Make Your Own Mummy!
For this project you will need:
- Plasticene
- Plaster of paris bandages
- Paint (acrylic will work best -- BUT it doesn't wash off, so be careful)
- Paintbrushes
- Scissors
- The right attitude
Step 1
- Take a lump of plasticene or modeling clay and work it between your hands until it becomes soft.
- Mold the lump into a mummy's body shape.
Step 2
- Fashion a headress and arms for your mummy.
- Don't worry about fine details, they will be covered up later by plaster anyway.
Step 3
- Add the arms and headress to the body.
- Smooth them on using your fingers and thumb.
Step 4
- The complete body will be the form for your mummy case.
Step 5
- Take the plaster of paris bandages and cut them into strips.
- Make them a size you can handle easily.
- Plan how you want to wrap a mummy.
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You might want to start at the feet.
Step 6
- Dampen the strips in water and carefully wrap your mummy. Do this part fairly fast because the plaster can set quickly. Smooth the plaster with your fingers.
- Make sure you wipe your hands with a disposable cloth before you wash them.
- Do not throw unused material down the sink.
- If this stuff gets in your drains you'll make your plumber very wealthy.
Step 7
- When painting your mummy you might find it helpful to look at some mummy pictures from books or magazines.
- Here we painted the headress gold first, let it dry, and applied the black paint afterwards for detail.
Step 8
- This is our finished mummy. It looks a lot like a shawabti figure, a magical statuette that Egyptians had buried with them. They believed that the shawabti would act as a servant for them in the afterlife.
- Shawabtis usually had the deceased 's name written on them in hieroglyphics. Find out how to spell your name in hierogyphics.