Vampire Nesting Coffins- How to Make

This is a Halloween project for Nesting Coffins. They are like Russian Nesting Dolls, only coffin-shaped.
For my theme I picked Famous Movie Vampires.

Materials Needed:
set of 3 paper mache nesting coffins from Michaels
black spray paint
clear spray paint (sealer)
scissors
mod podge
foam paint brush
computer and printer

1. First I decided on the theme of my nesting dolls/coffins.
I decided I wanted to do famous movie vampires.
They would start with the oldest on the outside, and work their way in to the newest.

The first, largest coffin would be Nosferatu, the German silent classic starring Max Schreck.
I also really love the remake of Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski, so I decided I would do "originals and remakes" for each coffin, with the original on the outside of the lid, and the remake on the inside of the lid.
So coffin 1 was Max Schreck and Klaus Kinski.

Coffin 2 had to be Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Probably the best known movie vampire of all time.
On the inside, I chose Christopher Lee who was in so many different Dracula movies.

Coffin 3, the smallest coffin, was a tough choice. I finally settled on the TV series Dark Shadows, which I loved as a child. The original Barnabus Collins, Jonathan Frid, would go on the outside. The inside features Johnny Depp, who stars in the movie remake of Dark Shadows which is coming out next year. (I can't wait!)

2. Next I googled images of the actors and movies I had chosen.
I had already measured the widest point of each of my 3 coffins, so then I resized the images to fit the coffins. You may also need to crop the images.

3. Print the images and trim them to fit the coffins. You will need to trim the corners to fit the coffin shape.

4. Because I used an inkjet printer and plain printer paper, I wanted to seal the pictures. If you don't seal them, the ink will run when you use any water based glue. If you use pictures from a magazine for your project, you can skip the sealing step because the ink and glossy paper is better quality and will not run.
To seal the pictures, lay them out on a sheet of newspaper and lightly mist them with clear spray paint. (matte finish)
When they are dry, flip them over and mist the back as well.

5. While the pictures are drying, lay out another sheet of newspaper and arrange your paper mache coffins.
Spray paint them all black, the boxes and the lids.
When they are dry, flip them over and paint the insides.
All 6 pieces should be painted black, inside and outside.

6. Once all the coffins are dry inside and out, and all the pictures are dry, then you will start gluing the pictures onto the coffins.
I used a foam brush from Michaels to spread a thin layer of mod podge on the coffin lid.
I placed the picture on the glue and smoothed out all bubbles and wrinkles.
Repeat with all the pictures, glue them onto their correct coffin lids (inside and outside).
Let the glue dry.

7. Once the glue is dry, then paint a thin top coat of Mod Podge on top of the pictures. Because you already sealed them with the clear spray paint, the ink should not bleed.
Smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles with a fingertip dipped in water.
Let the glue dry.

Your Vampire Nesting Coffins are now done!
You can do additional decoration on the coffins if you want, or line the insides with velvet.
I had a few leftover pictures which I liked, so I decoupaged them on the bottom inside of the coffins.

Now you can fill the smallest coffin with candy or a small gift like jewelry, and the whole nested set makes a great Halloween gift.