I made this out of a bird bath & 3 Bucky Skulls.
You can get the skulls at http://anatomical.com/bcategory.asp?c=7. They come grey. I spray painted them with an off white enamel. Then I stained them. To do this you mix equal parts water & black acrylic paint. You brush it on the skull in small spots at a time & then wipe it off with a paper towel. It leaves a "black stain" behind that's darker in the cracks.
I have Tiny Tim skulls on the front of the bird bath. I got them from http://anatomical.com/bcategory.asp?c=7. I cut the back of their heads so I could glue them flat. I used a diamond drill at the dental office I worked at but you could probably use a saw. I used a hot glue gun to attach 5 of them to the front. Then I sprayed the bird bath with gray spray paint. After it was dry I sprayed it with Fleckstone gray paint. Painting it gray first is better because it would take many cans of Fleckstone to cover it but with it gray first it only took about 1/2 a can. The Fleckstone is about $7 a can so it saves $. After that was dry I sprayed the whole thing with the Fleckstone sealing spray. I painted the flat inside part where the skulls would sit gray but not with the stone as it's not recommended to have Fleckstone where water will be sitting.
I wanted the blood to come out of all three skulls. I bought a small pump from Pumps, Misters, Halogen Lights. I put 3 smaller tubes in the big one like this picture & used a hot glue gun to seal around it. So far this has worked very well. I put one tube through the top skulls mouth & the other two through the outside eye of each of the lower skulls. I drilled the hole in the eyes a little bigger to fit the hose through.
There was a small platform in the middle of the bird bath but not wide enough for 2 skulls. I took the lower jaws off to make them sit flatter. I used Ziploc plastic containers cut & painted to extend the platform. You can't see the glue or anything when the fountain is full. Again I used a hot glue gun.
I slightly tilted the right lower skull. As of now I haven't glued them on. When placing the hoses I tired to position them so the water would trickle down not spray. I have the fountain on the lowest setting. The top one is aimed hitting his lower teeth & the side one are aimed so they hit the top of the eye first & then come down. This makes it pour over the skulls more. I hide the pump behind the skulls & use red colored water. When I need to empty it I take the hoses out & am able to pump most of it out with the fountain pump. Then I take the skull off & pour the rest out. The only drawback is I have to reposition the hoses every time. If you don't empty it often that wouldn't matter much or maybe there's a better way I haven't figured out.
Original author: hallowbeanie (Michele Slack).
Original URL: http://www.my-mania.com/halloween/fountain.html
You can get the skulls at http://anatomical.com/bcategory.asp?c=7. They come grey. I spray painted them with an off white enamel. Then I stained them. To do this you mix equal parts water & black acrylic paint. You brush it on the skull in small spots at a time & then wipe it off with a paper towel. It leaves a "black stain" behind that's darker in the cracks.
I have Tiny Tim skulls on the front of the bird bath. I got them from http://anatomical.com/bcategory.asp?c=7. I cut the back of their heads so I could glue them flat. I used a diamond drill at the dental office I worked at but you could probably use a saw. I used a hot glue gun to attach 5 of them to the front. Then I sprayed the bird bath with gray spray paint. After it was dry I sprayed it with Fleckstone gray paint. Painting it gray first is better because it would take many cans of Fleckstone to cover it but with it gray first it only took about 1/2 a can. The Fleckstone is about $7 a can so it saves $. After that was dry I sprayed the whole thing with the Fleckstone sealing spray. I painted the flat inside part where the skulls would sit gray but not with the stone as it's not recommended to have Fleckstone where water will be sitting.
I wanted the blood to come out of all three skulls. I bought a small pump from Pumps, Misters, Halogen Lights. I put 3 smaller tubes in the big one like this picture & used a hot glue gun to seal around it. So far this has worked very well. I put one tube through the top skulls mouth & the other two through the outside eye of each of the lower skulls. I drilled the hole in the eyes a little bigger to fit the hose through.
There was a small platform in the middle of the bird bath but not wide enough for 2 skulls. I took the lower jaws off to make them sit flatter. I used Ziploc plastic containers cut & painted to extend the platform. You can't see the glue or anything when the fountain is full. Again I used a hot glue gun.
I slightly tilted the right lower skull. As of now I haven't glued them on. When placing the hoses I tired to position them so the water would trickle down not spray. I have the fountain on the lowest setting. The top one is aimed hitting his lower teeth & the side one are aimed so they hit the top of the eye first & then come down. This makes it pour over the skulls more. I hide the pump behind the skulls & use red colored water. When I need to empty it I take the hoses out & am able to pump most of it out with the fountain pump. Then I take the skull off & pour the rest out. The only drawback is I have to reposition the hoses every time. If you don't empty it often that wouldn't matter much or maybe there's a better way I haven't figured out.
Original author: hallowbeanie (Michele Slack).
Original URL: http://www.my-mania.com/halloween/fountain.html