‘How to’ Halloween Articles
It's scary. It's terrifying. It's blood-curdling. It's...a week before your big Halloween bash and you don't have a single decoration yet!
Never fear: help is here, and in a hurry. Here's how to haunt your own front yard or indoor party area with these chillingly good graveyard scene ideas.
Terrifying Tombstones
Naturally, the first thing you'll want to grab a hold of is a set of eerie cemetery tombstones. Don't worry if these don't all match; different sizes and textures add to the ...
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Decorating gingerbread houses is fun anytime of the year, but at Halloween it's even better - the more mistakes the better…. er, spookier it is! Here's my way to make a haunted gingerbread house.
We're going to make this one from scratch. The good thing about making a gingerbread house from scratch is that the cookie dough obligingly comes out looking decrepit and well used - just like a broken-down haunted house should look. (Keep the perfect, clean commercial gingerbread house ...
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There’s no way around it: Fog machines are cool. I usually don’t like expensive fancy schmancy stuff to make my Halloweens creepy. But when fog machines came on the scene, and did so inexpensively, I had to get one! I waited until they were about $35, which would have been about ten to twelve years ago. Now you can get one for about $25.
The nice thing about fog machines ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Yard Haunters | 2 Comments »
You can never have enough bodies when haunting a porch, yard, or house! Every time I haunt the house for a kid’s party or even for our adult parties, I like to have ghostly bodies placed around my rooms in chairs or at the piano. But, sadly, real bodies stink after a bit, and fake bodies cost a lot to make. And then there’s the storage issue after Halloween.
What else could I do but come up with a new ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Yard Haunters | 1 Comment »
...… or “May I make my own Fog Juice, Mommy?”
Like a lot of things (like me) fog machines have been around for a while. Originally they were designed to control insect populations by “fogging” an area with oil. It was a simple machine: pump oil into a heated metal chamber where the oil was vaporized, then the pressurized vapor exited out of a small opening. As it hit the cooler air outside, it condensed into tiny droplets; hence fog. Oil ...
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Keeping nature’s gifts on canvas
One morning as I spray painted a piece of furniture black in the side yard, I noticed a cobweb catching the paint over-spay. I had to wait for the paint to dry before I could do anything else to the nightstand, so I pulled up a lawn chair and pondered all the details I could see on the painted web. What a masterpiece! I had never taken time to really look at a web closely, but ...
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Halloween trees are a fairly new trend in decorating for the Halloween holiday. Like all other things specifically crafted for a holiday, or an event, the miniature ornaments made for the various styles of Halloween trees can be quite expensive. Cost aside, the fashioning of your own decorations for your Halloween tree can be a rewarding experience for both you and your family. Crafting ornaments is a small project that can easily fill a chilly afternoon, or ...
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In recent years several holiday companies have started producing "Halloween Trees," complete with lights and decorations. While this may well be simple, rampant commercialism seeking to feed off of our need to consume Halloween products, it is still a great idea :-)
Money, however, inevitable raises its head, and we find ourselves asking, "Is this something I can really afford?" For myself, this tended to elicit a negative response, and a deep sigh, where I had to ...
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Nothing seems to evoke the spirit of Halloween quite like a graveyard in the fall, especially in New England.
The New England fall season is crisp with chilly air in the mornings, and a hard, penetrating light which makes the brightly colored leaves of the trees blaze across the landscape. These blazing trees, slowly losing their leaves to fall’s inevitable march towards winter, often stand guard behind the wrought iron fences and stone walls of the graveyards.
These silent sentries, amongst ...
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Today’s Halloween Haunters have no idea how hard we had it way back when, before special lights made just for Halloween, strobe lights, and fog machines were part of the scene. I remember when I had to travel to Sleepy Hollow uphill both ways on a sway back horse in 3 feet of snow!
No, really, Halloween was always fun in the "good old days" because to create a really scary "set", like a stage, you had to be able to ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Yard Haunters | 7 Comments »
Want to make a Halloween decoration that will make your neighbors double take every time? How ‘bout one that even creeps you out from time to time?... I thought you might say that… Let’s get started on the haunted merry-go-round, with ghosts!
What you’ll need:
Scissors
White garbage bags
Hanger
Black permanent marker
Fishing line
Sowing needle
4 Pop cans
Toilet paper/newspaper
Scotch tape
Rubber bands
Black/White paint (optional)
To begin, cut the top third of the pop cans off. Save the tops. ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Crafts | 11 Comments »
It’s Halloween! Would you like to spice things up? Make things a little scary? Make your neighbors wonder “What is that creepy thing”? With just a quick touch of glowing red LED eyes, your hum-drum Halloween decorations instantly turn into the scary, creepy, evil things that go bump in the night.
The glowing eyes trick is easy to install, and so affordable; it won’t be your pocket book screaming in terror on Halloween!
This trick is very simple, but first you need ...
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How to Build this Spooky Effect For Your Yard Haunt!
It’s Halloween, and your big bright orange pumpkin sack is full of luscious candy. You decide to hit that one last house on the left in hopes of finding something really good. As you walk up to the porch, you feel something is not right; it’s just too quiet here. Then fear takes hold as you start hearing the rustling of leaves nearby. You turn around - Nobody is there!
How can ...
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Sure, anybody can make paper snowflakes - but how about paper cobwebs for your Halloween decor? Ba ha ha, don’t stare too long at your creations, you may find yourself hypnotized and giving out too much trick or treat candy. Or worse yet- the chocolate trick or treat candy!
Here's how to cut out your own Halloween cobwebs:
8-1/2 inch paper (or whatever size you have available)
Safety scissors for kids
Small plastic spiders (from a craft or dollar store)
This project started in ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Crafts | 5 Comments »
A snake den is a great way to set the Halloween mood - it is cute and creepy at the same time so everyone will enjoy it! They are very quick to make; you can make one for everyone in your family, and the whole neighborhood. This is a fun project for the kids to do because the knitting spool is small enough that it can be held easily.
Knitting up Some Snake...
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For younger children in particular, the long wait until October 31 can be relentless. Try a Halloween Advent calendar to increase the anticipation of the Big Day! As the mother of two children, I am a firm believer in the idea that going with the kids' excitement, rather than against it, makes for a happier holiday season. Add Halloween Excitement By Counting It Down! This project is easy to make and fun for the whole family.
The project can be ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Crafts | 1 Comment »
When building your Halloween "set", keep the traditional, but bring in the new: New if you lived in the 1700's that is! A movie that I suspect most of you have seen is the The Blair Witch Project. It is based on a legend that supposedly occurred in the 18th century.
One thing in that movie that generates fear and trembling is the "stick figures" that hang from trees around ...
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How to hag it up!
(And…a little cheating never hurt anyone)
I found this great doll bed at the thrift store for 5 dollars. I knew I could hag this one up as a Halloween decoration!
After painting it an off white color, I sanded the edges to make it appear old:...
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Giving new "life" to tired decor
What a better way to create Halloween décor than through REINCARNATION! (Dr. Frankenstein would be proud!) Take some of your old discarded items and bring them “back to life.”
This old plastic barometer is about to become a Vintage Style Halloween Clock:
After finding your treasure, you must disassemble the piece. I took the back off, and pulled all of the “barometer” coils, and ...
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Why do most haunters haunt? Because we have tons of fun doing it! From building spooky props to putting together creepy Halloween costumes. From scaring the pants off trick-or-treaters to rewarding them with handfuls of bravely won candy. Most Halloween haunters find all aspects of home haunting fun!! Why else would we do it?!
With that in mind, and in an effort to provide our Halloween guests with more fun, the lurking lunatics at Screaming Scarecrow Studios ...
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