Dress Form Made From Recycled Paper Grocery Bags

I was so excited when the store where I work decided to get rid of these forms and I was allowed to take them home.  There were two of them. Not really my style, but I could see the possibilities,  unlike my ever encouraging family that exclaimed, "What are you going to do with those?"  and what they really meant was, "Oh no,  more junk."

Speaking of junk, I have a lot of unused things hanging around.  I've had this coat rack for years, used it here and there, but never loved it anywhere.  I thought it would make the perfect base for my dress form.

I cut off the top and added this plumbing hardware to fit into the metal tube of the form base.

Perfect!

Now I needed to make it a "dress" form.  I added a hardware cloth shaped skirt and duct tape to make a smooth transition. 

Finally, the fun part.  I used paper grocery bags torn into sheets and tea stained  like I did here with sheet music.  Here they are, hanging by the fireplace to dry.

After drying I crumpled the paper (actually I talked my family into crumpling the paper while watching TV, so I guess they can be supportive after all).  I took dark brown Briwax and lightly rubbed it on the paper, highlighting the crinkles.

The paper was then torn into smaller pieces and applied to the form with decoupage medium.

Layer after layer after layer...until

Ta Da!

I have to say, I really loved the way this turned out, but...after I looked at her for a while, her shape was just too realistic and "naked". A little clothing was in order.

I made this top to resemble an old dress bodice.  It is tea stained of course, and embellished with a rosette neckline.  I'll share how I made this in another post. 

I didn't want to cover too much of  my hard work, so I kept it simple.

 

Oh! And did you notice the Paris address at the neck?

I used an address I found at the Graphic Fairy.  I just printed it on to the brown paper, and applied with the decoupage medium.

This whole project cost about $15 in supplies.  Not bad for an antique Parisian dress form. (I can pretend, right?) Now I just need to finish the corner of my bedroom that is going to be her permanent home.

Please visit all the link parties on my sidebar and come back for the next project. 

Janet