Oogie Boogie (NBC) Lifesize

Each year we choose a Halloween theme and decorate the house accordingly- with predominantly DIY elements. In 2021, the Nightmare Before Christmas was selected and we made this Lifesize Oogie Boogie to stand on our porch which was transformed into his lair.

Inspired by Inspectorj on instructables: https://www.instructables.com/Oogie-Boogie-Halloween-Decoration/

Apologies for any vagueness here; in some cases, we were economically fortunate to salvage materials from trash piles or the like. But I’ll try to link similar items for convenience when possible.

*Disclaimer: this project is not for the timid. We worked on this for over 45 days, I think? Partly because of our schedules, but also because we just lacked the willpower to commit to it for multiple days at a time. It got incredibly discouraging and intimidating at times. So the first thing I’ll mention here that you need is PATIENCE, and a lot of it.

Frame:

• Tomato cage x1
• Metal rod: should make up the ~total height of your Oogie (We used x3 threaded rods about 5ft. Each so we could stagger them and wrap them together to increase the height to 6ft.) https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-8-in-x-72-in-Zinc-Plated-Threaded-Rod-800837/204325653
• Copper wiring (thick for shaping): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cerrowire-50-ft-8-Gauge-Solid-SD-Bare-Copper-Grounding-Wire-050-2000B/205703266
• Thinner wiring for stabilizing/connecting parts (16-18g)
• Chicken wire: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-x-2-ft-x-50-ft-Poultry-Netting-308411EB/205960872
• Noodles: for the arms (we used foam pipe insulation in 1” and 0.5” because it was pre-spliced and more readily available) https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-x-6-ft-Foam-Pipe-Insulation-ORP11812/204760805
• Foam head: ideally with a hole running halfway up into it already

Appearance:

• Plain light colored cloth: we used an old bed sheet but anything big and opaque will do
• Burlap material: didn’t note the exact amount used, but it came in 48” width and we bought at least 8 yards of it.
• Black yarn: the hardier the better (moderately thick single strand would be best)
• Black felt x2 regular size sheets
• *Glow paint x3-4 (optional): we had a black light set-up so we used (a lot of) UV-reactive spray paint all over Oogie to make him glow at night https://www.lowes.com/pd/Krylon-Specialty-Flat-Green-Glow-In-The-Dark-Spray-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-10-oz/1000273147 *Note- this is NOT environmentally friendly and the paint can be pretty tricky to come by.
• Plastic bugs (optional): We bought one of those tubes of insects/bugs for kids and basically used the non-winged ones https://www.michaels.com/safari-ltd-toobs-insects/10174921.html

Tools:

• Wire cutters
• Pliers (round-nose would be a plus)- we severely underestimated how difficult shaping 8g copper wiring would be
• Hot glue gun (with a long cord/extension cord)

Miscellaneous (can’t have too many of ‘em):

• zip ties- the big kind!
• plastic bags
• safety pins
• hot glue
• Blacklights

*Throughout this entire process, keep in mind that you probably want Oogie Boogie to stand- so balance is key*

We started with the tomato cage (upside down) as a base, then fed the metal rod(s) through the center, securing them with the thinner wire. We used each level of the cage as anchor points to ensure the rod(s) remained centered- Oogie’s got some great posture! We also were sure to carefully pinch together the free ends of the tomato cage at the top, again, using the thinner wire.

*This is when and how you’ll create the overall SIZE of Oogie. Think about the width of your burlap (if your measurements go over, you may have extra seams to worry about when you add additional fabric), any doorways you need to get him through, and storage (we definitely were shortsighted on that last one).

Next, you want to start thinking about Oogie’s body as various ovals. If you have any fashion or drawing background, you may have an advantage here- we were not so fortunate. It DID help us to have one key reference photo (also provided) to focus on which has Oogie in a similar pose you plan on making him in. This step was hugely influenced by Inspectorj’s instructions: https://www.instructables.com/Oogie-Boogie-Halloween-Decoration/

This is when you use the 8g copper wiring. Major elements to think about are his belly and chest. We also added a horizontal piece of wire to represent where his arms will be- NOTE, this piece will not actually become the arms. Realize that you need to provide shape for his backside as well to balance out his proportions- otherwise, your Oogie’s backside will be completely flat and he may end up front heavy! We attached all copper wiring with the thinner wire again.

After this step, I was able to start to “see” Oogie Boogie in our creation to give you an idea of when to move on.

Next we created the arm structures (Apologies for the lack of pictures). The arms are semi-movable as they are just a piece of copper wire bound by noodle (we tapered off the noodle at the end to make it smaller). Also, this is where the zip ties came in, as the noodle really started to resist staying on the bent copper wire. The copper wire is bent around the top ring (“shoulders”) and extend out at the horizontal wire, before being positioned at each distal end as desired. Yes, the arms are long here, we weren’t sure just HOW big Oogie would end up so we wanted wiggle room to keep the ratios in check.

We used those copper shapes from the previous step to fill-out the body of Oogie using chicken wire- this way the fabric has something to lay over. First, we literally just wrapped it diagonally over each shoulder and across his body from floor to floor (definitely a two-person job). Then, we started shaping the chicken wire to the rings more closely (again, using thin wire)- this is why we spent so much time getting that shape right! It was a lot of pinching here, and pulling there until when we backed away, it was effectively Oogie Boogie in our living room.

