REPAINTING AND DRESSING A PLASTIC GOOSE

Here is the process I used to create the goose in the ladybug costume (Cousin Sophie, The Ladybug Lady pages soon to come.)

I figured this very inexpensive little goose would serve my purpose, but it had some mold lines and needed a new paint job.

Here he is with a coat of white paint. You can see that I've started the pattern-making process for his ladybug costume with a piece of paper towel.

Still trying to get the appropriate fit for the pattern.

After arriving at the final pattern, I traced it onto red velvet Christmas ribbon and used the black Sharpie pen to make the black dots. (I'm going to save that little pattern, in case I want to dress any more geese!)

The goose needed some kind of dickie, and a black hat/head covering, so I painted some splotches on my ever-handy business card. I used the tip of my paintbrush to soften the edges of the oval and cup it. Then I coated it with glue and fitted it onto the goose's breast.

Here is the first half of the ladybug's red wing/cape. Because I was using velvet Christmas ribbon, which is fairly stiff, I first coated the back with tacky glue and let it dry. Then I rolled my pencil back and forth over the piece to cause it to curl more easily. I coated half the goose with glue, put another light coat of glue on the cape and fitted it into place.

Okay, now he's dressed. He just needs his little black headpiece and antennas. His hat is a black oval that I punched out of the black painted card. I cupped it with the tip of my paintbrush and coated it with tacky glue. I also put a dot of glue on top of his head.

To glue the antennas (made from black wire) I put a dot of tacky glue on the hat, then put a drop of super glue on the antennas.

And here is is, Goose in Ladybug Costume. (You can see him again in Cousin Sophie's pages when I finally get them up.)

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