Project - Modifying store bought props: Grim Reaper

One of the easiest ways to get started on making your Halloween a bit spookier is to buy a prop and then look for ways to improve it!  Take this skeleton for example:

PROS:

• A full 10 feet tall!
• Features on face and hands are well defined

CONS:

• Hangs on the wall (not very good for an outside prop)
• Flimsy white fabric and lightweight paper are neither scary nor durable
• Arms are too short and are made with bent wire that isn't hidden by the fabric
• "Grass" hair has to go
• Blue eyes just aren't that scary

So basically for $79 I bought the head and hands, and a frame holding it all together.  The idea of this is really sound, however, especially when you place him standing in the middle of a graveyard surrounded by fog...

Plan:

• Replace all of the fabric with black broadcloth (purchased 12 yds. on sale for $1.99/yd)
• Use a black open-weave specialty Halloween cloth for the hood (purchased 3 yds. on sale for $6.30/yd)
• Trash the grass
• Lengthen the arms to be more appropriate for his height
• Create a scythe to scale with wood, paint black, and place in his hand
• Make him free-standing, rather than needing to hang
• Optional (if time allows): replace Blue LEDs with Red

Stay tuned for updated pictures as the project gets underway...