| HALLOWEEN 2001 |
| Here he is in all his glory... |
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| From a simple kitchen garbage can, into a complex moving robot. Only our crazed genius Dano could think of something like this. The loveable garbage man will be moving throughout rooms talking trash to our guests. |
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| SPIDER WEBS |
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| Spiderman, Spiderman, if he can't do it, no one can. Ahem...sorry...Spiderwebs are the core of all Halloween decorations. If you don't have the spiderwebs, how can you be creepy? Cheapo bags at the party store will only cost you a buck or two...My advice is to go after Halloween when they unload the bags for $.99 a bag. Save them for next year! As you can see a little bit goes a long way. Do you see those white sheets covering the stereo? I got those at a thrift store for $1.50 each. I know I've preached this before, but shredded sheets make for a quick easy covering of furniture and the best place to get them is the thrift store! |
| LIVING ROOM LAB |
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| This is a glass coffee table that I have in the formal living room (where the spider webs are). I took one of my left over bloody sheets and covered the table. I took the cheap plastic skeleton that I painted and ripped the arms off laying them next to him and we have a couple of glass jars with body parts in them. All of this is recycled from the year before. The plastic skeletons would normally cost you any where between $15-$25 at the Halloween or party stores....my suggestions is to hit Big Lots...they sell them for $7.99. Why pay more?? I love Big Lots this time of year. Anyways, I put a flashlight under the table and put the jars on top of them. It gives a nice low light but you can clearly see what it is. I might use a small battery operated florescent light underneath and see how that goes. |
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| Whoa Dano!!! Whatcha doing to that grim reaper?? |
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| Oh! Just putting him in the chair. Here he is finished with the webs. His head will move and greet the guests as they come in the front door. |
| THE SWAMP |
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| Here are some pictures of the back porch swamp as it is so far. This is basically a blend of dorp, cheese cloth and burlap. I used the natural elements in our back yard to create other props. I used yards of cheese cloth and hung it up along the length of the roof and along some of the fence. I cut up the bottom and spray painted it with green and black. It makes a nice whispy element. On the top left, I used some cut up telephone pole stumps and just draped a neon fabric spider web over it...I picked up some oak tree branches and placed a little pile at the bottom. I will put a lantern on top for light. The next two pictures show how I put the Dorp to use. I bought 8 yards from Terror Syndicate and it was shipped within 5 days. Let me tell you, this stuff is tough to cut, so have a good pair of heavy duty scissors on hand for that. I just strung it up along the fence with some nails and stretched it out to make it look worn. I spray painted patches with green and black paint. I hung up a cheapo plastic skeleton and spray painted him green and black also. I got tufts of moss from the backyard and stuck some of those in the dorp also. We had a huge oak tree limb fall from the heavens during a bad storm one night, and much to my surprise, I ended up using the damn thing. Thank goodness my car wasn't in that line of fire. As you can see, I just layed it against the fence and ground and the weird spiky looking plant you see in the corner is the top of 2 pineapple plants in a baking pan (we really need to plant those someday). No, I did not paint the fence...it always looks like that. The last picture on the bottom right is the burlap I hung up. I don't like this as much as the dorp...it looks cheap, but I'm not one to complain about cheap props. My mother, bless her crafty heart, bought me 8 yards of brown burlap that she got at the fabric store. I just strung up the length of it, cut it up a bit and spray painted over it. I tore up a few pothos vines we had in the back yard and just laid them over the fence. I'm hoping the burlap will get a little weather worn before the party to age it. |
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| THE BODY PART B-B-Q |
