Halloween Decorating: 4 Ways to Make the Average Extraordinary

Who says Halloween decorations have to stick to tradition? Here are some great ways to make your decorations stand out from the block.

1. Build it Yourself

Why spend all that money in a craft, department, or seasonal store to purchase those tall, life-size creatures when you can easily make your own?

Supplies:
Scrap Wood
Chicken Wire
Manual Staple Gun
Wire Snips
Kraft Paper
Spray Adhesive
Your Choice of Paint
Acrylic Sealer Spray

Start by coming up with a design. Traditional suggestions would include a vampire, mummy, or witch, but why stop there? I'm currently finishing up and eight foot tall Venus fly trap for my yard. Whatever nightmarish creation you can imagine, you can bring to life. When you have a design in mind, go ahead and build up a wood armature. The simplest way to do it is to build a cross beam (one beam ninety degrees to the other) as a base for sturdiness and then build up as tall as you need to. This might wind up looking something like this:

/||\
XXX

With the arrows being the head, the dashes being side supports, and the x's being the base.

Once you have a sturdy base, you can begin to shape the design with chicken wire. Cut out workable pieces of the chicken wire with the wire snips, and staple them to the wood base. Attach additional pieces with staples and by twisting the metal edges together, shaping the wire into the form you want.

Then, you can begin to cover with Kraft paper. Cut out a manageable piece of Kraft paper from the roll and lay flat on a covered work surface. Coat the paper with the spray adhesive, first working left to right, then top to bottom. Wait thirty seconds and then apply to the wire. Repeat until the entire structure is covered.

All that's left is to paint your design and seal it with acrylic spray. The eight foot tall Venus fly trap I mentioned was put together with less than forty dollars in material, and the result was a one of a kind piece that no one else will have on Halloween night.

2. Sculpture is Freaky

Not into building up a wire armature? You can achieve a similar effect for smaller pieces using sheets of insulation foam from the hardware store. This technique can be used for anything from tombstones to hanging birds.

Supplies:
Insulation Foam (any color, but thick enough to take a dowel)
Mask
Goggles
Hand Saw
Dremel/Carving Tools
Sand Paper
Primer
Paint
Acrylic Sealer
Dowels

Start by sketching your decoration onto the insulation foam. Then, using the hand saw (and wearing a face mask and goggles - the material is safe, it's just that it will fly everywhere once you start cutting), carefully carve out the outline of your decoration. Move any scrap to the side, as it can be used later to add more dimension or be the basis of another piece.

If you use a thin piece of insulation foam, you can just use the Dremel or carving tools (I prefer using lino-block cutting tools) to create a design on the front of the piece. Sand down any uneven edges, prime it, paint it, and seal it.

If you use a thicker piece, you can actually create a fully three-dimensional object for your yard. Round out the square edges by cutting in to the piece on an angle from the front and back. Then, use the carving tools to cut in decorative elements on the front, top, sides, and back of the piece. Sand down any uneven edges, prime it, paint it, and seal it.

To display in your yard, insert two short lengths of dowel into the ground. Center your piece in such a way that the rods don't show, and carefully press the foam decoration into the dowels. That will easily support the piece all night long.

3. Lighting is Everything

Even if you just use store bought decorations in the end, lighting effects can be the difference between average and spectacular.

Position flood light bulbs at various points in your yard. Use different colors - they are readily available in yellow, red, blue, and green this time of year - and different angles to cast mixed shadows and lighting effects over your yard. It creates a surreal atmosphere sure to give any guests a fright.

Black lights can also be used pretty inexpensively, even on non-black light painted objects. Instead of purchasing special paint, coat your decorations in strategic locations with laundry detergent. The cleaning chemical reacts to black light and creates an eerie yellow glow at night.

Try making a fake fire by painting an old flower pot or bucket black and inserting a rotating red light when it dries. The rotating light gives off a moving glow that resembles a raging fire in the night.

Strobe lights should be kept to a minimum. When used in just the right way, they look spectacular, but more often then not, it just looks tacky. Leave the strobes for the DJs and stick to static lighting elements.

4. Fog it Up

There are two different applications for a fog machine on Halloween night.

The first is for a surprise design element. Using a hand-controller, place the fog machine in a discrete location and manually operate the device when anyone comes near. The thick cloud of fog will surely be a fright.

The second is for mood. By cooling down the fog, you can create an eerie rolling effect using a timed-controller. Cut two holes on opposite sides of a Styrofoam cooler or storage tub. Attach a length of PVC pipe or a vacuum hose to one hole and the dispenser of your fog machine. Leave the other hole open. On Halloween night, fill the cooler or tub with bags of ice and set the timer to put out a short puff of fog every minute to ninety seconds. The fog cools down immediately in the chilled container and will slowly start to roll across your lawn.

Conclusion

Halloween decorating doesn't have to be typical. You can build your own life-sized props out of wood and wire or insulation foam. By using creative lighting options and fog machines, you can have a truly memorable Halloween experience.