DIY Haunted Mansion Holiday Wreath Prop

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS                

DISNEYLAND - HAUNTED MANSION HOLIDAY WREATH

Cost: $10 or less

This is the Nightmare Christmas wreath that hangs all over Disneyland's Haunted Mansion during the Nightmare Before Christmas holiday overlay around Halloween and Christmas time. I always wanted to have on of these wreaths, so i tried to make my own. I got the plain black wreath at Michael's for pretty cheap. I bought all the assorted Fall leaves, twigs and berries from Michael's floral department (50% off!) I hot glued all the floral items into the wreath. I then cut the Nightmare skull out of pink insulation foam and painted it. The skull is not quite right, I'll admit it...and the black and white stripe ribbon was hand painted from some old wired ribbon I already had.

Original Skull Hanging on Disneyland Haunted Mansion:

           

2011 DIY Prop Wreath:

2013 Wreath Update:

 This is a DIY skull I made form making a mold from my original Disneyland prop skull. 

It was then cast in plaster and painted.

This one is much more accurate, and I am very happy with it. 

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ALSO:

2D Skull Template Printable:

Use this skull as your guide to cut skulls out of paper, cardboard, wood, or foam!

Halloween Count Down Clock Prop

DISNEYLAND - HAUNTED MANSION HOLIDAY - NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Countdown Clock

This is a tutorial on how to make the Nightmare Before
Christmas Countdown Clock. This clock appears in Halloween Town in the movie, but more famously it hangs over the main entrance to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday (October - December). The Disneyland original is several feet tall, this tutorial is a scaled down version. Here's how i made it:

Supplies Needed: 

Cardboard or Foam-core Board
Pink Insulation Foam
18" Floral Craft wreath made of Twigs
Assorted Fake Leaves & Berries
(and the metal stems from the floral items)
or Wire
Acrylic Paints
Hot Glue
Exacto Knife

Approx. Cost: $5 or less

Time Invested: 2 Hours

(Detailed description corresponds with picture tutorial above)

1. a) Decide how big you want your clock, and what material you want to make it out of. This tutorial shows how to make a cheap clock out of recycled cardboard, but it could be constructed out of wood. 

   b) Step one shows the basic shapes that will need to be cut out. Face, Hands, Base x2, Sides, Bottom (sides and bottom can be one continuous piece or segments, however it works out). 

   c) Paint the clock face white with black details.

NOTE: The clock hands are actually not shown in figure 1, but they are one single piece, cut from cardboard, and attached with a "brad". They spin!

   

2. Buy a floral wreath made from sticks and twigs. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. It was marked $4.99 (but, I had a 40% off coupon! <Get them on their website for free!) They come in various sizes ( mine is 18"diameter). Spray paint it flat black. Dry brush some brown acrylic paints to give it depth. Hot glue a few holly berries, and some dead leaves.

3. Use a square piece of insulation foam for structure. Piece the front and back cardboard base pieces around the foam (like a sandwich) . I placed the front and back first and then used hot glue to attach the 2" wide strips along the bottom and sides. The insulation foam is naturally 2" thick, this is why I chose to make my base 2" thick. Please make your base 2" or wider or else it will not stand on its own.You should now have the cardboard base constructed. Paint it with  metallic silver acrylic paint.

4. a) Using a knife or foam cutter, scoop off a slight curve on the top of the foam to support the shape of the floral wreath.

    b) Using wire (I happened to use some old wire floral stems I had left over) make an anchor to  hold the floral wreath. Stab the wire into the foam and wrap it around the wreath to securely attach the two.

5. Cut out white pieces of card stock or printer paper for the countdown numbers & "days till halloween". Write the numbers and words on the cards. Use pens and markers to add edges and details to the white paper.

NOTE: You can make your clock say "000" ,or you could make all the numbers on cardstock squares, then tap small nails or those twist-in hooks into the front of the countdown area, and hang your own numbers that you can change every day! . . . just an idea.

6. Bolts: I used some left over flat back crystals from another project. They were green....Spray paint them silver, instant bolts!

7. a) Attach the "bolts" with hot glue

    b) Use watered down brown, gold or copper paint dripped on the bolts to make them look rusty.

8. Attach the clock face to the back of the wreath with a few dots of hot glue around the edges

Finished clock! 

If you choose to,  you can also make the drop down rope "XMAS" sign. I would use jute twine for the rope, and cheap Dollar Tree foam-core board for the sign. I use my prop for Halloweentime decor, so I did not make that Christmas sign (yet...)

I hope these instructions are clear. 

Please leave any questions in the comments. I will do my best to help. 

Good Luck....

Life-Size DIY Mayor of Halloween Town Prop

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS MAYOR

The second Character I made was the Mayor. Here is a tutorial of how I made him.

**Update: I have done some updates to the Mayor to make him more accurate, I will post the updated pictures here soon**

Cost: Aprox. $25

Supplies Needed:
PVC
Material
Hot glue
Cardboard
Acrylic paints
Foam pipe insulation/99cent pool noodles
Screws
Drill
Needle and thread

I measured and cut the PVC pipe accordingly (exact measurements to come...)

