Calming the mummy itch.:.


As is often the case, other projects asserted themselves before the Grim Sisters were completed, and I suddenly found myself in need of some witchy props for a television shoot.  Two of the three Grim Sisters were only partially skinned, and the third was still just a head on a stick.

Deadlines have a way of focusing the mind.

Out of time and low on gas, I did what anyone else would have done:  I panicked.  With that out of the way, I began rummaging through my impressive collection of "garage stuff" and found a couple of boxes of gauze bandages.  Excelsior!

Mummy wraps

Tea-stained rolls of gauze are steeped in Halloween tradition, having served for decades to calm the mummy itch, that axiomatic infatuation with tombs, dust, and Boris Karloff.  (Cornstarch, applied to affected areas, is also effective against mummy itch.)


The formula hasn't changed in a zillion years.  Unroll bandages and soak in tea (or your stain or choice) for an hour or two, wring them out, and allow to dry.  These can then be applied to anything that needs dressing up.  Wrap around arms, hands, whatever.  It's a quick and dirty (emphasis on dirty) alternative to actually skinning a witch.

Fabric Garnishments, like Mummy Wraps, burlap, and muslin, add dimension to any prop monster.  Calamity and Infamy never did get a complete skin job, and remain clothed in their rags today. Pariah, however, got the short shrift.  She's still a head on a stick, holding up a wall somewhere out in the shop.

Pariah's head