This is actually a snake with bat wings that is intended to be mistaken for a swan. The body is made of paper mache over a base of crumpled newspaper. The wings began with a metal frame, which was then taped together as a kind of leathery skin. For a long time, I wasn't sure where to go from here, but I've decided that, eventually, I'll be covering the entire surface with the paper fortunes out of 30 years' worth of fortune cookies--to look like "feathers." I'll have to make some kind of base as well.