DIY,  Geek

A Little Nightmare for your Christmas

DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath Tutorial

I was brainwashed with the world of Disney pretty early on in life. I remember carrying around a really ratty old Mickey doll all the time even though he was missing his nose and wanting Mickey everything up until I was 8. My Disney obsession came and went over the years, but once I returned to Disneyland as an teen and adult, it was back. I’m now at a point where I got to Disneyland at least once or twice a year and am slowly building my art collection with park inspired pieces. So when I saw this great Instructables post on making the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion holiday wreath, I knew this would be on my list for holiday projects this season.

This tutorial is a bit modified from the Instructables post, but it’s pretty much the same idea. Also, here’s the reference image I used from the Haunted Mansion ride, but be creative!

What you’ll need:

  • Two bundles of garland (or one plain wreath and one garland)
  • Red Christmas bow
  • Wiring  (I’m using jewelry wire, but you can use anything)
  • White cardboard – recommend something thick like matting board or poster boards
  • Wire cutters
  • Glue and glue gun
  • Yellow/Black crayons or paint

DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath Tutorial

Step 1: Make a plain wreath out of the garland. I double up the garland and spread out the branches to make the wreath as wide as possible. Use the wiring and keep the garlands together.

DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath TutorialDIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath TutorialStep 2: Use your second garland and cut two arms. My garland was folded in 4 segments so I ended up using 1 segment for each arm. Also, each end of the garland conveniently had an existing extra wire piece sticking out which was perfect for attaching to the wreath. DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath TutorialDIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath Tutorial

Step 3: Cut out the eyes and lots of teeth in various sizes. I tried to make the eyes more slanted and evil, but it’s really up to you! I used pastels to color the eyes yellow and gave it black pupils. DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath Tutorial

Step 4: Use the glue gun to attach the eyes and teeth. I attached everything while viewing the wreath from the front, but you can see what the back ended up looking like in the pic below.DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath TutorialDIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath TutorialStep 5: Attach a bow!DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath Tutorial

Step 6: Find a good place to hang it! I decided to hang mine indoors and used thread  and thumbtacks to keep everything in place. Hopefully your guests will get a good scare/laugh when they see it!

DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Wreath Tutorial

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks so much for reading!


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