Paper Animal Skull Wall Decoration

I have been creating paper mache pieces for a while, and I created this. With household items you can create your own decorations by following these simple instructions.

Newspaper
Masking or painters tape
Aluminum foil
Flour
Water
Paint Drill knife/ scissors Hot glue
Optional: ( ribbons, feathers, beads, etc)

Portion 1 is the largest part of the skull, and it is the top or forehead part. Keep in mind the size of portion one will determine the size of the whole skull. To create this portion, first make a small ball of newspaper. Continue wrapping more newspaper pages around the ball till you reach the desired size. Secure the ball by wrapping it with tape. It should be a firm sphere when finished.

Portion two is similar to the shape of a trapezoid. It begins to make the the skull narrower, and is a transition between the narrow snout and the large forehead.
To create it, ball newspaper and create another (smaller) sphere. Using tape, squeeze one end slightly smaller. Attach to the side of portion 1 using tape.

Portion three is the most difficult of the portions. You must first create a hollow tube with aluminum foil wrapped around the end of the skull. Then create two slits halfway up the tube on each side using a pair of scissors. Focusing on the bottom, first fold down the sides to create a tray. Create a small slit in the middle on the bottom edge and fold the edges in to create an indented triangle. Then, using the scissors again, create two more slits in the middle of each side as shown above. Widen the slits to your liking. Feel free to play around until you find what looks best!

Portion 4 creates the basic eye socket shape. It might look slightly awkward at first, but with portion 5 it will blend and create a smooth shape. To create portion 4 take a rectangular piece of foil and fold it in half to make it thinner. fold it again till it is about 3 fingers wide. Brings the ends together to create a ring, softly push down on the top to make it shorter and thicker. Attach using tape to the head about where portions 1 and 2 connects.

portion 5 is used To smooth the transition of the eye sockets. first create 2 even tinfoil logs, wrap them around portion 4 and press the sides facing away (from the eye sockets) into the head to create a slope into the head. Press and smooth the foil until it is even with the skull and eye socket tops.

To create horns or antlers, first make a long thin cone out of newspaper, and then wrap it in tinfoil and squeeze and bend it into the desired shape. For this example I created a sort of ram horn. Horns and head with be paper mached separately and added later.

Paper mache is a mix of flour, water, and salt. Using a 1 to 1 cup ratio, mix until it forms the consistency of pancake batter. Then add about one tablespoon of salt. Paper mache can get VERY messy so I like to use a old card table to work on. One last note is that it is helpful to rip up the newspaper beforehand to make it easier and faster when applying.

To begin layering the paper mache lay down a thin layer of paste on the tinfoil. Place the first piece of newspaper on top and seal with more paste using a paintbrush or your finger. Continue this process across the entire top. You can leave it to dry overnight or put it in the oven at a low temperature (highest at 200 F). For the skull, you want to apply about three layers for most of the skull, and about 5 layers where the horns will eventually attach. Once the top is dry, repeat on the bottom.

The horns are paper mached using long strips of newspaper. Dip the strips in the paste and wrap them around the horns. There should be about 3 layers around the horns. Portion 3 uses a similar approach. Use very small newspaper strips (about 1 cm thick), and wrap them around the center and sides of portion 3. There should be at least 2 layers around portion 3.

TIP: Apply paper mache to one horn and allow to dry before making the second horn. This way, you can match the shape with the second horn before it is permanent.

After you have enough layers on the horns and skull, let them dry or put them in the oven at 200 for about an hour. Once they are completely dry you can sand them if wanted. Lastly, you need to create three holes in the skull. A keyhole shape in the middle of the bottom to hang and two on the sides for the horns as shown above. To create a hanging hole get a drill bit close to or a little bigger than the screw you are using. Make a dot on the BOTTOM of the skull and drill the hole. Then taking a drill bit close to the size of the thinnest part on the screw create a elongated hole ABOVE the large hole. It should look a little like a keyhole. To create a hole for the horn trace the base on the horns in the place they will be positioned (when in doubt go a little smaller, you can always make it bigger) cut them out using a craft knife or scissors. After you create the hole take the knife (or scissors) and create a a hollow space about 1/2 inch deep. The horns will be glued after they are painted.

Blocking in the colors of the skull is important in helping you see how you want to paint and decorate it. Fora more realistic coloring, cover the entire skull top and bottom in white paint, including the inside of portion 3. Then, once it is dry, add black paint in the eye sockets and flat back inside of portion 3 (shown above). These are the base colors and what will be seen the most. For the horns, the base color I use is either black or brown.

For a realistic coloring on the skull, I use black and brown washes. To make paint washes, take a small jar with a lid and put a small amount of black or brown paint inside. Fill with water until about 1/2 inch above the rim. Shake until it is smooth and paint is dissolved. To apply the washes, brush on top of the white paint and use a napkin or paper towel to wipe off most of it. Repeat until you are happy with how it looks. I ended up using brown wash twice and black once. Feel free to use yellow or other colors to add depth and variation. For the horns, I use brown, and dry brush the highest point on the horns and the tips.

Using hot glue, position the horn where you want and apply hot glue to the rim where the horns attach. Place the horns and secure with more glue if necessary. Touch up the paint job if glue gets on the outside.

At this point everything is put together and you can display it by hanging on the wall or placing it on a flat surface. But if you want to decorate it you can use almost anything! I will show 2 ideas below, as well as how to make one design with a mushroom.

To make the mushroom design shown about first gather supplies.
You will need:
Watercolor
Crepe paper
Wire
Fake moss ( found at dollar store)
Elmers glue
hot glue

Take a large rectangle of crepe paper and use elmers glue to fold and glue it in half. Then cut a length of wire the same size as the mushroom stem.