Day Two Hundred Twenty-One

Hello, Internet. Do you remember Frank?

Frank is the giant spider that I made three years ago. He's still going strong, for what it's worth. Every year on his birthday Frank gets a little spray foam to touch up any bumps and bruises, and a little black spray paint to make sure he's just as handsome as he was the day he was born. Frank is amazing.

And now he has a new friend. Meet Matilda.

Matilda is a six-foot tall man-eating plant. She is GLORIOUS.

She too is primarily made out of PVC, foam, and spray paint, which I suppose makes her Frank's sister? They're definitely related.

But while Frank doesn't have a mouth, Matilda is full of bite.

I built Matilda in ten minute increments over the course of two weeks, so I didn't do a great job of documenting how it's done. That said, if you're the crafty type, I can give some hints.

• The center stem is a 2" PVC pipe. There are three other stems made from 1/2" PVC. I used the same strategy for bulking up that PVC as I did for Frank - spray adhesive, beat up burlap, and spray foam. This is my preferred spray foam, but buy it locally because it's a lot less expensive that way.

• The flowers are from JoAnn's. There are, obviously, foam balls hot-glued into the middle of each one with a hole cut for the plastic vampire teeth. I did learn an important lesson on this part - spray paint + foam is no bueno. I figured out to use a foam primer after melting a few balls and things went much better after that.

• The big center flower is made by using a T-joint at the top of the 2" PVC. Then I poked a spotlight through the hole so that it's facing forward, bulked things up all around with a lot of spray foam, and stuck a fishbowl on the front of the whole thing. Frosted spray paint makes the glass still see-through, but cloudy, so Matilda lights up quite nicely at night. The enormous petals are from tearing apart an oversized-artificial rose. Unfortunately, the only place I could find an oversized flower was Hobby Lobby, but I did use a coupon, so hopefully they don't manage to spread too much hate with the $3 profit I probably left them.

So, that's Matilda. Isn't she lovely? And the best part is I have already figured out my next friend that I'm going to build out of PVC and foam. He's going to be MAGNIFICENT. Next year. I can't find his head this year, so he'll have to wait.

As a matter of fact, yes, I am indeed building a PVC/Foam kingdom. It's the best.

Comments

[White Elizabeth]

Love Matilda! I am inspired to make one for next year. The only Halloween thing out is my door wreath, Henry. I lost the legs to my vultures so they aren’t out. You should totally make a Halloween countdown calendar for the girls, assuming you haven’t done so already. I made one for my niece’s kids last year and it was super easy.

[Heather Keith Freeman]

Can we get a pic of the lit-up Matilda?

She is gorgeous.

[Katie in MA]

I LOVE Matilda! Halloween decorations are saving my soul this year, for reals.

[Laurie Mann]

Very cool! Will drive by tomorrow as I leave the house.

[JustOneL]

Matilda is just amazing!

[Laura]

Matilda is glorious - love her! Awesome job/