Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Athena's helmet

Maya loves to read books with references to Greek mythology. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree... I always loved mythology myself, ever since I learned about it in elementary school. I still remember the diorama I made in 5th grade, using one of my Barbie's as Pandora. Well this year for Halloween, Maya wants to be Athena, the goddess of wisdom, courage, and strategic warfare.

This is Athena's helmet I made with cardboard and newspaper.


This is how I started:




1. I constructed a frame using 1" strips of cardboard. It really helps to bend the cut cardboard pieces a bit before using them. I stapled the pieces together starting with the piece that goes around the head.


2. I then papier-mache the whole thing. A mixture of white flour with water until the consistency of pancake batter works great. I cut even strips of newspaper and covered the whole frame. I worked with the exterior first, then once dried, I flipped it over and did the interior.


This is the rock hard version ready for some paint.


3. I used Martha Stewart's multi-surface metallic acrylic craft paint available at Michaels


4. I added the feathers with hot glue in the channel created from the two fins glued to the top of the helmet.

5. Tulip puffy fabric paint worked great to create texture and dimension. 


6. After the puffy paint dried, I painted those areas with the metallic acrylic paint as well. 

Done! One Athena accessory down, several more to go!