Victorian Gothic Halloween Rib Cage Tutorial

Victorians were known most for two things--their revival of elaborate gothic architecture and their obsession with death. 

“We loved with a love that was more than love.” Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe

Decorative ironwork and intricate floral prints were common design features. But even more fascinating was their elaborate mourning culture and rituals. They were even known to pose for photos with recently deceased loved ones to remember them by. This is perhaps why Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry with themes of death and grief were so popular during this time period!

I wanted to combine both of those intriguing things about the Victorian era plus my love of Edgar Allen Poe’s works into a mixed media project by decorating a plastic Halloween skeleton prop with Prima Marketing flowers and moulds. 

I started by removing the legs, arms and skull from a 3 foot plastic skeleton, leaving just the spine and ribcage and priming the piece with Heavy White Gesso. After the gesso was dry, I then began to decorate the ribcage and spine with paper clay moulds, adhering the moulds with Soft Matte Gel. 

I used mainly the Redesign with Prima Delicate Flora Moulds, covering the front of the ribcage with the elaborate and pretty floral flourishes. I also used Etruscan Accents Moulds at the bottom and top of the spine to help cover some gaps in the parts of the plastic skeleton. I also used some of the Warrington  Framework Moulds inside the ribcage, placing the flourishes on the inside of the shoulder blades.

It's important to let your paper clay moulds air dry before you paint over them. This will help minimize cracking. I was okay with some cracking, as this is to mimic a vintage ironwork piece, but I didn't want a ton of cracking. Once dry, I added some White Crackle Paste in various spots to help add texture around the moulds and to help cover more gaps in the plastic skeleton piece. 

After the crackle paste was done air drying, I watered down some Art Alchemy Sparks Paint in Raven to create a grey and silver sparkle wash. I painted the entire piece in small sections, wiping off excess paint before drying. 

To create a more ironwork like look, I wanted to add wax to the piece. I knew that I would need more contrast to keep with my silver and grey color scheme. So I painted all of the moulds with Art Alchemy Impasto in Pitch Black then went over the moulds with Metallique Wax in Old Silver. 

And of course, no ritual to honor the dead is complete without some flowers! I added two flower clusters, one on top of the ribcage and one on the inside. I used flowers from Frank Garcia's Luna and Twilight collections. 

I tucked in some leaves die cut from black cardstock and some lace. I then added some gems, a crystal spider, plus a resin moon from the same two collections. 

This project needed a little heart, which you can spy in between the ribs. It's a charm from the Luna collection that altered with a little of the silver wax and glued it on top of the flower cluster inside the ribcage. 

This is one of the most intensive projects I've ever done because of all of the intricate moulds that I added. But I really love how it turned out and I think I might make another one for my sister to have!

Until next time, happy crafting!

Adrienne

Shop the Supplies:

Scrapbook.com, Spellbinders & Sizzix

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Amazon

I am an affiliate with Amazon. When you shop the links below, I receive a small commission from the affiliate, at no additional cost to you. This helps me balance the costs of the time and love I put into my projects and blog so I can continue to share my ideas with you for FREE. If you shop the links, thank you! I greatly appreciate it.

Below are products that I used or similar products.