Severed Ears

$10 - $12 (based on 2016 prices)

Makes three ears

Since my little brother and I began yard haunting in the early 2000s, we have watched the quality of Halloween props gradually diminish (I miss the days of Don Post and Mario Chiodo). It has been rather bittersweet: I’m saddened by the growing mediocrity, yet happy that this has forced me to create more of my own items. One area where I have seen the worst degeneration is in the believability of severed body parts. Over the past few years, I’ve been working on repainting store-bought parts with a more realistic patina (see my severed fingers here) and the results have been quite enjoyable.

• Three vinyl ears
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in burgundy*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in coral*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in deep maroon*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flesh tone*

1. On a newspaper-lined surface, apply three even coats of flesh-tone paint to the ears. Although I used three, you may want more or less based on your desired coverage. 

2. Once the flesh-tone paint has dried, turn the ears over and coat the inside with deep maroon. Akin to step one, I used three layers of this color, but you may alter that number to cater toward your preferences.

3. Give the ears a smudging of coral paint. Focus primarily on the tips of the ears and along the curvatures of the helix and tragus. Use your own skin patterns or those found in a medical textbook for reference. I discovered that applying a small amount of paint to your thumb and index finger and rubbing it onto the prop works well.

4. Using a brush with splayed bristles, apply a smattering of burgundy paint around the wounds and up the sides of the ears.

5. Repeat the process in step four with the inside of the ears and focus your application into the folds and fissures to give depth.

6. For additional detail, you can create random abrasions along the ears by dabbing burgundy paint with a splayed-bristle brush and adding dark red paint to the centers.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.