Beetle Juice Party and Props

Was busy this weekend and not home much. I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to program an Arduino which is a small micro controller that uses coding similar to C++. I am not interested in coding, so it takes me a long time to do anything with it.


I cut the sono tubes with a chainsaw. Don't worry I used a jig and did it indoors cause I have my man card.


uc



I started to make the snake head with blocks of foam. This foam is 4 years old and left over from when I poured the floor of the shop. Had to bang some concrete off it first.


uc



Added some screws for teeth. I have not figured out how to make teeth or attach them yet.


uc



And since I never do anything right, I spelled the sign name "BETELGUESE" instead of the correct way. Had to lift the U and E and reverse them. They are a little uneven and have some wrinkles but will be fine from 10 feet away.


uc
 
Located outside of Albany NY.
I have been picking away at building things after work. Hoping to get some work done this weekend.


Made the invitations. One side is the Beetlejuice flyer and the other is information about the party. I crumpled them up, soaked them in tea and then dried them. I folded and applied some red hot glue to seal them up. Came out great.


uc



Painted the sign red, it will have yellow lights. I could not really tell from the movie what color this is due to it's limited screen time.


uc



I painted the sculpture thing. It was gray, I painted it black with 80% coverage. Then dry brushed light gray and then white. Looks great and the whole thing is about as durable as newspaper.


uc



Finally I put two colors on the fireplace. I dry brushed gray and then went over it with a dark green dry brush. I need to add some more cardboard to strengthen it, as it has a slight bow from sitting for 3 weeks in the garage.


uc



.
 
Friday night fun. I was going to sculpt the teeth for the sandworm, but that seemed like a ton of time. Hit a dowel on the belt sander and then the band saw to make some teeth.


uc



I first tried to attach them with wood glue and a pin nailer. After a few close calls I went wit super glue. Seems to be holding good enough.


uc



The sand worm is actually two heads. One comes out of the other. Currently it looks more like a leaf. Some paint, more teeth and eyes will make it look like one head is coming out of the other. I used wire and paper mache for this part. I also covered the moving head with an old T-shirt.


uc



Also printed out a Recently Deceased book cover. I downloaded this and printed it on a laser printer. Then spray glued it to a book from 1901 about public education. haha.


uc
 
Worked on the sign some more. I attached the plexi glass to the sign with 1/4" plywood bits and screws. I also hot glued and siliconed the ping pong balls in.


36850197664_018f0189e4_c.jpg





Then I added some paint on the sign to make it look distressed.


37560541441_2c676dcc42_c.jpg





Next up was the tombstone over Beetlejucie's grave. This thing is a monster of a project. I made a base out of OSB and a piece of cedar scrap.


36890869483_105b46a7d8_z.jpg





I then added foam with gorilla glue and hot glue.


37528843992_f7244c5560_c.jpg



37528843322_b4a710428c_c.jpg



I then carved it with a wire wheel on a drill. Made quite a mess.


36850199074_c0004375a5_c.jpg





There are two skeletons on the tomb and a gargoyle on the top. I made these from old PVC and left over sprinkler hose.


37560539261_b4c63664f3_c.jpg



36850196044_80ef2b3133_z.jpg
 
Put in a good day today. I used the heat gun to bend the piping. I then had to make legs for the top gargoyle. I glued up some 2" thick foam and carved it up. Using some old PVC I also added the wings.


37549816972_c09be85d1d_c.jpg



i ran out of skeleton parts in stock so I made this hand with some old pipe and electrical tape for joints.


37549810772_5bd8121a34_z.jpg



Here is the tomb stone ready for some paper mache/cloth. I also added cardboard triangles to be the shoulder blades.




37549808442_8eba34107e_z.jpg



37581864531_87102542bb_z.jpg



The PVC white pipe is screwed to the main support wood. This holds everything in place nicely.


37549806102_bb406ab6d6_z.jpg



I then used my mixture of drywall spackle, glue, and water. I soaked the cloth in this and then laid it over the skeletons and the wings to give the appearance of old skin.


37581862831_c41b9b5af1_z.jpg



36911859423_fec121bfa8_z.jpg



37581861541_b06d8bdb0b_z.jpg



36911856563_2c3214aa69_z.jpg





My wife has been busy also working on the costumes. She is making the dress that Lidia (Winona Ryder) wears and the suit that Beetlejuice wears when they are supposed to get married.


37549815492_782910b4c8_z.jpg



The suit that I am going to wear.


37549812842_0130edf279_z.jpg



If you have seen the movie, then there is a scene at the end where there is a magician's assistant who is cut in half. We picked up a mannequin and will paint her to be a blue color.


37581868981_081e6cdbce_z.jpg
 
Well that spackle/glue/water mixture took a few days to dry.


36993533793_72bd658547_c.jpg



Up next was the first coat of paint. I went with a medium gray I made and put it in my sprayer. This sprayer is great as it is easy to use, easy to clean and does a great even coat. Plus it was like $80.


