June 7-9 was the annual Rocky Mountain Haunters Gathering. This year we signed up to make several new animated props, as well as some fun, crafty art projects.
Nibblers
Mason Barton led a class in how to make his “Nibbler” art project. Mason provided the Nibbler kits for $10 each and my boys and I had a great time being creative and unique with each of our Nibblers. Hover over each picture for a description.
Mason’s instruction sheet.
Paper Mache’
Foam stuffed in pot.
Sample of fabric glue teeth.
Ben applying paper mache’.
Ben’s nibbler’s mouth and teeth
Ben’s nibbler.
Tyler painting his nibbler.
Tyler finished painting.
Painting the teeth.
Tyler’s nibbler.
I finished paper mache’ on my nibbler.
Painting my nibbler’s mouth and tongue.
Third color.
All three of our nibblers.
Crouching Ghoul
Joe Marquez and Karen Christensen led a prop build to make an animated prop of what they called the Twerking Ghoul. I prefer to call it the Crouching Ghoul. The kits cost $120. I was unable to take many pictures since I was busy building the prop, but I stole some from some of the other Haunters that were there.
Blaine Young led a prop build to make an animated Monster-In-a-Box. The kit cost about $100. He did all of the welding and put together the mechanism. We were expecting to have to put the mechanism together, but he did all of the work. The mechanism will be installed inside a box or inside our casket to make it look like something is trying to get out.
I won a Free singing pumpkin animation today on Facebook! I chose “Dead Man’s Party” to add to the other 8 animations that we have for our Pumpkin PATCH and the Boo Brothers singing pumpkin concert.
Since the Halloween of 2013 we have included these singing pumpkins in our graveyard haunt. I often get asked if I animated them. I am not the animator, but John Nielson who manages the Halloween Fun and Christmas Magic Facebook page IS the talented animator behind the Disneyesque Singing Pumpkins that I use. He also has Singing Snowman animations and animations that you can project onto a wall, your garage door, or other flat surfaces. Check out his website and his Facebook page to find out how you can add your own singing pumpkin concert to your Halloween haunt.
For the head movement, modify the rear eye hooks so there are two side-by-side rather than just the one in the middle. You will see where to attach the strings to the top of the head and back/bottom of the neck by watching the video.
My 8 year old son helped me build this project in our spare time. We started it in June and finished it just in time for Halloween. We had a great time building it together.
↓ Here is an instructional video showing some of the steps we took to get our Cloaked Flying Crank Ghost (FCG) to have the movement that we achieved. ↓
I wanted to add two new characters to our haunt this year. A male and female ghost dancing in the graveyard. Kind of a tribute to the dancing ghosts in the Disney Haunted Mansion, but that look more like the Hitch-hiking Ghosts. I sculpted the faces with paper mache clay over the course of several nights. The girl’s face went through several different versions until I felt like she “went” with the guy.
Well, I’ve been working hard on all of my props and I’m afraid I will not be able to finish all of them for this year. Here is an update on the “Scaretaker” prop.
After completing the papier mache I filled the head with expanding foam.I used a “T” joint and short PVC pipe inside the foam to use for securing the head to the body.I built the body out of PVC pipe. I used 1″ screws to secure them all together.I then used chicken wire to bulk up the body. It is secured to the PVC with hot glue where it touches the pipe.I used some old Church clothes to dress him up. My wife unstitched them and sewed Velcro into them so I could get them on.This is what it looked like all put together except for the head. I still need to sculpt a face and eyes. I decided that if I don’t finish the head tomorrow he can be a headless Scaretaker.It looks pretty awesome with the blacklights. I’ll pick up some old shoes from DI tomorrow for him.
I’m very happy with how the body turned out. I made him so he separates at the waist, so he will be a little easier to store. If I can’t finish the head by tomorrow night I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. He looks cool headless.
The “Scaretaker” will be a creepy old man standing ominously in my graveyard, leering at passersby. This is just the base of the head/face.
I wrapped a foam skull with aluminum foil then applied the papier mache.After 3 layers of papier mache I cut the paper and foil off and then put it together with tape and glue. I made the neck at this point too. I then applied 2 more layers of papier mache.
Pumpkin Monster
This creature will be emerging out of one of my papier mache pumpkins. This is just the base of the head/face.
Same process here. Wrap skull in foil, then apply layers of papier mache.An experiment in carving teeth from insulation foam.
I’ve been meaning to put a post or two on the progress of my “Scaretaker” of my graveyard. If I can find the pictures on my wife’s computer, I’ll post them. Last night I worked on the hands. They needed to be strong, so they will hold the weight of the lantern I got for it and maybe a shovel or other prop.
I used the wires from an old wire pantry shelf we took out a few years ago.I made the palm out of cardboard and cut the fingers individually. I slid the wire down inside the cardboard and used hot glue to hold it in place.I shaped the cardboard a little and used hot glue to hold it in place.I used expanding foam to bulk up the fingers and hands.
When they’re completely dry I will carve and sand the hands to shape them, then I will apply a few layers of papier mache to make them hard.
The Dimmick Family's Holiday Light Show – Spanish Fork, UT
The Never Moor 