We are a huge Fan Family of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, and throwing a Harry Potter themed birthday party for my son’s 21st birthday cost me next to nothing to put on because I either already owned, borrowed, or made all the decor (with the exception of Norbert but you can read more about him here). Creating a Dementor was at the top of my list!
Crafting Fun
The Dementor was the biggest, and most fun thing I made for the party! He is life sized and eerily hovered at the top of our stairs keeping guests from venturing to the (non-existent) third floor corridor. But how does one make a Dementor without summoning one with a wand? Through a little crafting magic of course!
Finding Inspiration
Whenever I’m looking to start creating something I’ve never done before, I like to look to other people’s ideas for inspiration. I search through Pinterest and Google to see what ideas are out there. I look at different pictures and videos to see what parts of their creations I like & don’t like, and what worked & more importantly, what didn’t.
In my search for a homemade Dementor, I came across one YouTube video in particular, by Becca Beach. She has an AMAZING YouTube channel called “Pins and Things“. She shows you how to make some really cool costumes & other themed decor items. Seriously, this girl needs to work for Universal Studios!
I watched her video and figured out the basics. I mostly followed her directions, with a just few modifications of my own and my Dementor turned out looking pretty realistic! Read below to see what I did, and be sure to check out Becca’s YouTube channel, “Pins and Things“, for some great Halloween costume ideas!
DIY Dementor
Supplies
- 16 Gauge Wire
- Needle-nose Pliers
- Wire Cutters
- Masking Tape (I recommend getting 2 rolls)
- Styrofoam Skull – as close to actual size as possible
- Glue Gun & Hot Glue Sticks
- Large scrap piece of lightweight black fabric
- 1 pkg Black Gauze
- 2 pkg Black Creepy Cloth
- Liquid Starch
- Batting
- Old Pool Noodle (optional)
- Black Craft Paint
- Sponge Brush
- Tarp or Large Trash Bags
- Scissors
- Black Gaffers Tape or Black Electrical Tape (optional)
Starting At the Top
Following Becca Beach’s video, I started with the head. Using a life sized Styrofoam Skull I purchased from my local Michael’s Craft Store I could make the head. With my 40% off coupon it cost me less than $8. I made a hole all the way through from the center of the top of the skull to the center of the bottom of the skull using a wooden skewer. Threading a long piece of the 16 gauge wire (I bought a large bundle of it for $5.99 from my local B&B Hardware Store) from the bottom, through to the top and made a loop at the top, wrapping the end piece back around the wire with my pliers.
A long bread knife was perfect to cut the bottom jaw right between the teeth, but I didn’t cut it completely off. I left just enough to hold the jaw in place, but still allow it to “open”. I used masking tape (I found it for $1 at the Dollar Tree) to tape the jaw open and to place layers of “flesh” around the eyes, down the cheeks, across the nose, and over the forehead. This gives a feeling of thin, mummified flesh.
Helping Hands
Next I worked on the hands. I followed Becca’s suggestion and used my own hands as a size guide adding about 4 – 5 inches in length onto each finger so they’d look long and bony. I used masking tape to make the hand portion and webbing between the fingers.
The masking tape makes great “flesh” so I used it to cover the fingers, and a small piece of batting rolled into a ball, covered in masking tape, to build up the knuckles. I had a package of batting left over from a previous project so it really came in handy.
Forming the Arms
I measured out more of the 16 Gauge wire to equal the length from my right elbow, up over my shoulder, across my chest, and down over my other shoulder to my left elbow. This is all one long piece of wire on my Dementor. Then I measured 4 pieces of wire the length of my forearm (2 for each arm), to mimic the two bones there. I covered all the pieces with masking tape and built up the joints with more batting. Don’t worry about pieces being perfectly even or smooth. It’s supposed to look like decaying flesh and most of it will be covered with the gauze.
The Most Difficult Part
Once I’d finished the head, hands and arms, I turned my attention to the shoulders. This was the part I was dreading the most. Being that it was September, I couldn’t find a pool noodle to save my life, but that forced me to find a different option of my own (of course I ended up finding one in the clearance section a week AFTER I’d finished making it).
