Things to Make and Do... with Boris K: Part Two

be sure to visit Frankensteinia for more Boris.




Don't put away the scissors + craft paper just yet. It's time for my second installment of Craft Experiments with Boris Karloff. This selection may be an obvious choice, the Clothespin Theater. Well, in this case the re-adapted No-Clothespin Theater. I have a tendency to disregard directions. This project is basically a papercraft diorama. The perfect showcase to stage a Boris K mini-production. Today's dramatization will be the windmill scene from Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein.

Here are the original instructions from Things to Make and Do.
click to enlarge


***
Project Number Two
No-Clothespin Theater

Bring back the internet images of Boris K as used in Project Number One. Again print them out in a desired size on cardstock paper. Embellish with paint if you like and cut out figures with an exacto knife.

You may cut out each character using the original backgrounds or trim closely and glue them on colored cardstock. Spray mount works best, but elmers glue may be used sparingly. Cut out background cardstock in desired shape. Be sure to use a strait edge when cutting the bottom edge. This will help your characters stand up better.

I have opted to disregard the clothespins in this project and make each character free standing. For stability, glue, paste or sew each character cutout to another sheet of cardstock or old folder. After image has been fixed trim around each cutout. You may use with pinking sheers for a decorative edge.

Cut two notches on each end about a 1/2 inch long. Make tabs of double ply cardstock or folder scraps [1/2 inch high x 2 inches long]. Line up one tab with one notch on your character. The tab should sit perpendicular to the bottom edge of your paper character. Fit two tabs to each character. Now they are ready for free standing. It's very similar to a paperdoll stand.

When making your theater, choose a medium to large sized box. Cover with craft paper and corresponding scene imagery from magazines, discarded books or internet printouts. For simplicities sake I just used random forest images. Now, set the stage.

If you'd like a few readmade paper characters, feel free to click, enlarge + download the images below.

...and if anyone should take on this Boris K Craft Challenge, please take pictures and share the love. Either post a link to your images in my comments box or email images to: bakingwithmedusa[at]gmail.com

Things to Make and Do... with Boris K: Part One

be sure to visit Frankensteinia for seven days with Boris.

One of my favorite books as a child was Douglas Downey's 1976 publication, Things to Make and Do. I used to poor over the pages planning which project to do next. To this day, I still live to make things. So when it came time to whip up a few posts for the Boris Karloff Blogathon I naturally gravitated towards craft. My two blogathon contributions are a bit like chocolate + peanut butter to me... [stay with me] if crafts are great on their own + Boris K is somewhere beyond awesome, what do I get when I mix the to together? Limitless joy, that's what. I decided to revisit the old tride + true handicraft bible that is Things to Make and Do. I took two original projects and reworked them with Boris in mind. Now, on with the experiments.

Here are the original instructions from Things to Make and Do.
click to enlarge

***
Project Number One
Boris Karloff Finger-Puppets

First comb the internet for Boris images. Print chosen images on cardstock. Cut, paste + Frankenstein together your collected bits of Boris. Most Boris images tend to be black+white, so feel free to add color with paint or paperscraps. Cut two finger sized circles side by side on the bottom of each puppet.

Once your puppets are complete, trace the outside of each on an other sheet of cardstock or old folder. Cut out each backing silhouette slightly smaller than the original. Don't forget to cut out the finger holes as well. The backing will provide extra stability.

Line up the backing silhouette on the back of your puppet. Trace an outline for easy placement when gluing. Now, glue the backing to your puppet using glue or spray mount. Make sure to use your outlines as a placement guide.

Once your placement is set, press together from the center moving towards each edge. It's helpful to do this using a bone folder or the edge of a ruler.

Now your Boris K Puppets are ready for action.

If you'd like a few readymade Boris K Finger-Puppets, feel free to click, enlarge + download the images below. There are also a few Boris heads to choose from, if your up for the challenge.

