North Pole Sign

$50 - $60 (based on 2022 prices)
Makes one sign

At the end of 2022, I was asked to make a set of props for a local theater’s production of Christmas Belles. Being unable to make many props for the Halloween season, I jumped at the opportunity to do something creative. For this prop, I used PVC pipes and a foam board to fashion a North Pole sign to decorate the Santa’s workshop scene of the play.

• One seventeen-inch wooden disk
• One 1 ¼” cap socket
• Three 1 ¼” coupling joints
• Four ½” wood screws
• One 1 ¼” x 6’ PVC pipe
• One roll of 1 ½” painter’s tape
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in glossy red
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in glossy white
• One sheet of white glittery drape (roughly 32” x 40”)
• Twelve to fourteen feet of faux evergreen garland
• One sheet of foam (at least 12” x 17”)
• One 8 oz. can of exterior paint in flat white*
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• Two strings of white battery-powered LED lights
• Twenty light covers in the shape of green leaves
• Four feet of steel wire
• One piece of 8”x 11.5” copy paper with North Pole printed on it
• Four feet of plaid ribbon
• A random assortment of bells and pinecones
• One 1.48 oz. bag of large, white glittery snow

1. Measure and mark the center of the wooden disk and then use a two-inch bit to drill a hole into the wood. Because this will serve as the sign’s base, I drilled all the way through for additional stability; however, depending on your sign’s weight, you can go just halfway through the disk.

2. Use a 1/8 bit to drill four holes into one of the coupling joints. You want to ensure they are evenly spaced and about half an inch from the edge. Following this, coat the portion that will rest inside the hole with glue and gently hammer it into the opening, guaranteeing the joint rests level in the hole.

3. Drill the wood screws into the four holes made in step two. This will help lock the coupler into the hole and stabilize it. Although this may seem excessive, I wanted the prop as secure as possible because it was going to be moved on an off stage during each performance.

4. Measure, mark, and cut the PVC pipe into three two-foot sections and, with the remaining two couplers, join them together, adding them to the base to form the sign’s pole and topping it with the cap socket. This will produce a pole roughly seven feet high (for a shorter or taller pole, you can adjust the measurements of each section).  

5. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the pole one or two even coats of glossy white paint. After allowing the paint to fully dry, use the painter’s tape to form the stripes, starting at the top and carefully wrapping it downward in a corkscrew motion. How thick you want the stripes depends on the size of the tape that you use.  

6. Once the pole is wrapped, apply one or two even coats of glossy red paint to the exposed areas. After letting the paint fully dry, carefully remove the tape. Since this prop was meant to be seen from afar, I didn’t worry too much if the contrast between the red and white stripes was not perfect. You, though, can clean this up with a black line if the prop is going to be seen up close.  

7. Utilize the remaining white spray paint to coat the wooden base. Then, cut a 24” x 24” square of glittery drape, bunch it up around the base, and glue it down. For visual interest, I created folds and mounds to make it look like fake snow, but you can leave it smooth if that adheres to your chosen aesthetic.

8. Beginning at the top of the pole, wrap the evergreen garland around it and utilize small dabs of hot glue to hold it in place. How much greenery you will need is dependent on how dense you want the coverage. I went with something relatively minimal to not overpower the prop, which means I used eight feet of garland. If you plan for a thicker coverage, you will need even more.

9. Cut a sheet of foam into a 12” x 17” rectangle to form the sign. These dimensions, of course, can always be altered to cater the prop to your needs. Because I liked the details it gave without having to shape them myself, I used the lid to a Styrofoam cooler.  

10. Coat the board with at least one layer of white exterior paint to protect it from melting when applying the spray paint. After this, use copy paper and painter’s tape to section off what will become the space for the sign’s lettering and, on a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, use the remaining red spray paint to color the sign’s back and outer edges.

11. Trace the outlines of the battery packs for the LED lights onto the back of the sign and then form two rectangular holes about half an inch deep to accommodate them. After gluing the packs in place, make a hole on either side and use them to feed the lights through.

