Nightmare Before Christmas Trunk or Treat: Part 5

Today I completed my spooky tree for my graveyard scene and in this installment I will teach you how to make your very own!  This would make a really awesome centerpiece for tables at any Nightmare Before Christmas themed party of any kind and not just a trunk or treat display.
Materials Needed:

• Newspaper
• Aluminium foil
• Masking tape
• Air Drying Clay
• Brown Acrylic Paint
• Black Acrylic Paint
• Plastic skeleton garland  (can be found at the dollar store)
• Glue Gun and glue

1. Use newspaper to to make a solid center twisting making it it as thick as you would like and then cover with generous layers of aluminium foil to allow you to shape it.
2. Make branches and roots repeating the same steps.
3. For the arms I cut a hole in my trunk where I wanted them to be and I shoved it through the whole. Then I wrapped thin branches on the ends to make hand shaped branches and secured them with masking tape.
4. Twist and cover with more aluminum foil the roots and secure with more tape.  Repeat this for your other longer branches. I hollowed out the top about a half an inch to make him look like a real dead tree.
5. After all branches and roots have been shaped the way you want start to papermache over the foil and tape.  Add 2-3 layers allowing time to dry in between. (I used a blow dryer to speed up the process).
6. Once completed use air drying clay to add the spooky face to your tree.  Press into the clay eyes, mouth, and a frame around the face as seen above.
7. Once dry, glue to a piece of cardboard and paint a generous base coat of brown paint and allow to dry.
8. Mix brown and black paint and go back over the tree (some of the base coat should still be visible, but just enough to make it look like bark).
9. Paint the eyes and mouth black.  Outline the hollow around the face with black.
10. Cut the hooks off the top of your skeleton heads and then create a slip knot to wrap around their necks and hang from your tree.

Paper Mache Paste:

• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 cup boiling water
• Pinch of salt  (as preservative)

1. To make the glue, bring 1 cup of water to a boil.  
2. Then mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  
3. Add the cold water to the dry ingredients to make a runny paste.  
4. Whisk the runny paste into the boiling water and stir constantly until you get the first bubbles of boiling.  Immediately remove from the heat and set aside to cool – about 15 minutes.

This is a very fun project to make, keep coming back for more instructions on how to create this spooky Nightmare Before Christmas Trunk or Treat scene yourself and to see my final graveyard display! 

Happy Halloween and happy crafting!

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