Monkey’s Paw

$20 - $30 (based on 2019 prices)

Makes one monkey’s paw

 

Part of 2019’s twisted carnival theme involved Dr. Victor’s Oddity Museum, a collection of bizarre artifacts meant to resemble the curiosity exhibits customary in turn-of-the-century travelling shows. To achieve this, I crafted a bevy of familiar oddities, from shrunken heads to two-headed babies. For this particular prop, I made a sideshow staple: a magical monkey’s paw guaranteed to give the possessor three wishes.

• One cheap, plastic skeleton hand
• One 4 oz. bottle of wood glue
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue
• Two to three standard-sized newspaper pages
• One roll of one-ply, white paper towels
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat ivory*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat tan*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat gray*
• A set of five fake nails
• One 0.44 oz. bottle of clear nail polish*
• One yard of faux black fur
• One 7” x 9” oval wooden plaque
• One 3/16” wooden dowel
• One piece of 8” x 11.5” paper with specimen labels printed on it
• At least four tablespoons of black tea (e.g. Darjeeling, Earl Gary, English Breakfast, etc.)
• One pan large enough to soak the paper

1. Cut the joints on the hand and hot glue them in a more natural resting pose. Also, make the hand appear more apelike by lowering the thumb to the base of the palm. For the best results, work each finger individually. Alternately, you could use a heat gun to gently mold the fingers into the correct shape. If you do use a heat gun, though, keep safety in mind by wearing heat-resistant work gloves while molding the plastic.

2. Make the papier mache paste by mixing ½ cup of glue and ½ cup of water in a bowl. Try to use a sealable container. This gives you the ability to store the mixture for a day or two between applications. To give the paste added support, consider using a combination of all-purpose glue and wood glue (stray away from school glue because it is washable and will dissolve in the water).

3. Cut the newspaper into strips, soak them in the paste, and apply them to the hand. Keep the strips at a reasonable size (roughly two inches long and half an inch wide) to make the process more manageable. Similarly, only apply a few layers at a time and allow each layer to completely dry before adding more. Since this was meant to hide the alterations made to the hand and give it a uniform shape, I only applied two layers. You, of course, are free to add more, if you like.

4. Tear the paper towels into strips and, after soaking them in paste, cover the paw with one or two layers, creating wrinkles to make the flesh appear rotten. If you cannot find one-ply paper towels, simply separate the plies of multi-ply sheets. Akin to step three, keep the strips at a reasonable size, only apply a few layers at a time, and allow each layer to completely dry before adding more. The number of layers, in turn, depends on how rotted you want the hand to appear: you can apply one or two layers to just a few spots for a highly decrepit look or several thick coverings for a more mummified appearance.

5. Once the layers have fully dried, give the paw a base coat of ivory spray paint. Since you will build up detail with other colors, you want your color to be a neutral tone that is not too light and not exceedingly dark.

6. Age the paw with several washes of brown paint. To do this, water down the paint and brush it over the hand, ensuring the liquid settles into all the cracks and fissures (you can also use a spray bottle for the application). Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes and then wipe it clean. You may want to experiment with the consistency prior to doing this: the more water you add, the fainter/lighter the wash; the less water you add, the deeper/darker the wash. For the best results, slowly build up the layers until you achieve the desired tones and then mute them with a wash of black.

7. Give the nails a base coat of gray paint followed by smudgings and stipplings of black and brown paint to make them appear weathered. After this, apply a coat or two of clear nail polish to seal the patina.

8. Once the polish has dried, attach the nails to the fingertips. For a sturdier hold, use superglue.

9. Cut the fur into a 6” x 8” rectangle (depending on the width of your paw and how long you want the wrist, you may need to adjust the lengths) and glue it to the paw, wrapping the rectangle around the hand to form a tube and positioning the fur toward the base of the knuckles for a more realistic appearance.

10. Use a 15/64 bit to drill a hole into one side of the plaque, allowing it run about halfway through the wood. Then, insert the dowel into the hole and glue it in place with wood glue. I used a six-inch-long dowel, which gave the prop a nice height; however, for your version, you can go longer or shorter to fit your haunt’s needs.

11. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the stand an even coat of tan spray paint. You can apply additional coats, but keep in mind that much of it will be covered by the darker colors.

12. Once the spray paint has dried, apply globs of the black and brown paint and, using a paper towel, smudge it across the plaque. As you do so, smear the paint in the same direction to create a uniform grain. You can also use a stipple sponge to fashion knots or a fine-tipped brush to construct worm holes.

13. Boil enough water to completely submerge the paper and pour it into the pan. Add the tea. The longer you allow the tea to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of tea will produce a richer stain. I found that a combination of English and Irish Breakfast brewed for over ten minutes produces a nice, deep brown. Submerge the paper into the tea mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for eight hours and scattered the loose-leaf tea over the top to add spots. Remove the paper from the water and allow it to dry. Once the paper has dried, cut out the specimen label, leave a small border, and give the specimen a name. To roughen the label’s appearance, use sandpaper to fray its sides and create holes. You can also use olive or vegetable oil to add further stains to the label.

14. After you have achieved your desired level of distress, glue the label to the stand.

15. Using a 15/64 bit, drill a hole into the base of the hand, feed the tube of fur over the dowel and connect the paw to the stand. For added support, you can glue the item into position, mainly if you plan to display it outdoors in windy conditions. For storage purposes, though, it might be best to keep them detachable.

16. The prop can be enhanced further with additional details, such as an aged bone protruding from the wrist’s opening or cryptic messages written in blood on the base of the stand.

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