The holiday season is here and Christmas is just around the corner, Which got me thinking... wouldn't a Christmas or a birthday gift be more of a surprise if the person was expecting the expected and received the unexpected? (try saying that 3 times fast!) And that's when I came up with the Decoy gift wrap, It's made to look like an obviously wrapped present, (A power drill in my case) but in reality it's something completely different (An iPod touch)And this gift isn't limited to only a only a power drill, the possibilities are endless you can make a decoy gift that's the most unfitting to the selected person! It's a lot of fun to make and you'll get a priceless reaction out of it, let's begin!
Step 1: Materials & supplies
Here's a list of all the stuff you'll need to make this project:
- Hot glue gun/Hot glue sticks
- Scissors
- Cardboard
- Old newspaper
- Flour
- Water
- Mixing bowl
- Duct tape/Scotch tape
- Saran wrap
- A decoy gift
- A real gift
- Wrapping paper
- Utility knife
Step 2: Preparing it
This project is made using paper mache, And I knew I couldn't just wrap the power drill in the goupy pulp, So I ended up putting a protective layer of saran wrap over the drill before the layers of paper mache. Once the drill is fully wrapped it's time to prepare the pulp!
Step 3: Paper mache strips & pulp
Just remember there is no exact recipe when making paper mache pulp, It's really all up to the maker, some people prefer having a thinner pulp and vise versa. Just start with about a cup of flour and slowly add warm water while stirring until it reaches desired consistency, I used a cup of flour to about 2 cups of warm water. Once the pulp is made you'll need to make the strips, I began by laying a sheet of the newspaper flat on the table, I then tore the newspaper into 1 inch wide strips Ripping long ways. You may also cut them using scissors, but I have hear that tearing them makes a stronger bond in the end. Once all this is prepared it's time to start layering!
Step 4: Paper mache layering
Paper mache is messy to work with so It's good to have a covered surface Which makes for an easier clean up! To start take a strip of the newspaper, dip it in the pulp and ring off any excess using you're first two fingers, Then start wrapping the Decoy object in all different directions (Random placement makes the strongest bond) once you have the layer complete, repeat the process again to create a second layer. It will take a full 24 hours for the paper mache completely dry.
Here's a time lapse of the coating process:
Here's a time lapse of the coating process:
Step 5: Releasing the mold
When the mold was completely dried I took a utility knife and cut a seem along the middle of it and all around it. then I slowly peeled the mold out from the drill. I was very surprised on how well it turned out! The drill was a little dirty in some area's but was unharmed overall and still worked great!
Step 6: Reinforcements
The two halves were too fragile to just glue back together so I decided to make some reinforcements. To start I took a few pieces of cardboard and cut them to the same shape as the handles, I secured them in place with some hot glue. I then took two smaller pieces and glued them to the handle supports and the section where the handle and the head connect. Next I cut a long piece of cardboard to the width of the head and glued it on the inside. I then did the same thing but at the bottom battery pack section, These will serve as inner supports when the two pieces are sealed together.
Step 7: Back together again
After putting strips of glue along the inner supports I put a glob of glue on the seem and spread it along it using a scrap piece of cardboard, You don't have to do this along the whole seem just on the area's like the top and bottom sides, I sealed up All the other area's with strips of duct tape. Afterwards I realized the bottom wasn't totally even so I trimmed it up a bit with some scissors, The iPod fit in perfectly I just used a few dabs of hot glue to keep it from falling. The project it almost complete and there's only one thing left to do...... Wrapping it up!
Step 8: Wrapping
To get the best "Obvious" look I ended up wrapped the whole present in three sections The base, the handle and the head, depending on what your decoy is, the wrapping process will always vary; So just try to get it nicely fitted and make sure none of the paper mache is being exposed.
Step 9: Weight
Due to restricted time I wasn't able to experiment with adding weight to it, but it definitely was something I thought about. Various objects have various sizes and weights, so depending on the object the remaining space could be filled with something lighter like a joint compound or possibly a denser substance such as concrete. Again, these are just idea's as I wasn't able to test them, so feel free to try your own idea's and see what works best for you!
Step 10: Complete!
Top the whole thing off with a bow and Vuala; The perfect gifting gag! I'd absolutely like to add weight to it the next time I attempt this, but overall the project was relatively easy to make and very satisfying to see the finished product!
I wish you the best of luck with you decoy and until next time, happy holidays!
I wish you the best of luck with you decoy and until next time, happy holidays!
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I once gave my brother-in-law a DVD where I'd replaced the inlay card with one I created in Photoshop so I looked like a porn film! His face was a picture as he tried to hide it from my sister!!!
Then another year, or maybe it was the same year, I said I wanted a camera and they come back with one of these disposable ones. then later on they gave me the actual gift which was a camcorder.
since then I have been doing the box in the box with a crap load of packing tape and hiding any sharp objects in the house. hehe
For Christmas, I gave my brother a gift card taped to a brick, and wrapped in 5 layers of various kinds of 'gift wrap' He almost missed the card because of the side he opened first XD.
but first he was presented the batteries, wrapped in cardboard tubes
assembled to look like a pipe maze. It was so darn funny.