Donkey Head DIY

To go along with the horse head I made for the school play, we also needed a donkey head. I don't think I've made anything that looks this ridiculous in a long while.

This build took about 15 hours to make, and cost about $50 (and a lot of pain in my hands).

-Rattan

-Waxed thread -

Worbla or some sort of material to strengthen parts of the rattan.

-Old clothes, pelts, ribbons, buttons, leather

-Hot glue and a hot glue gun.

To begin with I sketched out the size of my mannequin head on a sheet of freezer paper so I could get an idea of how large the head would be, then I drew a donkey head around it. I also drew in the lines where circles of the rattan (rattan is a flexible wood commonly used for weaving) would go. I measured out the lines and used the formula, diameter x pie, to find the size of the circumference for the circles.

Next I took a piece of rattan and looped it into the correct size circle, and wrapped the circle in the waxed thread. I did this for every line I measured. I labeled the circles by the size in inches with masking tape

I wrapped 2 pieces of rattan together with waxed thread. I did this 4 times. I started by crossing them at the snout then I tied the rattan to the circles I had made. I used my pattern as a guide, and measured the distance between each rattan circle.

I did not use rattan circles on the next part, instead I used a few more wrapped rattan pieces (like I used on the snout) together and draped the over the top of the head.

I wrapped the top of the skeleton in worbla to give it strength.

The back of the head was covered in two grey pant pockets.

Half of the side of the head was covered in a pant leg.

The front of the head was draped in two plaid sleeves crisscrossing each other.

The snout was covered in a bandanna, a white strip of fabric, lace, and a pants pocket.

The top of the head had a child's hat glued on it.

The eyes of the donkey were made out of two scraps of leather. I glued a leather tub above the eye as an eyelid, and strips of leather below the eye. A silver button made up the iris of the eye.

I used hot glue to secure all of the fabric, and the eyes onto the head. Most of the time I folded the fabric over the skeleton to secure it better.

I cut out an ear shape from a cereal box (it was about 12 inches long), and glued it to a strip of fabric I salvaged from one of my pant legs. I folded the fabric over then glued on rabbit fur. I trimmed away the excess.

This thing is so unphotogenic (is that a word). Hopefully it will suffice for the play!