You could go out and spend a couple hundred bucks on a mass produced, evil creature to adorn your lawn this Halloween season, but I’m cheap (read: my wife is cheap) and decided to make my own, and all for about $50 worth of materials!
So I was racking my brain trying to figure out what my new Halloween décor project would be this year and I couldn’t resist tackling a Dementor inspired prop for the front yard. And since you’re here, I’m going to assume that you want to learn how to make a Dementor!
For those of you who don’t know, the Dementors are from the Harry Potter series and serve as the guards of Azkaban Prison. They suck all that is good and joyful from whomever they are near… so they’re the perfect Halloween ghoul for sure.
Using molding latex, cheesecloth, foam, duct tape, and some PVC pipe, I think I created something that captures the essence of these creepy beasts!
Check out the video, and the detailed instructions below to make your very own Dementor inspired lawn creep!
Disclaimer! All the Amazon links below are affiliate links, so I get a few penny’s every time you purchase from them. A lof of the materials you can buy from Michaels, AC Moore or Joann Fabric with steep coupons, so check them out as well! Thank you!
Making the Hands with Armature WIre
Tools & Materials Needed
- Wire Cutters (https://amzn.to/35HVmQT)
- Armature Wire (https://amzn.to/2RwWIpd)
- Thin foam (1/2” to 1”)
- Tape
Step 1
Cut three pieces of armature wire. One piece at 12”, the other two pieces at 24”.
Step 2
Fold the 24” pieces in half making two big “U”s and then rest the “U”s on top of each other, and take your 12” piece and start wrapping it around the bottom of the “U”s, in essence tying them all together. Go up about an inch, or an inch and a half.
Step 3
Now spread the “fingers” apart and you have your basic hand shape.
Step 4
I don’t know about you, but my fingers are all uneven so you’ll want to cut the fingers to an appropriate length.
Step 5
Next, the finger joints. Take about a one inch piece of foam, and tape it down near where the joints are. Don’t forget, your fingers all have three joints (the thumb has two), so foam up all them.
Step 6
Once the joints are foamed up, now take thin slices of foam and fatten up the finger. Again, taping all down with the duct tape.
Adding Texture with Cheese Cloth
Tools & Materials Needed
- Cheesecloth (https://amzn.to/3hyqyEt)
- Water (https://bit.ly/32B9BoH)
- Black acrylic paint (https://amzn.to/3iAYD80)
- Small foam brush, or chip brush (https://amzn.to/2E5JKLW)
- A bowl you really don’t care about
Now we’re going to add some “life” to the hands, and by life I mean, make them look like they’ve been buried for a couple years…
Step 1
Mix the black paint into the water and stir up until it’s nice and really black.
Step 2
Cut up thin strips of cheese cloth and dip them into the mixture.
Step 4
Wring out the water and slowly wrap the cheese cloth around each of the digits.
Step 5
Repeat around the hand portion as well, just use slightly larger pieces of cheese cloth.
Make sure everything is nice and tight. Put the hands aside and let dry. If you can put them in the sun, even better because it’ll go so much faster!
Using Molding Latex to Add a Skin Like Feel
Tools & Materials Needed
- Molding Latex (https://amzn.to/3c2JkCN)
- Chip brush
- Wax Paper
Do this in a ventilated room as the latex is REALLY stinky. Think cat pee level of gross.
Step 1
Lay down some wax paper. It’ll make clean up way easier.
Step 2
Brush on the latex in thin coats.
Step 3
Let dry for a few hours and then add another coat.
Keep going until you’re satisfied with the texture and color.
Making the Dementor Head & Neck
Tools & Materials Needed
- Saw to cut foam
- Hot Glue Gun
- Hot Glue
- Foam skull
- Latex, Paint, Cheese Cloth, Chip Brushes, etc. etc. from above
- Short piece of 2” PVC pipe
Step 1
Cut the jaw off of the skull.
Step 2
Hot glue back on but so it looks like the mouth is yelling at you.
Step 3
Paint the newly exposed white foam black with acrylic paint.
Step 4
Grab your black water and cheese cloth and start covering the head. I just did the front of skull as the rest will be covered by the hood. Don’t forget to give him cheeks here as well!
To help make the eyes more sinister, I soaked some cheese cloth and molded it to make the eyes look elongated, and narrow.
Step 5
After it dries, coat with the latex (and repeat until you’re satisfied with the look and feel).
Step 6
To make the neck, take a short piece of 2” PVC pipe, wrap with the soaked black cheese cloth, coat with latex, and then hot glue to the base of the head.
The Arms
Tools & Materials Needed
- ¾” PVC Pipe (in total you’ll want 2 pieces of 10’ pipe)
- Various connectors (I got several 45 degree and 90 degree connectors to shape the arms however I wanted)
- Black spray paint
Step 1
Cut down the pipe to the length of the arms you want. You’ll need two forearms, and two upper arms.
Step 2
Spray paint black.
Step 3
That’s it… this is probably the easiest section.
The Shoulders
Tools & Materials Needed
- ¾” PVC Pipe
- PVC T Connector
- T Nut
- Bolt
- 1 ½” x 1 ½” wood blank (or whatever size wood that fits into the neck)
Step 1
Measure and cut the wood blank so that it’s deep enough to be held down by the bolt and t-nut, but also securely hold the head in place.
Step 2
Drill a hole into the center of the PVC T Connector
Step 3
Drill a hole in the center of your wood blank
Step 4
Hammer in the T Nut
Step 5
Insert your bolt through the bottom of the T Connector, into the blank, and secure.
Bam, you’re done with the shoulders!
Attaching the Hands
Tools and Materials Needed
- Hot Glue Gun
- Hot Glue
- Duct Tape
- Black Dipped Cheese Cloth
Step 1
Rest the hand on the top of the PVC pipe (I lucked out… the hand actually fit perfectly in the hole!).
Step 2
Hot glue around the hand and the pipe.
Step 3
Wrap duct tape around the weld.
Step 4
Wrap black dipped cheese cloth over the duct tape.
You now have creepy arms to go with the creepy hands!
Securing the Arms at Your Desired Angle
Tools and Materials Needed
- Drill
- Universal Clevis Pin
- Cotter Pin
I wanted to lock my arm pose in place without gluing the pipes together so I opted for a more temporary solution, using a Clevis Pin.
A Clevis Pin is a metal pin that has tiny holes in it, which you use to insert a Cotter Pin. This is good for attaching things together that you may eventually want to take apart (perfect for my want of storing this Dementor later!).
Step 1
Mark off the angle that you want your arms posed in.
Step 2
Drill through both the connector on the shoulder, and the PVC pipe.
Step 3
Insert your Clevis and Cotter Pins.
These arms aren’t going anywhere now.
Making the Robes
Tools and Materials Needed
- 14 Yards of Black Fabric (preferably something with some body and texture to it)
- Sewing Machine
- Fabric Scissors
- Tape Measure
Actually, I’m not going to list out the steps here because that’d just be silly.
I measured and cut out the arms, and then measured and cut out the base robe and then ran everything through the sewing machine.
For the hood, I took about 6 yards of black flannel and simply draped it over the head, with the trail of fabric hanging in the front.
Putting It All Together
Now that you have all your pieces:
- Head and Neck
- Shoulders
- Arms
- Hands
- Robes
Simply put him all together!
I mounted him to an 8’ length of ¾” PVC pipe which I put into the ground about 18”. You’ll want to use some twine to hold him upright though as the ¾” isn’t rigid enough to keep him erect.
And there you have it. Your very own Dementor!
Happy haunting.
