Most of us have a fascination with frogs which begins with collecting frogspawn as a child and watching the hatched tadpoles grow into fully fledged adults.
My affinity with frogs arose from spending hours outdoors as a child when I dug myself a little pond which had sticklebacks, newts and plenty of frogs in it!
If you also adore amphibians or know someone else who does, you might like to try making this funky frog from one of my original designs.
The video and instructions below will show you how to make it. A downloadable template is also available to buy to help you recreate it at home. If you get stuck, hop into my free forum where you can ask questions and pick my brains.
You don't have to copy mine exactly - you can paint and decoupage your frog with any colour or design that you can imagine and then brag to your friends about how creative you are!
And don't forget to join my mailing list for notification of more designs to make yourself!
Frog Downloadable Template £15
From The Shop
Your pattern and instructions will arrive immediately with only a one off payment, so that you can start straight away and make your frog again and again!
If you encounter any problems downloading your file or making your frog do let me know and I will do my best to help!
How To Make A Posh Paper Mache Frog
Materials List
This frog is designed to hang on the wall, but it can just as easily lie on a flat surface if you wish - it measures approximately 25cm h x 18cm l x 4cm w.
I make my templates from recycled wooden board and cut them out using a scroll saw or jigsaw. If you don't have access to these you can cut your templates from stiff carboard or corrugated card using scissors or a craft knife which will achieve a very similar result (although not quite as strong).
To do it yourself at home you will need:
Household printer
Stiff carboard or corrugated card
Pencil or Sharpie
Sharp scizzors or a craft knife
Newspapers and magazines
Hot or cold glue gun plus glue sticks
Cheap plastic bowls and a butter knife
Stick blender or food mixer
Sieve or strainer
Paper mache mix (see recipies on my Blog)
Sandpaper or thick white paint
Water and PVA glue
Acrylic paint and brushes
Cement or flour and a dust mask
Yacht varnish and a D-ring (optional)
Eight steps to making your frog:
If you prefer, you can draw out your own frog template - you can easily find pictures online or in books that you can sketch from or trace around. But if you want to make one just like mine, you can download my original frog template that I use to create my own sculptures and make it as many times as you like.
You will need white paper or tracing paper and a pencil if you are making your own template or access to a printer if you are reproducing my template. Paper mache recipies are available in my Blog. Watch the video below and remember, you can troubleshoot any problems you come across in the forum.
Once you have downloaded or drawn out your template, cut it out using scizzors or a craft knife. Draw around your template using a sharpie onto a stiff piece of card such as mountboard or corrugated card. If you are using corrugated card avoid using folded areas as the bend in the card will weaken the structure of the frog. If you are using wooden board, cut the shape from the board using a scroll saw.
Take a sheet of newspaper and roll it lengthways then twist it along its length, it should stay like this if you roll and twist tight enough. Repeat until you have a pile of twisted newspaper strands.
Using your glue gun, secure one end to your frogs body, then continue to glue the newspaper strand down, twisting and bending it to build up the form of its body. This is a unique method that I have developed for sculpting and is similar to building a coil pot in clay.
Mix up your posh paper mache mix - you can find the recipe on my blog page. I have also added traditional paper mache recipies in case you don't like the idea of using cement. Cover the whole of the frogs body with the paper mache using a blunt butter knife or similar tool to sculpt the form. If you are using paper mache with cement use old utensils and do not wash them in a household sink as the mix will stick to things and block drains.
Once dry (which will take up to a week) sand the surface with some coarse sandpaper to make it smooth - wear a mask to prevent dust inhalation. If you don't want to sand it or don't have any sandpaper you can make the surface smoother by painting it with a couple of coats of thick white house paint or acrylic. The white paint will also act as a primer coat for painting, bonding to any leftover dust on the surface of the frog. For best results you can both sand and paint the frog.
Now it's time to paint your frog - use your imagination to paint it an interesting colour or design. Acrylic paints are best for this.
Have a look through your magazines and try to find interesting pictures or amusing words that would enhance the look of your frog. Tabloid magazines are better than glossy magazines for this job as the paper is thinner. You can glue these onto its surface using PVA glue. Painting a final layer of PVA over the whole body will also act as a varnish or you can give it some more shine by varnishing it with yacht varnish.
Finally, if you would like your frog to hang on the wall you need to attach a D-ring to the back using a small screw. The video below is a demonstration to help you make your frog using these steps.