The head is made from a large white poster board purchased at the local grocery store. I rolled it into a cone shape (small on one end, and wide on the other). I drew on the mayors face with pencil, and then painted it with acrylic paints. I want to make a new rotating head carved out of foam .

I measured and cut a cardboard ring for the brim of the mayors hat, I slid it down around his forehead, then I measured and cut a cardboard circle and placed it at the very top of the PVC pipe (top of his hat), then connected the two cardboard pieces with a tube of black material and hot glue to form his tall hat.

SPIDER TIE, MAYOR BADGE, BULL HORN & HANDS:

The spider tie and mayor badge are made out of cardboard and painted with acrylic paints.

The bull horn is made out of black poster board rolled into a cone and painted with silver acrylic paint.

The Mayor's hands: His hands are made using the same technique as Sally (just a larger version)

 He currently only has one, of his two faces, I plan to add his sad, creepy face to the other side !

Life-Size DIY Jack Skellington Prop

JACK  SKELLINGTON MEASUREMENTS IN PHOTO BELOW:

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Jack Skellington Prop

Cost: Approx. $25+

ASSEMBLY:

For Mr. Skellington, I started by finding all his measurements. Then I bought .5" PVC Pipes and .5" Connectors at Home Depot. Then for his head, I bought two half spheres of that green floral foam at Michael's (they didn't sell it in a full round ball). The head diameter is 8". The green floral foam is much softer and easier to carve than the regular white Styrofoam balls they sell. I got all my supplies home, referred to my scale guide I had made, and cut all the lengths of Jacks limbs, etc. (Remember that each PVC connector adds about .5" to 1" in length, account for that if you want your character to Be accurate). I used evenly distributed white glue to glue the two floral foam domes together to make a full sphere. While Jacks head was drying, I assembled his PVC pipe body. When his foam head was done drying i twisted it back and forth down onto the "neck"until it went in a few inches and was secure. I then pulled the head off, filled the hole with hot glue and placed the head back on. Now it will be permanently attached. You now have the frame work of Jack intact!

UPDATE:
tawni dilly suggests: you could drill holes thru pvc and put in a slightly longer screw with a bolt on end. that way he can change positions. Tighten when he is in position you want and untighten to change etc.

Also: I chose to make my Jack with 45* bent knee joints because I like how I
it looked. My Jack remains in a sitting position. However, if you would like your Jack to stand, I would recommend making his legs straight. This will make It easier to secure his legs to a wood base or into re bar in the front lawn. If you are going to give him straight legs, please remember to subtract a few inches off of his leg length. If you straighted his bent legs, he suddenly becomes taller and in my opinion out of proportion.
His total height should be about 7.5 feet tall approximately.


JACKS FACE:

Looking at a detailed picture of jacks face online (you can choose your favorite expression), I lightly (and carefully) traced on his eyes, nose holes, and mouth with a pencil.

Once I knew that the size and placement was correct, I used the pencil to carve deeper and deeper into his mouth and nose holes.

 For the eyes, I actually used a tea spoon to carve out the round shape...worked perfectly!

 Now paint the face and head using black and white acrylic paints. Head is done








CLOTHING:

I Purchased a few yards of the cheapest black fabric I could find at the fabric store. Clothes-making isn't my specialty. Basically, what I did was, Look at a picture of Jack's clothes for the accurate look, then laid down the PVC "stick figure" on the black fabric, used a white colored pencil for marking and traced around the figure. For the jacket, I cut out the front panel, and the back panel and hand stitched them together. For the pants (and long sleeves), I again measured the material against Jacks leg length, then cut the material. I used a sewing machine to sew the two pant legs into "tube" shapes, and left them somewhat open toward the top. I hand sewed the open top parts together to close off the top of the pants. I feel like I really didn't know what i was doing, so its probably really confusing to understand how I sewed the pants. Maybe ask someone you know that sews, it's really basic. I was too cheap to buy the pin striped material at the store, so I ended up using the white colored pencil to make stripes up and down his suit. It Actually Turned out a lot more accurate this way, because if you look at Jack's suit, it doesn't have perfectly uniform stripes. They are more squiggly and imperfect. Finish by adding a button to his suit and stuffing his chest with recycled plastic bags.



BAT BOW TIE, SHOES & JACK'S HANDS:

Bow Tie: Jack's signature Bat bow tie was made using the same method as the suit jacket. I just looked at a picture of the tie online, then traced it onto the material twice. I sewed the two pieces together around the edges with a sewing machine ( like making a pillow). Then I lightly stuffed the bat with batting and inserted a few wires to maintain its stiffness)

Shoes: I made tiny black shoes for Jack out of wood (with the help of my Grandfather). Then used black acrylic paint, and shellac spray for shine. We drilled .5" round holes into the tops of the shoes so the PVC pipe legs would fit into them.
(You could also carve the shoes out of pink/blue insulation foam and achieve the same result)

Hands: The hands are from Party City, they were just prop skeleton hands. I inserted wire and hot glue into them to make them pose able.

...Look who I found decorating the tree...

this picture I