# Sleepy Hollow Tree of Souls prop



## ERVysther (Jun 18, 2011)

Hello!

As a few folks are aware, we are doing the Headless Horseman for our patio display this year - we start the beast next week, btw - my sweet wife Lisa mentioned she would like to build a hollow tree prop, and, at the base, leave it hollow and fill it w/glow in the dark skulls/head pieces, _a la_ the Tree of Souls (I _think _that's what is was called) in _Sleepy Hollow_...

...any pointers on how to build this? It will be a stationary vertical prop - nothing like what's in the film, just a tree trunk - although that beast in the movie would be nice to try if I had a bigger place and another lifetime at my disposal...

...as ever, many thanks for the hints! :jol:


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

You might start with a sonotube as the base upon which to build. Places like Home Depot should have them. I believe they're cardboard, but they're very strong since they're made to hold poured concrete.

You can papier mache to cover it with a barklike texture, or use Great Stuff - I'm pretty sure someone here has used that as a coating to make a tree stump.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Here's a link to a great looking tree stump (not hollow), that Dubbax3 made.

http://hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=26481&highlight=tree+stump


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## ouizul1 (May 22, 2010)

Cloth, or burlap, dipped in monster mud also makes a good covering for things like this. After placing the cloth, while it's still wet, you can slide it around to form ridges and wrinkles to resemble bark. I've used this technique to form skin wrinkles in grotesques. Burlap is available by the yard at Walmart and it's fairly cheap.

A good example to follow would be those "cat trees" sold at pet stores. Those things have carpet glued to them which as been formed/shaped to resemble bark texture.


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