I took very few pictures of this guys being made, but here is one pre-hair picture I found of him in my camera’s internal memory. This is during painting…

Related posts:

1. Mr. Hemlock Dench
2. Hag
3. Halloween Tree

Related posts:

1. Small Skull
2. Skull Beads
3. Paper Mache

I had sculpted her face last year before Halloween, and then she sat in the basement… bald, grumpy, and only half a body… collecting dust for MONTHS. Originally I thought I might make 3 of these hags, and this one was going to be leaning on her broom. Then while camping one of my kids found a nice walking stick and we decided to bring it home for the hag to use.

I didn’t take many picture of her as I made her. Her face was pink because of the mache pulp I was using.

Related posts:

1. Mr. Hemlock Dench
2. On the ‘Work Bench’
3. Halloween Tree

I sculpted a head for it recently.

I will make it some hands later today as I want to take it to a local Halloween gathering this weekend. Before Halloween I’ll probably add some sculpted arms, but for now he can wear a long sleeve shirt. I’ll post the finished crawler at some point.

Quick run down on how it was made:
Cast a foam skull
Carve a foam skull, adjust jaw line
Paper mache basic form, let dry
Add pulp mache, let dry
Apply a sealant to mache
Paint
Apply finish sealant
Add some hair.

Related posts:

1. Halloween Tree
2. Mr. Hemlock Dench
3. On the ‘Work Bench’

Mr. Hemlock Dench is my cemetery grounds keeper or caretaker.
He is a knavish, creepy little man. Bow-legged and hunch-backed, he grins fiendishly out into the darkness at passers by….

Mr. Dench was my first project for 2007. This was the first full bodied prop I attempted. He is made almost entirely of recycled materials.

Making Hemlock Dench

I made Hemlock to enter in the $20 Dollar Prop Contest on HauntForum for 2007, so I had to keep cost in mind while building. Building a prop with 20 dollars worth of supplies is easier said than done. You can find yourself creatively limited and rethinking your design to accommodate the price.

I began with the face, using a foam skull I had made years previous. These skulls are easy to make and very cheap.

I decided the most cost effective way to tackle this was to mold a face around the skull, and make a mache mask casting. This way when forming the face I wouldn’t need to use as much paper mache pulp to build up the face features, and cut costs.

I covered the entire skull in tin foil, to keep anything from sticking to it. Then I used plasticine to form a rough face. I put a plastic bag over the face and applied a few layers of basic paper mache over it to form my mask. After it had dried thoroughly I removed it.

Then I removed the plastic bag, gave my son back his Plasticine, and stripped the tin foil off the foam skull, setting it aside for the eyes.

Next I took a very sharp knife and cut the lower jaw off the foam skull. I carved out all the spaces between the teeth on the upper and lower jaw and knocked out a few.

I painted the teeth and gums. After I was satisfied with the paint I added a thin coat of Spar Varnish. Next I made a tongue to fit inside the lower jaw out of masking tape and paper mache. I didn’t know if I was going to have the tongue showing at all, but I thought I might as well add it just in case. It only took a few minutes to form. I painted it with the same paint as the gums.

Eyes.
Cheap eyes. I made polymer clay eyeballs. The insides of each eye were the left over tin foil from the skull.

Next I cut out the sockets and put together -skull, teeth and mask over top, it wasn’t sitting quite right. So I shaved off some of the bone structure of the skull, and everything fit better.

Then I taped together everything I had made. Once secured, I added coarse mache pulp to build up the face features, and then used a finer mache pulp to get some detail. This process took some time, as each layer had to be left to dry thoroughly. My main tools: my fingers, and a bamboo skewer.

I added ears using tin foil and masking tape and more mache pulp. Once I had the basic shape of ears, I taped them into place, and then built up the detail using pulp mache.

The Hands.
This was a 20 dollar prop – so I had to figure a way to make hands for very cheap. I used packing peanuts because I happened to have some from a package I received in the mail. I taped them together to form the shape of hands, using 5 pieces of florists wire cut in half, one for each finger. I secured a 45 degree PVC elbow joint at each wrist. Then I used my mache pulp to build up the hands. This was done over a few sessions, as the mache needed time to dry between applications.

