Making Ghoulish Guests and Fabulous Fiends

Note from Cheri: These creepy heads were made using ordinary modeling clay over a styrofoam wig head. They come in handy when making dummies for haunted house dressing. They're also great table decorations, watching over your Halloween Buffet. Swirl a tablecloth around the bases, so your guests just see the head and neck sitting on the table. These Fabulous Fiends were designed and made by the talented team of Tim Holmes and Richard Burnes.

You Will Need: styrofoam wig head modeling clay marbles wood burning tool acrylic paint artists paint brushes wig or other "hair" material

This project really provides an opportunity to get creative. You'll have lots of fun. There's no right or wrong way to make ghoulish guests and what follows are only basic hints and instructions. You're sure to come up with your own ideas (send us your photos and we'll display them here). For the ghoul in the top photo above and at right, Tim covered the base of a styrofoam wig head with aluminum foil. He then covered the face portions in modeling clay, shaping the facial features as he worked. Two opaque black marbles give the eyes their shape as well as their vacant stare. Tim then made "worms" out of various colors of clay and stuffed these in his creation's mouth. An inexpensive Halloween costume wig provides this creature's oh so stylish coiffure. For the ghastly guest in photo number 2 above and at left, Richard also started with a wig head, but he only used modeling clay over part of the face (the flesh tones in the photo). He then took a woodburning tool, like those sold in toy and hobby shops, to make his creature's grisly mouth. The woodburning tool instantly melts the styrofoam to create a 3-dimensional styrofoam sculpture (we use this same technique to make realistic tombstone props). Richard then used acrylic paint to add gory details. Use your creations to decorate scenes in a hanunted house like the photo below left. Use old clothes and stuff them with plastic ghrocery bags or leaves to give your bodies shape. The monster in the photo below right was attached with thin rope to a small pulley which allowed the head to pop up from behind a wall and surprise guests entering the party. This effect gets a lot of screams! Fabulous Foods Halloween Store Get everything you need to create professional looking carved pumpkins: tools, patterns, pattern creating software and more, plus ultra cool Halloween decorations, party accessories and much more. Click here!