... and if anyone should take up this Boris K Craft Challenge, please take picture and share the love. Either post a link to your images in my comments box or email images to: bakingwithmedusa[at]gmail.com

T'anta Wawas*

this is the bread baking portion of the T'anta Wawas baking project i've been working on for snippets. like i mentioned before T'anta Wawas are an Andean traditional Day of the Dead bread. they are left as offerings to the dead in cemeteries and enjoyed by living participants during the Dia de los Muertos celebrations. T'anta Wawas are special breads baked into the shapes of children or pets. They are similar to the Pan de Muerto traditions of Mexico. the bread are often baked with plaster face masks very similar to babydoll faces. i was very interested in trying to make my own T'anta Wawas. i mean how could i resist, it's craft + baking all rolled up into one delicious project. here are a few visual examples of traditional T'anta Wawas of Peru.

i made my own face masks from a flour based clay days before starting the bread portion of this project. you may find my tutorial here. now this was my first try at yeast bread baking. to my surprise it was quite simple. i've always avoided recipes that called for yeast, fear of the unknown i suppose. i basically followed this recipe for Pan de Muerto, but doubled the portions. i also added one tablespoon of vanilla to the milk mixture + a generous amount of cinnamon to the flour mixture. instead of forming the dough into traditional cross-bone loaves, i made simplistic baby forms. below are a few sketches i made from traditional examples i found online.

since this was my first attempt at yeast bread baking i found a few helpful tips online as well. this tutorial from chanit in israel was a big help. it's not for Tanta Wawas, but it gives good visual examples of creative bread shaping. this post on "the fundamentals of making yeast bread" was also a huge help. i should have taken photos of my bread baby making endeavors, i just got to involved. basically i just made it up as i went along. one helpful tip i found was, to divide your dough with a sharp knife or dough cutter, instead of trying to pull it apart. also, be sure to prick the dough with a fork in thick areas.

i brushed an egg wash on the finished bread babies + sprinkled them with a cinnamon/sugar mixture as well as colored sugar crystals. i'm really pleased with the results. they taste pretty good, too. i will definitely be making more of these in the future.

be sure to keep a look out for the Day of the Dead issue of snippets. you may find more of my T'anta Wawas photos here.

baby shapes sketches

finished T'anta Wawas

babyface*

i've been working on a baking/craft project for snippets online craft magazine. they are working on a Day of the Dead issue that is soon to be released. i decided to make T'anta Wawas or bread babies. T'antas Wawas are an Andean day of the dead baking tradition. it's quite similar to Pan de Muerto, but formed in the shape of children. many of these breads have plaster masks baked into them. for the masks i used a flour based baking clay recipe. click on this link and follow baking clay #2 recipe. this is a completely non-toxic clay recipe, that's why i chose it. you could prolly eat them if you wanted, but i don't think they would taste very good. i meant these masks to be purely decorative. below i will show step by step examples of my mask making process.

follow recipe instructions. when all ingredients have been combined you should have a nice clay base to work with. if your clay is too tacky to work with, add more flour.

take small bits of aluminum foil and form into balls. smash one side flat against the counter.

take a small bit of clay and roll into a ball. press it flat between your fingers to form a flat circle.

take your circle of clay and place it centered over the rounded side of your aluminum foil.

form into a face + add hair or headdress.

be sure to prick holes in the back of thick areas. this will keep your clay form exploding in the oven. a fork works nicely.

place your babyface masks on a foil lined baking sheet.

bake your masks for 30 minutes instead of a full hour. the masks will finish baking with your bread for the remaining 35 minutes.

once they have cooled down, paint details with food coloring. i also used water based inks for those hard to mix colors.

there you have it, babyface masks ready for the bread baking part of your T'anta Wawas.

