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Giraffe Table

Five prize-winning creations from the readers of FamilyFun

Dodson Family

Susan Dodson's mother loves giraffes, so Susan, who lives giraffe in Bolingbrook, Illinois, is always going to great lengths to turn everyday objects into giraffes to add to her mom's collection. She was planning to make a papier-mâché giraffe mask, but while researching that project she came up with the idea of making a giraffe table out of a crate.

While she constructed it, her five-year-old son, Miguel, a veteran helper on several birthday party piñatas, assisted by putting newspaper strips in paste and then placing them on the table. Working in their spare time, Team Dodson cranked out three giraffe tables--one for each generation--in just three weeks. Susan's mom's giraffe, for the record, is now a magazine bin--one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

GIRAFFE MATERIALS

4 2-inch screws
4 table legs
Wooden crate
Newspaper
Masking tape
Plastic gloves
Papier-mâché paste
Acrylic paint
Paintbrushes
Polyurethane (optional)

THE PASTE

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cold water
2 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. To make the papier-mâché paste, combine the flour and cold water in a bowl. Add that mixture to a saucepan of boiling water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let it cool--it will thicken as it cools. Once it does, it is ready to use.

2. To begin, use the 2-inch screws to attach the four table legs to the four corners of the wooden crate.

3. Roll three sheets of newspaper to form the tube that will become the giraffe's neck.

4. Push the tube through the handle of the crate and tape it, as shown (A). Roll another piece of newspaper and fold it into an oval to make the giraffe's head (B). Push the head stem into the neck stem and tape them together. You now have the basic structure of the giraffe.

5. Tear several sheets of newspaper into strips and with your gloved hand smear papier-mâché paste on the newspaper strips, squeezing off the excess with your fingers.

6. Apply the newspaper strips to the crate, overlapping and varying the direction of the strips. Let them dry for 24 hours.

7. After the structure is dry, apply a second layer in the same manner as the first and let it dry completely.

8. Cut the newspaper into small triangles to form ears (C) and tape them to the back of the head. Roll two small rectangles of newspaper to form horns (D) and tape them between and just in front of the ears.

9. Apply papier-mâché to the neck and head, pressing it in and paying careful attention to the details of the ears so they stay perked. Let it dry completely--up to three or four days.

10. After it's dry, paint the table and add eyes, a nose and a spotted pattern.

TESTER'S TIPS: For extra durability, add a few coats of polyurethane (a parent's job).

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