Thread: Mini-Bluckies Modifications and Costumes

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On the above photo album page you can take a look at preliminary modifications being done to some of those mini bluckies from the 99 Cents Only Store. I figured some of you probably purchased a gaggle of these as I did--I thought they looked cool sitting in the store! For a dollar, not bad.

But when I got them home I started messing around with them and realized how stiff and toylike they looked. I had an idea of putting some on a front lawn, making it seem as though they were crawling out of the ground--an idea use for a ghoul you see only from the waist up. It became obvious that putting three of them right next to each other would look sort of dull and boring. Each needed a different look!

Making the arms poseable at the joints would get rid of a lot of the stiffness, make them seem as if each was doing something different. I cut the arm sections apart and used some decorative aluminum wire (Dollar Tree), double folding it for durability and gluing it into the joints. A big blob of hot glue on either side of the wire will leave the center bare and flexible.

The torso of one of the ghouls, as you can see, has been sliced of on the lower end, at a diagonal. His arm has also been trimmed. This is to present the illusion that he is digging his way out of the ground from another angle.

For some of these, I will make new hands to replace the cheesy old hands. These will be made of cardboard with some wires hot glued on to represent fingers and thumb. After each hand is attached, it will be blended on with latex and tissue paper.

More personality could be added by carefully--using tin snips and other tools, be careful here!--cutting the lower jaw away and bending it open.

Altogether, these differences will make the three of them more interesting to look at. will help establish that each has a personality.

Later, some latex and tissue paper skin will help these look fleshier. Facial features sculpted in cotton and latex will add more individuality. Acrylic paint colors will further enhance them. This type of "corpsing" is fairly easy and most people know how to do that. I wanted to test different looks before the corpsing process. Well, these skeletons being fairly small, it takes very little fabric to make simple costumes for them! Same with hair--a few tufts or lengths from an old Halloween mask will make a quick head of hair for these guys. Since they should look "old," costumes and hair can literally be added in rotted patches. Some old fabric or cheesecloth, torn and shredded, does perfectly.

These are meant to be quick! Not more than a day, in total, will go into modifying all of them together. They are also meant to look a little cheesy, home-made, and "rough," because I prefer this Halloween display to have a low-tech and rough-hewn look to it. Bear in mind too, these will be seen with colored mood lighting, in a fairly dark environment, with sound effects and other distracting elements. So it's really not necessary to make the skeletons too perfect or pretty. The main idea, as always, is to have FUN!

Hmm. I've been thinking I need to find me one of these. But the words mini and small worry me. How big are these torso's, approx.

Very nicely done!