Papier mache turkey in a few easy steps

Yup, that's right. I made a papier mache turkey.

It all started when I foolishly popped up and said I'd participate in the cat shelter's adoptathon weekend by decorating one of the cages. What did that mean? It meant I got home from work around 1 a.m. three nights in a row and stayed up till 3-4 a.m. working on the dang thing. I swear, its waddle was still drying when I carted it into the store!

So here's a blow-by pictorial essay on the process. Many apologies for the photos, which were taken by cell phone.

1. Build your frame. Newspaper and masking tape make excellent bases. Plus the supplies are cheap (and/or free, if you happen to work for a newspaper. Which I do.) Some folks use dowels and wire for support, but my projects have always stood on their own via application of loads of masking tape.

2. We have the basic structure in place, including a head. I was going to buy a Styrofoam ball at Michael's for the head, but OMG! Have you seen how much those suckas cost? A liberal bunching of newspaper did the trick.

3. I covered the wings and tail feathers with more newspaper, then decided to cover the papier mache parts with kraft paper (I used a little more than one roll, and they were $1 a roll. Cheap.) You can always cover your structure to a smooth finish (sanding if needed) and paint, but I didn't have the time. The kraft paper ended up being a great compromise. I also added some colorful paper to the wings.

The kitties also like the tops of their cages covered, so I bought an inexpensive piece of soft brown cloth (currently being repurposed into a pillowcase for The Elephant) to serve as the "roof." It also nicely hides where the body parts attach.

4. This is the pre-head photo. I added some T-Day fixings and a cute little flower arrangement to the top. The turkey is the guest of honor 'cause I don't eat turkey! The sign says "Trot on Over." Hah hah. I'm so funny.

5. The rear view. The sign here says, "Please don't say this is THE END of our relationship." Get it? See. Told ya I was funny.

6. My sister's Evil Kitty (you know ... the kind who's going to eat you when you die) claimed the space as A Room of Her Own. I admit that I considered just packing her along and saying she was one of the kitties up for adoption ... but I do love my sister and everything.

7. And here's the finished project, in the store. Unfortunately, this is the only surviving photo of the head. The wonderful folks who packed everything up after the adoptathon recycled everything except a wing. Too bad, as I intended to keep the head as a talisman of some sort. Oh well.


The cage decorating also was a contest -- the public voted on their favorite. Guess who won? Yup:)

You can't win 'em all

How about a quickish photo recap kind of deal of this weekend's scrapbook convention, CKC in Seattle?

I only took three classes -- no volunteering or crops this year. I tried to leave plenty of time for shopping at the vendor fair, but I STILL did not see everything. There were, however, a ton of great deals this year. There always are -- Seattle is the last stop of the year for CKC. But this year it seemed like more purposeful targeting of the inexpensive stuff. There was more than one dollar booth, for example.

My cool find were these paper kits for $2.50 each. There's at least 20 sheets of nice paper plus all these embellies. Definitely worth much more than $2.50. My only complaint? Why did I buy only two??


I noticed one trend: Flowers and butterflies shaped by wire with sheer fabric and bling details. I found one booth where they also came on a long wire, but this booth's display definitely caught my attention. Pretty, isn't it?



Classes were hit and miss, as usual. The first, by SEI, was cool because we got a ton of stuff. Getting a ton of stuff usually sends the class to the top of the list since even if I don't like what's being taught, I can use the ton of stuff to my own liking:) Second class was about masking/misting, and I liked this class. The supplies weren't too plentiful, but they were gorgeous. I also won some in the door prize drawing -- Jenni Bowlin and October Afternoon. Good stuff:) During the class, I made this layout:


The final class was by Creating Keepsakes. I'm glad it was my freebie for signing up for the Creating Keepsakes Club. It was a simple summer album class ... and there was so very little about it that was original! We got a ton of 8x8 paper and an album ... and about 10 flowers/brads. The lo's were pretty ugly, too. So -- I'll repurpose the goodies and make my own originality, lol. CK has been very disappointing, though. I have a feeling the company is struggling. I wish it would listen to suggestions and not keep itself stuck in a mode that obviously is disintegrating ... But I'm going off topic here.

Finally, I had entered the layout contest, but once again this year did not win. I've only won once ... which I suppose I need to be grateful for, and I am! I just want to win again, lol. This is my layout, with a couple of detail shots:




Anyway, I have a couple of random things left to clear out of the publish-to-the-blog file, then I'm hopeful I'll have the final banner post up:) I also need to get a giveaway in the works ... I've been the lucky recipient of RAKs and want to return that generosity! So spread the word and once I have enough followers, I'll get one going.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm already a weiner!

I was pretty excited to hear I'd won a RAK, something that never happens:) I was even more excited when it arrived, lol.

I got a wonderful assortment of goodies that's already all coordinated for a journal. See?





Thanks, Nicole!