{"id":248,"date":"2015-06-23T14:05:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T14:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/?p=248"},"modified":"2020-10-18T13:28:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T13:28:35","slug":"10-foot-grim-reaper-halloween-decoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/10-foot-grim-reaper-halloween-decoration\/","title":{"rendered":"10-foot grim reaper Halloween decoration!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-3.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-3.jpg\" alt=\"Giant grim reaper Halloween prop\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This giant grim reaper prop I made for a Halloween party in 2010 was the first paper mach\u00e9 project I ever tackled! (Well, not counting art class back in grade school.) I seriously had no idea what I was doing but it turned out okay, and my success with this project really inspired me to keep trying to make bigger and more complicated Halloween decorations every year.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n <div class=\"ad-300x250 ad-float-right\">\r\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- MMS 300x250 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5009313124668288\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3616150394\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>I started with the skull face and skeleton hands. I had not yet figured out <a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/my-paper-mache-method\/\">my preferred paper mach\u00e9 method<\/a> at this time so I made this stuff a little differently.<\/p>\n<p>I bought a big disposable aluminum foil pan \u2014 like you&#8217;d use for a turkey or whatever \u2014 at the dollar store. I then molded this into a rough skull shape with my hands; basically bending and twisting it into a big skull-shaped aluminum mask. I was able to create decent shapes for the eye sockets and cheekbones and not much else, but this was a good enough starting place.<\/p>\n<p>I then used wadded and rolled paper towels to build up the eyebrow ridges and outer nose shape. I attached all this stuff with masking tape.<\/p>\n<p>Then I started paper mach\u00e9ing; I used watered-down Elmer&#8217;s glue (which works, but I really don&#8217;t prefer it), and paper towels rather than my usual newspaper and craft paper. I&#8217;m really glad I discovered <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2LYmQsW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roman PRO-543 universal wallpaper adhesive<\/a> (paid link) a couple projects later; it&#8217;s way easier to work with and dries stronger than Elmer&#8217;s glue.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-1.jpg\" alt=\"Paper mache work in progress for grim reaper prop\"><\/a><br \/>\nSmall dollar store skull decoration and twenty-dollar bill shown for scale, and to prove that I have twenty bucks.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I did two layers of paper mach\u00e9 for the face. I then made the teeth of wadded up aluminum foil and paper mach\u00e9&#8217;d over them, and the glue in the paper mach\u00e9 held them in place.<\/p>\n<p>For the hands, I first cut out big poster board hand shapes, and then taped pieces of bendable wire onto them from the wrist to fingertips, and bent them into gnarled skeletal hand shapes. I rolled up newspaper and paper towels for each of the finger bones and hand bones and taped them all in place. Then I paper mach\u00e9&#8217;d over the whole thing with Elmer&#8217;s and paper towels; just two layers.<\/p>\n<p>When all of this was dry, I used scissors to cut away the excess aluminum and paper mach\u00e9 from the skull face. I was able to peel the paper mach\u00e9 completely away from the aluminum pan and masking tape, which was great; I was left with an extremely lightweight paper mach\u00e9 skull face.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-2.jpg\" alt=\"How to make a paper mache grim reaper decoration\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I took the skull face and skeleton hands outside and spray painted them black. When that was dry, I dry-brushed them white. This was a more primitive version of <a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/my-painting-method-for-my-paper-mache-skull-masks-and-other-projects\/\">my usual painting process<\/a> for my big paper mach\u00e9 skull masks and whatnot.<\/p>\n<p>With the face and hands done, it was time to work on the body. I bought the cheapest and lightest-weight black fabric I could find at the fabric store. Nowadays I mostly use cheap plastic table cloths from the dollar store for this kind of thing; that&#8217;s definitely the cheapest (but flimsiest!) material you can get for covering big areas. Anyway, I cut and stapled the fabric to make a simple cloak and hood shape.<\/p>\n<p>I used strong, flexible wire to make a long, wide shape that would serve as the arms, shoulders, and head. Since my paper mach\u00e9 skull was just the face, and not a whole head, I used the wire to make a sort of round 3d head shape that could wear the skull as a mask and have the hood fit over it nicely. I twisted a tiny loop into the top of the wire head, and pushed it through the fabric so it stuck out the top. I used this loop to hang the skeleton on the ceiling.<\/p>\n<p>I installed three small hooks in the ceiling; one for the head and one for each hand. I hung the head on a hook by the little loop. For the hands, I attached fishing line to the hands and ran that up to the hooks in the ceiling, and adjusted the length to have the hands hang at the height I wanted.<\/p>\n<p>We got the idea to set up an oscillating fan behind the grim reaper in order to have the lightweight fabric blow and billow a bit; this worked great!<\/p>\n<p>One last thing, I poked small holes in the skull&#8217;s eye sockets and inserted two battery powered tealight candles behind them, with the fake flames sticking out. This gave the eyes a nice spooky flickering effect. This was the first time I used this trick, and I&#8217;ve done it for a million more projects afterward. It&#8217;s a great cheap and easy effect.<\/p>\n<p>I was really happy with the overall look of this grim reaper; he was huge!! And people were definitely impressed when they walked into the room. He was definitely a highlight of that year&#8217;s Halloween party.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-3.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-3.jpg\" alt=\"Paper mache grim reaper\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-4.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-4.jpg\" alt=\"Huge grim reaper Halloween party decoration\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-5.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/grim-reaper-5.jpg\" alt=\"Diy grim reaper statue\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Happy Halloween!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This giant grim reaper prop I made for a Halloween party in 2010 was the first paper mach\u00e9 project I ever tackled! (Well, not counting art class back in grade school.) I seriously had no idea what I was doing but it turned out okay, and my success with this project really inspired me to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,23,54,14,60,12,3,13,8,4,9],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-death","tag-decoration","tag-grim-reaper","tag-halloween","tag-halloween-decorations","tag-halloween-party","tag-paper-mache","tag-party-decorations","tag-skeleton","tag-skull","tag-tutorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5856,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/5856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manningkrull.com\/manningmakesstuff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}