Creating a papier mache head of Felix Morton

I was invited to a fancy dress party last weekend and wanted to do something a bit different. I absolutely love the point and click adventure game The Dream Machine by Swedish indie developers Cockroach Inc. If you haven't played it, I highly recommend you give it a try (the first episode is completely free!). It's made with clay and cardboard and I felt it was appropriate to try to make my own home-made version of one of the main characters: Felix Morton the caretaker.

I haven't used papier mache since I left school, and I did make some mistakes along the way which i'll point out, but overall it's a very forgiving and easy medium to work with. This was also my first time using acrylic paint and they are wonderful to use. There are things I would have liked to improve but owing to time constraints it wasn't possible. Overall i'm happy with the end result and I think it looks a little bit like the character;-)

Step 1: Materials and Preparation

Materials needed:

Papier mache mix (flour and water)
Strips of newspaper
Balloon(s)
Primer / white matte paint
Acrylic paint (various colours)
Cardboard (cereal packets work great)
Masking tape
Black marker pen

Tools
Scissors*
(optional) Stanley Blade* or similar

*children should be supervised

Preparation:

Papier Mache Mix

There are several ways to make papier mache, and some involve cooking, but I went with the way I learned as a child: simple flour and water . It's cheap and easy. I've read that you should do two parts water for every one part flour, however I simply added water/flour as needed to get the right consistency. It should be gloopy like thick glue. The important thing is to sieve the flour first , otherwise the mixture will be lumpy.

Balloons

I needed a balloon large enough to make a framework for the papier mache to cover my whole head. Normal, birthday party balloons simply aren't big enough, so I used punch bag balloons. They blow up very large and have an elastic band on one end for kids to run around with them.

Blow the balloon up until it's larger than your head. I didn't use any measurements for this, I just went by eye. You could probably blow it up as large as it will go but I was concerned about it bursting so I stopped when it was a decent size (buy extra balloons just incase!). You should be able to untie the elastic band and remove it since it will just get in the way of the papier mache. Place the balloon in a suitable stand so that it remains steady while you apply the papier mache. I just used a humble cereal bowl.

Newspaper

Cut or rip the newspaper into strips about an inch wide. I found it easiest to cut from the spine then cut the strips in half to make two lots. I've heard that ripped paper gives a smoother join but I haven't tried it.