How To Make A Spooky Tree

Say hello to the newest addition to my Halloween grand decor… the Creepy Tree.

Isn't he freaky!?!? I'm then stoked about how he turned out. I oftentimes have on big projects that don't turn out the way I wait them to and I'm bummed, but this 1 really makes me smile.

Cheque out my materials list and instructions if you desire to build ane of your own. Read through all the instructions, because I learned a few things along the way that I'd do differently a 2d fourth dimension.

Materials:

Steel Wire Fencing

Chicken Wire

Cream Spray

Newspaper or Brown Paper Bags

Floral Wire

Wire Cutters

Scrap Woods

Dremel

Coping Saw

PVC Pipe (I used ane/2″)

three PVC Elbows (I used 1/two″)

Wooden Dowels (to fit inside PVC)

Twigs/Sticks (ten)

Black Paint

Brown Paint

White/Cream Pigment

Paint Brush

Foam Paint Roller

Cream Paint Brush

Blackness Fabric

Instructions:

First thing I did was build out the torso of the tree. I used some steel garden fencing I had leftover from some other project. I remember I originally got information technology at Lowes.

I substantially shaped the wire into a tube and used my floral wire to "sew" the seams together.

Suggestion: Y'all could also apply heavy duty cardboard concrete tubes to make the base. That's what I was originally planning, but I couldn't find any. I settled for whatever I already had.

For the roots, I used some brown paper grocery bags I got from my very helpful neighbors. I crumpled the paper to requite it some dimension and twisted and shaped information technology to wait like roots (thick at the top and tapering out to a point).

I wrapped my roots in floral wire and used the wire to attach them to my tree body. If you terminate up using the physical tubes, you tin can e'er duct record the roots to the torso.

I decided I needed a apartment base of operations. I found a wooden circle I had in my bit wood pile from another projection. I drilled itty bitty holes in information technology to put the floral wire through and secure information technology to my base.

Suggestion: I used a very thin piece of wood. If I could do this again, I'd employ something much thicker and heavier. My tree is superlative heavy and I can't put it anywhere simply on a completely flat surface.

I ran out of my steel fencing at some point, so I borrowed some chicken wire from another helpful neighbour and used that to consummate the residuum of the body. I don't suggest using the chicken wire if you can help it, only it was all I had at the time.

Once I secured the chicken wire, I built out the artillery. I used PVC pipes I already had. I connected two longer pipes together with an elbow piece and threaded them through the chicken wire so they were pointing up and out. I used my floral wire to secure the elbow to the inner back part of the tree's body. And so I put two more than elbows at the terminate of each pipe to act as… well, elbows. I connected two shorter pipes to the elbows.

I went into my back yard and picked out a bunch of sticks.

I snapped a few to get them the lengths I wanted. And then I wired ii sets of 5 together to create creepy hands.

Then I secured a dowel rod to the terminate of each hand. I forgot a picture of this specific step, simply some of my future steps will show you what I hateful. The dowel rod hung off the end of the hand so it could slide easily inside the PVC for the artillery. I did this to make storage and transport of the tree easier. I didn't want the twig hands catching on everything, getting in the way, or snapping and looking silly.

Side by side, I used my wire cutters to cut out a face from the chicken wire. I used my floral wire to reinforce the chicken wire and requite the optics and mouth a definitive shape.

Adjacent, I added a wooden crown to the peak of the body. This function is optional. I just wanted something that made it look even more creature-like, while nevertheless conspicuously beingness a tree. I pulled some triangles out of my flake wood pile and drilled little holes in them with my Dremel and used the floral wire to attach them.

Side by side, I started applying the foam spray to the whole piece. I started by using it to secure the roots to the base of operations of the tree. The foam expands as information technology dries, so it's dandy for filling in cracks and empty space.

I sprayed the cream in long strands all the manner upwards the tree.

Information technology worked great for the steel fencing. It fastened well to it. Yet, the spaces between the craven wire were too big and the spray wouldn't attach. This is why I suggested not using the chicken wire. I ended up wrapping the craven wire in plastic wrap.

That honestly wasn't the best option either. The foam was peeling right off it when it dried.

Proposition: Merely use the steel fencing for the unabridged body or use the cardboard concrete tubes I mentioned. If craven wire is all you have, then wrap the chicken wire in paper or brown paper bags earlier calculation the foam spray.

I used more foam spray than I originally anticipated. Since I was using steel fencing, the cream was adhering well, simply it was likewise seeping through the gaps, causing me to need more than. I should have covered the entire torso in newspaper before spraying. I call back I would've needed much less. The paint covers any gaps anyway.

I rolled up and taped paper over the PVC pipes to make the arms thicker.

I spray every surface with foam spray, even the arms and wooden crown. Again, I probably could've used a lot less if the base had been more solid. Come across how the newspaper arms didn't demand to be fully covered in foam? They had newspaper underneath that provided it's ain layer of texture.

Once the foam dried, I used a coping saw to remove some of the larger cream bubbles. Information technology also served to crude up the surface a bit and make it more rustic and tree-like.

Side by side step was painting. I started by trying to spray paint a layer of black. However, I was going through paint too speedily and I wasn't happy with the coverage.

So, I disrepair out a pint of blackness paint and a cheap brush and only got to piece of work covering the entire thing. Information technology took much longer than spraying, merely it was totally worth it and much more environmentally friendly.

I let the black paint fully dry out. I made certain to pigment my creepy hands every bit well (encounter dowel rods I mentioned in an earlier step).

Once the pigment was dry, I mixed up some chocolate-brown paint. I didn't have dark-brown on paw, so I mixed some scarlet and green together until I got the shade I wanted.

I poured the brownish paint into a tray and used a foam roller to start rolling it over the roots. I didn't want the tree fully covered like the black paint. But enough to give it dimension and bring out the roots.

I did a heavy-handed scroll over the entire tree, arms and hands included.

I permit the unabridged thing fully dry out again. So I busted out a foam castor and some white/foam pigment (a sample I had on hand).

I dipped the castor in the white pigment and wiped as much of it off every bit I could. Then I lightly scraped the brush up and downwardly the tree, grazing the bark. Just enough non to cover up the blackness or brown.

And then I cut out a piece of black fabric and taped it to the inside of the tree where the eyes and mouth are.

This creepy tree is freaking awesome! His crown kind of makes him look like the Night King in Game of Thrones. And the roots that curled up a bit when the foam dried in the heat make him expect a fleck like Ursula from the Footling Mermaid. Those are ii terrifying creatures, and so I think maybe I did something correct.

Happy (well-nigh) Halloween!

Check out my creepy tree I fabricated out of gingerbread, too!

Other Halloween Posts:

Giant DIY Spider

Web Lanterns

Pallet Forest Pumpkin

Harry Potter Wands

Halloween Signs

Austerity Store Candelabras

Cream Tombstones

"Stone" Columns

Wrought Fe Fence

Graveyard

Magic Potion Bottles

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