12. String the lights around the border of the sign, applying small dabs of hot glue to hold them in place. Because the strings I used were rather short, I had to employ two to cover the entire border, but you can streamline this process (and step eleven) by using just one long strand.

13. Cover the cords for the lights with the remaining garland (roughly three to four feet). One of the major reasons I used the cooler lid was because it had a nice trench where I could nestle the garland and lights. This can also be achieved by cutting a half-inch border around the sign using a sharp blade or soldering tool. Also, to soften the lights’ glow and enhance the sign’s visual appeal, I covered each bulb with green leaf-shaped covers.  

14. Cut the wire into two twenty-four-inch sections, make four small holes in the center of the sign, and feed the wires through them to create loops which will be used in step seventeen to attach the sign to the pole.

15. Cut a 9” x 14” rectangle of glittery drape and glue it to the inner section of the sign. Following this, center the North Pole printout on the drape and glue it in place.   

16. Cut the ribbon into two eight-inch sections and two twelve-inch sections and glue them around the copy paper to form a border. After this, adhere clusters of bells and pinecones in the corners of the sign. Lastly, lightly coat the draping on either side the copy paper with glue and sprinkle large glitter on it for additional detail.

17. Once all the decorative elements are attached to the sign, slide the pole through the wire loops and, once the sign is at your desired height, glue it in place, tightening the loops to help secure it. I used hot glue for this process, but you can use superglue for a sturdier hold.

18. Because the sign needed to be easy to move between scenes, I did not want to weigh it down with additional details, like ornaments or fake present; however, if you plan to make it a stationary prop, you can add these elements to elevate the festive theme.

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

"A Chilly Night" (A Poem)

Death is a common theme in the poetry of Christina Rossetti and her poem “A Chilly Night” is no exception. Composed in 1856, the poem entails the narrator’s encounter with the spirit of their deceased mother during the night. Sadly, both are incapable of communicating with each other and the work becomes a commentary on the living’s inability to commune with the dead and vice versa.

I rose at the dead of night,
And went to the lattice alone
To look for my Mother’s ghost
Where the ghostly moonlight shone.

My friends had failed one by one,
Middle-aged, young, and old,
Till the ghosts were warmer to me
Than my friends that had grown cold.

I looked and I saw the ghosts
Dotting plain and mound:
They stood in the blank moonlight,
But no shadow lay on the ground:
They spoke without a voice
And they leaped without a sound.

I called: ‘O my Mother dear,’—
I sobbed: ‘O my Mother kind,
Make a lonely bed for me
And shelter it from the wind.

‘Tell the others not to come
To see me night or day:
But I need not tell my friends
To be sure to keep away.’

My Mother raised her eyes,
They were blank and could not see:
Yet they held me with their stare
While they seemed to look at me.

She opened her mouth and spoke;
I could not hear a word,
While my flesh crept on my bones
And every hair was stirred.

She knew that I could not hear  

The message that she told
Whether I had long to wait
Or soon should sleep in the mould:
I saw her toss her shadowless hair
And wring her hands in the cold.

I strained to catch her words,
And she strained to make me hear;
But never a sound of words
Fell on my straining ear.

From midnight to the cockcrow
I kept my watch in pain  

While the subtle ghosts grew subtler
In the sad night on the wane.

From midnight to the cockcrow
I watched till all were gone,
Some to sleep in the shifting sea
And some under turf and stone:
Living had failed and dead had failed,
And I was indeed alone.[1]

Works Referenced

Rossetti, Christina. “A Chilly Night.” New Poems by Christina Rossetti, Hitherto Unpublished or Uncollected. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. London: MacMillan and Company, 1896. 96-98.
____________________
[1] Rossetti, 96-98.

