Papier-mâché Hungry Hedgehog

In The Netherlands we celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of december each year and a big part of the celebration are the so-called 'surprises'. These craft projects are basically very elaborate gift wrappings with some sort of meaning or reference to either the gift inside or to the person that is receiving the 'surprise'. In this case the hedgehog had eaten the gift because it was hungry and the recipient had to eh.. extract the gift through the hedgehog's bottom.

This instructable describes how I made a hungry hedgehog using mostly cardboard, paper and (hot)glue. Apart from a gift wrapping the method used to make this cute hedgehog can also be applied to create other animals to play with or to use as props in (school) theater.

Let's get going, shall we?

What I used to make this hedgehog (and possible alternatives):

1. cardboard
2. craft paper or the inside of a wrapping paper roll
3. toilet paper roll (optional)
4. (scrap) pieces of paper, preferrably in the color of your hedgehog (or other animal)
5. bowl of water
6. wallpaper glue or flour (to make papier-mache)
7. stick for stirring
8. masking tape
9. craft glue and/or hotglue
10. pencil
11. marker
12. scissors
13. craft knife
14. aluminum foil (optional)

What I expected to be a challenge turned out to be pretty straightforward. The shape of the hedgehog's body that I had in mind was a sort of fat egg. One way to do this is to inflate a balloon and papier-mache around it to make a spherical shape. This would take a long time to do and a long time to dry. So I decided on a different approach: cardboard segments.

To create the egg-shaped body I cut out 8 pieces of cardboard that were all sort of leaf-shaped with a wider part at about 1/3 from the bottom and ending in a point at the top. Because I left a hole in the bottom, the bottom part of these segments could be straight instead of ending in a point like the top.

The best way to get to the right shape for the segments is to just cut out a shape from some scrap cardboard and try it out. With 2 segments you can see if they create the right shape and you can adjust from there.

I used hotglue to fix the segments together because it dries very quickly. To ensure the segments would stay in place while glueing I stuck them together with masking tape until the glue had set. I applied the hotglue from the inside so I could work a bit messy. If you use regular glue this will take a bit more time.

The last segment of course is the trickiest one. Use masking tape to hold it in place and just cover the seams on the inside with hotglue through the hole in the bottom. Once the final segment is in place the basic shape for the body is complete.

There are different ways to create the details of the hedgehog's body so feel free to choose your own.

For the snout or nose I used a toilet roll and cut it lengthwise. Then I twisted the roll into a cone shape and glued it in place onto the body. I put a bit of scrap paper in the front to give it a bit more of a rounded shape to cover in papier-mache later.

The arms and legs are made of small bits of cardboard, cut roughly to shape and then covered with papier-mache to make them smooth. First the cardboard pieces were glued to the body with hotglue for strength. Then the papier-mache was added to create the thumb part of the hand. This was just a small roll of papier-mache put against the arm and then wrapped in more papier-mache, leaving just a bit at the front to hold the cutlery later.

The process for the ears was the same. Cardboard for the rough shape and then papier-mache to make a smooth transition to the body.

I used the light beige paper that is often found in IKEA packaging to seperate furniture pieces. This paper is quite thin and easy to mold around the shape of the body. Thicker paper tends to fold in corners. Cut the paper into strips or tear off pieces and have enough ready to cover your shape in multiple layers. Your hands will get sticky and wet which makes it difficult to prepare more paper once you start.

To make the papier-mache mix I always use wallpaper-glue and water. The wallpaper-glue is a powder that is mixed with water under continuous stirring. After setting for about a half hour you stir the mix again and it is ready to use. I always use the ratio for heavy wallpaper, since it is more sticky and makes for a stronger final model.

Because more than half the hedgehog will be covered in spikes later, only the front half of the body needs to be smoothed out with papier-mache. Decide where you want to start with the spikes to ensure there are no gaps later on.

This definitely was the part I underestimated. Even for a small hedgehog like this it took A LOT of paper spikes to cover just half its body.

For the spikes I uses the brown craft-like paper that is often inside a roll of gift wrapping paper. Because this paper has been rolled up it already has the curvy shape I was looking for to make the spikes stand out a bit. I cut off a strip of this paper and cut it into small triangles.

I used hotglue for speed and strength, but BEWARE OF THE HEAT when applying the paper spikes to your hedgehog! Hotglue is hot and the paper is thin so make sure you only apply pressure for a very short time and alternate between fingers quickly so you don't burn yourself.

Attach the spikes in an overlapping pattern and cover the entire backside of your hedgehog. Start at the bottom and keep covering the top part of the spikes below to get a nice coat that actually looks quite beautiful if I say so myself.

At the top you need to get a bit creative to cover the last couple of spikes. I made a sort of crown-shape so I wouldn't end up with a straight piece of paper. That would look unnatural.

You can choose to add these elements either before or after attaching the spikes on the back of the hedgehog. The ears are best to add during the papier-mache stage.

For the eyes I used some sort of foam ball that I cut in half and colored black with a marker. You can also just draw the eyes directly onto the face of the hedgehog.

The mouth and nose are simply drawn on with a marker and the tongue is a bit of red craft paper glued in place.

To make the fork and knife shiny and resemble actual silverware I used aluminum foil to cover the cardboard shapes I cut out. I applied regular glue to the cardboard and put a larger sheet of foil on top. Then I cut around the shape carefully with a sharp knife. Aluminum foil tends to tear easily so keep that in mind.

Another way to make the cutlery shiny is to use a metallic silver marker or spray paint or simply use silver craft paper.

I also added a base in the form of a concrete tile to place the hedgehog on. This was partly to hide the hole in the bottom and to create a misdistraction in the search for the gift inside. To create the concrete tile texture I was lazy and printed a sheet of paper with an image of concrete and stuck that to the cardboard base. This could also have been painted on, but keep in mind that cardboard tends to warp when it gets wet.

And there you have it: a hungry hungry hedgehog! Isn't it cute?

The technique for the body and the spikes is also a very good way to create a dragon egg. Or a pineapple.

Let me know what you think!