Halloween is right around the corner, and everyone around the neighborhood is putting up outside decorations. We love doing themed scenes in our yard that are of our favorite movie characters, and for the past few years, it’s been Nightmare Before Christmas. Our whole family loves the movie, and the theme is both festive and kid friendly (not too scary) for Halloween. You can find an amazing supply of Nightmare decorations online and in stores, but we’ve found that the most realistic, animatronic ones are SO expensive! Especially if you want to have “All the Guys” as my daughters would say!
So, we decided to compromise and get the animatronic Jack and supplement him with wind sock Sally who was available for $35. Sally looked terribly flat, and just didn’t look good hanging up next to Jack, so I decided to try and fix her up a bit to make her a little more realistic.
Inspecting a little closer, I realized Sally’s flat legs were actually sewn sleeves that you could stuff! Grabbing some Poly-fil, I stuffed her legs as full as I could get them. I needed to cut holes in the flat legs to do this, which I did high up so that her dress would cover up the cuts. This process took a little while, and I definitely needed to pack the Poly-fil in tightly, but when it was finished, Sally’s legs looked great!
Even with plumped up legs, Sally still wouldn’t sit up on her own, so I still had to do something about that. She need something to stabilize and support her, so I cut a 3/8″ wooden dowel to the length of what Sally’s back would be (you can find these at craft stores like Michaels), with enough extra to go up into her neck. I attached the dowel into the soft, already stuffed part of the wind sock that would be Sally’s Chest. I had to make a small cut into the fabric to insert the dowel in, and then pushed it as far up into Sally’s neck and head as I could.
Sally’s flat legs were already attached to her chest area, so I taped the legs to the wooden dowel, making sure to do this high up enough that her dress would cover it all up. The plastic ziplock bags filled with paper towels you see in the photo above is what we used to fill out her body AND be sure she would be waterproof in rainy, October weather.
Once in place, I secured everything very well with clear packing tape. To make sure it would all stay in place, I added 2 simple stitches with black embroidery floss near what would be Sally’s armpits. I sewed right through the tape and the plastic bags, and then wrapped up the stitches with another layer of tape.
When I was all finished attaching the bags and wooden dowel, I used a little more packing tape to shape the bags into a “feminine” silhouette! You can play around with this and make it to your liking!
Since Sally’s Poly-fil legs can’t support her, we opted to place her on our porch bench. The dowel works great for this, because it stays in the bench slats and prevents Sally from scooting around. I also used black zip ties to secure her legs (they camouflage well with her black stitches!) and arms to the bench. Her arms were already posable wire, so we gave her a garden flower to hold in her hands as a finishing touch!
My whole family was really happy with the way this little project turned out, and I’m extra-happy to have another character in our collection that looks realistic without the steep price tag! This will be our 4th year with Sally as a part of our Halloween display. We love her more every year!
I image this would work with other wind-sock type Halloween (or Christmas!) decor. Share your projects with us! Have you ever altered store bought decorations? We would love to hear from you!
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Hi! I’m Jen. When my husband and I welcomed our first daughter in 2013, I left behind full-time employment in marketing graphic design and event planning to become a stay-at-home-mom. These days, I love planning uniquely-themed parties for my girls and adding colorful, unexpected spaces to my home. I also spend a lot of time crafting and gardening and adding flowers to just about everything! I hope you’ll enjoy following along on some of our projects, and sharing some of yours with us on social media!
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