#8: Life-Size Plaster Ghost
Maker: Jennifer Hardin
Welcome haunters! Every week we share a look behind one home haunter’s inspirational build and how it came together.
Let’s dig into this week’s build!
Jen is a wedding photographer turned old house nerd and home DIY enthusiast based in New Jersey.
She and her husband purchased a late 1800s Victorian house, their first home, in December of 2021. Ever since they’ve fallen in love with DIY projects and all things old houses.
Last year was their first Halloween not an apartment so she was really excited to finally get to decorate OUTSIDE for Halloween! Best of all, their neighborhood gets hundreds of trick-or-treaters every year, so she knew they had to go all out.
Inspired by her best friend, she wanted to try using plaster to make a spooky, but elegant ghost for her first display. The result is stunning!
Keep reading for details. You can find her other Halloween projects and all home DIYs on Instagram and TikTok! This year she’s doing a Barbie "Scream" House theme.
Inside Jen’s Build
Build Details:
25lbs White Dry Mix Plaster of Paris
Medium-Duty Canvas Drop Cloth 9x12'
Large Buckets
Thompson's WaterSeal Spray
Disposable Tarp/Plastic Drop Cloth
Styrofoam Head (or other round head shape)
Large Clear Trashbags/Tarps
Tape, packing paper, etc. to create the shape of the mold
Some important tips from Jen:
Be very generous with the amount of plaster used, be thorough in covering the entire cloth, and most importantly don’t remove the ghost from the mold until it is COMPLETELY dry!
She made that mistake a couple of times and the ghost will collapse if it's not totally dry. That means sometimes leaving it on there to dry for a couple of days. She also highly recommends checking the weather to ensure no upcoming rain while your ghost is drying. ;)
Q&A
What inspired the build?
My best friend made some joint compound ghosts a few years ago, and I always loved how elegant, simple, and spooky they were. I wanted to give it a try using plaster, so that's what I did!
What techniques and products were used?
After creating a mold, I dunked my drop cloth in a bucket of plaster, laid it over the mold, and then by hand slopped on additional thick coatings of plaster to create a hard shell when it dried.
What was the trickiest part of the build? How’d you solve it?
The trickiest parts of the build for me were ensuring the weight of the plaster was supported by its own structure and weatherproofing. For the weight of the plaster, I had a few fails when the fabric was not entirely coated because it created weak spots, (especially in the back towards the bottom. So I was extra careful to add additional thick plaster to the whole structure for one solid even coat. For weatherproofing I sprayed with a waterproofer seal, but to be safe I keep them on my covered porch when I know it's going to rain.
What would you do differently?
I recently played with a different color, but even if I stuck to a white ghost, I may try at least painting with Drylok to aid in waterproofing!
Any other ideas pop up while using the techniques to build this?
This year I tried to make a pink ghost for my Barbie Scream house using monster mud with Drylok paint (joint compound, exterior paint (pink), and Drylok). But unfortunately, this ghost didn't survive. With the cloth draped over the mold with a plastic sheet in between made the inside of the ghost not really dry. I didn't have this issue with plaster, but the monster mud never fully dried on the inside, so when I removed the ghost from the mold it ended up collapsing shortly after. Using no protective sheet under the mold may work better for monster mud. But I may try to go back to plaster and then paint the finished product in Drylok, then exterior paint - hopefully giving this a try before Halloween!!
What sites, people, etc. helped as you tackled this?
My best friend, Alexandra Holt (@alexandralholt) - she's the one who inspired me to make these based on her original joint compound ghosts! :) My friend Bobby, a contractor (@rjmcreativecontracting) helped me to find a good waterproofing spray! He is always super helpful to me for many of my projects!
SHOW US YOURS!
Thanks for reading about this week’s build! If you’ve built something or know someone we should include in a future release, email us at hey@hauntmakers.xyz.
Beautiful ghost, I love it. Plus great instructions & tips. Thank you for the inspiration.