Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Hi everyone! Im new to the boards, but love love love that I finally found a place where the Halloween Spirit is Alive and Well! I thought I would share some pics of what I have put up so far. I got mostly everything put out the weekend before last (I have orange lights on the roofs and purple/black lights in the bushes) but did not turn any "light up thing" on until this past weekend. I figured since NONE of my neighbors put anything out, I would try and ease them in!!

Here are my pics ( I hope this works):
Graveyard Picture Link
First Tombstone I Made Picture Link
Scarecrow Display Link
Pumpkin Lantern Post Link
Pumpkin Patch Display Link
Light Up Kitty in Pumpkin Patch Link
Hanging Witch Link
Homemade Pumpkin Planter Display Link
Spider above door Link
Witch on door Link

And although my camera is really crummy and these two didn't turn out so well, here are two different pics of the house lit up at night:
Yard at Night Link
Much Better Pic of Yard at Night LINK

I have a bunch more stuff that I will add Halloween Night. Mostly stuff that I would be upset with if it got stolen. For instance some props for the Graveyard, an animatronic light up raven to sit next to the scarecrow, huge candelabras for the front entry and of course the 10 or so Pumpkins I plan on carving!! I hope everyone enjoys and Thanks for letting me share!! Liz

Hey, Liz, your pix look great! Where did you get that witch on your door? I love it. I was leaning toward getting a purplr/black jingle bell wreath from Big Lots, but this witch is SO much better!

Liz...welcome to the board!!! Awesome pics of outstanding decorating!! (We love to look at pics around here. ) Glad to have you here...Happy Haunting!

Mildred, I'm impressed by the tombstone you made yourself . . . how'd you do it?

Yes your graveyard is impressive, but then again everything you posted looks great. My wife and I are jealous! Gives us something to aspire to. Just an excellent job altogether.

That looks great. I love all the lights at night.

glamourme: "Hey, Liz, your pix look great! Where did you get that witch on your door? I love it."

Hi Glamourme! I love her too and was pretty lucky on how I came across her. About 3 yrs ago I was at one of those Antique Mall/Tearoom places and I saw a guy actually throwing it away. I went over there to see what it was exactly and when I pulled it out and examined it the only thing "broke" was the fact that her hand had come unglued from the broomstick!! I took it right home, put a dab of hot glue on it and wa-la she was good as new and hanging on my door every Halloween!!

thislazylife: "I'm impressed by the tombstone you made yourself . . . how'd you do it?"

Hi there Thislazylife! The tombstones were pretty fun and fairly simple to make! I started with a huge sheet (I think it was 8ft long!) of 1 1/2" thick Pink Foam Insulation Board from Home Depot. I found some tombstone patterns that I liked online and then modified them a bit in Photoshop. When I cut the patterns out on the foamboard, I made sure to cut it out twice. I was advised to use a jigsaw to cut the pattern out of the foam, but since I don't own one I used my handy electric pumpkin carver I bought at Walgreens last year for $4! I then liquid nailed the two pieces together so that I had the desired thickness that I liked (it also made them seem much sturdier)! On the cross tombstone, when I cut the two pieces out, one of them had the circle the other didn't. I found that when I glued the cross to the piece that had the circle it really added a sense of depth without me having to carve anything major down! I then went to town with a dremel. I had never used one before, so I really practiced on a scrap piece of foam. I borrowed the dremel from my brother and was lucky that he was patient enough to sit there and teach me how to use it and to show me which attatchment I needed for what I was trying to achieve! Everything that is darker grey on the cross was dremeled down about a 1/4". Once that was done I sanded the edges down and painted. I used Latex paint which is very important!! If you try spray paint it will eat into the foam. I prefer the latex paint anyway so that I can really layer different colors on and faux finish them! I bought one gallon of oops paint that I had the guy mix to a medium shade of grey. I used that as my base coat (really put this on good...2 layers is best for outdoor protection). Then in small containers I mixed some different shades of glaze (which is equal parts paint and water or until you get the desired consistency). I painted the whole thing a Charcoal color grey and then with a rag started wiping the the glaze off, leaving it really streaky. I then did the same thing with a medium grey glaze, a brown glaze and a light grey glaze! This technique allows for you to build layers of color and really makes them look old and dirty!!

In the end, the foam sheet cost $12, the paint I used was "oops" cans for $3 and the liquid nails cost about $2. I got 3 tombstones out of the foam and have enough for one more left over...if I hadn't doubled the pattern I would have got 8-10 tombstones off of the one sheet of foam. Which makes these VERY inexpensive to make!!

Thank you everyone for your compliments!! And sorry for the long post

Liz

I loved everything.

Where did you get the pumpkin lantern thing?? That was my favorite thing.

I also thought your tombstones were so nice.

You are officially the "Martha Stewart" of Halloween.com forums.

Enjoy your new-found glory!

Fabulous yard!

Those pictures are awesome. And you did a wonderful job on the tombstone!!!!! I love all th touches....lots of stuff but it all looks awesome and not too overwhelming.

Spooky wrote:I loved everything.

Where did you get the pumpkin lantern thing?? That was my favorite thing.

I also thought your tombstones were so nice.

Thank you very much!! The pumpkin lantern thing was made from things in my garage . Over the summer, Lowes was clearancing stuff in their lawn/garden department and I found the four metal posts for 75% off making them $4 each. I thought at the time I would use them to hang plants (which is what they were made for) but never got around to it. The pumpkin face lanterns were actually made by Hallmark and each one holds a tealight. I think Hallmark sold them the year before last, but they did not sell very well in this area and were marked down to $1 a piece after Halloween! When I began setting up my displays, I was looking for something to hang the lanterns off of and remembered the metal hooks I had bought. I put them togethere back-to-back, hung the lanterns and sat a light up pumpkin on top and wa-lah! Instant pumpkin lantern thingy, lol!