DY-NO-MITE!!!*

i've been bogged down with house work recently, but i wanted to post something fun + crafty. this is a cake project i did over a year ago + never got around to posting. if you can't tell, it's a time bomb birthday cake.
i LOVE birthdays!!! i especially love making birthday cakes for people. which reminds me one of my nephews if about to have a birthday, oh yeah he doesn't like cake anymore. crazy kid. so much for that idea. i guess there's always ice cream cake, though.

anyways, this is a super fun baking project + pretty simple as far as cake sculpting goes. the finished cake shape doesn't deviate much from it's original shape. i did my best to give step by step instructions for anyone who might like to make a time bomb birthday cake, of their very own.....and, if you should take up the challenge, please send me pictures.

step one:
bake two 13x9 cakes, i’m pretty sure i used two basic yellow cake mixes. once there out the oven, chill on a rack till the cakes are cool enough to remove from their respective pans. now, sandwich the cakes together with frosting + place in the fridge for a few hours. the cake is easier to carve + shape when it has been chilled.

step two:
remove cake from fridge + carve out the dynamite sticks. i’m not sure how to instruct this part, cause i just made it up as i went along. it’s nice if you have a few dynamite images around to refer to. also be sure to use a serrated knife. it helps to have a long knife for lengthwise cuts and a smaller knife for carving the rounded ends.

step three:
now, frost the cake with the first layer of frosting. this is sometimes called the crumb layer, for obvious reasons. since the cake has been cut + altered you will have tons of crumbs migrating throughout your frosting. it’s unavoidable + quite unsightly, so a second layer will be added later for presentation. i decided with this cake to make the crumb layer chocolate + the outer layer cream cheese. the darkness of the chocolate frosting underneath the red exterior frosting will help add dimension to sculpted areas...but if you strive for simplicity, feel free to make both layers the same.

step four:
when the entire cake is frosted, place it in the fridge again for at least 30 minutes. the frosting becomes hard when chilled, making it easier to add more frosting on top.

step five:
while the cake with crumb layer is in the fridge, start mixing up the decorative exterior frosting colors.

according to most movies + bugs bunny cartoons, dynamite is typically a nice red or terracotta color. when mixing colors it’s best to start with a white frosting. i’m pretty particular when it comes to mixing colors, weather it’s printing ink, paint or frosting. so, i can assure you i will spend more than 30 minutes mixing colors. that’s cool though, cause the longer that cake sits in the fridge the better. i typically use store bought frosting for something like this. add a little confectioners sugar to stiffen the consistency if needed. your frosting should spread easily, but hold it’s shape.

**it takes TONS of red food coloring to make white frosting RED. i highly recommend using gel food coloring as opposed to liquid. the pigment is more concentrated and you won’t have to use and an entire bottle of food coloring on one bowl of frosting. since this has to cover the entire cake, be sure to mix up a generous amount.

i have two accent colors to mix as well: yellow + black. the yellow is for the DYNAMITE + TNT labels. the black is for the digital timepiece.

step six:
this was a 24^th birthday party with a 24 [as in kiefer sutherland] theme, so i went digital with the timepiece. i have to say that a nice bubble face clock the likes of flavor flav would have been awesome though. in this case two rye crackers will be transformed into a digital clock. you may use graham crackers if you wish. i know rye with frosting doesn't sound very appetizing, i just used what i had on hand.

sandwich a generous amount of black frosting between the crackers. cover the top and edges with black frosting well. now pipe on the digits with a little red frosting using a decorator tip. place the finished timepiece in the freezer.

step seven:
take frosted cake out of fridge + begin applying the second layer of frosting. like i said before, the chocolate frosting underneath actually helps add a little dimension to your cake sculpture. use that to your advantage. avoid frosting recessed areas with your red exterior frosting. keep these areas dark with chocolate frosting.

step eight:
finish frosting cake in red colored frosting, making sure to retain the "dynamite" look. frosting is a lot like spackle, if you have gaps or need to re-sculpt an area, just keep adding frosting till it looks right. add a few decorative elements as well, like piping caps on the end of each "stick" and writing DYNAMITE and TNT in yellow along the sides.

step nine:
black licorice whips make for great time bomb wires. insert a whip or two into the end of each "stick of dynamite" then pull the loose ends together in a bunch + place on top of the cake. this is where your timepiece will be placed, so consider your placement.

step ten:
now place a big blob of frosting on the top of the cake where the wire/whips converge. strategically place the cracker/timepiece on top.

step eleven:
defuse the bomb + let them eat cake.