Ouija Board Crate

First off, my apologies for getting this post out late. It's just been very crazy with the start of the school year again. So much to do!

This week, work completed on the Ouija Board Crate. This crate will now serve as a permanent home for the Ouija Board - the centerpiece effect of the attic scene. Note that before we'd just use a cardboard box - and get a new one year after year. Now, we have something that is themed a bit better - a "plussing" of a prop, to throw around an Imagineering term.

For a formal definition, we can turn to the Liar's Guide to Disneyland...

"Plussing" something means making it a little bit better. For example, a Mickey Mouse hat plusses a guest's head (24).

With that term defined, let's move onto the construction process of this original prop.

We started by staining the four posts of the box, which are constructed of two pieces of wood nailed together to form an "L" shape.

 After that was completed, we did a color test by staining one of the pieces of compressed wood that is being used for the boards, or sides of the box. The board just soaked up the stain, leaving it a dark purple in color. That would not do, so we decided against staining the boards.

We then created a stencil out of computer paper for the word "attic" - so the audience knows they're looking into an attic scene (Note: only one other box in the attic scene has the word "attic" spray painted onto it that is still around. When the attic scene first debuted in 2007, the original Ouija Board cardboard box had "attic" spray painted on as well, but in 2008 and 2010, we never got around to adding it again).

While my friend Sam was working on the stencil, I started screwing in the boards to the posts. Observe that I purposely made them crooked.

Then the box started coming together. The boards themselves are two feet in length. I bought that compressed wood at Menards for only $1.97 per 8 foot board. Very reasonable!

Eighty screws later, and it's almost complete.

We then used the stencil and some black spray paint to transfer the letters onto the front of the box.

So hopefully you enjoyed this small insight into the creation of another prop. I can't wait to see how this will look with all the show lighting in the scene. It should be excellent!