How To Make A Mummy

What? Halloween is tommorrow and you don't have any decorations? Need a great centerpiece for your Halloween party? Have no fear, you still have time to make a mummy!


What you will need:

1. One willing person (don't worry, they won't be mummified - they will be free to walk awayfrom your mummy)

2. A few rolls of masking tape

3. Old clothing that is no longer wanted - one long-sleeved shirt and one long pair of pants

4. One pair of stockings (panty-hose), or one footy-stocking

5. One pair of old socks

6. One pair of old gloves or vinyl one-use gloves

7. Lots of newspapers

8. Scissors

9. spray paint (optional)

Now: Convince the willing person to put on the old clothing. Wrap the masking tape around the limbs, torso, and arms of the person (not tightly). The arms of the person should be straight, not bent. Carefully cut the clothing/masking tape shell off of the willing person. Stuff this shell firmly with newspaper and tape up the seams. If you want bent arms on your mummy, you can bend them during the stuffing process and use tape to help them stay bent.

The head is a little tricky. Use only one of the foot-ends of the stockings. Pull it over the willing person's head. Carfully wrap the face, leaving the nostrils open for breathing, and part of the top of the head with the masking tape. Do not wrap the entire head! You must be able to pull the stocking off of the willing person's head. The shape of the face will stay due to the masking tape. Now stuff the empty stocking head with newspaper and shape it so that it's head-like. Finish wrapping it with the masking tape. Remember to cover the nostril area.


Hands and Feet: Put gloves and socks on willing person's hands and feet. Wrap with masking tape. Remove, cutting away if necessary. Stuff hands and feet with newspaper. You will need something like a pencil to help stuff the newspaper into the fingers - you may even want to use paper towels in the fingers. It's a little easier to stuff in there, but make sure the fingers and hands and feet are stuffed well and firmly. Tape up any seams that you may have cut.

Now you must assemble your mummy. Tape the head, hands, and feet to the rest of the mummy, adding stuffing where it's needed.

Wow! Look - you have a mummy! At this point you can spray your mummy with a mummy colored spray paint - probably something not too different from the masking tape color. This helps it look aged and less like masking tape. The mummy in these pictures has not been spray-painted, although I have done it before to nice effect. This mummy shines a little in the flash of the camera - spray paint would help lessen that if that's important to you.

So get going - quick! Halloween is tomorrow!