The Making of a Katamari

I think the DA admins have a woefully inadequate understanding of sculpture. It isn't just wood, stone, and clay, y'know, y'know.

Anyway, for Aron's birthday, I crafted a Katamari, complete with stand (it swivels/spins, by the way), from Styrofoam, toys, junk, spray paint, wire, and love. Obviously I had to keep this under my hat while I was working on it, so I'm really excited that I finally get to share it with everyone. The above file should explain the process fairly well, but here's a list of things to find on it:

- 2 plastic cats
- 3 plastic elephants
- 3 plastic penguins
- 1 Welsh Corgi
- 2 killer whales
- 2 butterflies
- 2 tree frogs
- 1 gecko
- lots and lots of paperclips, thumbtacks, and safety pins
- several silk flowers
- coloured sticky/memo flag things
- 2 white picket fences (one partially wraps the base, but you can’t see it in the photo)
- 2 birch trees with decorative moss for foliage
- 1 plastic evergreen tree painted white
- some big duplo lego blocks
- 1 super bouncy ball
- 6 colour crayons (4 are glued into an open box, so that they look like they're falling out)
- 4 colour photo slides
- 5 or 6 random puzzle pieces
- 4 chess pieces (a black knight, a white pawn, a black pawn, and a white rook)
- 4 decorative miniature flowerpots
- a pink/orange slinky
- 2 normal six sided dice
- 1 d20 (20 facing upward, naturally)
- 6 or so pennies and one dime
- lots of alphabet charm beads (they all bear the letter "V") and sequins
- All the buttons from my stash
- 2 sparklers
- 1 block of wood painted to look like a legal text on "Torts"
- 1 miniature "scales of justice"
- 1 magnet
- 1 paper crane
- 1 acorn
- 2 plastic sushi pieces, 1 plastic mochi ice cream, 2 plastic o-nigiri
- 1 miniature guitar
- 1 novelty party whistle
- 2 pencil top erasers
- 1 wine bottle cork
- 1 beer bottle cap
- 1 wooden egg painted with nail polish by my sister
- 1 giant novelty thumbtack
- 1 repurposed "space needle" keychain ornament
- 2 other small erasers
- 1 "Strongbadia Population: Tire" sign from a beloved keychain that I broke

a few things I wish I'd had to put on it:

- a plastic dairy cow (couldn't find one)
- a set of wooden chopsticks (forgot)
- a cousin (not enough time)
- batteries (they were too heavy)
- a ruler (forgot)
- a miniature replica of a We Love Katamari box (forgot-I'd even scanned the cover of a copy to shrink down and use)
- miniature traditional Bhudda sculpture (all too expensive and heavy)
- Ultraman

Some supplies and tools:
- 8'' and 2'' floral supply Styrofoam balls
- floral supply spray paints
- card stock paper
- long wooden dowel to provide base support
- foam glue
- double sided tape
- needle nosed pliers, wire cutters, scissors, a sharp/not serrated knife
- a glass filled with shiny rocks
- a big sheet of matte board for cutting and to delineate my workspace
- blood, sweat, and tears
- patience

More photos to come... I forgot to take more when I finished it.

Here's the card and a bigger version of the last photo.