19 Days 'til Halloween - Spooky Sign Post DIY

A few weeks back, I sketched this concept of a spooky sign post for my own Halloween yard.

 

I haven't found the time to create it until earlier this week. Home and Family producers needed a DIY project idea at the last minute for the next day's show. So I suggested the sign post and sure enough, it got made. 2 drums of midnight oil were burned getting it done, but working into the wee hours on a project like this is never painful. The completed version was a bit simpler than the original concept, but still captured the intended spirit of the sketch.

 

The complete "How-To" and video from the show explaining how the signs where made can be found over on the Hallmark Channel show site here.

Bat Cage Prop

What witch, warlock, wizard or weirdo like me wouldn't want to have a wee bat as a pet? Since the local animal shelter doesn't have any to adopt, I decided to make my own.

I was inspired to make this prop by the great Disney artist Marc Davis, based on his unused concept sketch for the Haunted Mansion.

My version doesn't come close to having the personality Davis' has, but it was really easy to make with cheap materials and took no time at all. Here's how mine came together.

First, I prepped the bat for hanging around. The one I used was a better than average plastic toy found at Michaels. His outstretched wings wouldn't fit inside the cage (plus they didn't have a relaxed look), so I folded them over and super glued. A couple of binder clips held them in place until the glue set up.

I made the bat's perch out of a cut pencil and some wire, then painted black. Once dry, the bat was super glued to the perch.

The bones inside the cage were made out of Crayola Model Magic. Not anatomically accurate, but they sell the idea. Once dry I gave them a wash of dark brown acrylic.

The cage itself was found at Home Goods last year, and already had a great Gothic look. I filled the base with some moss and added the bones. An "S" hook was hot glued inside the top dome of the cage to easily hang the perched bat from.

Making a Tree Prop: Part Two

The 10 foot tree build began with the trunk. I was able to get most of what I needed from my local OSH Hardware.

I decided it would be 7 feet high, leaving room for another 3 feet or so of branches. I used 12 inch wide concrete form tubes. The ones in stock were only 4 feet high so I needed two (cutting one down to 3 feet high). I glued and screwed four 1x2 furring strips inside the first tube. These act as ribs reinforcing the trunk and also became where I added shelf brackets securing it to a 36 inch plywood round base. Seeing the brackets was okay since they'll eventually be hidden. At this point, I was planning to create bark texture over everything with a few coats of quick drying Fix-It-All compound (that idea changes down the line).

Some advice if you ever buy concrete tubes from the average hardware store... bring a tape measure. The labeled width size is never true. Some are dead on, some a bit larger, some a bit smaller and often impossible to find matching pairs. I wanted smaller widths allowing for the extra thickness the final texture coating would add (making it the true 12" noted on the plan that Vickie was knitting her pieces by). The next available size down was 10 inch wide, a little too small.

Having said that, one tube was the perfect size (111/4 inches), the other too wide (a hair over 12 inches). I split the larger one and cut 3/4 inches off an edge.

I needed to seam it together again along one of the furring strip ribs. Placing on top, I centered the split along one of the ribs and screwed the opposite solid side to a rib there holding it in place. To suture it up, I added thick bead of wood glue along the supporting rib and started staple gunning the seam together from the bottom up.

I discovered that the tube was warping a bit being split and the tension created squeezing the edges together for a tight fit was enough to pull the staples out as I went along. It was like some old slapstick comedy routine. I'd add one staple and two below would pop out. I'd re-staple those and one above would pop out. The glue was drying so I had to work fast before it got worse. I ended up using countless screws and a few washers.

Not my finest example of craftsmanship (the Frankenstein monster had more appealing stitches), but it did the trick and was nice and secure. Besides the scar will never be seen once finished.

Next in Part Three... making branches!

Latest Project: Tree Prop

I've recently been commissioned to create a 10' tall tree prop. I can't reveal what it's for yet, but I'll be taking plenty of process pics and notes as I build it. It will be made in sections that are easily transported and assembled on site, so I think that might make a useful "how-to" to share down the line. Especially for any Halloween creatives wanting a large haunted tree for their display that can be broken down and stored away. Stay tuned.

Sawhorse Reindeer How-To

This sawhorse reindeer is a fairly easy Christmas' decoration to make. It's not an original idea, similar ones have been around for years, but it's my take on it. I hope it gives anyone who makes it the amazing instant creative satisfaction feeling I got once done. Ignoring the time painting, was completed in less than an hour.

Materials:
- A wooden sawhorse. I used a Burro Brand one. They are inexpensive and easy to find at most big box hardware places.
- Jigsaw
- Drill/driver
- Sander/ sandpaper
- Pencil
- Ruler/Tape Measure
- Plywood with a nice clean finish. I used 1/2" thick Poplar.
- Paint and colors of choice. I used both latex house paint for base color and craft paint for detail colors.
- 10 - 12 Small "L" brackets. 3/4" x 3/4" ones worked for me.
- Short wood screws for brackets (less than the thickness of your wood)
- Eyes. I used large buttons, but you could paint on if want.
- Exterior grade clear varnish. Anything your comfortable using would work. Spray or brush-on.
- Wood glue (OPTIONAL)  This is designed to be a temporary assembly for the holidays so you can take apart and store easily, plus use sawhorse as really intended later, but you can make a permanent prop just by adding wood glue to any of the steps below.

