Mission: Impossible?

The Mission:  Turn a giant spool into a stone well stage prop.  

Uses: An actor has to sit on the edge of the well during the performance. 

The Task: Using as little money as possible, and without altering the spool in any way.  No painting, no cutting, or lasting effects.  

Deadline: One day.

Do you accept this challenge?

Yes! 

This is the spool in question.
I started by getting a piece of paper mill paper that was big enough to go around the spool. I found a roll of paper thinner than I am used to at Hobby Lobby for about $4.50. I painted the paper gray (with some paint I had lying around the shop). I don't have a picture because it was threatening to rain and I was trying to hurry.  I hung the paper in my shed to dry.

The spool sits pretty level although it was a bit wobbly.  There are 4 metal rods that run the length of the spool and stick out on either end. I tightened these up and that made the spool a lot more sturdy, but then posed a problem for me.  Now I had four bolts sticking out about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch out of one end.  Since I wanted to make this as non-wobbly as possible I didn't want to have the bolts on the bottom. If I did, when the actor sat on the side it would slightly tip.  Nope the bolts had to go on the top.  I had planned to cover the entire thing with paper mill paper but with the bolts sticking out of the top I didn't want the actor to sit on them, or the bolts tear through the paper.



The Solution: Styrofoam.  I used a scrap piece that I had laying around the shop and cut a hole in the middle.  Then I cut random shapes only about an inch deep.  This made the look of stones without the individual ones.  Then I took the heat gun and heated up the edges and middles.  This makes styro look more rock-like. For more on how to make rocks visit this.

As you can see it went around the bolts solving my problem.

Next I needed to do the hole in the middle.  Without cutting or painting the spool I cut a piece of paper mill paper in a circle and painted it black (with some paint I had sitting around the shop).

I painted the rock topper with some dark grey paint (I had sitting around the shop). I also thin down the paint a little.  This helps get in the cracks and holes.

I noticed there were already some staples in the spool, so I stapled the black spot (a pirate's death sentence for those of you who are pirate fans) in place. Then I crumpled up the gray painted paper mill paper and opened it back up.  Much the same way I did here.  I unrolled it and stapled it on the top and bottom making sure it had a lot of wrinkles.  After that I got my paint sprayer and sprayed black paint up from the bottom.  If you paint the dark color from the bottom it looks like a shadow.

I put the styro stone top on and held it in place with a few screws.

It is not my best work but considering the
Project Triangle…

I am pleased with the result.  

The Cost:  $4.50 (for the paper.)

Here is a pic of it during the performance.

How to make a prop fireplace

We needed a prop fireplace for our Christmas program that our church was doing.  So back to styrofoam.

I built a frame out of 2x4s so the outside dimensions were 3 1/2 feet tall by 4 foot wide and 2 foot deep.

Then I cut 1/2 inch styrofoam for the front and two sides.  The back I left open since no one would see it.

My sister Jill went to work painting the inside of the fireplace.   For this we just used a cardboard box that was cut to have the same dimensions on either side.  Then a coat of flat black.
We could have used one of those science fair project boards too but we didn't.

This is the finished inside.

I had to check how it looked.  

Here Jill is "mending" some rough spots in the 2 inch thick styro. She is doing this with 2 inch wide masking tape.  The tape covers up holes and takes paint really well.  This is best done if you are going to view it from a distance.  I wouldn't recommend it if your audience is going to be up close.

 This is a recycled piece that has been numerous different things. This piece will be the mantle.

 I cut this so it would stick over the front about 6 inches.

I forgot to take pictures so I will try and explain.  I attached the styro to the sides and front. Gave it a coat of light grey paint.  Then we had some styro stones (if you want to see how to make stones then follow this right here and scroll down near the bottom) left over from another set, so I glued them to the front and sides.  I will tell you I had to fight against my O. C. D. (I like to call it C. D. O. that way they are all in alphabetical order.) and not put them in a line.

Here is a top view of the fireplace. 

We painted the mantle with the same grey paint as the background pieces, but I didnt like the way it looked so we darkened it up a bit with some darker grey.  You might also notice that there are a few stones missing, (if you look at the earlier pics you will see that they were too light and noticeable) we painted them the darker grey also.   Also the middle of the stones seem to have a lighter spot in them.  This is because I was trying to hide the screw heads.  We had to go back and repaint them again too.

We added some real wood, a fake fire, a fireplace screen and we had a fire place perfect for our performance.

I didn't get a good picture of the fireplace after it was all finished.  So just use your imagination.

Western Gatepost

I was asked to make a western gatepost for a Vacation Bible School similar to this.

 I started by making a box out of 1/2 inch styrofoam. 

 I formed it around a 1/2 inch plywood bottom. I cut an 8 foot 1x4 down to 6 1/2 feet.  Then I screwed it to a piece of 2x4 and screwed the 2x4 to the bottom of the plywood.  I put the screw through the bottom of the plywood up into the 2x4 so the point of the screw wouldn't be sticking through the bottom.

Next I cut two 6 inch strips of the 2 inch styrofoam. I hollowed out the inside with the heat knife so they would slide over the 1x4.  

Measured them to make sure I cut out enough.

I used wooden skewers (which you can find in the grilling section of the grocery store) to keep the two pieces together.

Then I distressed it by rounding the edges and making cut marks in it.

I cut grooves to make it look like wood.

 Then I glued the two pieces together using caulk and wooden skewers.  And worked on the other pieces.

  I forgot to take a picture of it, but in the cross beam I hollowed out about a 4 inch section so the 1x4 would slide into it. 

 You can see in this picture where the cross beam will fit on the left column.

Like this.

I cut out a support beam and distressed it like the others.

Then I made it square so it would fit between the crossbeam and the columns.

I secured it to the column with caulk and wooden skewers.  The crossbeam is just resting on the column.

I made sure everything fit.  

Next I started working on the stones.  I cut a piece of 2 inch foam in a size square I needed, then cut that piece into smaller blocks.

I used the heat gun to roughen up the edges and make them look more like rocks.

I did this for all the sides and the tops. 10 large pieces of foam in all. I laid them out in the pattern I wanted and made sure they all fit.

I then marked the back of each one so I knew which pattern they went with.  I also took a picture of each pattern in order so I knew how it was laid out.  This step saved me lots of time later on.

I marked each stone with the color it was to be painted.  This way I could keep the colors from being too close together.

Here it is before the detail painting.

I took the stones and stacked them according to color, and painted them all.  Then I dry brushed a darker color on the grey and sandstone color rocks, and a lighter color on the clay colored ones.

I matched up where they would go and caulked the back side and put them in place. 

This is the final base.  The post slides off of the 1x4 and it can be transported and set up anywhere.

I painted the posts and crossbeam with a wood brown color and the cutout parts with a dark brown.  I dry brushed the same dark color on the distressed parts of the wood also.

This is the final product.