Ellie the Elephant, Sally the Seal & geronimo the giraffe

Made by Becky Martin

This was our first attempt at paper mache. We needed some animals for a parade float that fit the theme “The Show Must Go On”. After hours of scouring the internet, I came across some of Jonni’s YouTube videos of her paper mache masks. She makes it look effortless, so I decided to give it a try. [See armatures below.]

After downloading the elephant mask and piecing if together, I made a 3 Dimensional sculpture to fit it (also inspired by Jonni’s baby elephant sculpted) I used an overhead projector (the old school kind) to determine the size of the body. I was surprised by how amazingly easy it was all coming together. After a quick thought of how awesome it would be if the elephant sprayed water, I took myself to the Tractor Supply store to get some advice. The sales associate was extremely helpful in determining everything I needed to make this project work. I bought a 15 gallon sprayer, some hose and some connectors (more on this at a later time, as my plans are to create a blog here on Jonni’s page).

I ran the hose through the elephant’s trunk before stuffing the head, continuing the hose throughout the sculpture and down the leg before stuffing the body. Then connected the sprayer to a 12 volt marine deep cycle battery.

The Seal was made with the deer head mask but I modified it with a longer snout and wider head to make it look like a seal. Again, used an overhead projector to determine the size of the amateur. We placed a DC motor in the nose of the seal to make a ball spin
(Again, I plan on creating a blog on this as well)

The giraffe was made with Jonni’s giraffe mask and an overhead projector for was to determine the size of this armature as well. It stands just under 6 foot tall.

My YouTube channnel. See closeup videos of all of the animals there.

Also, here’s a link to see all the parade floats.

Related Posts:

Paper Mache Giraffe Pattern

DIY Giraffe for a Baby’s Nursery

Make a Baby Elephant Wall Sculpture