Fright Box Candee Dispenser.

I saw instructables is having a Halloween contest and being as it's my favorite holiday I just had to come up with an entry. My idea was to make a fright box that is sort of like a jack in the box but with a bit of a twist. Once I had the general idea of what route I was going to take with it I began searching for all the items I would need for construction. My design changed a bit during the course of making it but through trial and error I finally got it working properly after a bit of tweaking. During the past few days I've really had to buckle down to get it finished. Come Halloween Candee will be waiting to greet any with a sweet tooth.

Several items were needed for the project and here's the list:

Safety First so always wear safety glasses and hearing protectors. Take your time while cutting anything because getting in a hurry usually equates to messy work and injuries. Always use spray paint outdoors and wear a mask especially when using sanding & cutting wheels.

Old doll (.50 cents vendors mall )

Old candy tin ( $2.00 vendors mall )

Coil Spring ( Free from an old mattress )

Coil Spring for pop out hand mechanism ( came out of $5 spring kit from Lowes )

Small brass hinges for lid and door ( $2.00 walmart )

3 different lengths of small nuts and bolts ( $4.00 Lowes )

Various sizes of craft sticks ( $5 walmart )

Rustoleum spray paint ( $4.00 walmart )

Clear coat spray paint dutch boy ( $3.00 Kmart )

Stickers ( $3.00 dollar tree and walmart )

Various colors of craft paint ( $10 walmart )

Metamucil containers ( Free )

Lady bug halloween skirt ( $1 dollar tree )

Super Glue ( $5 walmart )

2 part Epoxy ( $5 walmart )

Hot glue sticks ( $3 walmart )

Elmers glue ( $3 walmart )

Picture hanging wire ( $1 walmart )

Tools used:

Drill

Dremel

Hot glue gun

Knife

Limb pruner cutters

Small hand saw

Various size drill bits and honing / sanding wheels

I used blue painters tape to mask off any areas of the tin which I wanted to keep the original colors. I made sure to mask the lid rim off good as well since any paint on that area would have made the lid hard to remove.

I used a coil spring over a wooden dowel to provide the pressure on making the hands pop out of the candee door. I used super glue and hot glue to reinforce all the craft sticks framing. I placed wooden dowels inside each arm which ran all the way into the tip of the hands since it needs to be sturdy against the candee door. I filled the arms with hot glue around the wooden dowels and drilled holes in paint stick to space them properly and fastened them into place with super glue.

I placed the hands mechanism inside the box to mark what size the candee door would need to be. I then used my dremel cutting wheel to cut out the opening. I used wide craft sticks and super glued them to the inside of the door for added strength and then bolted in the hinge. I ended up going back and reinforcing around the hinge with craft sticks and drilled holes for the hinges in those and bolted them in place which made the door much more secure from the pressure of the hands pressing against it.

I used my dremel with cutting wheel to cut the circle flap out of the lid. I then bolted a hinge to the lid and circle flap. Later I used 3 standard sized craft sticks to mount inside the lid and drill holes through those for bolts to go through to make the hinge & lid much sturdier because there really is a lot of pressure on this part from the large coil spring.

To make the head attach to the coil spring I used 2 metamucil lids which I hot glued onto each end of the spring. The head end I made a hole in the center of that lid and used an old permanent marker tube to run inside the head and glue it into place. Since a lot of pressure is pushing against the lid from the head this keeps the rubber head from crushing it too far allowing it to pop up out of the lid with much more force.

For the cradle which the coil spring that Candee is mounted on I used a metamucil container. It needed to rest on top of the hand pop out mechanism so I marked the proper depth and cut around the top of the container to make flower pedals. I then cut them off to fit inside the square lid and scratched the inside of the lid and pedals to where the super glue would go for better adhesion. The super glue did not hold very well so I mixed 2 part epoxy and used a stack of books to hold it in place til it had time to harden.

For the lid latch I used a key mechanism with a catch. I used a cone shaped grinding wheel in my drill to drill the hole out to the proper size. I also drilled hole in the plastic cradle and removed any other plastic that prevented the latch from turning. I bent the end of the catch so as it would be in the proper position to go through the eye bolt I mounted in the lid. I had to use my dremel to remove some metal on both the eye bolt and the latch to allow them to align and work properly with the key.

For the candee door on the front the same key latch has to release both the upper lid as well as the candyee door at the same time during the one turn of the key. To achieve this I mounted a U bolt in the door and cut a piece of wood which would slip down and lock the door (which is under pressure from the hands wanting to pushing through) and I used metal picture hanging wire and attached it securely to the wooden release piece by drilling holes and running wire through those and then wrapping it under the screw that holds the latch in place. Upon turning the key the wire simply pulls the piece of wood out of the U bolt while at the same time release the upper lid eye bolt.

I started out painting the hands and head in black and then brushed a layer of elmers glue over them. While glue still wet I brushed a tan color on which gave it a sort of ghoul gray shade and dried that with hairdryer set on high and let it crackle a bit. Then after dry I put a layer of white paint on and brushed elmers glue over it white still wet and used the hairdryer to heat it up to the point where it crackled showing the ghoulish gray layers underneath. Once dry I painted on all the details. Next day I masked them off and took them outside and sprayed a few clear coats over the hands and head since they would be rubbing against the lid and candy door and the clear coats should protect the paint.

Once the paint and clear coating dried I fasted Candee into the cradle. I first used super glue but it did not hold under the force and Candee flew up in the air about 4 feet and simply laughed at the glue so I used 2 large screws with washers to run through the bottom of the cradle and into the metamucil lid base that the coil spring is hot glued onto. This keeps Candee securely attached under the tremendous coil spring pressure when the key is turned.

Some of the final things I did was finish adding all the stickers which included designs, letters, and numbers which all have meaning if put together correctly. I added an antique handle at the back of the box on top as well as a vintage bell over the exposed eye bolt nut on the lid. Take note that turning key for Candee is not a lie but the Candee expected might be confused with the edible type, or Candy I should say.

Meet Candee.

Upon turning the key both the upper lid and bottom front candee door is released at the same time. Anyone expecting candy at the door is for sure going to be in for a fright when Candee's head pops out of the top and hands out the front. Sorry but no edible Candy just Candee's bloody ghoulish hands.

To reset the Fright box I use the handle to remove the top main square lid & tilt it up over the upper key latch and pull it up and set it to the side. Then I reset the front door by simply pushing the hands in while holding the candee door shut and sliding the wood latch pin in place. Reinstall the main lid and push Candee back down into the cradle and turn the key counter clockwise and Candee is ready to surprise the next person expecting a treat with the turn of a key.