Behind the Scenes - creation of Dobby

I wanted to post some photos of the creation of HP Dobby's character. I used recycled materials and paper mache to create him.

Step 1: gather plastic soda bottle, masking tape, styrofoam plates, newspaper, and plastic easter eggs.

Step 2: Crumble newspaper and place on bottles with lots of masking tape. Trace two elf ears from styrofoam plates and attach to head. I also attached the plastic easter eggs for eyes. Shape head and ears as needed by adding more newspaper and masking tape.

Step 3: I added some pvc pipe for the legs and tried to make him at least 3 ft. I traced my foot and cut out feet from styrofoam.

Step 4: To make it easier to work with, I attached him to a piece of styrofoam. It wasn't very sturdy, but it helped with keeping him upright. I added more newspapers and shaped his feet. His arms were made with wire. Once the skeletal part of the body is assembled, all you need to do is add newspaper and masking tape to shape body.

Step 5: Arms were sculpted with some cardboard and shaped with newspaper and masking tape. Once he was shaped, I added strips of newspapers with paper mache paste (www.ultimatepapermache.com).

Step 6: Ready for paint. Actually, before painting, I added a coat of gesso.

"Look away, children!" Dobby looked pretty scare in this phase.

It tooks a few attempts at painting until I was satisfied with how he looked.

Every respectable elf needs to be covered. I added two pieces of linen tied on the top. I handsewn the sides and ta da!

Last step: Glue Dobby to a piece of scrap wood. I started this project during the summer (2018) and was made with materials I had on hand. Basically, Dobby was FREE!

Harry Potter Book Night

This week our elementary school is celebrating "Read Across America" with many activites throughout the week. Some of those activities include Principal reading to classes, chalk painting, and an evening of magical reading of the Harry Potter, Chamber of Secrets book. I creating some of the props to transform the cafeteria into a magical place. Students will walk thru the 9 3/4 platform and will be greeted by Dobby (the elf). Then, they will be able to take a picture with HP flying car. I also created some magical wands for each of the students. I took my time working on all the projects, especially Dobby. He was created with recycled materials and paper mache. The following pictures are behind the scenes of all our creations:

Dobby was a labor of love for me. I started creating him during the summer and worked on him slowly. I became so attached to him, I almost didn't want to give him up. lol! I got started after watching a video tutorial (on cruz laporte -youtube) and basically created him using newspapers, plastic soda bottle, and pvc pipe. Since I had everything on hand, he was basically free. I used a paper mache recipe (ultimatepapermache.com) to put him together.Dobby is currently collecting new socks to be donated to the polinski center in San Diego

The Harry Potter Book Night theme was book #2 "Chamber of Secrets." This book introduces the flying car Harry and Ron use to get themselves to Hogwarts School. I used an old cardboard box that I had. I was inspired by a photo prop of the flying car in the website www.santanasstudio.blogspot.com

These wands were created with small dowels and a lot of hot glue. I then spray painted them black and added some gold shine. There are many tutorials on the web to help you with creating wands. I followed the tutorial at boxycolonial.com

I used an old drape and sponged painted the bricks on the fabric. To make the sign, I used an old foam board and painted it. I printed a free 9 3/4 sign from the website: jonesing2create.com