Giant Doctor Who Ring Bearer Rings

This one is for those Whovians out there planning to tie the knot in style. Make sure that cute kid you -hire- coax into being part of the wedding procession carries an appropriate set of rings that people can see instead of "Oh, that's just a pillow the kid needs to take a nap on when he gets down the end of the aisle."

These giant rings may be a replica of the real set of Doctor Who rings you may have. The bands are inscribed with TIME LORD and COMPANION. They are encircled with Gallifreyan text of your choosing. The companion's band is adorned with a giant jewel.

Made from cardboard, these rings are a timeless extension of gangsta geek cardboard bling rings.

Submitted for your approval, presented on a TARDIS pillow, really a folded up TARDIS IKEA shopping bag.

You need some basics.

Cardboard, any kind, corrugated or thin cardboard.

Glue

Paint, I used silver metallic acrylic for easy cleanup and a bottle of 3D gelled fabric paint with applicator tip.

and to use as a form for the ring, a giant can. I guess if you have a piece of large diameter drainpipe or ductwork, those can be used, anything cylindrical. Which gets me to this, I think that was supposed to be a 5 lb can of coffee that is supposed to hold 5 lbs of coffee. Why does it only have a little over 2 lbs of coffee in it? Did the rest of the coffee just dematerialize? Does my money just dematerialize? wait, it does...

You need a big rock. Don't skimp on the rock. I had this crystal diamond which is non-GIA certified and who knows how many carats in size which works for demo purposes. Real tip for y'all: Don't max out all your credit cards just to get a showy piece of jewelry. Starting off a new life together in debt is never good.

Scissor, utility knife or a paper cutter.

CAUTION: Paper cuts hurt, the guillotine blade on the paper cutter or the razor wheel on rotary cutters are very very sharp. Have fun but be safe crafting.

Since we are making two rings, one will be about 2 1/2 inches wide, the companion ring will be a little less. No need to get caught up in exact measurements. Go by eye.

Cut many strips. The corrugation in corrugated cardboard should be perpendicular to the length of the strip. This helps is bend into a curve. You can join short pieces together at the ends by peeling back the paper and enveloping the next piece. Use a good glue so you don't have to keep holding until the glue sets.

Wrap the can you will use for a form with plastic wrap. That helps to make sure your ring is not glued to the can and prevents the mess if you actually still have contents to use inside the can.

Prebend the cardboard by running it taut over the edge of a table. Begin the wrap around the end of the can loosely so you can slide it off the can later. Beware of the lip of the endcap on the can so account for that. Have a long enough strip to go entirely around the can. Glue the strip where the cardboard overlaps the end laid down.

Continue to laminate about 4 layers of cardboard to get a rigid final ring.

For added detail, I put a thin rim on the top and bottom of the larger ring. I built up a higher central band on the companion ring. I knew I was going to inset a giant faux jewel so I fabricated a well or cup shape for the apex of the diamond.

When the glue is dry, take something hard like the barrel of a magic marker to burnish all the rough edges. You can round out the lip of the ring so it looks like a rounded lip of a ring.

Mix a small container of glue and water. Half water, half glue is good. Mix it with your fingers since you have to dip pieces of newspaper or other scrap paper in the glue and do your papier mache over the entire ring.

When the papier mache is dry, use your 3D fabric paint to draw on the designs of the ring. You can thicken up some regular glue with cornstarch and then pipe it out like cake frosting from a plastic bag with a corner clipped off. The fabric paint just happened to have a handy needle sized tip applicator.

That may take several times as in hot weather, that gelled paint is runny. I did the big shapes, let it dry and then filled in more details. Let the fabric paint dry. I noticed later that the fabric paint was hard to cover with acrylic paint maybe because it has some water resistance. Just take some regular glue to coat or prime the fabric paint.

Prime with primer paint if you can.

If not, just apply several coats of paint.

When dry, use a brush with just a dab of a darker color to "dry brush" the details to make them stand out. Wipe off excess with a towel. This gives it that aged look.

You could give it a final gloss overcoat if desired.

Hot glue in your faux diamond.

I guess you can fabricate some kind of real metal jewelry prongs to capture the jewel.

And there it is,

Giant Doctor Who ring bearer rings for wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff at your wedding...

Enjoy!