October Fest Blog Hop 2012 Reveal: Another Fine Mess

I joined this blog hop because I really liked the idea that is was a celebration of Autumn and the idea was for any craft to be welcome whether it be food, decor, handmade beads, jewelry, art, poetry or whatnot. This hop is being hosted by Toltec Jewels of Jewel School Friends fame. I’ve been fascinated with the Day of the Dead and Mexican Folk Art for a while so I really wanted to make a Sugar Skull (Calavera) for a gift but I wanted it to be a little more permanent, so my friend suggested I use Plaster of Paris. I ordered the largest sugar skull mold I could and begged for help since I had never used Plaster of Paris before.

I was assured this was easy…but it took three tries to get a good skull from the mold and I’m still not convinced it’s as strong as I’d like. I can’t complain. My friends were having so much fun making them, I decided to let them. Let me warn you if you decide to try this, after two days these things still weren’t dry so we ended up baking them in the oven for several hours. Here is a failed attempt and the best result:

These skulls are usually very ornate so I looked at various pictures to get an idea of how I wanted to paint it. Believe it or not the idea that seemed to help the most was this tutorial I found on decorating cookies from the Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle. Here’s what I ended up with:

Thank you for visiting and please go visit the other people participating in celebrating the season:

Host Toltec Jewels            http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com 
Heather Otto                     http://www.thecrafthopper.com
Mischelle Fanucchi            http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Marlene Cupo                   http://amazingdesigns-marlene.blogspot.com
Shaiha Williams                  http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com
Shelly Graham Turner        http://shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com/
Shelly Joyce                       http://www.aujourlejour-shelly.blogspot.com/
Charlie Jacka                     http://clay-space.com/blog/
Pam Sears                         http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Margareta Saari                 http://magsinhelmet.blogspot.com/
Marita Suominen                http://momentofjewelry.blogspot.fi/
Lisa Posthumus                  https://www.facebook.com/lisa.posthumusharper
Jeannie Dukic                     http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog
Cheri Reed                         http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Arlene Dean                       http://aglassbash.blogspot.com/
Duffy Blevins                      http://bubbasjewels1.blogspot.com/
Susan Kennedy                  http://suebeads.blogspot.com/
Dita Basu                           http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com/
Sonya Ann Stille                 http://dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com/
Audrey Allen                      https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wrapped-Up-In-Magic/145456948869148
Kashmira Patel                   http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/
Kathy Lindemer                 http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/
Kris Mattingly                    https://www.facebook.com/kris.h.mattingly
Lennis Carrier                    http://www.windbent.net/
Shannon Hicks                   http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/
Paula Hisel                         http://simplybeadiful.weebly.com/simply-stated.html
Karin Slaton                       http://backstorybeads.blogspot.com/
Shirley Moore                    http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache                http://www.allprettythings.ca/
Valeria G. Rome                http://fancysphynxdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lo                                     http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.com/
Zoe Marcin                       http://beadsteaandsweets.blogspot.com/
Carolyn Lawson                http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Kimberly Booth                 http://thepinkmartiniboutique.blogspot.com/
Sherri Stokey                    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com
Tanya McGuire                  http://www.tanyamcguire.blogspot.com/ 
Debbie Rasmussen             http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com/
Christine Stonefield             http://sweetgirldesign.blogspot.com/
Tanty Sri Hartani                http://tjewellicious.blogspot.com/
Sandra McGriff                  http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano              http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby                     http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com/
Colene Waltermire              https://www.facebook.com/groups/426147797447039/?fref=ts
Lee Nova                           https://www.facebook.com/groups/426147797447039/?fref=ts

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