I formed a body from PVC. With my heat gun I warped his back to give him a hunch and his legs to make him bow legged. After tinkering with his stance a little I secured his limbs and positioned his head. Then I added some mache to form his neck. And bulked out his body with newspaper, bags and masking tape. I coated his body with a thin layer of mache and blended his neck and arms in with the remaining mache pulp.

Then I painted him. I use mostly acrylic paint from the mis-tint section of hardware stores, its very cheap. To these I add other acrylic paint to get the base colors I want, and I free hand mix the rest as I go.

Clothing
I made his pants and shirt from rags and some filter cloth. I tied the shirt material on, it’s a big knot on the back, and his pants are basically tubes formed from black filter clothe, which I then stapled together… pretty low tech. His jacket was from my own Halloween costume a few years ago.

His hair was originally part of a witch’s hat that did not survive our 2005 party. His eyebrows were made from a cheap disposable paint brush. Gluing hair on is not my idea fun… I almost left him bald.

His lantern was scrounged from my mother in laws basement while she was doing some early spring cleaning. I added some paint to tarnish it up. Before Halloween I will redo his lantern to remove the real flame and make it safe, but for the 20 Prop Challenge it has to stay as is because of cost.

I was walking out back to find a stick for him to hold, and passing the fire pit I saw that my spouse had broken a rake, and the top of the handle was in the burn pile. I brought it up to the house and cut it to size.

Definitely helped finding trash to incorporate into this project! I’m happy with how my new repulsive grounds keeper turned out.

On a personal note…
Thank you to Kurt for naming him and constantly telling me to get off my a$$ and make a prop.

Related posts:

1. Halloween Tree
2. Zombie Crawler
3. Paper Mache

I wanted to add some sort of small creatures to my witch kitchen display in 2006 that wouldn’t necessarily take up floor space…as I don’t have any to spare.
I made four winged demons, the largest being almost 3′ across. Each is constructed from recycled paper and wire, and can be hung on the wall so as to take up very little space.

Want one of your own? I may periodically have new ones for sale in my shop.

Related posts:

1. Hag
2. Halloween Tree
3. Mr. Hemlock Dench

Visit my shop to see if there are any potions ready for purchase, or read on and learn to make your own.

MAKE SOME WITCH KITCHEN JARS

Making witch kitchen jars and ingredients is easy and inexpensive. Any jar or bottle of any size will do. I collect jars from my own kitchen, from friend’s houses, from garage sales, and from one of the thrift shops in town that always carries a vast and bizarre selection for very cheap.

Prepping Bottles
They should be thoroughly washed and dried. I like all my stuff to sort of ‘flow’ in the the same color palette. My labels are all the same paper, processed the same way. I use flat black paint, sometimes painting the jars black too. I use a small amount of silver, and some times dress up the jars using aged looking binder twine.

Almost all my jars get flat black spray-painted lids. I place all the lids on newspaper outside or in the garage, and spray paint them with light even coats, allowing the paint to dry before each application. One of my favorite spray paints for this is Excel because it covers nicely and dries fast.

BBQ Sauce bottle ready to use

Ingredients
Fill the jars using your desired ingredients. Anything goes. Let your imagination go wild. If that doesn’t work – find someone under 10 and ask them for some ideas, you’ll be amazed. Or, look online. Harry Potter websites can give you plenty of inspiration.
Check your cupboards. You can use all sorts of dried foods, baking ingredients and spices as witch ingredients. Use polymer clay and make your own ingredients. Take a trek through a park or wooded area to collect natural ingredients like leaves, moss, seed pods.

I try not to use anything that can break down, rot or mold in the jars. I do not want to have to refill them each year.

Glowing products and toys can also be used in your jars if you are using blacklights. To make a glowing liquid you can use RIT fabric whitener, laundry detergent containing phosphorous (Tide works very well)or regular highlighter felts. Take the felts apart and soak the foam tube from inside them in water to extract all the color.

This bottle is filled Tide Laundry Detergent and it glows nicely under a blacklight

Ingredients – hot glue strands, next add water and color if desired

Labels
Sometimes I fill the jars first and do the labels afterwards because I know what ingredient I want to use but don’t know what to call it. Other times I begin with the label and find something suiting to put in it.

Put some thought into what you’re doing. Don’t just call your rice from the pantry ‘Maggots’ Call it something like “Freeze Dried Sarcophaga Carnaria Larva” or “Dried Flesh Eating Blow Fly Larva” and in smaller text below “hand selected from the finest corpses” or something different like that.

