We Made The Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking Ghosts!

Greetings, mischievous mortals! John and I are finally well-rested and back to our Haunted Mansion Halloween builds with high spirits. (If you missed our ghostly ballroom dancers, click here!)

Today I'll walk you through our build of those beloved cling-ons, the Hitchhiking Ghosts.

My favorite reference art of these three is by Doodleman Dan, an indie artist I've featured here before and know from local cons. Unfortunately his art has been stolen and sold by Etsy scammers, so I contacted Dan for permission first to use this, and also purchased his digital files, so he'd be paid. Even if it's just for a personal project, I always want to do right by the indie artists out there - and here's Dan's Etsy shop so you can do the same. (Plus you're really going to want to see his Figment & Slimer stickers, ermergersh. Bet you can tell which ones I already purchased. :D)

Now, on to the build!

First we base-coated a sheet of pink insulation foam in "Tantalizing Teal," a Sherwin Williams color we matched in a cheaper Lowe's paint.

 Next John worked some digital magic to fit all 3 ghosts onto a single 4X8 sheet of foam, as well as extending and detaching their arms:

 

  I traced all the lines in pencil:

 

Then John began cutting them out with a large craft blade:

It Rocked Us More Like A Tropical Storm, But We Still Need A Nap

::runs in::

Y'ALL.

WOOT WOOT

Also I discovered a new market the greeting card companies should really get in on:

Just sayin, Hallmark. This could be a gold mine.

(Also is that not the best photo of Eva? John caught her mid-yawn.)

John and I were extremely fortunate during hurricane Ian; no damage other than a few fences blown over, no injuries, and all our local friends are also safe and relatively unscathed. Incredibly grateful for that, especially as we've been seeing the disastrous flooding just minutes away - not to mention the devastation on the coast.

We do live in an old neighborhood with old power lines, though, so we had no electricity from Wednesday through Sunday. Speaking as an introverted hermit agoraphobe who runs on vampire hours, it was surprisingly draining bouncing between friends' houses while trying to work, check up on loved ones, procure Low Fodmap food I can eat, get any sleep, etc. No complaints, because we felt so much love and support, but we are exhausted.

Happily we're almost back to pre-storm conditions: fridge and freezer dumped, disinfected, and re-stocked, yards cleared, fences repaired, laundry done. We're still waiting on internet, but I'm managing short bursts by tethering to my phone.

Best of all, with power restored we can pick up where we left off with our Haunted Mansion builds! I'd hoped to have a full reveal today of our Hitchhiking Ghosts, but I'll have to leave you in suspense a few more days. We need a little more time to both work and recover, and I know y'all will be cool about it, so thanks for that.

I hope you have a wonderful week, my friend, and I'm sending extra hugs to everyone affected by the hurricane. If you're looking to donate to an on-the-ground disaster relief charity then I recommend Convoy of Hope. It's highly rated, recommended by SharonSaysSo, and the one I personally gave to this weekend.

Now, before I go, let's announce September's Squeegineer winners!

Congrats to Elizabeth D. and Sarah P., and please check your inboxes for a message from John, so you can choose your prizes.

Speaking of, I'm hoping one of you might choose this chonker of a resin bracelet as your prize, since 'tis the season and all. (You can see me wearing it here.) If not then I'll be doing a separate give-away with it soon, tho, so the rest of you stay tuned!