That one “WOW” piece of decor can totally make your party, especially at Halloween. In this post, we’re going to learn how to make an iron throne from the Game of Thrones. I promise, it’s far easier to make than you think, and far less dangerous to sit in. Plus, you’re going to be so totally impressed with yourself when you finish making the Iron Throne, you may just have to throw a party to show it off.
This DIY Iron Throne was made for a shoot I did for Oriental Trading as part of their skeleton day event. The dragon skeleton is so much cooler in person. We fairly much love it and have adopted it as a new pet. Our Mother of Dragons (buy the costume here and the wig here) was a huge fan.
How to make a DIY Iron Throne
Along with the skeleton, Oriental Trading sent me a TON of paper swords to construct the throne (which made making it all the easier.) I can’t imagine sitting and cutting out that many swords! If you really don’t want to purchase the swords, you can use this Cricut Design Space Sword file and use some poster board and your Cricut Machine to make your swords with. But premade=way easier!
How to make an Iron Throne from Game of Thrones
Make your own Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. Perfect Halloween Party or GOT party prop!
Materials
- Plastic lawn chair
- 2-3 large sheets of foam core
- Duct tape
- 100+ Paper swords
- Glue sticks
- Pewter spray paint
Tools
- Scissors
- Craft knife
Instructions
Get ready to make a throne! Gather all your ingredients together.
Building the Base for the Iron Throne
The iron throne starts out with a run-of-the-mill plastic chair. It's got enough structure to support someone leaning back on it, the arms and will be steady on its feet for sitting. But to get all the height we need to add the layers and layers of swords, we need to add a bit more framing to the chair.
Since every plastic chair out there is going to be different, I am not going to give you exact measurements. You're going to have to eyeball and cut. The good news is, you are only building the structure here, and it doesn't really matter what this part looks like!
For the throne back, take a sheet of your foam core and hold it up to the back of your chair. If your foam core sheet is big enough, you might be able to make the entire back all in one go--look at my final photo image there and duplicate the shape.
My sheets were a bit smaller, so I eyeballed the height and how far out to the left I wanted my iron throne back to reach. I traced with a pencil about where I needed to cut and then cut the foam core with a craft knife/Xacto knife.
I then used duct tape to strap it to the chair. Several other things were used before I tried Duct Tape, and this was simply the best option. Wrap the foam core around to the back of the chair to attach it nice and firmly. You don't really want the structure part moving. It DOES NOT have to be pretty. Note, I am using some pretty banged up foam core pieces as they are what I had on hand and it made zero difference in the finished product.
You can either trace the other half of the throne back before you strap it on to the chair, or eyeball again. I will warn you, you probably will have some overlap if you do the tracing thing, but it's not the end of the world. It's very hard to guess by sight the exact halfway point.
Tape the other half of the back of the throne to the chair. Again, does not have to be pretty. You'll end up bending the foam core a bit to shape it to the chair, but don't worry about it. It'll be covered with a hundred or more swords when you're done.
My iron throne back needed more height, so I cut an additional piece for the top and used duct tape to put it on.
Next, I put foam core around the arms of the chair. Eyeball the length of the arm for each piece's width. Wrap the foam core from the base of the seat of the chair, to the arm over the arm and partway down the other side to figure the height. When you strap the iron throne arm pieces to the plastic chair, you WILL have to bend the foam core. I actually cut slits in the foam core (not all the way through) to help bend the material.
Cut a piece of foam core to fit the front of the throne betweent the legs of the chair and attach. I also put an additional two triangluar pieces out to the side on my chair, but failed to take a picture. I attached these in such a way they could be bent into the chair to help me out when I had to move the chair around.
On the sides of the chair, You'll also want to cover the spaces between the chair legs with foam core. This is for polish when walking around the chair, etc.
Adding Swords to your Iron Throne
Once your structure is done, you'll be ready to start gluing on your swords. The original iron throne had a very layered look. The top swords pointed straight up, and were to the back. the swords pointing down were hilt down.
Start in the middle of the top of the iron throne chair back placing your swords. They make a fairly even round spray out of the top. If you've made a nicely rounded structural backing, it'll be easy to just follow the curve of the throne back to add your swords. Paper swords attach easily with hot glue.
Here is the first row of swords glued onto the chair. Add another row slightly lower, but still pointing up over this first row.
After the second row of swords goes on, you'll want to add a 2 inch by 12 inch or so piece of foam core across the down pointing swords. Glue it on where you wna the hilts of your swords to start. This will give the chair just a little bit more dimension. Glue rows of swords pointing down onto the back of the throne.
From here, you really just keep layering and layering the swords on until the entire chair is covered. For some parts of the bottom and the sides, I cut the paper swords in half or at angles to get them to look good. Use your judgement/creativity here!
Add more dimension to your DIY Iron Throne
After all the swords are on, you may want to add a little more detail to the swords of the throne so everything doesn't look so flat. I used my glue gun to make some beads on the hilts and pommels.
Spray Paint your Iron Throne
Haul your mass of paper swords and plastic chair outside to a well-ventilated area and spray it with your shiny pewter paint. I linked the can I used in the materials. I also took a can of silver paint to make highlights with in a few places on the throne.
Let it dry thoroughly, then you're ready to have the next monarch sit in residence!