The Halloween Train is ‘creeping’ along nicely.  As I did on Car #2, I’m going to skip the basic flatbed construction, but you can catch up with that by taking a look at my post for Car #1, where I step out the ‘how to’ there.

This car is Toxic Green – another classic Halloween color!  I’ve used an acrylic craft paint, and like before, squirted some in a dish with a bit of water. Don’t forget to fill the screw holes.  I always save my paint until the project is completely done, just in case I need a touch up here and there.

I’m starting with another set of Tim Holt’s Distress Pulley Wheels.  These are the Mini version, there’s also the original Pulley Wheels which are about half again larger than these.  You pick!

This is a faux log fire.  It’s about 3½ inches square and that’s one of those little LED Tea Lights lit up inside there.

I first made one of these to go with a Christmas Advent; see post ‘Custom Christmas Advent Calendar – The Final Touches’ on Nov 16, 2017.  In that post I step out how to make these, if you’re interested.

But you might be wondering why I need a fire for my Halloween Car #3.  Essential to every Witch is a bubbling cauldron – hence, the fire.

Yeah, doesn’t look like much yet.  We’ll get back to this.

But if this is the wagon that makes all the spells, then let’s do a little advertising.  Tim’s ‘Clipping’s Stickers – Halloween’ will work perfectly for this.

I just stuck them on all the way around the edges of the flatbed and then used a sponge and Archival Black to give it all a nice patina of age.

This is a section of wire coat hanger that’s been cut and bent.  The top part is the hook for hanging the cauldron and the bottom is a tight flat loop bent into a right angle where I will run a wood screw down through it into, but not through, the wood bed.  Coat hangers are made of tensile steel which means they can be bent (to a certain degree) but still hold their shape – it’s stronger and stiffer than regular craft wire.  I also rubbed some permanent inks on it to give a little ‘flavor’.

Looks good.

This is one of those plastic 2½” (4″ including handle) plastic cauldrons.  I wanted a bit more ‘heavy’ metal look to it so I used a Metallic Acrylic.  I just painted some on, let it set for a half a minute and then wiped off the excess.  Don’t forget to do the handle, too.

It’s looking better all the time – but still not ‘witchy’ enough.

Plastic skeleton bits and pieces added to my faux log fire is the answer.  I cut off pieces, heated them with an open flame to take the sharp edges from cutting with a pair of craft scissors.  It also adds a little burnt look to the bones.  Please, be careful with the flame and hot plastic, though.  Once I found the position I liked for each bone, I used hot glue to make it permanent.

Now THAT’S a witch’s fire!  Note:  I won’t be gluing the faux fire down to the flatbed.  The tea light will need to be changed out from time to time so this piece needs to be left unattached.

I also added  a coating of Distress Collage Crackle to the edges of the flatbed.  When it dried and the crackle was set – I rubbed some Archival Coffee Ink over the area to add a bit more aged effect.  I also added my last color of the wheel spinners – they are a matching toxic green.  These spinners are just a bit smaller than the first two sets.  I thought it appropriate for car #3 since it’s going to be the ‘caboose’ for my little train.

I didn’t like that raw cut wire end on my cauldron hook, though.  So, I had a spare skull left over after cutting up that skeleton for the fire (oh, my gosh – that sounds so gross – he, he) but when you’re doing Witches Work you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty.  Anyways, I took the skull and a dab of E6000 and ‘capped’ the end of the cauldron hook.  I also added some Purple Stickles Glitter Glue to fill in the eye sockets.  It’s actually these little details that I think make all the difference in handcrafted projects such as these.

I wanted to have a ‘bubbling’ cauldron but nothing I could think of had the look I was after.

Enter the World Wide Web.  I Googled “how to make a bubbling cauldron” and found my answer:  Window & Door Sealant.  This is a spray on foam that dries hard and permanent.  You’ll need to read the instructions on whatever brand you might use, but the bottom line – this worked!

Again, the dismembering thing.  Only this time it was a plastic frog.  That’s his body in one spot, a foot here, a hand there and another piece of the skeleton and a skull bead.  All tucked in randomly into the curing foam.  You’ll want to play with this stuff a few times before making your final project.  The foam swells quite a bit at first and then it continues to slowly puff up for another 20-30 minutes.  In the end, the foam doubles in size.  So test your product so you know when to add the goodies.  I used a toothpick to pull some of the foam down over the edges to resemble a boil over.

I found that alcohol ink diluted in a dish with blending solution worked for coloring the foam once it had completely set.

And that was the final touch.  Time to put everything in it’s place and take some pictures.

 

The tea lights have a little switch on the bottom so you can turn them off  when not on display.

When you move the car the cauldron swings – I love that!

Another one of those little details.  This is a metal claw that’s holding an opalescent glass ball.  This is an all-purpose wagon good for potions and divinations.

My fire is perfectly grizzly.

And I think it shows pretty well from every angle.

All three cars hooked up with their arm bone couplers.

Viola.

Well that’s it for the cars, now, saving the best for last – The Engine!  Coming Soon.