Tag Archives: styrofoam

More Creepy Trees, Y’All

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by in DIY, Haunt, Uncategorized

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It’s time to reveal another creepy tree for the haunt! Woohoo! Just in case you missed it, here’s the first one. This one was kind of a different process. I used the corners from the first block of foam that I’d trimmed off to shape the original tree. I glued them together, then sculpted a bunch of skulls from some other waste pieces of foam from that first tree. Then I got messy. I adhered the skulls to the core with spray foam, and once that had dried, covered the whole thing with foam coat. Then I slapped a few layers of paint on that bad boy and now we’ve got ourselves another fun set dressing!

Because I love you dearly, I documented the process along the way:

skull-tree-6

On the right, you see just the foam core, skulls, and spray. On the left, you see the foam coat that’s applied on top.

skull-tree

First, I painted the whole thing dark brown.

skull-tree-2

Then I added lighter browns and greens on top to make it look more like bark and bring out the skulls.

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Dem Creepy, Creepy Trees

25 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in art, DIY, Eerieville, Haunt, humor, painting, Uncategorized

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Okay, I finally – FINALLY – finished one of the creepy trees that will be set dressing at Eerieville (the 21 acres we’re transforming into a haunted attraction). This was my first time working with foam, hot wires, and foam coat. Paint, though, I am obviously familiar with. This is the total opposite way for my brain to create, as it involves whittling away as opposed to building up. I’ve done very little carving since college, and I’ve certainly never done it with hot wires, so it was incredibly challenging (especially since I’m accident prone). I’m also not working with the ideal tools because they’re hella expensive and out of my budget, so it’s taking me way longer than it would otherwise. I’ve been documenting the steps along the way, specifically for you, dear reader. So here is our first creepy tree:

foam-stacks

First, we had to unload these 8’x 3′ x 4′ blocks of foam. Yes, I injured myself doing this.

foam-tree-skeleton-first

Then I had to carve the block into the basic shape of a round tree. Yes, I injured myself doing this.

foam-tree-skeleton-drawing

Then I drew on the skeleton that I wanted to be emerging from the tree. No, I didn’t injure myself doing this, but I did lose the cap to the pen, which hurt my heart.

foam-tree-skeleton-early

Then I got to carve in the skeleton and add texture so that it resembled bark a little more. Yes, I injured myself doing this. 

foam-skeleton-tree

Next, I coated the tree with a product called Foam Coat that dries to a concrete-like finish. Yes, I injured myself doing this.

foam-tree-skeleton-final-2

Then I painted it dark brown, let that dry, and dry brushed on two lighter shades of brown and some green. Yes, I injured myself doing this.

foam-tree-skeleton-final

Then I stood back and was proud of myself. I did not injure myself doing this, but I did trip over a bottle of paint while I was backing up to take this picture.

And there you have it. Several more trees to go, along with a whole bunch of other props, and I’ll try to remember to take pics for you but I don’t have the best memory (too many fumes from the burning foam), so I’m not making any promises.

Powering Through *Now With Styrofoam!*

08 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by in art, DIY, Eerieville, endometriosis, Haunt, health, Uncategorized

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It’s been a rough few days in my body, folks. Last week, I started going into a fibromyalgia flare, which means I’m stiff and sore and feel like I have the flu all day, every day. My joints  ache and my brain gets fuzzy and full of lint. Then the fibromyalgia exacerbated a endometriosis flare. And now I’m a hot mess. We got a shipment of styrofoam in at the haunted screampark and I was super excited to start sculpting it, so on Monday, I loaded up on Advil and Aleve and headed out, intending just to start working on a piece for a couple hours. It was going really well, though, so I kept going, and going, and going. Six and a half hours later, I finally called it quits because it was getting dark. And then I realized that I am a stupid, stupid human. When will I learn that pushing through  a couple extra hours will mean days of inability to function?

Yes, powering through is sometimes necessary. In fact, in this body, most days it’s necessary. Around these here parts, it’s called life. But I need to learn not to pretend I’m a superhero. So after a couple rough days, today I’m back in the studio, but I only painted for a couple hours in hopes that I’ll be able to paint again tomorrow. And I’m limiting my time on the computer, which is equally frustrating, but which gives my hands a break.

The worst part about all this ouchiness, though, is that I’m so loaded up on Advil and Aleve that I can’t have bourbon. I haven’t had bourbon in almost two weeks. TWO WEEKS! I know. Feel free to feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for myself. And I can’t even cry into my bourbon.

Lest you think that I callously abandoned you while limiting my computer time, I thought I’d share a couple photos from what is quickly becoming styrofoam land. I’m working on trees that will have creepy faces, some skeletons emerging from them, etc. Still a looooong way to go just on this first one, but still, progress:

styrofoam-blocks

tree-skeleton-beginning

tree-skeleton-drawn-on

tree-skeleton-initial-carving

It Was a Weird Night

16 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by in blog, culture, humor, husband, Uncategorized

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So remember how S and I tried sleeping at the wrong end of the bed Tuesday night? Clearly, it was a strange night for us. This is also evidenced by the fact that we had the following conversation:

Me: How do they make styrofoam?

S: From the sea.

Me: Shut up.

S: No really. Look it up. It comes from the sea.

Me: Sea foam?

S: Exactly. There are villagers who collect it and take it to a factory. The temperature is really high inside the factory and the sea foam starts to ionize.

Me: I bet they poke holes in it like they do with cheese to control the curing process.

S: Indeed they do. It cures for about 10 days initially (but only if that falls on a Monday or Wednesday) and then workers come and poke the holes in it. But because it’s so hot in there, the workers’ sweat falls into the holes –

Me: Which starts the oxidization process! I bet the length of the additional time it cures dictates what kind of foam it becomes.

S: Yes, at 10 days, it becomes memory foam. At 14 1/4 days, it turns into styrofoam.

Me: Yes, but it’s a tricky process. Because at 14 3/4 days, it liquifies and turns into lather. Then they have to take it back out to sea to be washed and cleansed and recollected. (pause) You’re weird.

S: I’m serious! That’s where it comes from! Foam comes from the sea. I’m telling you, look it up.

Silence.

Me: Why is it you can only snap with your fingers? Why not your elbows or your knees or your toes?