Fortune Teller Booth Halloween Craft!


Esmerelda will tell you your fortune. Come closer.
Look into her eyes.
But don't stare.
She'll read your cards.
Or your palm.
The carny life is rough. But a girl has to earn a living. She puts on her makeup every night and performs.
That's her assistant. Don't stare at him, either. So do you guys want to know how easy this was to make? Sooo easy.
Two big moving boxes. These are 24" x 18" x 18" and cost about $1.50 each at Lowes.
Stack them. Cut out the opening. Tape up all the seams with masking tape (easier to paint than clear plastic tape).
Use the cardboard you cut out to make a body form. Tape it to a dowel. I stuck it into a bucket of rocks to hold it up. Then I draped some clothes over it. Didn't even have to add batting or anything because I wanted her to look skinny.
This is what I made the head out of. It's a styrofoam wig head. The creepy thing is that I actually already had one lying around the house. They're only about 5 bucks or so. It has a hole in the bottom so it sits on top of the dowel without any glue or anything.
To age her, I brushed Mod Podge onto the styrofoam, laid a strip of toilet paper on it, then brushed more Mod Podge on top. Sort of wrinkled it up with the paint brush. This is WAY easy. Then you can add makeup, err, acrylic craft paint. As I painted on her face, that's when I started developing empathy for her. I initially wanted her to be really creepy, but then I started feeling sorry for her. This is where we're all headed. If we're lucky. Oh god, that's depressing. So I slopped on tons of makeup. She draws those eyes and lips on every night and gets in that booth and puts on a show. Then it's onto the next town. See how weird I'm getting?
Here is the mystery of her crystal ball revealed. A balloon, a strip of posterboard painted with dimensional paint (can't get enough of the stuff), and a battery powered LED tap light.

I used electrical tape to tape the lights in place. It's just a string of patio lights from Target. My assistant helped me feed the cord down to the bottom and out the back. That's pretty much it. Then you can go to town decorating. Fabric scraps, bangles, various cheap Halloween decorations. I bought some plastic pirate coins and strung them up. And the little buzzard. I was able to cover the whole box with 2 bottles of navy blue craft paint. So fun! I really could've gone overboard with this one. Seriously. I mean, I guess I already have. I've written Esmerelda's life story in my head.
Happy Halloween!!!!

PS I downloaded the palmistry hand picture from here and the tarot cards from here.

Comments

  1. This is soo creative! I love fortune tellers. It always reminds me of a carnival long forgotten...

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  2. Just make sure your assistant doesn't sneak up to Esmerelda and wish to be big.

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  3. Oh Katie,

    This is fabulous. So, so fabulous! I love it! I love how you happened to have styrofoam wig head lying around. I love how you cut apart cardboard boxes. I love how you made Esmerelda all beautiful and carnivalish and how you put lights all around her booth to frame her, like those backstage dressing rooms. And her sidekick! Er, I mean assistant. And that moody fall lighting! You are brilliant!!!!! Brilliant!!!!! And you don't need a fortune teller to figure that out!!!!!

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  4. most awesome Halloween craft EVER. I also have THREE of those styrofoam heads sitting around my house as we speak--I think they might become ghosts or a mummified head or something spooky if I ever get around to caring enough to make something with them.

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  5. Wow, just saw this on ohdeedoh. What an awesome idea & amazing job! I love it. I'm wondering if I could build the box, then play Esmerelda myself... Love it :)

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  6. Seriously, this is awesome!!!! I can't believe you made it - this reminds me of a story I read recently about the rare fortune telling gypsy (machine) found in Montana worth millions (on CBSNews.com). anyway, amazing job - I love it!

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  7. I really love this! I Stumbled it and posted it on my facebook and twitter feeds! Seriously, fairly simple, not too expensive and a GREAT project! :)

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  8. This is truly amazing! I'm so not going to attempt it, but I'm glad you did. And three cheers for the Minnesota State Fair. :-)

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  9. Pure Awesomeness! pinned it
    http://pinterest.com/pin/455576957/

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  10. Oh! My dear! That is just tooooooooo awesome! I love it, love it! I want one! You are giving me inspiration and ideas for my next project...Arabian Nights puppets show.Fun! Thanks!

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  11. Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  12. This is great, i'm a fortune teller, and this will be great for a prop. set the mood.

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  13. This is awesome! While perusing Pinterest one day, I came upon a really amazing fortune teller that someone had made using an old curio cabinet. He spent a LOT of time and money on it. I was quite envious of him...until I stumbled upon your fabulous creation! My head is ready to be painted. This will be gracing my front porch for Halloween this year! Thank you!

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  14. Thank you for showing me how to do this!! I'm throwing a carnival party and I was looking for someone who successfully did this DIY!

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  15. How do you make it bigger if you want to actually sit in it ?

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  19. Looks amazing! Hope I can make one as nice.

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  20. Excelente!!!gracias x compartir

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