My sister and I have this thing going where we have a Gollum card that we hid around each others rooms and in each other’s stuff. So far he’s made it in books, in laptops, under pillows, in laundry and a variety of other places. It’s a harmless amusing thing we do, though it’s great to be in class and have the card fall out of your textbook… Only a couple weird looks there…
Anyway, for her birthday this year I wanted to get her something more creepy than the greeting card sized picture of his face; I had seen a couple pictures on Pinterest of the life-size cut outs. Though I loved the idea, $30+ was more than I wanted to spend. So I got creative and made my own.
I started by purchasing a poster on EBay. I bought this one.
Unfortunately it did not come in time for her birthday, but not to fret because April 1st wasn’t too far off.
Supplies:
- White foamcore board
- Spray adhesive
- Poster
- Exato knife
- Newspapers (to protect work surface
Directions:
Lay down your poster and make sure it’s nice and flat – the often come rolled up tightly.
Lay out your poster to make sure the design you will cut is smaller than the foam board. Spray board with adhesive.
*note this should be done in a well-ventilated area that is protected from overspray of adhesive. This is also where the newspapers came in handy.
Starting at either the top or bottom begin slowly smoothing your poster onto the foam board. Be especially careful of air bubbles where the image you want as the cutout to be. The areas that will be cut off are not as critical.
Let the adhesive dry for the recommended time, you may find it helpful to put weight on your poster to make sure it dries flat and evenly.
After it dries carefully begin cutting around your design with your Exato knife. Go slowly, taking your time around tight spots.
The sharp blade cuts through the foam board really easily.
Leaving the bottom edge intact gave me a nice flat bottom where I could then use extra pieces of foam board to make stand pieces. I forgot to take pictures of this step, but basically I cut little rectangles out of the main piece that matched the stand pieces and fit them in. It is not necessary to glue them in if they fit tight, but you could for extra security.
That’s it. Pretty easy and the whole project was less than $10 since I had everything on hand except the poster.
I have found the cheapest place for foamcore board is the dollar store. You could use cardboard for the base, and for a larger piece you would have to, but the foamcore is sturdier in my opinion. And it is easier to cut with more precision.
Passtimedesigns 