*My Version $18*
*Inspiration picture from Grandin Road*
The month of September is half way over, and that means that Halloween projects in our household have kicked up into full gear! Earlier this month I wrote an entry about some of the Halloween projects I’d like to take on before Halloween this year. All of the projects were based off of expensive decorations from Grandin Road. One of these projects was the Mummy Head on a Platter. It retails for $70. I knew I could recreate this project for way less and still acheive the look and feel. I’m so glad I gave this project a try! Super easy and it’s going to look great with all my other decorations. Above you’ll see the look I was trying to achieve from Grandin Road.
Materials Needed:
- -1 Styrofoam head ($4 at beauty supply store)
- Platter of your choice ($1 at Dollar Store)
- Spray paint (if needed to spray platter) ($7 at Lowes)
- Spray Adhesive, Drop Cloths, Scissors, & Exacto Knife (owned)
- Saw (to cut part of the head off) (owned)
- 3 packages of cheese cloth ($2/each at Lowes)
- 2 tea bags & water (to dye cheesecloth) (owned)
Total Cost of Project: $18
1. You will want to dye your cheese cloth using tea bags. This will give the bright white cheese cloth an aged effect. I simply brought 3 cups of water to a boil then seeped 2 tea bags. Let the tea come to room temperature, and then start putting a package at a time of cheese cloth into the tea mixture. Letting each package sit in the tea for about 2-3 minutes. Then I would quickly run it under cold water, ring it out, and then set it to the side. I did this technique 2 to 3 times with each package of cheese cloth. When you start to rinse the tea out of the cloth the color will start to come off. This is why I repeated this process multiple times. After the color was to my liking I let it air dry over night.
2. Next you will want to spray paint your platter. I found this awesome platter at the dollar store for $1! I knew it would be perfect for what I needed it for, but I knew I would need to change the color. I applied a few coats of a crackle silver spray paint until I was happy with the color/texture.
3. Next you will want to saw off a small portion of the head, so that the head sits lower to the plate. I let my husband handle this part. {I’m not fond of sharp objects!}
4. You will also want to carve out a portion of the mouth.
I worked on some of this, but Mr. Woodsy felt the mouth needed a little extra help! Now it’s already to be wrapped up!
5. Next you will want to lay down some drop cloths either in your garage or outside (since you’ll be using spray adhesive). You will also want to start cutting your cheese cloth into small pieces (this makes it much easier to adhere onto the head).
6. Now you will want to start adhering one package of cheese cloth to the head. Lightly spray one portion of the head and start applying small pieces of cloth (there is really no precise way to do this). *Remember spray adhesive is very sticky, so be careful not to get it on your hands. If your hands start instantly sticking to the cloth. Go wash your hands and start working on the head again. Keep applying layers of the spray adhesive and cloth to the head. Once your done with the first pack you’ll want to apply the second and half of the third package to the head, but without any spray adhesive. You will want the head to start having a more organic look.
7. Your almost done. Place the mummy head on the platter. Take the last half of the cheese cloth and cut 3-4 inch wide strips. Wrap these around the neck of the mummy.
You now have a mummy head on a platter! Here are a few more photo’s of this delectable creature:
FYI…. If you would have got the male foam head for hat displays ($5 amazon)…the men one have ears and gives it a better look. I used that instead. Thanks for the tutorial it looks great!
Hi Angela, thanks for the tip! We made this years ago–so maybe we should update it and make a male version!