HAVE BROOM WILL TRAVEL

0

0913141830b

Halloween will soon be upon us. Ghouls, zombies and witches will be bringing the fear to my neighborhood. That is if I get everything done in time.

A few of my projects this year are complete. Many others are in the works. Two of the ones complete are simple yet are great props to include in a porch display.

A simple rustic witch broom and a tall spooky witch hat. Witch shoes are in the works but they are not cooperating with me at this time.

Today I will share with you how to make the broom.

The broom was quick and easy. I have an oak tree, I call him The Might Oak. Yes I do talk to my tree, he’s a nice guy. Sadly during every storm he loses a few limbs. Some small and others big enough to use as a weapon in a zombie apocalypse.

I began this project by gathering a sturdy limb big enough to serve has the broom handle. After finding the perfect one I began to gather up smaller limbs. Some sturdy others thin and flimsy.

Before going any further I took some twine. It was a light beige. Not liking the new clean twine look I decided to age some. Which is a simple process. Get some tea bags throw them and the twine in a pot of water, bring to a boil. Take off burner and let sit awhile. Easy as pumpkin pie.

a little potion

a little potion

While the tea is working its magic grab some duct tape. It’s time to make a broom!

the magical items being guarded by my new puppy

the magical items being guarded by my new puppy

Take one of the small limbs, place it toward the bottom of the broom handle. take the duct tape and use it to attach the smaller limb.

0913141427

Keep wrapping the tape around the handle adding more limbs as you go. Stop when you are satisfied with the look of your broom.

Ready for the twine

Ready for the twine

Then I took the twine out of the pot of tea water. You can let the twine dry to use wet. I find it works better and you get a tighter wrap with it wet. Knot it at the top of the taped area. Now just start wrapping until you reach the end of the duct taped area. Tie off.

Done. Now wait for a full moon then take your broom for a spin!

finished hat 3

 

It Hat to Be You, Tale of a Witch Hat

23

finished hat 2

Tall witch hat. Makes tall witches look like giants and makes short witches look like…well, like short witches in tall hats.

This was an easy project. Just took a few short hours. During those hours I also had time to bake a cake, make dinner and plot evil plots.

What you will need:

1 cheap witch hat (I purchased mine at Wal-Mart)

Duct tape (If you have black duct tape great, if not the silver will work just as well)

1 paper towel tube

Black fabric

Glue (if you have glue that is recommended for use on fabric great, I used glue that wasn’t recommended for fabric but it worked out just fine)

Something to stuff hat to help hold shape. I used doll batting but newspaper will work also.

Begin by stuffing the hat with batting to give it an upright shape then tape the hat brim to strengthen it. Inside and out. I gently taped half way up the inside: pushing the batting up out of my way as I went. Cut the tape into little pieces at first to give yourself more control. Now you are ready to tape the outside of the hat. Again be gentle and just little pieces. Go higher and higher. Once you pass the tip of the hat begin using long strips place the lengthwise (us and down) until you reach your desired height.

Not a great picture but it gets the point across

Not a great picture but it gets the point across

Now we need to strengthen and build up layers. Take your cardboard tube. Choose an end for your bottom, cut several 1 inch slits all the way around making ‘flaps’. Push the flaps outwards now lower the tube down the hat. At this point you will have some empty space between hat and inside of tube. Stuff it with something. I used a plastic shopping bag. It’s what was handy.

Using tape again just start wrapping until your hats feels sturdy and has the height you want. You may have to mash and torture the high end of the tube. If not you will end up with a penis shaped hat.

Ready for some fabric

Ready for some fabric

Cut a notch in the end of your black fabric about 4 inches from the side. Rip until you get to the end. 4 inches is just a guess at size I used. I eyeballed it. You can vary the width on the next few strips you rip. Now just glue the crap out of the hat and fabric. I started with the cone first and finished with the brim. Don’t be shy with the glue.

Start at the base and work up

Start at the base and work up

hat 4

hat 2

I’m using my hat as a prop and not for a costume. I feared it might be to top heavy and keep falling over. To fix that problem before I started I glued several rocks inside the hat at the base of the cone, I covered it with fabric also.

finished hat 1

I loved how this turned out. It was wickedly easy and fun!

finished hat 3