These zombie arms can be made from scrap wood or wire coat hangers. They are inexpensive props that can really accent your yard when combined with foam tombstones.

Material List:

This project requires a minimal amount of materials. A pair of wire cutters and pliers, two wire coat hangers for each arm desired, some wal-mart shopping bags (optional), a roll of duct tape, and a roll of masking tape.


Step 1:

Create the form . I tried two method for making these. One was built entirely out of wire clothes hangers, and the other used scraps of wood to form the main underlying structure. Looking back, the all-wire ones were superior because they are lighter and can be bent to form any type of articulation that you need.





Step 2:

Start by disassembling the coat hangers and twisting them into the shape of the hand. The illustration above shows how I did it. No two were exactly alike however, but once you do the first one, you can use it as a pattern to do the rest. I found that making all of the fingers as one piece is better than cutting and trying to put together a bunch of individual fingers. So try and form each one by looping the wire back towards the "palm" before continuing to the next finger.

Now, you need to create the arm. Compared to making the hand, the arm is simple. Merely take a coat hanger and loop it to the length that you desire, and twist it closed.

Now you should attach the hand to the arm with any remaining wire that you have.




Step 3:

After the arms are formed, simply cover it with duct tape . If you want a more formed arm, to look more like a zombie than a skeleton, wrap the wireframe with plastic Wal-mart shopping bags and then apply the tape. This will give the arms a squishy feel and make them thicker.





A view of some of the arms after they have been wrapped.





Step 4:

Paint the arms. I used some cheap spray paint, but found out that it flaked off of the tape. So after some thought, I found a better solution. I simply re-wrapped the arms with masking tape. This gave them an old yellowing look that actually looked better at a distance than the paint (see below).





What do you think? Contact me and let me know by clicking here.