Witches and Monsters and Fun, Oh My!

This week we did a quick and fun table decoration for Halloween.  Next week we're going to start on a more complex Christmas centerpiece project for the tables, interspersing their creation with a Thanksgiving project.  The holidays are upon us!

For our Halloween project we used mailing tubes for bodies, Styrofoam balls for the heads, a bit of paper for arms, and pipe cleaners for hands, hair on our monsters and witches, and the handles of the brooms.  We also used pony beads on the faces for mouths or noses, depending on where they landed on the face, and some googly eyes.  To attach the head to the body we used my favorite adhesive, gloss gel.

Supplies:
  Styrofoam balls
  Mailing tubes or Pringle cans or some such tub
  Craft paint - purple, green and black
  Googly eyes
  Pipe cleaners
  Pony beads, optional, you could paint on mouths and noses
  Paper to create wrap around arms, broom bristles, and witch hats
  Gloss gel
  Pushpin for monster neck embellishment (every monster needs a bolt in his neck)
 
We began by painting the mailing tubes for the bodies, black for the witch and green for the monster.  I painted the Styrofoam balls ahead of time at home because they took a bit of time to dry.  I did the witch heads green and the monster heads purple.

Googly eyes were then attached to the heads with gloss gel and a pony bead pushed into the head for a mouth, or sometimes a nose.  When the pony bead landed in nose position a mouth was painted onto the face with a small brush and some of the black paint used for the witch body. 

To get matching paper for the arms I painted a brown paper bag on one side with the same paint used to paint the monster's body.  Next the painted paper was cut into a two-inch wide strip.  Gloss gel was spread onto the inside of the paper and a small loop of pipe cleaner set onto the end with an extra dab of gloss gel.  Finally, the strip was folded shut and glued onto the body.

Witch hair was made by winding a bit of pipe cleaner around fingers or paint brush handles to create little springs that could be pushed into the side of the head below the hat.  Monster hair was two short pieces of pipe cleaner stuck into the top of the head.  Meanwhile, helper, Cathy, sat to the side constructing witch hats and brooms.  Brooms were fringed paper wrapped around a pipe cleaner and glued in place with gloss gel.  Hats were made by googling "making witches hats out of paper."  The real directions used compasses and protractors.  We used paper plates and jar lids to make our circles.  Not as exact but fully functional.

To attach the heads to the mailing tubes a goodly amount of gloss gel was put onto the rim of the mailing tube and the head set in place.  Next the head was lifted off of the mailing tube and the circle of glass gel imprinted onto the head marked the place where an additional amount of gloss gel was dabbed onto the head before it was once more placed onto the mailing tube to dry.  Witch hats were then attached with gloss gel and the final monster touch of a pushpin into the neck completed the projects.

Resting With Friends After a Job Well Done

Nice to Know Notes:
Because our mailing tubes had a cover on the bottom we were able to insert a few stones into the tubes for weight.  Although yarn would work equally well for hair and brooms we happen to have a considerable supply of pipe cleaners.  And as Miss Piggy said, "You got to go with what you got!"