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Day of the Dead Skull

Day of the Dead Skull by Raul Aguilar

Step by step guide to make colourful skulls in ancient Mexican tradition.

  • AuthorAuthor:
  • Date addedAdded: October 27, 2002
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  • Document pagesPage: 1 of 4

You will need...

- Styrofoam or florist balls
- Powdered Corn Starch
- Carpenter's glue
- Brown paper bags
- Plasticine or other non-hardening modeling medium
- Newspaper


Preparing the corn starch
Preparing the corn starch


Step One - Preparation


Mix one tablespoon of powdered corn starch with one cup cold water. Mix until completely dissolved. Transfer to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the corn starch starts to bubble and it becomes transparent.



Pour in a container and let it cool. Be careful, it will be very hot!
Add one tablespoon of carpenter's glue.

Pouring the corn starch into a container
Pouring the corn starch into a container


Tearing strips
Tearing strips


Use your fingers to tear the brown grocery bags into small strips. Don't use scissors - You want the paper strips to have a feathered edge.



Do the same with the newspaper. Tear it into small thin strips.

Tearing the newspaper into strips
Tearing the newspaper into strips


Selecting a styrofoam ball
Selecting a styrofoam ball


Select a styrofoam or florist ball about the size of a tennis ball.



Cover the styrofoam ball with a layer of plasticine.
Model the plasticine into the shape of a skull. Use a modeling tool to add detail.

Covering the ball and modeling
Covering the ball and modeling


Adding features
Adding features


Add small pieces of plasticine to create cheek bones and smooth your skull with your fingers.