How to Make Your Own Halloween Mummy

This Halloween, decorate your home or frighten guests with a life size mummy! Here's how to make one...

To make the basic shape of your mummy, start by crumpling up lots of newspaper. Remember that in the end you're not going to be able to see separate body parts. So you'll need a big shape for the torso, smaller shapes along side for the arms, an oval for the head, and an extension for the legs with the feet turned up at the end. It's not necessary to define each leg since they'll be wrapped together anyway later.

Stabilize the shape of your mummy by using masking tape to hold the newspaper in place. Remember that your mummy should look like a person laying on their back with their arms either at their sides or crossed across the front of their chest.

Once you have your mummy shape held in place firmly with your tape, you'll begin wrapping the bandages onto him. If you have access to free or inexpensive hospital gauze bandages, they're perfect for this craft. Otherwise, you can simply use household toilet paper. If you use toilet paper, be sure you're using the plain white kind. Mummies were never made with little flowers on them.

Starting at one end, wrap the toilet paper or gauze around and around your mummy, front and back until he is completely covered in white. You should not be able to see the newspaper or the masking tape when you're finished. Tuck the end of the toilet paper into one of the circles of wrapping to hide the end and to keep it from unraveling. If your toilet paper breaks while you're wrapping your mummy, just lay a new section of toilet paper over the torn bit and start rolling again covering up the break.

Once your mummy is completely wrapped in toilet paper or gauze you can move him into position. Some good ideas for placing your mummy include laying him in the bathtub, laying him in a coffin, (if you have one available), or hiding him in a closet. If you put him in a closet, make sure it's one the guests will need to open, so that he will be seen. For instance, you might want to put him in the coat closet near the front door so that guests will be startled when they go to put away their coats on the way in.

Happy Halloween!!