Cocktail Shrimp! - #fakefoodfriday from Sara Pool!

This week's post is a little different, as I asked the lovely Sara Pool to send me the pictures for these delightful shrimp, but I'm going to write the process up, because I witnessed the magic FIRST HAND, as she and I work at ye olde Opera together.  We are also currently co-craft heads on La Boheme, and that's what these shramps are from!  (Yes, I did say shramps.  You can thank our lovely founder Anna for planting that one in my head years ago, and there it remains.  SHRAMPS!) Onto the crafting!

Materials: Insulation foam, Crayola Model Magic, scrap vacuform plastic, acrylic paint, hot glue
Tools: Olfa knife, sandpaper, scissors, cheese knife, clay tools

These shrimps started out as many food projects do, with the general shape cut from insulation foam.  

However, we only had 1 inch foam, which was a bit too hefty for our shrimps, so Sara cut them all in half.

Then there was some sanding 

So shrimpy

For the tail, Sara cut some scrap vacuform plastic into tail shards (shards seems like such a harsh word, but I can't think of anything better?)

Those pieces were then glued into the tail of the shrimp body with our good friend hot glue

To give the body some more dimension, the foam bodies got some Model Magic detailing

(I had suggested trying some fun foam for the shell, but that was a BAD IDEA and the poor shrimp looked like a tiny croissant)

Some artful indents gave the illusion of the shell segments really well!  To achieve this, Sara used a combination of some clay tools, and also a dull cheese knife (honestly, I can only assume this was a cheese knife... it's been in our carving tools since before I started)

This was a segment trial, before the tail was added!

At this point, during a break, Sara made the astute observation that her toes and the shrimp were quite similar

#summerstockobservations

Then the shrimps were sent off to one of our very talented painters, Serena Yau, who brought them TO LIFE.  Well, to beheaded, steamed, and put on ice life...

Trash Rat Approved!

Eventually these shrimp ended up on a tiered seafood tray (as previewed in the shrimp to pic) surrounded by fake ice.  So good!!  Boheme opens in one week from today and I can't wait to see these on stage!  

You can see more of Sara's work here and Serena's work here.  Happy Fake Food Friday, and Prop On!