Make Do Substitution
I ended up using large pieces of batting that I wrapped with the black Gaffer’s tape (Gaffer’s tape is what’s used on sets when studios are filming. It sticks to EVERYTHING, completely blocks out what’s behind it, and it has a matte finish so it isn’t shiny. It also surprising removes easily from almost all materials. The only problem is, it’s not cheap, and unless you live near Hollywood, it can be hard to find. You can find it available on Amazon). I used it on a couple of the fingers too since I ran out of masking tape (hence the recommendation of 2 rolls!). You can use black Electrical Tape which I found available at the Dollar Tree for $1 for 2 rolls, but it’s thinner and would require a lot more tape to cover the areas. Plus, it doesn’t stick very well to a lot of things.
If you look at his right shoulder in the picture below, I tried a couple pieces of electrical tape to see how well it would work. The gloss finish doesn’t work well for this project, and I ended up having to hot glue it down in a couple places because it wasn’t sticking well, but it is doable if it’s all you have. You could also just use masking tape but if it’s already black then it’s less you have to paint later.
Blackout
Now that his skeleton was complete, it was time to move on to paint. I used black Craft Smart Acrylic Paint that I already had at home. It’s an inexpensive brand (less than $1) that I purchase at Michael’s, but it provides better coverage than some of the higher priced craft paints. I painted everything black including the wire you could see hanging down inside his mouth. Using my rolling laundry rack to hang him from gave me time to prepare his “clothes”. I tied his head and hands to the cart with jute and draped the piece of black, lightweight, scrap fabric over his shoulder, hot gluing it in place. Using my scissors, I tattered the edges of the fabric, shaping it into a ghostly “body”.
Getting Dressed
The last step was to finish his “clothes”. I opted to just buy black gauze rather than dying it black like Becca did in her video. Target had exactly what i needed. I purchased one package of it in the holiday section at Target for $4. I also bought two packages of Creepy Cloth from the Dollar Tree for an added texture. The liquid starch was the hardest thing to find. I ended up finding some Sta Flo Liquid Starch by Purex hidden at the very top of the shelf in the laundry section at Wal-Mart. It was WAY cheaper there than other places online. I paid less than $3 but it took some time to find it. Save yourself the trouble and order it online here.
I laid out a couple of large trash bags that I cut open to catch any dripping starch. A tarp would work too, but the trash bags I can just roll up and throw away.
Starch It Up
I used almost an entire bottle of liquid starch on the piece of gauze and two pieces of Creepy Cloth so one bottle should be plenty. I did cut the piece of gauze into 2 even pieces before I dipped it into the starch. It’s 6 feet long so it’s much easier to work with in smaller pieces.
Pour about half the bottle of starch into a large plastic bowl to start with. I fully submerged one piece of gauze at a time into the starch and moved it around to make sure it’s fully coated. You want to make sure you slowly lift out the gauze and squeeze most of the liquid out. It should be drippy but not so drippy that it’s pouring all over the place.
I placed the first piece draped over his left arm, and worked it around across his back. You can play with it a bit to get it exactly where you want it. Then I repeated these steps with the second piece of gauze on the right arm.
Making it Creepy
Once I had the two main pieces where I wanted them, I moved on to the Creepy Cloth. I repeated the same steps above but this time I draped them over his head. I made a hole to put the top hook through so it didn’t appear that I was purposely going around something.
As the liquid starch began to dry and the dripping slowed down, I used an old pair of scissors to tatter and shape the wet gauze and Creepy Cloth. Some of the longer pieces I cut off, I used in other spots to add more tattered layers. Once I was happy with how everything looked I left him alone to dry overnight.
Here’s a funny note: If you leave him in your bathroom overnight to dry like I did, don’t be surprised if you’re startled when you wake up at 4 am to go pee!
A Haunting Scene
We hung him at the landing where our stairs turn using the upstairs banister on one side, and a nail in the wall on the other with heavy duty fishing line so he appeared to be floating in mid air. We also tied up his arms the same way so he looked like he was reaching out to grab his next victim!
Oh, and be sure to have some chocolate on hand to ward off any ill side effects!