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I have a huge antique Pyrex apothecary style jar that I filled with expanding brain toys, and instead of ‘Brains‘ I labelled it “Hob Goblin Brains” and below in fine print “Collected from the Darke Forests of England, after extensive I.Q. testing for Quality Assurance“.

So once I’ve decided on a name, I measure the area I want to make a label for and create it on my Printshop program, using regular white printer paper. The font I use is called Blackadder ITC.

Once the labels are printed I crumple them all up.

Then I brew up some very strong tea or coffee and pour it into a 9 x 13 pan.

I take each page and lay it into the pan to soak for a minute.

When the tea/coffee begins to seep into the paper fibers I carefully remove it and set it out on the counter to dry on wax or parchment paper. If you are in a hurry you can speed the drying process using a blow dryer or fan. Then if the color is not dark enough I re-soak them, or I use a paint brush to add extra color just along the edges or areas I want it to look more aged or water damaged.

Once thoroughly dry, I seal the labels using a matte varnish for acrylic paint. This can be purchased at art supply stores. I never skip this step as it makes the labels look less ‘home made’. Don’t worry if your paper seems very wrinkled, it will smooth out later.

Next I cut out each label. Using a regular white glue stick, I adhere each label to its jar being sure to get glue on the entire surface. Pay special attention to the edges of the label, it must be completely coated. Smooth label onto jar.

Sometimes I add binder twine to the top, using a hot glue gun to adhere to the top and base of the neck. Then I trim off the excess fibers. Using a drop of brown or grey acrylic paint and some water, I paint over the binder twine to age it.

…that’s it. The jar is done!

Display you work!
Make sure your area is adequately lit so people can appreciate you work! I made my own shelves with lights on each level. I also use LED spotlights to highlight certain jars as well. Lighting a shelf from the back or underneath can create some great effects, illuminating your jars and making them appear to glow.

Need a cauldron?
I made mine with paper mache back in 2004. I was inspired to make my own after seeing Bob Andrews cauldron It’s awesome, and the perfect shape! I followed his picture tutorial, and then added paper mache layers. When it was really thick and sturdy, I removed the bucketand finished the inside as well.

Off Season…
When Halloween is over and you are packing everything up take special care and wrap your jars and bottles in packing paper. Store them in sturdy containers or boxes. If you used any organic materials that can break down, best to empty them out before storing them. A jar can get pretty toxic over the year, and some could even burst. Carefully packed, you’ll be able to enjoy these for years.

Related posts:

1. Faux Wood Shelves
2. Teeny Tiny Witch Jar
3. Paper Mache

This tree is mainly constructed of chicken wire and paper mache.

How it was made:

I began by forming a stump with a light chicken wire. Chicken wire requires gloves and nice sharp tin snips – without them, it’s a very frustrating process. I also keep pliers handy for bending and securing loose wires.

After I had a stump and roots shaped out I covered them in paper mache. I also covered the underside of all the roots. Chicken wire will not easily take the first coat of mache and the honey comb texture of the wire will show thru. This can be partially avoided by adding tape over the chicken wire, or even taping newspaper to the wire first. For this project I used newspaper and recycled packing paper. I added probably 4 layers of mache to the stump before continuing.

I then added more wire to form a tree trunk, and mache’d it to add strength before adding more chicken wire to form tree limbs. The chicken wire was cut into smaller pieces as I worked up each limb, wrapping it around itself to form long thin cone shapes for the smaller branches.
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I added some 2 part polyurethane expanding foam to the roots and trunk to increase density and strength even further. (I don’t have a picture of this process as you need to work fast or you end up with foam everywhere)

I also ran an extension cord up thru the trunk in case I eventually decided I would need it. (so far all it’s used for is lights)

After I had a basic tree formed, I began to add detail. I added veining using binder twine, rope segments and some Great Stuff expanding foam. I added small bones into the tree limbs and bark. I added pieces of foam skull faces which I made in a skull mold.

I added layers of paper mache over the faces, veins and bones. A layer of mache, more detail, a layer of mache etc etc. with a little bit of light sanding here and there. This process took a while, and looking back I should have stuck with it a little longer to get the look I wanted – but I grew impatient.