Wooden Urn

$25 - $30 (based on 2024 prices)
Makes one urn

In 2024, I was asked by a local theater to make a wooden urn for their production of Dashing through the Snow. The prop was meant to be used in a scene where relatives fight over the remains of a deceased loved one. At one point, their fight turns physical and they battle over the box, with its lid popping open and dumping the ashes. At the director’s request, I used a magnetic clasp to make it easier for the box to spring open and filled it with a mixture of wood ash and gray kitty litter to resemble human ashes.

• One 8” x 8” x 3.5” wooden box with a magnetic clasp
• Seven one-inch wooden letter cutouts spelling the word beloved
• Four two-inch wooden cross cutouts
• Two two-inch wooden dove cutouts
• Two two-inch wooden rose cutouts
• Two two-inch wooden leaf cutouts
• One 8 oz. bottle of wood glue*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in au natural*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat gray*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat white*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in hot cocoa*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in metallic gold*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in spice brown*
• One plastic bottle
• Three to four sheets of standard-size newspaper
• Four 8 oz. bottles of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One 5 oz. tube of siliconized caulk*
• Two small, plastic bones

1. Using a pencil, mark the center of the box’s lid and then divide it into four sections. This will help ensure everything is centered. Once this is done, arrange the cross, doves, and letters to create your desired design and trace their outline. Although this is optional, it will give you a guide in case things get bumped during step two.

2. Glue the cross, doves, and letter cutouts to the lid, stacking two crosses atop each other for additional height. Because all of these items were made of glue, I used wood glue to adhere them; however, you can use superglue if the box or cutouts are made of different materials.

3. Embellish the sides of the box with the remaining two cross cutouts and the leaf and rose cutouts. As with step two, layer two roses on top of each other for extra depth and employ wood glue for a sturdier hold.

4. Remove the hinges, cover the magnetic clasp with painter’s tape, and, on a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give both the inside and outside of the box and its lid an even coat of brown spray paint. While I only used one coat, you can apply more based on your desired coverage; however, keep in mind that this is the base coat and much of it will be covered by the other paints.

5. Working from dark to light, use several hues of brown to create a wooden patina. I wanted a lighter tone closer to walnut to pair with the gold paint, but you can move from light to dark for a deeper tone like mahogany.

6. After applying a base coat of black, gently dry brush gold onto the decals to make them look like aged metal. How lightly you apply the paint depends on how worn you want the elements to look. Since this prop needed to appear like it had been handled a lot, I went with a relatively worn appearance.

7. Repeat the process in step six with the decorative elements on the side of the box, giving them the same level of distress to maintain consistency.

8. Cut the bottom and top off a plastic bottle, position it in the base of the box, and glue it down. This will form the foundation for the mounds of ash. It is best to use something made of thin plastic, since this will be easier to cut.

9. Make the papier mache paste by mixing ½ cup of glue and ½ cup of water in a bowl. Then, tear the newspaper into strips, soak them in the paste, and use them to build up mounds around the bottle. This will become the human remains at the bottom of the urn, so you want them to appear like piles of ash.

10. Once the newspaper dries, pat caulking onto the mounds for a granular appearance. To accomplish this, apply a small dollop to a paper towel and gently dab it onto the surface. Do not overthink your application because a random pattern produces a more natural look.

11. Allow the caulking to dry for at least twenty-four hours and then, using a stippling brush, build up layers of gray and white paint, working from dark to light, to give the mounds the look of ash. If one color becomes too overpowering, you can always apply more of the other color to dial it back.

12. Cut the two plastic bones into six sections and apply one or two even coats of white paint. As with step eight, purchase bones made of a thin plastic to make them easier to cut. Following this, smudge black and gray paint along their edges to make them look charred.  

13. Glue the bones into the mounds to make it look like they are protruding from the ashes. For visual interest, adhere some at various angles. You can also add other elements, like teeth or pieces of jewelry.

14. Reattached the lid to the box using the hinges, guaranteeing the magnetic clasp still aligns. Although you can embellish the prop with additional details, I kept it rather simple to maintain the director’s vision. 

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