This year’s Halloween theme is Stranger Things Season 4. There are 2 main props I plan to make, plus many decorations I put together. I’ll also cosplay Eddie Munson. The first prop I made was the grandfather clock, which will be hung on a tree, to simulate the first time we see the grandfather clock in the fist episode (I grabbed this photo off the internet to help me see the details to create the clock, as well as several other photos I found).

Materials:

Box

Cheap clock

Gold scrapbooking paper

Black marbled scrapbooking paper

Clock hands

Styrofoam circle

Plexiglass

Cork coaster

3 wood blocks

Styrofoam balls

Dowels

Paint

Glue

Toilet paper rolls

Gold tissue paper (gift paper)

Chains

Grandfather clock pendulum

Sharpie

Spiders

I started with this 12 x 12 box I found at Walmart. This was the exact shape I was looking for, so I started by painting it all black inside and outside. Once the black paint dried I used metallic gold, metallic copper, and dark granite to add stipes/splotches on the black paint, then used the dark blue paint to cover/smooth out the paints. I wanted to give it an old, antiqued look.

I found a cheap clock that I wanted to use for the clock face, but the clock face was glued onto the plastic, so I had to break off all the plastic bits surrounding the clock face. Then I cut the plastic with scissors to make it as smooth as possible.

I found an image of a seconds dial online and printed that out. I cut the seconds hand from my clock hands kit to a shorter size. I cut the black marble paper in a circle to place on top of the clock face. The black circle was glued on top of the clock face and then the seconds dial was glued on top of that (under the XII). I used a glue gun to glue the seconds hand onto the seconds dial.

I glued the gold scrapbooking paper inside the wood box. Then I used the glue gun to glue the clock face into the wood box.

Next, I took the Styrofoam circle and cut it in half to have a half circle. The box was 12 x 12, so I got a 10″ diameter circle, so I’d have 2 extra inches at the top. I painted the Styrofoam the same way I painted the box, as well as the 3 wood blocks. At the same time I had a piece of card board that I cut to fit inside the half circle. I glued more gold scrapbooking paper to the cardboard. I took the cork coaster and painted it black The minutes hand from my clock hand set was glued on top of this. Then this was glued on top of the gold cardboard. Then the gold cardboard was glued to the Styrofoam with a glue gun. Now the whole thing was glued together, on top of the clock box, using a glue gun.

To make the Grandfather clock weights, I used toilet paper rolls and glued the gold wrap on top of them. I made four. I also bought an actual pendulum, so I didn’t make one, but as a back up I would have used another cork coaster and the gold wrap, if I had to make one.

I drilled holes in the bottom of the box so the weight and pendulum chains could hang through. I attached the chains, weights and the pendulum to the box. Next I glued the plexiglass on top of the block. I specifically purchased a 12 x 12 size so I wouldn’t have to cut it. Originally I wanted to crack or break it so I’d have the cracks in the glass, but the plexiglass was too strong. Probably best anyway because it probably would have been harder to glue that on if it were broken.

I used a sharpie to draw the cracks in the glass. Then I glued little spiders on the plexiglass. I tried to use a spray rubber to help protect the clock from the elements since it will be outside for a month. Unfortunately, despite the layers of paint and sealers that I had on the Styrofoam, it still started to melt a little when I applied the rubber spray.

I bought some shellac, so I will likely add more waterproofing before hanging up the decorations in October, but for now, the clock is done and is waiting to be hung on the tree.