it to redo Bob's nose with a toilet-paper-and-neon-paint covering until the nose looked smoother.
Next I scrounged through the recycling bin and found a wrapper from Tim Horton's that was thin enough to bend well. (I'm Canaaaaadian!) You could also use rice paper, or any form of thin paper that you can kind-of see through. I held it in place over Bob's gums and used a ballpoint pen to trace his teeth, to create a template. I made a lot of weird "URRRRGH!" noises while doing this, because it seemed appropriate, what with Bob's wide-open mouth and all.
I transferred the template to a piece of cardboard from a cereal box, then free-handed some fangs. Learn from my mistakes, children: use pencil to do this, not ballpoint pen. It took me two coats of white paint and two coats of neon yellow to cover the pen marks later.
I cut out all the fangs and painted them appropriately. (I'd only done the first three coats of paint when this photo was taken, so you can still see the pen lines. Argh.) I also finished filling in Bob's mouth with black paint. That must have tasted appalling, but Bob suffered in stoic silence. He has an admirable level of fortitude, considering he's made out of Styrofoam.
I hot-glued his fangs in place. Afterward I wished I'd remembered that hot glue is also blacklight-responsive; I probably would have used a different adhesive, or been more careful to make sure all the hot glue was hidden. C'est la vie. I also outlined all his makeup in black Sharpie. ...what's that, Lassie? You say I have to use Sharpie because I suck at drawing lines with paint? God, Lassie, don't you have some kids to save or something?
This was also the point at which I realized he was no longer Bob the Styrofoam Skull. He'd become... Ernesto von Polkabutt. I picked his name because I have the sense of humor of a ten-year-old and references to derrieres still amuse me. Sorry-not-sorry.
I painted most of his eyes red and added some pupils using contact paper, because I wanted them to shine in the blacklight. This could have been done with paint too. I added a line of white paint around the edge of the pupil to give it some added visual interest under the blacklight. I then used a couple broken toothpicks to secure a $2 clown wig (yay, dollar stores!) to Ernesto's skull, by sticking them through the wig into the Styrofoam until they held the wig in place. Look at you, Ernesto!
Ernesto loves being under the blacklight. It makes him feel beautiful.
Total cost for the build, assuming you already own paint and Styrofoam craft balls: $5. If you have to buy all the paint and a Styrofoam ball, it'll still be under $12. Total time was about 8 hours (spread out across several days, due to having to wait for paper-mache and paint to dry).
I think I'm going to end up turning him into the head for a big ceiling-hanging flyer; if I do, I'll add it to this tutorial later.
