DIY vintage inspired mannequin head

I absolutely adore vintage mannequin heads (especially the Twiggy inspired ones!) but they can be really pricey. So I decided to DIY it! If you love vintage mannequin heads, too, keep reading to see how to make one yourself! 

 Materials you'll need:

A plain plastic mannequin head
A sharpie
Paint and a brush
Hot glue & a hot glue gun
Spray paint
Wooden half circles
Vinyl sticker paper
My template 

I made a template for this project that you can download right here. You can choose to use it as a guide for painting on the face, or -- what I did, and what the instructions below will detail -- print the template out on the vinyl sticker paper, cut it out, and stick it to the mannequin. 

First of all, go spray paint your little wooden circles whatever color you want the earrings to be. I chose plain matte black for mine since that's what most of the original mannequin heads have, but feel free to get creative with it! :)

Next, print out the template on the vinyl paper. The template includes two different faces inspired by vintage mannequins, and you can mix and match eyes, lips, and rosy cheeks however you'd like! Cut out the pieces that you'll need for your mannequin.

When the pieces are cut out, peel off the backing and carefully adhere them to the plastic base. One of the benefits of using the vinyl sticker paper is that it's very thin and resilient so it doesn't crinkle and crease the way regular sticker paper would. And the colors come out very vibrant!

I chose to cut my stickers out without the eyelash details and draw those on manually with a sharpie. I also added freckles to one of mine by making small dots with the sharpie.

After the face is finished, you add the finishing touches! Paint on the hair with acrylic paint and a brush -- choose whatever color you'd like, and have fun with the style. I gave one mannequin a flapper-ish bob and the other one has a curly pixie kind of look!

And finally, use your hot glue gun to attach your spray-painted wooden circles to the sides of the mannequin head. And voila! A vintage-inspired decorative piece at a fraction of the real-vintage cost!