Tag Archives: Tutorial

Two New Nightmare Before Christmas Props Added to the Family

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Made from a vintage duck blow mold and a doll, Nightmare Before Christmas magic was made. Image copyrighted, all rights reserved, Debbie Morrow

If you’ve been checking out this blog, you might have guessed that I love the Nightmare Before Christmas (NBC) characters. I’ve made the Mayor, Jack Skellington (with a few improved remakes or blunders), Sally, Oogie Boogie, and Zero. As you can see from the image, I’ve added a duck and baby vampire to the family. I’ll be breaking these tutorials into two posts for the sake of shorter, more manageable reading.

The Duck Tutorial:

You’ll Need:

A Plastic Duck Blow Mold
Large High Heat Glue Gun
Piece of Styrofoam or Foam from a Boxed Product
Black, Red, and White Acrylic Outdoor Paint/Brushes
Spackle or other Pre-made Drywall Compound/ Large Brush
A Dremel Saw or something else that cuts plastic easily
Artificial Nails
Tweezers/Marker
Super Glue Industrial Gel ( NOT liquid) for plastic and other materials
A Protractor or any round shaped item you can use for outline

Continue reading →

Tutorial Writing – Not an Easy Task

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The head for the Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas is made from a garbage can squashed a little. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow. All Rights Reserved.

The head for the Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas is made from a garbage can squashed a little. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow. All Rights Reserved.

For those who are looking forward to the Mayor tutorial, you may have to wait a little longer than expected. I’ve already started the first of the series, which is probably the most daunting.

This is not a task to take lightly. I must step into the shoes of a person who has no knowledge of PVC frame building.

With over 40 cuts of PVC needed to make the frame along with finding the word usage for the assembly – it will take several days to add the steps in a clear, concise manner.

I have reread and edited after taking a break, in order to help those who are really interested in building it. Will they have the directions in time for Halloween? Probably not.

I’m sorry to disappoint those who were waiting. Yet, it is more important to give accurate and clear directions rather than posting pics without guidance.

Tutorial Coming Soon: The Mayor From The Nightmare Before Christmas

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The Mayor is ready for my yard haunt.

The Mayor is ready for my yard haunt.

A new prop has joined the family: The Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas has been completed and in the next week or two I’ll be posting the tutorial.

If anyone needs the tutorial earlier, or wish to email me, please feel free to use the contact form below. Thanks!

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Part 3: Making Sally’s Dress (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

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Sally posed to hold a skull, large flower head, or potion.

Sally posed to hold a skull, large flower head, or potion.

If you made the body, head, and hair from my earlier tutorials Part 1 and Part 2, you’re ready to make the clothing for Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

For the dress, decide which color theme you’ll go with. I found several versions – one with a burgundy base, and others using greens and  some with browns and orange tones. It really doesn’t matter which color scheme you go for, but chose ONE. Using too many clashing colors doesn’t work well. Stick with the same tones that compliment each other.

Making the Dress

You’ll need:
2 1/2 – 3 1/2 yards of brown fabric (depends on width)
2-3 yards of main color fabric(for mine I used green)
1 yard blue fabric
2 (1 yard each) complimentary tones fabric
Permanent black marker
Large hot glue gun/glue sticks
Sidewalk chalk and pen
2 safety pins or a couple of straight pins
Tissue paper
Scissors
Continue reading →

Making Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas) Part 1

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Just completed prop of Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas). Image CC All Rights Reserved, Debbie Morrow

Just completed prop of Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas). Image CC All Rights Reserved, Debbie Morrow

Over the next week or two, I’ll be posting separate tutorials on how I made Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. If you want a totally static(not moving) prop, follow the directions below. If you would like your body frame to be pose-able with hinged joints, check out the tutorial at The Haunt Forum.

Making Sally’s Body

You’ll need:
2-3 rolls of box or duct tape
1 1/2 rolls of a dollar store plastic wrap
Scissors
Approx. 2.5 (10 ft. each) one-inch PVC Pipes
1-inch PVC couplers: 1 cross, 1 tee, 4(90 degree angle) elbows and optional 45 or 90 degree elbows(if you want arms to bend)
PVC cutter or saw
Goop Adhesive for PVC
Stuffing material (newspapers, plastic bags, foam, etc.)
1 willing healthy person to be your body form (shouldn’t have circulatory problems or issues standing in place for over 30 minutes)

Throughout the process, make sure your model is feeling okay. Wrapping the plastic or the tape can really be constrictive and problematic for some people.

You can break it into several sessions where you just work on one small section of the body and tape the pieces together afterwards. Continue reading →

Halloween Invitations to Die For

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My Halloween Invite for 2013.

My Halloween Invite for 2013. Contact and location information was removed for privacy. TO VIEW IMAGE WITHOUT DISTORTION, PLEASE READ ON LAPTOP, PAD, OR DESKTOP.

Here is my latest Halloween invite for 2013. I absolutely love fortune teller themed everything, so here’s my tutorial:

Find a high definition(HD) image of a Ouija board – like this one or this one from ZombiePumpkins.com forum. Even a newbie can use Photoshop Elements/Paint/Word for this job. Don’t have Photoshop Elements? You can download a 30-day trial. Although you can do it entirely in Photoshop(or really in Paint), I’ll be speaking to those who aren’t Photoshop savvy and we’ll be using both.

Steps for Invites Continue reading →