Easy to make. Pound 2 sticks down through the blue jeans. Stuff jeans with newspapers. Attach a styrofoam ball to the top of the 2 sticks. (I stuffed 2 knitted beanie hats, much cheaper). Cover with a sheet and pin on the felt eyes. I have had so many comments about "my spooks".
I'd like ideas for decorating my yard and house for Halloween. My kids are 9, 7, & 3. We've never decorated before and it means a lot to my kids. They're actually grieving over it every holiday. It's just that my husband always talks us out of it as it costs money and time.
My husband had leftover plywood from a home project. He cut 6 "deadstones" (as our daughter named them) and 6 spikes which he nailed on the back. Each was painted grey and then he used stencils and black paint to write funny epitaphs, like RIP Disco with some dates, and other silly phrases. The adults walking the kids got a laugh as they could easily relate and the kids all just thought it was neat! His next plan is to build an old fashioned coffin -- big enough to lie in and be a ghastly corpse. Another time he stuffed old jeans and a plaid shirt with newspaper, set his boots on the ground and placed the "body" on the porch bench.
When I was in grade school, one of our teachers made a marvelous "spook house" for us. We went into the darkened classroom and there were a bunch of scary eyes staring out at us. Turns out, she used glow-in-the-dark paint on black construction paper and painted the eyes herself. She may have had an inexpensive black light on them; it's been many years and I cannot remember this detail.
Like Trisch's husband, mine also made "deadstones" one year for Halloween; only since we didn't have any plywood, he bought that 1 inch thick, rigid styrofoam and used that. He used gray spraypaint and we wrote the "RIP" and other epitaphs with a wide-tip black Sharpie (permanent marker made to write on *anything*).
My husband and I take large, white leaf sized trash bags and use a basket ball or soccer ball for a head. Tie a rope or string at the end of the bags and tie these as ghosts in trees. If you do not have any types of balls to use for the heads, just stuff each ghost with crumpled news papers or more plastic grocery bags. This will be lighter weight and may be easier to hanging in the trees. You can also tie a few magnets to the bottom to weight the bottom down a little. You can use small little bags in orange and make little pumpkins out of them. You can either leave plain or paint faces on them as you wish with either craft paints or permanent markers.
We also take black trash bags and stuff with newspapers. We use the points to make ears foe a cat head , also use orange bags to make into pumpkins. These hold up well if they get wet too. We also added a few large rocks or sand in bottoms to weight these down a little in case of a windy day.
You can also use Styrofoam to make "RIP headstones and use a stick to secure them into the ground. You can paint them a gray color and write in black paint or markers. Ad a few crocked lines for cracks to make them look old. Also use yarn as cob webs or spider webs. We have also used old jeans and old shirts and stuff them with either newspaper or plastic bags. We add old straw hats to make scare crows or add some straw in ends of sleeves and legs to make them look more authentic.
Just use your imagination to make creatures like Frankensteins, bats, witches and all sorts of cute, yet spooky characters. Foam is also a cool thing to use for cutting shapes like shadows of cats and bats and things like this.
They also sell Halloween lights you can hang just like we do at Christmas time. They come in pumpkins and all sorts of Halloween type decorative lights.
There are so many stes on line that have suggestions on how to decorate. www.marthastewart.com is one also try www.hgtv.com as they too have many suggestions too.
Can't wait to see if you post pics of your decorated home once you have it completed! Have fun!
I did ghosts last year and they were simple, easy and fun...everyone loved them. Take Styrofoam balls or you can use crumbled newspaper for the heads. I got cheesecloth at Wal-Mart and I think it was only a couple dollars. I cut ragged edged squares and drape them over the balls. Tie fishing line around the neck and then it can also be used to hang them. They flow in the wind. If you want them stiffer, dip the cheesecloth in a glue water mix that will stiffen when it dries but it doesn't need to be done. If you want, you can paint over the cheesecloth with glow-in-the-dark paint too.
Also, here is a site with inexpensive Halloween projects too...I am also gonna make the milk jug heads.
www.kidsturncentral.com/
Don't forget spiders and webs A few black garbage bags, one large and eight smaller, stuffed with leaves or newspaper.Fill the large bag so it is round and the smaller bags so they are thin and long. Tie off the tops with twist ties or string. Stick on huge paper eyes( I like yellow or red) with black center and two white fangs in the right places one the round bag.Or use dollar store colored electric tape to make eyes and teeth. Get some black yarn and weave a huge spider web to set the spider on. Dab on some sparkly glue so people can see it. Have fun and don't worry about how the web looks, each spider's web is unique, and that goes double(or even triple) for giant Halloween spiders!:]
Hi, well I'm kinda the queen for kid crafts, decorating and with 4 of my own kids. Money was always a issue, creative ways. 1/2 fill white garbage bags with your raked up leaves, tie string to middle, leaving skirt type flare. Tie one of the top corners with a string. This will allow you to hang from branch. Use permanent marker make ghost faces on puffy part. Enjoy, tidying your yard and having ghost faces all over your trees.
When I first started decorating for Halloween I made my deadstones out of cardboard, just make sure that the ribs run up and down otherwise it will curl I painted both sides with leftover house paint and use a magic marker for the epitaph.
I have finally moved to plywood, it's too hard to store Styrofoam. I have made candy corn and eyeballs in the bushes out of Styrofoam. This year I have made an fence out of bones that Is made out of papier-mâché and PVC pipe and The scarecrows made out a grape vines the ghost is made out of a disk of clear plastic which I painted a face on. a piece of wire and real lightweight clear plastic and I used fishing line to hang it.
Hope this will give you some Ideas
I would like to decorate the front of a building for halloween but it's a very plain painted brick building. What could I use to stick decorations to the outside of a brick building? Just temporary stuff for 5-6 hours. I don't want to use screws or nails, I was thinking hot glue for small items that don't weigh much, any suggestions?
check out this site: www.orientaltrading.com
That may give you some great ideas!!!
How about the hooks that you use to hang up Christmas lights outside?? I've seen them but never have tried them.
Go to your local hardware store---ask them if they have any great ways to hang things outside for temporary use.
Good luck and have fun!!!
We have foam Halloween gravestones that have fallen over in the wind. They came with metal stakes, which have busted. My husband poked nails in them, but the wind still knocked them over. Does anyone have any ideas about bracing the gravestones so the foam doesn't break apart? Thanks!
Create an affordable autumn fountain by using any container filled with water a pump and decoration that water can pass through. Adorn with mums, pine cones and place apples inside fountain.
While working in our field, I noticed all these wild watermelons in various sizes growing in our field. With Halloween around the corner, I decided to use spray paint and decorate them to look like pumpkins.
Through the cold nights of fall and winter, luminaria are beautiful lining walkways, garden paths and sitting on porches -- particularly on Halloween.
I am looking for a pattern or suggestion on how to do a pumpkin using plastic bags. Thank you.
I have a fogger that we use for Halloween. The fogger fluid is kind of expensive. I would like to use it this year but don't want to have to buy that expensive store bought stuff. Does anyone happen to know what it is made of? Thanks in advance!
