Papier Mache Shark Head Prop for Costume
Introduction: Papier Mache Shark Head Prop for Costume
I made a shark head with the open jaw out of papier mâché for a Halloween costume a few years back. The shark needed to look life sized and somewhat menacing, as though it was about to jump out of the water and get you.
It took about about a week total (to allow for drying time between layers and painting).
Here are the steps I took to make it!
Step 1: Supplies
For this project, you need:
-An old corrugated cardboard box to create the shape of the cylindrical body
-A Latex Balloon (10" or so - depending on the shark head size you want!)
-Packing tape
-Newspaper
-Glue (several type work - White, Wood, Tacky Glue)
-Flour (for papier mâché paste)
-Water (for papier mâché paste)
-Heavy grade brown paper bags, for papier mâché, ripped up in small pieces and removing all sections of the bag that have glue remnants or are raw edged (you want the teared edges to create a good seal of each piece)
-White Styrofoam scraps to create the teeth
-Rasp or sanding block to shape the styrofoam teeth
-1" styrofoam ball, cut in half to create the eyes
-Acrylic paints - White, Black, Red (and gray, pink, if you don't want to mix your own)
-Paintbrushes - larger and smaller for detail work (around the teeth)
-Pink fabric to line the inside of the mouth & Hot glue to attach fabric (optional)
-Clear gloss finish to make shark (and it's teeth) look slick and wet - I use either Elmer's Clear glue or a Decoupage Gloss
Step 2: Shaping of the Shark Head
1. Take your cardboard box and break it down. Next, you want to roll it out along the length of the corrugated cardboard (with the "lines" of the cardboard), to get the cardboard to coil naturally into a cylinder shape.
2. Inflate your balloon to the desired size and knot the end.
3. For your shark body, create a cylinder that is the same diameter as the thickest part of your latex balloon. Staple or tape the cylinder cardboard into place so it won't come undone. Let the balloon hang out at the top of that cylinder opening, "nose" or knot up. It should hold in there without tape, but let's go ahead and secure it with a little packing tape. It doesn't have to look pretty - it will all be covered with papier mâché.
4. Get your newspaper and shape some crumpled pieces to flesh out the rest of your shark nose. 286
Use pictures in books or on the internet for inspiration! You can affix the newspaper where you want it with packing or duck tape. For the very tip, which is a little flat and pointy, I used a long strip of folded newspaper and folded that strip over the whole point - then taped that into place. Have fun with it! Remember, this is your creation. You can even do a Hammerhead Shark, if you want!
5. Finally, cut out 2 long banana shaped pieces of cardboard, the length of half the diameter of the shark body cylinder. Affix them above and below the desired opening to create the jaw. They are both affixed like a "sad face" shape, one at the very top of the cardboard cylinder - where the cardboard meets the balloon, overlapping a little at the top; the other one above that, directly taped onto the balloon - this creates the shark mouth. See the pictures for detail!
When you are happy with the shark head, you are now ready to papier mâché!
Step 3: Papier Mâché Fun!
It's time to lock in your shark shape! The first 1-2 layers are important as they give you a springboard to work off of, especially over the tip nose area made with balloon and newspaper (the cardboard cylinder is already pretty much shaped).
1. Prepare your papier mâché paper - my paper of choice is torn brown craft paper, wet down and crumpled tightly to keep it moist, but wringing out all excess water. You can use thick brown shopping bags instead of store bought craft paper, but make sure remove all glue remnants and tear away all edges/seams of the bag. You want to prep a bunch into different sized pieces, so you don't run out in the middle of paper mâché-ing! 636