Note- chicken wire can be pretty pokey. Be careful with it. We ended up tucking ours around the bottom loop to avoid any potential danger. Plus, we didn’t want to see any excess just hanging anyway.

My naive self really thought the hard parts were over…

But it came time to dress him. We did this in three separate parts: body, arms, then head/face. For the body, we draped one long piece of burlap over him, realized burlap is see through!!!, and repeated the process with an old white bedsheet underneath first (problem solved).

Be sure to leave enough fabric at the bottom to shape his feet! As you can see, this was our first go at it, which was NOT great. I spent about a week frustrated and trying to rework them (with pins and stuffing with plastic bags) before finally making it look acceptable and moving on.

As you probably know, Oogie Boogie is known for his circumferential seams. Well, our lower body was just too big for that fabric to reach both sides. So we decided that since ours would be against a wall (and the back wouldn’t be seen), to cut the lower back open to allow the sides to reach.

We pinned the fabric under the arms to get an idea of where we may need to cut some off. Then, to create those seams, we folded over the rough edges and hot glued each side (front and back panels of burlap) together to create that softer finish. This hot glue is what actually holds our fabric together- the black yarn is just decorative!! The arms were left open since we were attaching separate pieces there anyway.

You also want to avoid having taught fabric. Oogie is a wrinkly guy, so play around with pinning random areas here and there under it looks just right. You’ll also want some extra fabric to pull at the top to create the iconic seam across the shoulders leading in from the arms.

Next we covered the arms. I used a two-panel design (rough sketch attached) so that both seams were already there for me, I just had to use the same fold-over method again. (Not sure if the measurements are to scale- sorry!)

Again, it was a lot of pinning, taking some steps back for perspective, and readjusting. I ended up cutting a few inches off each arm (noodle and copper wire) now that I knew the true sizes. Once the pins were all in place and I was ready to finalize the arms, I started by gluing the arm pieces to the body as an anchor point. Then, I carefully (hot gluing upside is NOT fun) glued the bottom of the arms together, still maintaining that soft seam look.

I started the top from the shoulder/body and worked by way down to the “hands”. But as I did so, I stuffed plastic bags in to give his arms more shape.

Finally I moved on the the head (aka the bane of my decision to commit to this project).

I apologize for not having any photos of the actual headpiece extension. I attached a quick doodle that explains the concept hopefully well enough. The copper wire piece needs to carefully be stuck into the foam head at the right angle (use your creative judgement) and also mounted. We used a bunch of tape, since you can’t hot glue metal to foam. Then I created the tapered look by strategically wrapping plastic bags around the wire all the way down to the tip. Bonus points if they don’t all slide off and you actually only have to do it once🥲 This head ended up being quite heavy, so bending the wire properly to counter the weight and maintain balance was important. (Also consider additional weight and anchor points if you plan on adding a spider!)

Note the the foam head isn’t actually Oogie’s face- the head sits above his face, in fact. From the inside views you can kind of see where Oogie’s face sits in relation to the foam head. This is probably the most discouraging points in this whole project (but it’s SUPER rewarding and absolutely possible!). I first cut and draped burlap over the entire head piece, making sure it didn’t leave any space between the head and body.

Then, I went to town pinning the crap out of different areas. I also created eye(brow) shapes and a mouth using the copper wire (shoutout again inspectorj) so use as guides and made many adjustments throughout the process. And then wrapped them in some old packaging materials we had lying around to give it more softness and gauge. The biggest epiphany I had was when I finally glued more of the burlap around these facial features to make them more prominent.

After that, I basically gave Oogie Boogie a face lift. Making his overall head/face the right shape/width and creating that soft seam look along the sides all the down tot eh tip of the head piece. I definitely stuffed some more plastic bags in there also as needed (thinking cheeks, and around the foam head to make that less discernible).

If you plan on coloring your Oogie, now would be the best time. We had a blacklight environment so we used appropriate paint and a LOT of it (x3-4 cans). The paint we used was UV-reactive so time in sunlight “charged” the paint to glow next time it was under blacklight. The downsides were that this paint is never eco-friendly (and is sometimes difficult to find) and also ensuring even coverage requires optimal blacklight/UV conditioning.

Then, I created facial details using black felt. I played around with various eye shapes before hot gluing. For the mouth, be sure to account for the pocket of fabric- so the felt mouth piece should fold appropriately and be glued on the roof of the mouth and the floor.

Next I added the iconic black string along the soft seams. This yarn is not at all structural. Also, the original tri-threaded pieces were too chunky in my opinion, so I elected to tease them apart and use each individual thread. I just eyeballed it and threw one on every 2-4 inches or so. Don’t forget to add the stitches to his mouth also!

Feel free to skip a few spaces if you plan on adding some bugs- I took advantage of this at areas where the soft seams didn’t come together nicely!

Now is the time to add the head-piece spider, if you haven’t already, as well as any other bugs crawling out of him.

We also recruited some friends to create his legendary dice to scale for us. They 3D printed, assembled and painted this sick set! You definitely don’t have to go this route, but 10/10 recommend providing your Oogie with his own dice set.

Make sure your Oogie is protected. We figured burlap wasn’t weatherproof so ours lived on our front porch (for literally an entire year). We also gave him some black lights and UV reactive tape to make him feel at home in his lair!