Here are some basic shield shapes:
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Making the 3D border:
 | Trace your shield onto a second sheet of cardboard.
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| Cut inside the line you traced about an inch or an inch and a half
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| draw another shield shape inside your cutout and cut that out as
well (you can cut through the edges if you like as we'll be taping it
onto the original shield)
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| During this process, be aware of the size of the image you've picked
(our dragon) It needs to fit inside the border you've created. |
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| use masking tape to attach the border to your shield
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| as I mentioned before, when making your border, it's ok to cut
through it to get the center removed (if you are using scissors
instead of an exacto knife, this will be how you have to do it).
Just tape over any cut marks when you're attaching it to the shield. |
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| Paper Mache the shield (we just did the front side, but you can do
the front and the back -- I would suggest doing them in separate
sittings though or it may have trouble drying.
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| See our How
to Paper Mache section for how to make paper mache mix and tips on
applying it.
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| Cover the shield with one or two layers of paper mache newspaper
strips -- make sure you push the strips into the edges of the raised
part so you don't lose the shape of your cross or letter |
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| ok, everyone should have a roll of craft toilet paper *laugh* -- we
use it for all sorts of projects (including covering over paper mache
items with a white layer so they're easier to paint)
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| Anyways! take a sheet of toilet paper off the roll and scrunch
it up.
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| Dip the toilet paper in the paper mache paste and put it on the
corner of the shield. |
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| Repeat with 7 more sheets, placing the "blobs" around the
shield with about even spacing. These blobs will be the bolts on
the shield
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| Set your shield aside in a safe, preferably breezy, place to dry for
24 to 48 hours (the time it takes depends on the humidity in your area
and the amount of mache you used) |
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| paint your shield the base color (in our case it was black)
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| You can paint the entire thing, but then you have to wait until it's
dry to do the second color -- we just painted around the 3D items (it
isn't hard to do)
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| paint the raised parts of the shield your accent color (in our case
it was gold)
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| let dry
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| print and color your selected image (ours was a dragon).
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| Cut out the image and glue it to the center of the shield |
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| put a piece of string through the toilet paper roll and tie a loop.
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| tape the toilet paper roll onto the back of the shield -- use lots
of tape.
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| you can hold the shield by the toilet paper roll or by the string |
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