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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Dollar Store Mummy Hand

It's that time of year again!

As most of you know, I love collecting Halloween decor and I've amassed a shed-full of props. But those props can be really pricey. So I'm always looking for ways to add cool new things to my collection without spending a lot.

I'm working on some new props for my haunted house this year and today I'm going to share with you how to make a really authentic-looking Mummy's Hand prop for about $3.00!


Supplies:
Plastic Hand - $1 from (you guessed it) The Dollar Store
Cheesecloth - $2 from Lowe's (I used about a quarter of a 2 yard package)
Paper Towels - had on hand
Modge Podge - had on hand
Left over coffee or tea - coffee please! Always on hand
Brown & black paint - had on hand
Paintbrush/Sponge brush - had on hand



First things first, soak about 5 paper towels in coffee for 10-20 minutes. While you're at it, go ahead and soak your cheesecloth as well. I waited until I had wrapped the hand in towels and then I had to soak my cloth and stick it in the dryer so I could finish my hand!

WARNING! If you do not like coffee or the smell of coffee, use tea instead. I soaked my towels and let them dry for two days and the smell diminished greatly. But that first day they are quite smelly. Don't say I didn't warn you!

For the soaking, I used a wide mouth bowl and just layed all the towels in, stacked on top of each other. I pushed them down until all the liquid was absorbed. After they soaked for a while, I squeezed them out and then flattened them back out to dry. Since the smell was so strong, I let them dry outside, draped over my deck chairs.


Moving on. Tear the paper towels into long strips and start wrapping them around the hand. Coat the hand in modge podge and smooth the towel onto it. I used a big strip for the base and then smaller strips over top of that to give it that wrapped up mummy feel.


For the fingers, cut 2 long strips about an inch wide. Take one and run it up the lenth of the finger -  on the front, over the tip, and down the back. Take the other strip and start bandaging it up, circling around and around. For this part, all of the modge podge was under the paper towels as a glue. I put a little on top to smooth down any edges that were popping up.




Next, mix a little black and brown paint until you get a nice dark color you like and cover up that horrible red and white end where the hand is supposed to look chopped off. For my Mummy's Hand, I wanted it to just look dark, like decay and rot and whatever dark grossness would be on the inside of a mummy. So I painted a little onto the edge of the towels and then later onto the cheesecloth at the edge too.



Lastly, cut some short strips from your cheesecloth and shred them as much as possible. Then, just wrap them around the hand in a similar manner as the paper towels. I didn't want to cover the whole thing in cheesecloth cause I really wanted it to have a more authentic feel. In my mind an authentic hand would have most of the wrappings fraying off since it is so old. So I didn't use much cheesecloth here. However on this part, I did paint the modge podge right on top of the cloth, to smooth it all down.

And there you have it! A very creepy Mummy's Hand prop!





My mummy's hand is going to be used as an arifact or a trophy that a monster hunter might have in his/her den. But this would look cool anywhere - in a big glass jar, on a mantel, or just sitting randomly on a bookshelf! Have fun with it!

4 comments:

  1. Yes, a vast improvement on a Dollar Store find! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Christy, love the Mummy Hand idea! I'd like permission to share your post on my blog as the inspiration for a Hallowe'en project this year...

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  3. Great Idea Thank you for the tips

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  4. I would think you could use orange mixed with a little black food coloring if you really didn't want to use coffee or tea. Or just thin down your brown acrylic paint?

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