Giant African Bullfrog Pattern
For Paper Mache
$7
A giant ‘faux trophy mount’ bullfrog?
He’s big, he’s silly and he’s green – how could anyone not smile when they see him? And making him is fun, too!
Hang him directly on the wall, or use a wooden plaque for that faux taxidermy look.
Note – I recently designed a new frog mask pattern. To see it, click here.
How to make your bullfrog:
Print the pattern on cardstock.
Cut out the pieces and tape them together, and add foam balls for the eyes.
Add a layer of paper mache. I used blue shop towels mache for my frog, but newspaper would be easier.
Paint your giant frog wall sculpture, using your favorite photo as a model.
Finished size:
About 5.5” (13.97 cm) deep, 5” ( 12.7 cm) high and 6.5” (16.51) wide.
This pattern is different from most of the patterns on this site.
- It was one of the first patterns I ever designed, and these are the things that make it different:
- You make it with cardstock instead of cereal box cardboard. That means you need to stuff it before adding paper mache, to make it strong enough.
- I also used plastic shelf liner over the pattern pieces, to keep the wet paper mache from soaking into the cardstock. I’m not sure that was needed.
- I covered mine with blue shop towels for the paper mache, but the ones I used are no longer available. Newspaper works just fine.
- And I “painted” my giant frog with colored tissue paper, but it’s no longer available. It was also kind of expensive, so acrylic paint would make a lot more sense. 🙂
But even though this was one of my first patterns, it’s one of my favorites – he’s so silly that he always makes me smile. 🙂
Be sure to watch the videos to see how to put your frog sculpture together.
Note: If you’ll be saving your pattern to and iPhone or iPad, those devices like to hide your downloaded files. You can scroll down this page to see how to find them.
And remember – if you have any problems downloading your files or putting your pattern together, just let me know. I’m always happy to help. 🙂
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Putting the Frog Sculpture Pattern Pieces Together:
Adding the Eyes and Paper Mache:
In this video you can see that I used blue shop towels for the paper mache. The ones I used were stretchy, and nice to work with – but they’re no longer sold near me. You don’t need to search for them – just use newspaper strips and paste, instead. Or use paper mache clay – it would work really well for this project. You can find recipes for the paste and paper mache clay by clicking on the ‘recipes’ tab at the top of this site.
Adding the Color:
In this video, you can see how I used colored tissue paper and acrylic paint for my frog. I’ve tried finding the tissue paper recently, but it doesn’t seem to be available anymore. It was a lot of fun to play with, but go ahead and paint your frog with froggy colors of acrylic paint, instead. My colors are based on photos of a Giant African Bullfrog, but you can use the colors from any species of frog that you like. Do an online search for photos, and use your favorite one as your model.
To make this bullfrog sculpture you will need:
- 110# card stock
- A printer
- Scissors
- Clear plastic tape (like Scotch tape)
- Peel N’ Stick Clear Laminate Adhesive Shelf Liner*
- 1 1/2″ Styrofoam balls for the eyes.
- Glue gun, to attach the eyes
- Masking tape (both narrow and wide)
- Aluminum foil, shredded paper or foam packing peanuts for stuffing inside the patterns to support them while you add the paper mache.
- Old newspapers and paste, or blue shop towels and home-made gesso (that’s what I used) or a batch of my paper mache clay (find recipes by clicking the ‘recipes’ tab at the top of this site)
- Acrylic Paint and Acrylic Medium
- Colored tissue paper (optional, and now hard to find)
- Matte acrylic varnish
*You can find clear shelf liner in the housewares department of Walmart, or order it online. Or use clear tape. It’s to keep the card stock from getting wet and possibly warping when you add the paper mach.
Do you have a question or need help with your pattern?
There are two ways to contact me: The fastest way to get an answer is to leave a comment below. I read all comments and answer them as soon as I can, usually within a few hours. One of my readers might also chime in to help – we have a very supportive community here on this site.
If you prefer to reach me privately, you can send me an email.