37406451900_518a4c7bfa_c.jpg



This thing looks awesome! I am stoked about it.


37615068716_b99a76cd39_c.jpg



I printed out the letters on paper and spray glued them to plexi glass. I then cut out the letters and removed the outside waste paper. I sprayed more glue over everything and sprinkled foam pieces on the plastic. Then removed the letters and it left it like this. It is a pain to paint around though.


36993532543_45d02a713f_c.jpg



37615073926_46b1b1d3f2_c.jpg



While that dried it was back to the sign. I heated up a piece of metal and poked two holes in each ping pong ball.


23811525788_742470b309_c.jpg



Then soldered together two 1.8 volt yellow LED lights with a 100 ohm resistor. I will power this with 5volts from an Arduino to control the lights blinking.


37406313990_b348d00bba_c.jpg



Little hot glue and some bending to place them in the holes.


37615072306_c83e3fb12f_c.jpg
 
This all looks amazing! Some serious dedication for just one night!! I love beetlejuice and now i wanna have a beetlejuice themed party. Maybe next year, already up to my neck in costume making for this year!
 
What a fantastic build for a party, hell what a fantastic build period. Please keep posting more.
 
Last edited:
Went for a walk to enjoy the fall colors with the dogs, so not much time spent today. I finished up the dry brushing on the tombstone. Next up will be to light it from the inside so the letters and arrow glow red. There are 6 layers of paint on this thing, primer/spackle, dark gray, light gray, off white, green, flat black.




37652523516_6bb96bf6ce_c.jpg



23848021048_54ecff0802_c.jpg



23848019578_345e59bc14_c.jpg



I painted 3 sono tubes flat white. Then I cut them with a chain saw (I posted a picture of this above somewhere). I took my dinning room chandler down and installed this as there was a joist holding the electrical box in the ceiling.
A bit much removing light fixtures for Halloween decorations?


It is a sand worm coming through the house. I cut the parts at various angles and then used black duct tape to hold them together. There is a rope inside to catch it if the tape fails.


23848016468_9635ba5c5d_c.jpg



23848017288_891008793b_c.jpg
 
I tried out the time lapse feature on the iPhone and made this video. I think it looks neat.


https://youtu.be/cnuR62tLCTw:rocker:


Made this box and put Christmas lights in it. This illumiates the Betelgeuse sign which has red plastic behind it.


37466529600_7ee3ea24e6_c.jpg



23871291698_6759066062_c.jpg



37724187911_183708a0e8_c.jpg



Up next is a quick project to make the little man that stands inside the fireplace to marry Beetlejuice and Lidia. Wife found a kids suit at Goodwill for $5. We still need a dress shirt and shoes. I made a mannequin for it. Trouble is, mannequins need to come apart so you can dress them.


Made this to be the waist.


37724192211_9ece96ffb3_c.jpg





I had these two pieces of plywood laying around from years ago. I used it as a base as it is heavy. I compound mitered the legs and made a knee with one.


37466527560_9cde0f6c01_c.jpg



Added some sprinkler pipe for arms and bent them with a heat gun. The screws that attach it to the neck are 4" long and just sit in 1/4" holes.


37724190821_735e38a2d2_c.jpg



Added a 6" lag sticking up the neck. I have a few foam wig heads around and I will put one of those on it. Overall only 1.5 hours to make and all from scrap stuff laying around.


37466525730_f06e17824a_c.jpg



.

37466529600_7ee3ea24e6_c.jpg


23871291698_6759066062_c.jpg


37724187911_183708a0e8_c.jpg


37724192211_9ece96ffb3_c.jpg


37466527560_9cde0f6c01_c.jpg


37724190821_735e38a2d2_c.jpg


37466525730_f06e17824a_c.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks. Lots of work. Party is in a week! Lots to do this weekend. I have been working on the sign which has 120 LED lights. First I soldered them in pairs with a resistor between them. The lights around the outside of the sign will light up every third one. The lights of the arrow will have 11 lights that blink in sequence.
The pictures don't really show how much work it is to solder and wire all this up.


37551101970_03abd9c8e1_c.jpg



37551102710_e76547366a_c.jpg



23956468348_1fffe2b605_c.jpg
 
That is just awesome. I showed my wife your write up and pictures. Haha.


I am working on making a video of the sign, but she is done and installed! It sits at just over 9 ft tall. I used 2" conduit for the pipe and ran the wires inside the pipe.


37620273710_e12545bcf7_c.jpg



I did not feel comfortable with the bent pipe I had made. The sign probably weighs 30 pounds. The first bend was really bending. So I used a straight piece instead.


37620279120_f958f74672_b.jpg





37620279880_2e55c6d181_b.jpg



Also got the little man dressed who stands in front of the fire place. I need to make a head for him and a bible to hold.


37620278360_bf88b70f45_c.jpg
 
This thread is more than 6 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top