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| Sorry! We're fresh out of ribs...but we have plenty of arms and legs! My darling genius Andy thought of this one a few days ago, and just today it came to life....well, the idea at least. We have a grill (obviouisly) in the back just dying to be used for Halloween. We took 2 strands of orange hanging lights (the small ones, like christmas lights) and piled them at the bottom of the grill. On top of the lights is a lightweight see thru fabric used under gravel to keep the weeds out. Dano picked up some sticks around the yard and spray painted parts of them black. We put the grill back together and put the body parts on top. Voila! Instant body part bbq. Andy says these pictures do not do this prop justice. This will be a nice little attention getter as people enter the dungeon. |
| THE GUARDIANS |
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| Get your hot glue gun out! I've had these two skull guardians for a couple of years, I just never really put them on the site. I made these 2 and this year, made another 5 for the front yard. These are the cheap plastic skulls that I painted with latex red and brown paint. On the bottom of the skulls is a little round hole. Large enough to fit into a 1/2 inch round stick that I bought at Home Depot for about $1.29 each. The sticks are 3 feet high. I bought a 6 ft piece of flat wood (very light...less than a 1/4 inch thick) and just broke it in half. I hot glued the end of the stick and stuck the skulls on. I then hot glued the molding in a cross shape. The fabric is old black t-shirts that I shredded and draped across the cross..I hot glued that in place. So easy and they can go anywhere! The 5 in the yard are made about the same, but I duct taped the crosses on and will drape tea stained cheese cloth across the cross...it will make them look a little different. |
| PUMPKIN LIGHTS |
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| If you don't feel comfortable around electricity, do no attempt this project. Materials: several plastic pumpkins (found them for $1 each at WalMart) a length of zip cord (also called lamp cord) several lamp sockets (I bought a screw-on type that pinches the electrical wire) a two-prong lamp plug (replacement-type) several 25 watt bulbs (I bought big, round Bath/Vanity bulbs) electrical tape optional - hole punch or hole saw the size of the sockets Construction: Remove the handle from each pumpkin. Drill a hole in the back of each pumpkin big enough to fit the electrical socket. Insert a socket in each pumpkin. Wire each of the sockets in parallel and fasten the lamp plug on one end of the wire. Use the electrical tape to water-proof the exposed sockets. Screw in the bulbs and plug the strand in. Enjoy your new pumpkin lights. These are a good way to light a spooky party with low light levels in many locations cheaply and easily. |
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| COFFIN JUMPER |
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| Here is our magnificent coffin jumper. He was at the front door as the guests entered...he made every single guest jump...it was great. He is made with pvc pipe. I will have a better description on how to build him as soon as Dano and Andy provide that. We are still recooperating ya know... |
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| CREEPY HEAD JUMPER |
| Creepy head on a stick anyone? As you walk up our walkway to the front door, this guy popped his head up behind the "welcome" sign. He was triggered by the same pneumatics that triggered the coffin jumper. More details coming on construction... |
| THE DUNGEON |
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| This was my favorite room when it was complete. I'm not sure where to begin on this one. We converted our garage into the dungeon. When you left the swamp, you entered through a side door that Andy and Dano converted into a hallway. We used the wood panels from the maze a few years ago, and Dano drew bricks on them using chalk. He decorated with dorp and a few bats. To the immediate left, they put up a trellace so you could see where the food is. As get to the end of the hall, you come across 2 dungeon cells. Heidi built the walls of the cells using 1" thick styrofoam and putty. She carved out the stones and smoothed them down...then paint was added. We threw coffin man in one cell and a skeleton in the other. More trellace was used as the doors and voila! Instant jail cells. If you turned to the left, the food was laid out on the backside of the hallway. If you turned to the right, where the actual garage door is facing the road, we set up a little sitting area. Andy put up the chandelier (see Halloween 99) with the flicker bulbs, a coffee table and some chairs. We covered the odds and ends, like the shelves and dryer with wood, heavy plastic black tarp and black table cloths. At the top of each cell was a low blue light that Andy installed and he also installed a sound systems that played random dungeon type sounds...water dripping, bats flying by, torture screams...stuff like that. And it was in surround sound! |
| If you have any questions about details on this dungeon or any other props, please email us at: |
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