2x4 Hallween Characters

This is a quick and inexpensive Halloween craft!

You can make one of these projects

with just a 2 foot length of 2x4!!
(and a few wood shapes)

 Doc and I spent one day last weekend in the

barn playing with his new saw and

the pile of wood leftover from our barn build-out:

 You are looking at sawed, sanded, and

ready-to-paint projects-to-be right thar!!
I. Am. So. Happy.!

So here are the pieces I planned to use for this

Halloween Character Project.
It doesn't look like much yet, I know.
But can you see the potential??

Cut one each in the following lengths:

3", 5", 7", and 9" - you should

be able to get one complete set from each

2 foot length of 2x4 board.

I love it when a plan comes together

in such nice, round numbers.

:D

There were a few sharp splintery edges,

so I used my palm sander to

smooth those down.  Also, there were

some numbers scratched on a few of these

boards, and my palm sander

made those disappear, as well.

LOVE my sander!!

 I have learned from experience that you

absolutely, positively must seal

your wood before you paint it.

Trust me.

There's nothing worse than completing a piece

and finding a day or two later that every

knot hole has "bled" through your paint.

Well, a shortage of Lemon Bars would be

worse.  But only slightly.

I used Mod Podge as my sealer.

~ I actually plan to make a dozen sets,

so I decided to purchase a gallon of 

water-based sealer from the lumber yard.

Much cheaper when painting,

uh-hem, sealing, large quantities of wood. ~

I brushed the Mod Podge onto

the fronts of each of the three shorter pieces,

and onto the front and sides of the larger

base piece.  I think some bleeding through

would enhance the rustic look,

I just don't want a big knot hole to

suddenly appear on Frankenmonster's face,

ya know what I mean??

Once the sealer had dried completely,

I painted (according to the photo)

purple (base), green (Frank), white (Mummy),

and orange (Jack-o-Lantern).

Then I used my palm sander to lightly

sand the front and sides of each

piece of wood.  I like to remove some
of the paint from the edges
so the stain will absorb into the wood.

Also, in my opinion, a project has a more "polished"
look when every side (including the back
or the bottom) is either painted or stained.

I used a sponge applicator to apply

an oil-based wood stain.

Wearing vinyl gloves, I brushed the front,

back, and all the sides of each

wood piece with the stain.

I immediately used a clean cloth to

wipe off the excess stain.
The longer you leave the stain without
wiping, the darker the stain will be.

Here's where painting multiple projects

comes in handy: drying time!
I like to stay busy, so all that time I
spend "waiting for the paint to dry"
is spent "painting something else" !!

I like to let my stained pieces dry overnight

before I begin handling them and

painting details.

The stain stays tacky for a few

hours, and I don't like getting the

oil-based stain on my bare fingers,

nor do I like leaving sticky fingerprints

in the surface of my paint.
Been there, done that, it isn't great.

So.  I wait.

For the base, I made a quick

pattern of the words HAPPY FALL!

and then centered them on the

side of the base and transferred the main

pattern lines with a stylus and transfer paper.

My eight year old asked me why
I wrote "Happy Fall" and not "Happy Halloween".

 Good question, Little Man.
The answer is simple:
 "Happy Halloween" just wouldn't fit on the board.

I outlined the main pattern lines with black

acrylic paint and a round brush.

Then, to give the letters some oomph, I used

my liner brush and white acrylic paint to

highlight the right and lower sides of each letter.

For the Frankenmonster, I painted the hairline

with black paint, and added scars and

small stitches with my liner brush.

The eyes are dip dots of black
(I used a paintbrush handle), the smile

is a curved line made with the liner brush.

I blushed the cheeks with

pink powder blush and a cotton swab.
 I painted two 1/2" button plugs gray,

and attached them to either side of Frank's neck
to serve as bolts holding his head on.

Poor guy!!  Still cute, though.

TIP: I'm actually making multiple sets of these
Halloween characters, so in order to paint
all the button plugs at once
(gray for the bolts, green for the noses)
I used masking tape:

For the Mummy, I used gray acrylic paint

to apply the wrap lines with a liner brush.

The eyes, eyebrows, and smile are black.

For the Jack-o-Lantern,

I painted a small wooden spool

for the pumpkin stem, and a heart-shaped

cut-out for the leaf.
(Ignore the unpainted triangles in
the photo ... I had a better idea!) 

I was trimming the points

off a wooden star, and realized they

were the right size and shape

to be candy corn ...

... I thought that would make for a

much more fun nose!  And noses should

be fun, as a rule.

After painting the candy corn shapes,

I used a sanding block to sand the edges

of each piece of candy.

I just like the sanded-edge look ...

here's a photo of some

un-sanded candy corn and some sanded

candy corn, side by side:

   

See??  The sanded corn is more interesting.

And noses should be interesting, as a rule.

So now we agree noses

should be fun and interesting.

Cool.

I blushed his cheeks with pink powder

blush and a cotton swab,
dotted his eyes with a paintbrush handle,
and gave him eyebrows and a
big smile with a liner brush.

Now to secure your characters
securely to the base ... you'll need
a power drill, a dowel, and something to
trim your dowel with.
I used Midwest Products Easy Cutter
Ultimate.  It's amazing.
 
 Using a 1/4" drill bit,
drill a hole into the bottom center
of each block character.

 Determine where on the base you want
the Jack-o-Lantern to sit;

(Sorry - this pic is for the mummy,
but I got so excited about this technique, 
I completely forgot to take a pic)

Once you have Jack centered on the
base, tip the block back and
place a screw with a large head into the hole -
(the screw will be flat against the
base, and the screw head will be 1/2 in
the hole you've drilled, and the
other half will make an impression when
you tap the block with a mallet).

Press Jack back down into
place, over the screw, and use a
rubber mallet to tap gently on Jack,
leaving an impression in the base.

Did ya get that??
Easier done than said, really.

Drill a hole into the base,
using the impression as your mark.

Put a drop of Tacky Glue into the
hole you've made in the base.  Insert
a 1/4" diameter dowel into the hole
and tap the dowel with the rubber mallet
to make sure it's secure.

Trim the dowel.

Add a few more drops of glue
before tapping each piece in place.

Repeat for each character.

There!  Quick and easy, right??

~ Peace and Happy Halloweenies ~