Day of the Dead Cackling Coffin

I've finally finished the grand bit of handmade swag that Sheree and I (as our Wicked Witch Productions biz) will be giving away at this year's Horror Hootenanny in Nashville. I sent a few photos to Larry (Dr. Gangrene) and he absolutely loved it! 

(I am less than happy at how the photos turned out - this thing looks a helluva lot better in person)

Deep purple on the outside, encrusted with faux jewels, stars, and roses in an homage to Dia de los Muertos. The skull and swirly leaves below it are crafted from Sculpey, and painted with an array of acrylic paints and sealed with a satin finish.

The inside was lined with a really fabulous blood-red crushed velvet that Mark found for me at a neighbor's yard sale.

When you open the lid, the coffin makes an evil cackling sound. As I was trying to finish lining it, I grew tired of hearing the ongoing laughter, so I came up with the idea of placing something over the light sensor to keep it quiet but easy to remove in order to hear it. I found a tiny resin rose with a sticky back that I put over the sensor, and came up with a poem:

Remove the Rose and you will hear

The laughter of the Dead

Return the Rose and then the Dead

Will sleep in Peace again...

I'm also including a scroll I made about the origins and rituals of Dia de los Muertos that I rolled up and tied with a black satin ribbon which will go inside the coffin. And I have to say, I had a total ball making this, as my creativity just flowed like water. The weather had turned cool and breezy and very Autumn-y as I sat in my studio with the side door opened wide, playing inspiring music like Dead Can Dance (very appropriate, eh?), watching early fall leaves float down to the ground, and feeling like Halloween was just around the corner. 

Well, I plan on doing a whole bunch more of these as my signature 'Day of the Dead Coffin Cackler' series, and will really go to town with the designs, get truly ornate and wild them. I already fashioned a whole slew of skulls that are ready to be used for this purpose (some which are made from that fun glow in the dark plasticene clay!).

Oooh I 'm so excited about this being given away at the show in October! 

Sculpting Skulls!

A sculpting I will go, a sculpting I will go....


Just a small selection of the many skulls that will be used this Halloween. The large one in the lower center will likely end up as a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) skull, as it's got a certain innate character of such to it. 

The three on top were made from a fab glow in the dark polymer clay that I was not so sure of in the beginning because it was very soft, like trying to sculpt a marshmallow! Once I mastered it, however, and baked 'em in the oven, I was pleased with the results. Plus they glow a really cool greenish hue! Mark created the one in the upper center, BTW. I tore off a small chunk of the stuff, handed it over to him, and commanded him to sculpt a skull. I like his, it's got a definite unique charm! Not bad for a first timer, eh?

Ok. Back to the studio I go!


Back again... have painted a couple of these today. Boy, it was fun sitting home alone in my studio on this chilly, blustery day, listening to Halloween music and creating cool seasonal art. I could get used to this, I tell you!

My Dia de Los Muertos skulls