Making the The Man Eating Wreath from "Nightmare Before Christmas"

Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" is one of my favorite movies...

I recently saw a tutorial how to make this...

the Man Eating Wreath. There is another version of the wreath as seen during the Haunted Mansion Ride at Disneyland (Holiday), which has outstretched "arms".

(first two images from diynmbcprops.blogspot.com)

I thought I would make one for fun since it seemed easy enough. Most of the materials I found at Dollar-type stores, plus some were already in my house or obtained for free.  There are some links to tutorials at the end of this post where they use foam core board for the teeth where you'd have to use an Exacto knife to cut it.  Well, I didn't even do that. My version used a styrofoam plate (the kind that is mostly flat and without any lines or ripples on it). I also didn't use wire to fasten the wreaths (yes, two were used) together.

I laid the smaller wreath on top of the bigger wreath and used the branches (which already have wire in them) to attach it together. The red ribbon also had wires, so I used that to attach to the bottom of the wreath.

I broke off two white spoons which I painted yellow with TC's acrylic paint). You could also use spoons that are already yellow and then just color in the eyes using a Sharpie pen. For the teeth, I cut up a styrofoam plate, making sure to vary the size of the teeth. I attached toothpicks to the back of the teeth with tape, thens I stick the toothpicks into the upper and lower parts of the inner circle. The "eyes" were glue gunned at the top. As for the berries, I removed the holly leaves, glue gunned some cut up berry clusters onto the leaves, then glued the leaves with berries on various parts of the wreath.


For the sake of this photo, Bert attached a black backing so that you could see the teeth better. You wouldn't need to do this if you have dark walls. Our walls/door is white so the effect isn't as dramatic.

And that's that. I haven't done a craft like this in years.
More detailed info on the wreath variations (movie versus ride):
NBCWikia.com

Links to other DIY tutorials:
DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Props
Instructables.com

All items could be found at Dollar Type store. Here is what I spent for the items:

Daiso:
Small wreath, $1.50
Bigger wreath, $3.50

Red berries bunch with leaves, $1.50

Dollar Tree:
Red ribbon, $1.00

Plastic Spoons (*for the eyes):
Had them already

Styrofoam plate:
Free - extra plate that TC took from a Christmas party for me

Toothpicks (*as supports for the styrofoam teefs):
Had them already as well

We hung it in our family room by the window. We didn't want to hang it outside in case anyone messed with it.  We'll definitely be reusing this wreath for next year!