Delightful Little Monsters - by Tori West

My youngest grandson loves monsters - he loves to draw them, make up stories about them, etc.  I am lucky enough to be his art teacher via Skype, so I decided we should try making our own.  We used Delight™ Air Dry Modeling Compound, materials found around the house, and lots of silliness and imagination to come up with our creations.

Tools and materials for monster making:

-  Delight™Air Dry Modeling Compound
-  newspaper, or other scrap paper
-  scraps of cardboard and/or card stock
-  white glue
-  rocks that have been washed - size is up to you.  The ones we used were about 1" to 1 1/2"
-  decorative glass filler material pieces
(flat on bottom and rounded on top,
available from most hobby stores
in the floral department)
-  scissors
-  hole punch & black construction paper
-  chenille stems
-  masking tape
- acrylic paints/paintbrushes
- your favorite sculpting tools
-  Creative Paperclay® modeling material for teeth if you choose to give your monster some teeth
- optional - work board or surface you can leave the monster attached to while you are working on it

To begin the monster, decide how many legs you'd like it to have then select some suitable rocks for the feet.  Wrap 2 chenille stems around the rocks and twist them together to form the legs.  If you want longer legs, twist in more chenille stems as you go.

Next make a body shape from crumpled newspaper and wrap with a layer of paper.  Tape that together, then spread the top of the stems on the legs apart just enough to be able to put the body shape on top.  Tape your assembly together.  

If you want arms and hands for your monster, push some twisted 

chenille stems into the body and then glue or tape some cardboard cut-out hand shapes to the ends.

Glue on a layer of newspaper strips to strengthen the body and secure it to the legs and arms.  If your monster is large, you may want to add two layers of glue/newspaper over top.

While the glue is drying you might want to sculpt some teeth.  Creative Paperclay® is a better choice for this since it is harder and can hold it's shape better.  Not having a specific plan in mind (because that is the most fun way to make monsters) I just sculpted a bunch of teeth - some pointy, some flat, various sizes, etc.

When the glue on the monster body is dry, begin covering the monster with Delight™ starting with the bottom of the feet and working upwards.  Use small pieces of clay and work your way up a little bit at a time.  I stuck my monster down on a work board so I don't have to keep picking him up and having the legs dangle while I'm working on it.  If you have trouble getting the clay to stick when you come to the body section, add a thin layer of glue and let that get tacky before adding more clay.  Again, it is helpful to add small bits at a time rather than trying to cover large areas at once.

Add the teeth and eyes to your sculpture, but set the teeth in lightly so they can be removed when it's time to paint the monster.  The eyes are made by placing a black punched construction paper circle on the clay and then adding the glass filler bead over it.

Before painting, remove the teeth and place in order on a strip of tape.
I also numbered them and marked a "T" or "B" on the backs (for top or bottom row)
just in case they came loose from the tape.
***He looks a little worried about his teeth*** 

Paint as desired and replace teeth!

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