Made by Isis Vandelannote
Hi all,
It has been a while since I posted some of my work here, so here I go. I recently finished two nutcrackers (and a drum to go with it) to display in our bakery as Christmas decoration. My mum and I like to go all the way with our decorations, and this year is no exception. Sadly, I did not take the time to take pictures of the “making of”. Basically, I started with just a wooden base (about 40cm by 30 cm) and a wooden beam (3cm by 3cm). I then made a rough sketch of the nutcracker on cardboard, cut the figure out, and attached that as a pattern to the wooden beam. From there it was a bit eyeballing on shaping the nutcracker in “3D”. I admit that it is not a very traditional nutcracker, given that it lacks the typical mouth, but I liked it better this way. I covered the whole thing with paper stripes and paste, and did a final coat with paper mache clay. After that dried, I painted it using acrylic paint.
Hope you like it – and a very merry Christmas to all!
(p.s the lighting is not great for the pictures, but I think it does the job)
Wonderful!
Isis, I am truly impressed with your work…I love the Nutcrackers and your carousel horse is amazing. your other characters are also just fun. Your work makes me “smile” you have done your job!!
Absolutely magical! You are very artistic and the colours are just lovely. Merry Christmas to you, too!
They not only look good the construction of them looks good too. Well made! What other things have you made?
Thanks Ali! I’m happy myself with the construction as well. They are quite steady when they are moved around.
I’ve made a bit of everything really. The things that I am most proud of are my carousel horse (still a hit every time we put it on display), my giraffe, elephant and baby gorilla. I have also made some easter bunnies, an egg topiary, a deer, bambi, a little pikachu, some polar bears, two lambs…
I’ll put some of the URL’s here. If you like, you can check them out 🙂
https://www.ultimatepapermache.com/carousel-horse-made-with-paper-mache
https://www.ultimatepapermache.com/giraffe-wabi-sabi
https://www.ultimatepapermache.com/african-baby-elephant-mah-moet
https://www.ultimatepapermache.com/baby-gorilla-theodore-done
https://www.ultimatepapermache.com/paper-mache-easter-bunnies
I remember the carousel horse. I love carousel horses and so far have not made one although I have the sketches done. Yours is delightful and an inspiration. Thanks for sharing.
They are adorable. Such a great display
Hi Isis. Your customers must have so much fun seeing how you decorate for the holidays! 🙂
Hi Jonni,
Most of our customers enjoy our displays, and are always looking forward to the next display as well. I think I’ve reached my goal when people get sincerely happy – or even sometimes nostalgic – when they look at our display and the pieces I’ve made, or when little kids are totally amazed by the “big” sculptures. For instance, yesterday a little kid asked where the “horse of saint Nicholas” (my carousel horse – it is on display every year from November until the 10th of December to celebrate Saint Nicholas) went. So we had to tell him that it went to the stables because it is very cold now. As little as he was (about 4 years), coming from a farmers family, he understood that immediately. Some of the adults even take pictures to show to their families at home. That’s the kind of stories that make me happy. It’s that kind of “magic” that we’re after every time. 🙂