I get a ton of spam and I don’t want your email to get lost, so please put “paper mache” in the subject line so your email won’t be accidentally deleted. If you don’t hear back from me within 24 hours, assume the cyberspace gremlins ate your email, and try again. 🙂
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Hi. Is it possible to make this template into a mask? I’m looking to make a frog mask that replicates the Portland Resistance Frog. This mount is very close, but don’t know if it’s big enough to go over someone’s head. Thanks!
Hi Emily. The pattern for the frog wall sculpture is only 5″ high and 7″ wide, so it isn’t big enough to cover your face. It would be possible to print it larger, but you still wouldn’t be able to see out. Did you see the frog mask pattern I made this year? Frogs put their eyes on top of their head, and we don’t, so I added an open mouth so you can see out. You could leave off the tongue if it looks too silly, and make the mouth less open if you play around with the area where the jaw is attached.
Another option is to look for a Frog Papercraft Mask Pattern on etsy.com. One of their artists might have come up with a design that would work better for you.
Have fun with your project. 🙂
I love this. How can I make sure I print it out really big to make it like double and adults face? Thanks!
Hi Monik. You can follow the instructions in this video to change the size of he pattern. But this pattern is for a wall sculpture, not a mask. I do have a frog mask pattern. If you’d like to see it, click here.
Wow, I love taxidermy but real mounts are very expensive. I am so surprised by how many animal mounts that you do. The frog is sort of funny because I have only seen one real frog head mount on TV.
As always, you done such a nice job. It is great how you are so willing to share with everyone of what you have learned. The pattern has so many pieces but works great to make the shape more real.
Thanks!!!!!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Hey,
I would like to do a frog mask, do you think that it is possible to do it with your pattern ?
I would like to use it for theater. And i also want to make epaulette with tree branch papier mache. Do you think i can use the papier mache clay recipe above wire ?
Forgive my bad english, i’m french.
And congrats for your work, it is fabulous.
Auriane
Hi Auriane. The paper mache clay is difficult to use around wire. It’s actually much easier to use paper strips with wire. It is possible to use the paper mache clay with wire, but it’s a little tricky to get it to look the way you want it to. Do a test first, and see if you like it. It might help if you wrap the wire with masking tape first.
The bullfrog could work as a mask, but if you wear it in front of your face you’d need to alter it. It’s almost as wide as my head, but much shorter, so you may need to print it about 50% larger (your local print shop will have paper big enough) and then you’d need to cut out part of the chin so it would fit. Frogs put their eyes on top of their heads, and we don’t – so you might have to look out of his nostrils.
If you use it as a headdress mask, it would work the size it is now. But you’d need to attach it to a cap of some kind. You can see how I did that with my Lion King lions here.
I hope this gives you some ideas you can use. 🙂
Mr Froggie finished with glaze
I love it! Did you actually use the patterns to cut out slabs of clay for this sculpture, or did you put the pattern together with cardstock, and then use that sculpture as the model for a free-hand sculpt? If I tried to explain your process to a friend who works with clay, what would I tell him?
I thought the glaze might not work but I’m pleased with how it turned out. Thanks for supplying the pattern Jonni.
The plan was to cut the clay to the pattern but there were more pieces than I thought there would be and too many joins to smooth over so I made the pattern with card and then used that to model the clay. Having something to take measurements from made it easier to get the right look. I made him wider through the mouth as my dad used to make a joke about wide mouthed-frogs 🙂
Hi Angela – your way does sound easier. I’ve tried to convince people to use the patterns to make models for drawings, too, but I don’t think I’ve convinced anyone yet. (But it’s still a good idea. 🙂 )
I think for drawing or paintings you wouldn’t need a 3D model (as it’s 2 dimensional 🙂 ) but for 3D work the paper model is excellent. I have a bear in progress now!
The finished frog
Yes I’m in a pottery club but it takes a while for the firings to come around. Will post when fired and glazed
Another view of him
I thought you might like to see my clay frog – based on your pattern which I made from paper first as a model
I tried the pattern but made my bull frog from clay.
Great bullfrog, Angela/ Will you be firing it in a kiln?
Sure will Jonni – and glazing it eventually. I will post a finished one when done but it might take a while as I don’t have my own kiln
Do you have a community center with a kiln you can use? I can’t wait to see how it turns out.