DIY: Witch

One of our static props is our witch in her lair.  She has all manner of thing surrounding her from specimen jars, books on anatomy, mortar and pistol , crows, candelabras with skulls and lots of candles!  This year, we're going to add an autonomous rocking cradle - no baby, but lots of lace (hee, hee).  When we built her, we never thought we'd be blogging about our projects so we don't have many in-progress pics!  But, if anyone has questions about how we made her, let us know and we're happy to answer them all. 

Stage one - buy another skeleton, 3/4 size again to save weight.  These come with a hook in their skull which makes for easy hanging.  Our witch is suspended using wire that threads through her hair and hat.

Stage two - insert eyes.  We used white marbles (the big ones) with colored flecks in them.  The white glowed beautifully when only slightly illuminated by a black light.  

Stage three - paper mache!  The first layers built the shape and gave foundation.  The top layer was a mushy mess, but gave great texture. 

Stage four - paint!  We used an airbrush and concocted this putrid green.  The airbrush allowed us to paint her without compromising the delicate nature of the paper mache.  

Stage five - dress and display!  We found this nasty old wig at a thrift store for $1.  Her clothes and hat were purchased specifically for her.  We wanted the hat to be positionable and it took awhile to find that hat!  Her shirt and skirt are classic witch attire from any costume retailer.