Headless Bride from Duct Tape

Step 5 Papier Mache Time

To add a little strength to the duct tape torso you can cover it in papier maché.

There are lots of great instructables on how to papier maché, but here's how I do it:

Cut the newspaper into little strips.
Dilute the white glue with warm water.
Dip the strips of paper into the glue, squeeze most of it off then apply the strip.
Let it dry between layers. Using a hair dryer can help speed up the process.

After a couple layers of papier maché your torso should be hard and able to hold its shape without stuffing.

If you didn't use a long sleeve shirt, now would be the time to add some papier maché arms with the help of cardboard, newspaper and masking tape. Don't worry too much about anything past the elbows as you'll have gloves to cover the forearms.

Comments

[Dandolion]

You could save time and effort if you used plaster bandages instead of duct tape and paper mache. you would need to use plastic (think dry cleaning bags) or other mold release (vaseline) under the t-shirt But it would save a step and once dry it would be almost as light.

[ModMischief]

Plaster bandages would definitely work but I don't think you'd save much time or effort. Having used them on my Ludo mask I can tell you that you would need to do several layers of plaster to get it strong enough. Plaster seems to take longer to dry than just paper and glue, so you might even end up spending more time doing it that way.

Another thing to consider is how brittle plaster is. The duct tape and papier mache is still pretty flexible when done. This was a very good thing as I occasionally forgot to duck under doors. I don't know if plaster would have held up as well.

If you do decide to go the plaster route, skip the t-shirt and go topless. Just be sure to use lots of vaseline.