Fishbone Quill Pen
I "fake-joined" the I Love Disney Swap at Craftster, which simply means that, while you still have to follow the rules for said event, instead of actually exchanging the items that you made with another member, you're creating them for yourself. The deadline was September 17th, but, as I've been super lazy and irresponsible as of late, it took me more than two months after that date to get anything accomplished.
The object of said swap was to make a couple of Disney-themed crafts (one medium, one small), and, for my second, smaller project (which, oddly enough, turned out gigantic, compared to my medium one), I chose to make a life-sized replica of the fishbone quill pen that Ariel used to sign Ursula's contract, in order to become human, in Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid.
A simple skeleton is just that, so, I didn't feel that there was much point in taking any photos of the modeling process this time. The fishbone pen is almost entirely newsprint wrapped and glued around wire bent into the desired shapes. The pen's head involved a bit more work (two cardboard halves joined to the wire and secured with more newsprint), but, all-in-all, it was a pretty straightforward job, although it did take several hours to do. And I can't tell you how many times I accidentally slapped myself in the face with the tailbones while turning/rotating the pen as I was applying strips of paper. Like the late Rodney Dangerfield, I get no respect, not even from dead tuna!
This is the largest (18 inches tall) Ariel doll that I currently own, a JAKKs Pacific Princess & Me one, but, as you can see, she's still dwarfed by a life-sized fishbone quill. I have several more smaller Ariel dolls, but, tempting as it was to do a photo shoot of them all, I didn't have the time or ambition to fish (pun intended) them all out of storage.
Okay, that's not entirely true, I do have something bigger, but it's just a styling head, not a complete doll. While my original plan was always to make a full-sized version of the quill, at one point I did also contemplate making a smaller pair of fishbone earrings. Unfortunately, this styling head doesn't have pierced ears. [Who makes a styling head without pierced ears anyway? Just Play that's who!] Sure, I could drill a couple of holes in her lobes but then she wouldn't be in mint-ish condition anymore and I'd have an OCD episode! I'd have to use my Liv Sophie styling head instead, whose ears are pierced, but then the only red-haired wigs I have for her are a braided pigtails Wendy/Pippi Longstockings one and a curly Brave Merida, and neither of those would look right for approximating Ariel anyway.
Our new cat, Princess Butter Crumb, is unimpressed with her dinner. Needs more flesh.
Since I was already holding a pen anyway, Rainbow Dash decided it was a good time for me to begin my punishment: Writing "I won't miss my fake swap deadlines." one thousand times.
Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, cardboard from a box of Cookie Crisp cereal, a segment of wire from a barbed wire fence (I needed stronger/thicker wire for the pen shaft), garbage bag wire twist ties (internal support for the ribs and tailbones), white glue, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions:
48.0 cm (18.9") long x 8.7 cm (3.4") wide.
Time:
Two days: December 4th and 5th, 2016.
The music playing is a MIDI version of "Part of Your World", my favorite song from Disney's The Little Mermaid animated film.
