I was looking for a new display for my jewelry and came across this counter top mannequin. At first I thought it would be fun to actually buy a few shirts for her (still might) but then I decided to decoupage her and a friend's mother donated a 1950's dress pattern to my cause. Sweet! The tape on her neck was the starting point for her new faux wooden top with handle. For the "handle" I used the bottom of an old chandelier. After decoupaging I aged her with craft paint to enhance her new vintage top. 
As I was finishing her up I mentioned on Facebook that she needed a name.
Maureen suggested "Betty Bodice" and that was just too cute to pass up. Thanks, Mo!
I'm pretty pleased with how it came out and can't wait to use Betty as my display piece!
12 comments:
Wow what a great Display Piece! Nice Job!
I love your Blog too ♥
Thank you for dropping by mine. :)
Mona
How fun! You could have a lot of fun thrift store shopping for her, maybe find some great 50s tops or other by gone decade, to dress her up in.
that or just hit the clearance racks at Kohl's, I actually found a really nice sweater for 4 bucks there once. That was the best bargain but I've had some other good finds there.
Thank you Mona and Amy! It was fun and now I have a nice display.
Amy, I told my husband the same thing. Gotta buy clothes for Betty. lol! Should be fun! :)
oh I love this!!! you should sell these. I would get one!!
LOL! Thanks Peta!
this is so creative! I love it!
Thank you, Archaic. :)
I've seen your mannequin a lot around the Artfire forums and always wonder about it - what a great idea to dress her up like this, and what a great job you did of it! I love it. :)
Hey Soov,
We have spoken through etsy, and I love Betty Bodice. She is very classy. I finally found a mannequin on ebay and she is on her way to me. When you decoupaged Betty, did you put decoupage on the paper, just the mannequin, or both?
Thank you.
Hi Angel! Thank you for the compliment on Betsy.
When I decoupaged her, I applied the Mod Podge directly to the pieces of vintage pattern and layed that on the mannequin using a wide, soft brush to lightly smooth it out. Be very careful, using your hands as you can tear the paper. The wrinkles didn't bother me as they had to be there due to the curves of the form.
If you wanted to use tissue paper for example, you would brush the Mod Podge directly on the form and then apply the paper using the side of a big soft paint brush to gently form it. Do small areas at a time. That could be fun because you could simply rip the paper. I cut the pattern to showcase some of it's directional lines.
After the form dried, I brushed on a layer of Mod Podge, let it dry, and then did a second coat and aged it with craft paint mixed with water. You may not want to do that depending on the look you are trying to achieve. The next day I did one more coat of MP. (Acts as a sealant and protects the paper from scarring or tearing).
I'll be happy to help as you move forward so feel free to ask. Whatever you decide, please be sure to share your finished product with me. I'd LOVE to see it.
Best of luck and again, holla if you need help.
Thank you so much for offering me your help. I need it, so I will definitely be in contact with you. Please feel free to respond to me at angelwinters@gmail.com.
What type of material is your mannequin made of? This is a link to the mannequin I purchased: http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-FEMALE-3-4-TORSO-MANNEQUIN-FLESH-LOOP-5007-/280607427121?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4155818a31
I'm not sure if I want to paint her or not. I'll have to see her in person before I decide. If she is shiny like the picture, I would like to remove some of the shine. The listing says she is made of plastic polyethylene, so I have been googling on how to paint on this material. Some say to use acrylic and some say to use oil based.
I am collecting ideas for how I want to dress her. It's between tissue paper and dress pattern paper since those papers are easy to manipulate when decoupaging.
So many things, so many ideas. What is an artist to do?
That's a great mannequin and the color is good. I don't think the shine will show unless you use a flash so I definately wouldn't paint her. Since she is not as plain as mine was, you might try a size small knit top or something to give yourself more options. I can't wait to see what you decide. Please let me know when you've finished.
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