Tutorial: Vintage-look Halloween Cat Trinket Box

Let's make Halloween cats!

Here's what you need:

a round paper maché ornament and a paper maché box, black and orange scrapbook paper, black Fimo clay, Mod Podge, some pipe cleaners, ribbon,  an ink pad, hot glue and E6000, and paint and brushes. Let's get started!

 

Draw on your eye and mouth areas, and paint them with white or cream colored paint.

 Paint the lips and nose orange.

Paint in the black, and add details such as the eyes, teeth, and freckles, as on the cat on the left. Once those are done, take a dry brush with black paint and brush it around the edges, in the freckle area, and on the teeth, as on the cat on the right.

Then, using the cream colored paint, paint the whiskers and add some highlights to the nose and lips.

 For the ears, take a marble sized ball of black Fimo clay and shape it into an ear shape. Make sure the bottom of the ear will fit on the round head of the cat. Bake according to directions and when cooled, paint the inside of the ear with the cream paint.

Now let's do the box.

Give the lid of the box a good coat of Mod Podge and place it face down on the paper you have chosen for the top. Carefully cut around the top with an exacto knife.

Paint the bottom of the box black. Measure the side of the box from the bottom of the box to right where the top of the lid touches, and cut a piece of paper to fit. Ink the edges of the paper before you attach it to the box with Mod Podge. Coat this side, the bottom of the box, and the top of the lid with Mod Podge to seal. (Option: Instead of covering the sides of the box, paint the them with black stripes.) Wrap a ribbon around the side of the lid and make a little bow tie. Attach with glue. (I like to use E6000 with a dab of hot glue to hold in place until the E6000 sets.)

 For the party hat, make a cone template and then cut out your desired paper and glue. Attach a black pipe cleaner around the bottom of the hat with hot glue. Watch your fingers! Stuff the hat with a little tissue paper to make it less likely to crush, and then glue the hat onto the top of the cat's head. Once the hat's in place, glue on the ears. Put a dab of E6000 on them, and then a little hot glue to hold them in place while the E6000 sets.

 

Glue the head onto the top of the box, and then glue a pipe cleaner around the bottom of the head where the neck would be. This will help stabilize the head.

 

Embellish the hat and the front of the box with buttons, die, trinkets, or pom poms...whatever you like best. Have fun with it!

 Here's looking at you!