Step 1 - Print out the templates I drew up ( see below). I grid them out so you upscale onto plywood by drawing a larger grid on. Trace the pattern on the plywood and cut out with jigsaw. Be sure to cut out the notches in the head and on the antler carefully (these are 1/2" thick. if you use thicker or thinner plywood redraw notch that thickness). Sand all the rough edges.

Click on images to enlarge.

Step 2 - Attach head and tail to appropriate ends of your sawhorse using "L" brackets.

Step 3 - Place the antlers on by sliding it's notch onto the head notch.

Step 4 - Paint and decorate the way you want. Have fun, on my first take I added a red ornament for a nose (see below). Clear coat if needed for exterior use.

This Old Prop

I'm honored. Someone's website this past month had included one of my old specimen jar prop projects to a list of DIY ideas for creating a Halloween haunted house. Who's website? Oh just legendary home improvement icon Bob Vila's. The full list here.

Countdown to Halloween Day 28 - Zombie Windows DIY

The Zombie Apocalypse has finally happened. What do ya do first? Board up all your exposed windows of course. Then worry if your brains are tasty.

Sorry I've been an irregular Halloween blogger this year, but here's a full blown prop "how-to" post to make up for it. This is a cheap, easy and super fast project. Perfect if your haunt needs last minute details or you want some extra decoration inside for a party this Friday night.

How fast and easy? Well... I created these Zombie windows to cover our set's french door area in little over 4 hours today.

Step 1 - Get yourself lots of black foam core board. Cut boards to cover windows atleast a 1/4" - 1/2" wider. These will be the main support and create the blacked out areas. Once done, set aside to be used later. If it takes more than one board to cover your window it's okay, you can seam them together easily (explained later).

Step 2 - Making wood planks. These are cut strips of foam core. Why cheap foam core planks? To keep light and easily hung temporarily in windows of course (you could also use thicker foam or real wood, but this worked for me on this project). Cut irregular widths and lengths. Forget the ruler, going for that old distressed look. I also cut exaggerated cartoony notches at the end of planks to help sell it.

Step 3 - Painting. Trying to pass off foam core as wood planks requires a really decent faux finish. I used a wood grain paint tool, you can find these at most paint or craft stores. If you don't have one, get one. A handy tool in any prop making arsenal.

 

First I painted a board with a thinned coat of grey paint (1 part water/ 3 parts paint).

Quickly, while the paint was fresh and wet, I dragged the tool across to create grain. If you've never used one, practice a bit. Varying the angle of the curve while dragging creates unique knots and other natural wood grain textures. Tip - keep a rag handy. The wood grain tool can get gunked up with paint after several passes ruining the effect. So wipe it clean often.

Second tip - Once your planks are painted, they may curl a bit, this is because the drying shrinks the paper surface of the foamcore on that side. If happens, lightly wet the back with sponge or brush and the curl will flatten out some when that dries.

Step 4 - The fun part. Once planks dry, start arranging them on the window black out boards the way you like. Once set, just hot glue in place. If you have boards that need seaming, hot glue a plank across the seam to bridge them together.

Step 5 - Details. On the black areas between planks glue on store bought skeleton arms and hands as if breaking through. If needed, cut the base of them flat to glue more securely on board. I painted all mine green for a classic cartoon zombie look and so would "pop" against the darker boards. I also lightly dusted the bottom of each arm/hand with flat black spray paint so would blend in with the black void better and help suggest emerging from shadow.

I also added Zombie eyes. These were Ping Pong balls cut in half. I painted them yellow and used a Sharpie to create pupils and a neon green paint pen for color. Quick and easy.

And for extra detail, I used a silver paint pen to dot on nail heads where planks connected.

Step 6 - Hanging it up.  On the back of the board hot glue a length of picture hanging wire. On the window attach a suction cup hook. Hang Zombie board on hook. Done!

They're ya go. My project was constrained by time and budget, but I hope all reading this will take this basic build and get inspired to make your own and improve on.

Countdown to Halloween Day 8 - Trash Can Frankenstein Monster Prop

This is a project I've had in the back of my mind for a long time - creating a fairly simple to build giant robot out of junk. Ken Wingard and I teamed up this week and made it a 7 foot tall reality. The design was inspired by using a 5 gallon paint bucket as the head, and being flat topped, it naturally lead to him becoming the Frankenstein's monster. Scaling off of that, a 32 gallon trash can made for a great torso. Once all assembled, having a clunky feel, he had to have a fun cartoony look.

Here are the initial sketches roughing out how I thought could be built (happy to say almost exactly how it was actually made).

Ken has posted a detailed step by step (including process photos) on his blog.

Wait! Before you visit his page, here's a couple of extra project details of note.

First, here's how the hands were made by recycling milk jugs...

Second, for the finished prop, I drew face details and printed on label paper. They were then simply cut out and stuck on. Here they are if you want to swipe and use for your own bucket headed monster (click on to enlarge).

Okay that's it, you can go to Ken's page now. Wait! One more thing... this is a project that can be customized to almost any other vision. Classic retro 50's B-movie robot anyone?

Countdown to Halloween Day 6 - Make a Spooky Tree

Here's the large spooky tree I designed as a DIY for the show last week. I'm pretty happy with this one, especially being something that creating as is (barring material shopping and gathering) could be made in only a day if you need something extra for your lawn now. And of course something that can be improved on and added to for more realism and character if wanted by advanced prop folk.

The basic "how-to" and video can be found at the Hallmark Channel website HERE.