How to Turn a Christmas Tree into a Ghost

For those who can't find a Douglas Fir kit, Collections Etc appears to have a haunted tree kit that might do. I've never seen one up close, so I have no idea how its mechanism works. You're pretty much on your own with this one.

Before we get started, let me state the obvious:

The author makes no warranties, expressed or implied, including those of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the author have any liability for lost profits or incidental or consequential damages.

In addition, if you follow the instructions below, you've very probably voided any warranties Gemmy might have for their talking tree kit.

In short, if you mess up, it's your problem.

Step 1: Unpacking

This is a Douglas Fir Talking Tree Kit from Gemmy Industries, item #13006.

Unpack the kit from its shipping box.

Strip the needles off the face (1). You can set aside the power supply (3) and the control unit (2) until later.

You'll need to cut some wire ties to get all of the needles off. Be careful not to cut any wires from the control box.

Step 2: Disassembly

Once you've stripped the face down to its frame (1), remove the eyeballs (3) and eye lids (2). The eye lids are attached to a small metal shaft that runs through a gearbox. Be careful not to let the shaft slip out of the gearbox.

Paint the eye lids white and fill in the white spots on the eyeballs with a black marker. Set them aside to dry.

The motion and sound sensors (4) can be removed, if you wish.

You might also want to replace the green lamps in the eyes with clear ones or leave them out altogether.

Step 3: Building the Face

Strap the frame of the face to a length of 1.5" PVC pipe (2). I used 5' of pipe for this one.

Tie down the lower jaw (3) to keep it out of the way.

I built up the face (1) using a polyurethane foam called Great Stuff. There are other things you could use instead. All you really need is something that is fairly lightweight and can be formed and sculpted.

Avoid filling in the areas around the eye sockets (4) and speaker. There's a small spring on the gearbox for the jaw that keeps the mouth closed. You might need to adjust this later - make sure you don't cover it up.

If you do use polyurethane foam don't get it on your hands - it's a real pain to get off. Don't worry about using too much; you can cut off the excess after it dries. Let the foam dry for several hours, preferably overnight.

Step 4: Filling Out the Head

Cut off any excess foam, shaping the face to suit your taste.

The back of the head (4) needs to be filled out. I used a plastic grocery bag filled with more plastic bags, hot glued to the back of the face.

Put the eyeballs and eyelids (3) back on, again being careful not to push the metal shaft out of the gearbox.

Cover the face by gluing pieces of white cloth (I used some cheap bed sheets) onto the face. Use cotton balls to fill out the cheeks.

Hang a short piece of white cloth (1) from the lower jaw to form a chin. Don't use too much, or the mouth won't close. Use some black cloth to line the inside of the mouth. There's a small spring on the gearbox for the jaw that keeps the mouth closed. Depending on the weight of the cloth you used around the mouth you may need to adjust the tension. The end of the spring fits into one of five holes on the side of the gearbox. Moving the spring to a different hole will increase or decrease the tension.

Step 5: Finishing the Body

Drape a large sheet (or two small sheets) (1) over the head. Cut out a hole for the face, fold the edges under and glue it to the outer edge of the face. Don't glue the bottom of the hole to the cloth under the lower jaw. Doing so will restrict the movement of the mouth.

The arms (2) are made from wire hangers, strapped to the PVC pipe.

The normal state of the ghost is with its eyes and mouth closed. This picture was taken while playing a tape in the control box.

Step 6: Disabling the Christmas Greeting (Optional)

If you've made it this far and you're feeling brave, open up the control box (remove the 4 corner screws) and remove a capacitor labelled C4 (1). This will prevent the ghost from singing Christmas carols from its sound chip whenever it's turned on. You don't really need to do this since playing a tape will override the sound from the sound chip.