How a Vulture is Born...

Remember paper mache?  I think we've all done it as kids and I wanted to try it again for a halloween decoration - a vulture.  As we all hunker down for Hurricane Sandy, why not pull out the flour, water and newspapers and try and make something out of it?  It doesn't have to be a vulture, but maybe a pumpkin (cover a balloon)? 
Materials:
flour and water for the paper mache
newspaper strips
tray or bucket to mix paper mache
chicken wire (about $9 for a small roll)
Wire cutters
Pliers
Piece of wood to use as a stand
screws (to screw the vulture into the wood)
craft paint - black/white/red/green
black flowers
Small skull or bones to place beneath him

Start by using the wire cutters and carefully cutting some chicken wire to the size you'd like your vulture.  I used about 2 feet.

I shaped the wire into a imperfect football shape and then used a bit more wire to make two cylinders for his legs and I wired them on.  Whe you purchase your chicken wire on a roll, they use long pieces of wire to hold the roll together - that is the wire I used to attach the legs.

I used a piece of balled up newspaper and taped it into the shape of the head and neck, then taped it onto the wire body frame, about half way between the top of the frame and the ground.

Here is my framework, ready for the messy, messy part.  Somehow I didn't remember paper mache being such a sloppy mess, but was glad that I did this in the garage and used garbage bags to protect the area!  By the way, don't do this project right after a manicure!

 Looking a little more like a mummy than a vulture at this point.  To mix the paper mache, I used about 2 cups of flour and just mixed enough water in to make it a loose paste, sort of like a thick pancake batter (maybe a cup of water?).  I tore the newspaper into strips and carefully dipped it into the better and then ran the strip through my fingers to take off the excess.  Then I started to wrap.  I had to wait for one side to dry and then turn the vulture over and do the bottom since the strips wouldn't stay on upsidedown.

Doesn't everyone hang a vulture on their planter in the front of their house to dry?  My neighbors must think I'm nuts, but this was a great way to completely dry him!  Once dry, I painted the body black, the head red and the beak white with a black tip.  I also painted in the eyes.

The cost of black feathers was a little more than what I wanted to spend, but I found these black flowers at Michaels and thought the petals had that cartoonish look I was going for and so I pulled them apart and cut the petals off.

 The finished product!  His name is Marvin!  I used a coat hanger, bent to look like feet and screwed the whole thing to my board, which I painted green to blend in with the grass.  A small skull completes the look, but I will be adding some bones as well.  Unfortunately, with Hurricane Sandy coming to our area, he'll be enjoying his bones inside until Halloween!

See how the petals make a cute feathery necklace and bottom of his legs?

I will also build up his claws with some more paper mache since I think the wire is too spindly for such a large bird, but that will have to wait as I start preparing for our storm and bringing in everything that could fly away - including Marvin here!