The tree needed leaves. I had some old grape vine swags in storage so I took them apart and added some to the branches. At the end of each limb I poked the wire end of the grape vine swag, adhering it with masking tape and adding more mache on top.

At this point I still had the tree in my work area – the basement. I wanted to take it upstairs or outside to paint, where the lighting was better. I realized I had made the tree too big to get out of the basement… Yes, make fun of me now…. The tree had to be stored in the basement, so it obviously had to fit through the door. – I should have designed the tree in two pieces. I ended up cutting a few roots and branches down to size using snips, and a saw.

I coated the tree in black paint. I can’t remember exactly what paint I used, outdoor latex I think. Then I dry brushed some brown and red over the surface to pick up detail. The leaves got a similar treatment. Then the whole thing was sealed again with sealer.

This tree has survived a many Halloweens. It has received its share of abuse, and has had its roots stomped on, it’s been knocked over…. but it’s still in good shape.

For the past few years I have been meaning to give the thing a make-over. If I ever get it done I will post about it….

Related posts:

1. Paper Mache
2. Mr. Hemlock Dench
3. Zombie Crawler

Basic Mache

This is my basic recipe for Halloween Prop building. It can be used very thin with paper towels or tissue for texture. It can be kept very thick and used with newspaper to make an extremely hard durable finish. It can be brushed onto a surface when its thick to smooth out seams.

Basic Mache Recipe
1 c. Flour
1 c. Corn Starch
1 tbsp Salt (to deter mold)
1 1/2 c. Water
1 c. White Glue
In a bowl (that you don’t care too much for) combine flour and corn starch and salt. Add water and mix thoroughly. The batter will be thick. Add glue stirring to combine. Depending on the project I will sometimes water this down further.

Prepare your workspace

I sometimes use those cheap plastic party table coverings to cover my work area, or a plastic bag cut open.

Prepare your newspaper
Never cut the newspaper into strips. It leaves a hard edge which will not blend and will remain visible unless you sand down your project. Tearing paper leaves more fibers intact and makes for a smoother finish.

Prepare your prop or form
If using chicken wire, apply newsprint or masking tape, or both to the wire to give the mache something to hold onto. Whatever you use, make sure it is stable to ensure your mache does not warp as it dries.

How to apply mache
Take the newsprint from one end, and dip it into the mache mix. As you pull the mache back out, put it between the index and middle finger of your other hand. This will sort of squeegee off the excess mache mix, and you will have both sides of the mache coated.

Apply the strips in as much of a cross hatch pattern as possible to add strength to the shape. Only apply 2 to 3 coats at a time. If you do not allow sufficient drying time between applications your project will take a very long time to dry out and could mold.

After I have coated my project a few times, I leave it to dry. I set up fans to increase air flow, and when necessary I also add extra heat with a portable heater or a heat lamp, depending on the size of the project. *** Only add heat to the room, not directly to your project.

For finer detail use smaller pieces or use mache pulp. (see below)
For extra strength do many layers.
For smooth textures sand the final layer, or paint on a layer or two of thick Basic Mache.
For a textured finish apply different paper to the top layer or layers of the project. Try tissue or paper towel. Use a thinner consistency mache or use glue mache(see below), and paint it onto the surface, apply the thinner paper and paint over with more mache. You can gently push the paper or tissue to create a wrinkled effect.

Glue Mache

This mix is very effective when used with thin mediums such as tissue, paper towel or toilet paper. I have also used it on small projects using small pieces of newsprint. The ratio of glue to water will vary depending on your purpose. When combined with thin paper products this mix creates great texture. In general, I use this mix over top of Basic Mache, after I have achieved my form and strength.

Glue Mache Recipe
White Glue
Water
Water down the glue to the consistency desired. Apply mache with a brush to surface, apply paper, and brush over with more mache. Repeat. I usually only use this method on the surface of the prop when I need a desired texture.

Mache Pulp

This mix is more of a clay. It can be molded and shaped like clay. There may be better recipes out there then this one, again this is just the stuff I use, and one of my favorites. I use this recipe often.

Mache Pulp Recipe
Extra small paper shreds
Ground White Chalk
Glue and water

Mix together to the consistency you want. It keeps in a sealed container for a long time. The finer the paper shreds the finer the mix will be.

Related posts:

1. Zombie Crawler
2. Paper Skull
3. Halloween Tree