[fowldarr]

Hey, I'm new here, so if this has been done a million times, just let me know. I did a quick search and didn't see one, but I'm sure it's been done here. We just bought a house this year, so finally have the opportunity to get into really decorating for Halloween. Phase 1 was some store bought items, Phase 2 will be more focused on building props.

The first one is a packing tape ghost. I stole the idea from an assortment of threads on the internet. If you all are interested I can do a step by step with pictures. The basics are as follows.

Supplies
Packing Tape
Clear plastic garbage bags, (harder to find then you think, I went with a bag designed for recyclables)
Scotch Tape (or similar)
Lights
Styrofoam or mannequin head, or a volunteer that can hold their breath for a long time

I started by placing a plastic bag over a Styrofoam wig head
Tape the high definition areas (the neck under the chin, across the forhead
Do the detail work, nose, eyes, etc with the scotch tape
Wrap the rest with packing tape (I did 3-4 layers)
Cut it off with scissors, tape up the incision

The torso is the same concept, very similar. I used one of my teenagers as the model for the torso. He did fine, but was ready to be released by the time he was done. I'm not done yet, but here is what I have so far.


I'm going to be working on the arms, and support structure tonight, dressing it up a little, lights will be remote controlled color changing LED.

 

[Frankie's Girl]

Hey, great project and welcome to the forum!

You can also use food type plastic cling wrap to go in place of the clear bags. I bought a few rolls for my projects at the dollar store. Super easy to wrap objects (and people) since it comes on a roll and sticks to itself with a little tension, and pretty easy to remove in most cases, but I left it in place for my ghost pony scarosel project as it gave them a slightly cloudy effect.

 

[fowldarr]

Great idea. I have some furniture wrap that happens to have a sticky side I was thinking about trying for a larger project. I haven't made it that far yet.

 

[fowldarr]

Also, would love to see th scarosel

 

[Frankie's Girl]

Oh that furniture wrap stuff is awesome - that's nifty you got some to use for big stuff!

My ghost pony scarousel is here: http://www.halloweenforum.com/hallo...-theme-scarousel-mechanically-challenged.html
It was an accident; I'd planned on using actual bouncy ponies but they were too heavy for the support structure, but packing tape was light as anything and looks sooooo much cooler.

Packing tape figures are just super spooky - can't wait to see how yours turns out (and how you end up staging it for the big day!)

 

[Sharonr3106]

It looks like you have made a great start. I have used the packing tape ghost idea for a few years now. I have just updated mine for this years Haunted Drake Manor

 

[fowldarr]

Those are cool. My only update is that my 4 year old saw what I was doing and said "Dad, that's creepy, can you make one of me?" Yes. Yes I can. So I'll have at least one adult sized and one child sized ghost. Trying to decide how to do the lower half, I don't really want legs, but want them to be clearly male figures for this display (so not like a dress).

 

[Sharonr3106]

Thanks fowldarr, I also made a Lord Winston ghost, but because I was concerned about legs also I made a car for him so only had to to the top half. Here he is with the maid. Could you possibly do something similar so you don't have to worry about legs?

 

[fowldarr]

It's possible, but I'll likely go a different direction. I'll post what I come up with.

 

[fowldarr]

Ghost #1 has been lit and hung. I won't with a Casper-esque tail that seemed to work well

 

[Frankie's Girl]

That looks really cool! Love the lighting.

 

[fowldarr]

Thanks. I like the way it turned out.

 

[CarterTarterSauce]

It looks like you have made a great start. I have used the packing tape ghost idea for a few years now. I have just updated mine for this years Haunted Drake Manor

View attachment 488713 View attachment 488721

What kind of support system did you make for your ghostie?

 

[fowldarr]

What do you mean by support system? Do you mean internally, or are you asking how I hung it?

The ghost is not internally supported. Just lots of layers of packing tape to give it rigidity. It was hung with fishing line from a tree.

Sadly, the ghost was killed in a tragic accident at the end of the season last year. We had a significant wind storm, and for the briefest of moments I imagine he was free, floating through the air, before he came to an abrupt landing in the backyard with my dog.

My dog is not ghost friendly.

 

[HauntedWyo]

Sadly, the ghost was killed in a tragic accident at the end of the season last year. We had a significant wind storm, and for the briefest of moments I imagine he was free, floating through the air, before he came to an abrupt landing in the backyard with my dog.

My dog is not ghost friendly.

I couldn't help but giggle when I read this. Quite the comedic tragedy. I bet both the dog and the ghost had quite the surprise.

 

[fowldarr]

I couldn't help but giggle when I read this. Quite the comedic tragedy. I bet both the dog and the ghost had quite the surprise.

the real tragedy is how long it took to clean up the pieces