Halloween Decorating & Props

It's all gone. Not a prop to be seen on the main floor.

I'm left feeling torn in three directions. First, I feel a bit sad that it's over. Conversely, I'm very happy to have my house back to normal (everything seems so spacious!). And finally, I'm starting to ponder what the theme for next year will be.

In the meantime, I invite you to take a look at images from this year's theme in the Art Ghoullery.

The children's restaur-haunt was a nice change since it allowed me to have fancier items in the front room (gift shop), and a real party atmosphere in the dining area. It also was designed in a way that it didn't interfere much with day to day life, so I could set up most of it early on.

I hope all of you had a great Halloween. I still have a couple of party ideas to post from this year. After that, it's back to enjoying gems found online and in my city.

So farewell for another year to my seasonal visitors; come back in September to see what new ideas I've come up with.

As for the rest of you, I'll be updating the blog as usual. Stick around, my lovelies, as we start the countdown to 2009.

This year in the party room I used an idea from another haunter and created floating candles to go along with the other decorations hanging from the ceiling.

It's a quick, inexpensive project using battery operated candlesticks, fishing line, hot glue and tacks. Anyone can make this prop. Check out the how-to in my monster workshop.

"Shoot'em in the head and they'll stay dead". That is the basic premise for the game I created this week.

This game uses balancing skill. You have one 'bullet' to kill the zombie. As most of us know, a zombie only dies if you shoot him in the head. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the bullet (a tiny ball or marble) by tilting the picture box of the zombie back and forth, rolling the ball into the head shot hole without accidentally 'shooting' the zombie in other body parts or missing him completely (making the ball fall through other holes). It's super easy to make and you could change the image of the zombie to match your theme.

If you're interested in seeing how it's done, take a look in my Horrific How-To Monster Workshop, and peek in on other Step-By-Step Prop Projects while you are there!

I have 33 hours left to create before my party starts. Wish me luck!

Use this idea to serve your guests some authentic finger foods this Halloween.

Check your local dollar store - they often sell popcorn containers in their party section. If you can't find them there, head to the local party supply store.

Fill your containers with snacks and a few extra bits. Be sure to use food colouring for the blood effect, and you might want to give the body parts a rinse before placing them in the containers.

I have four days to finish getting ready for my party this year (hence the sporadic blog posts lately). Every free moment is being dedicated to decorating.

I just finished carving this craft pumpkin or Funkin. I've never bought one before because a large one will run you close to $20 at the craft store. I found this one in a second hand store for $1.50.

Carving was a little tougher than I thought it would be. If you try to carve one, be sure to use a sharp knife and please be careful. They are great because you can reuse them, they won't go mouldy, and you can put them anywhere.

Ok. That's all the time I have. I must get back to decorating. Speaking of which, if you're interested in seeing how the house is coming along, take a peek at Halloween 2008 in the Art Ghoullery. I'll be updating the album as I get each room finished. Right now, you'll find images of the kitchen.

Today I've been playing with the stove I snatched off the street. I need to finish the gift shop area, the party room and the kitchen this weekend so the rest of the week can be focused on the game room.

I thought I would share a quick glimpse of the oven with you. To create the illusion of fire, I have a simple LED rope light in the bottom of the oven. I put a metal cooling rack on top of that (even though the lights are LEDs, I still would rather not have the other material touching it), and piled wood and bones on top of that. Stay tuned for more!

I was enjoying a coffee this morning on my porch when I looked across the street and spotted this stove staring back at me.

Kitchen prop, the Halloween voice quickly whispered.

Everyone passing by, on foot or by car, was turning to look at the stove. I knew it wouldn't be there for long, so I quickly got dressed and went for a closer look.

My neighbour, who has lived in the house since the 60's, said the stove is left over from the previous owner who must have purchased it somewhere closer to 1940. It's been in their basement ever since and they decided it was time to finally get rid of it.

With the help of Yetch, the two of us carried it back to our property and into the back yard to be cleaned. First, I attacked it with the air compressor, just to knock out as much of the dust and grime as I could before taking the pressure washer to it.

Shhhhh. Mr. Flopsy's sleeping. It appears the children were just too much for him at the last birthday party booked at Clive E. Cleaver's (everyone's favourite restaur-haunt).

For this year's theme, I thought it would be creepy to juxtapose a cute pink bunny mascot costume with a crusty corpse head. The result: Mr. Flopsy. He'll be sitting in the corner of the birthday room for the party (right underneath the Birthday Poster I made).

He's a pretty simple prop. His body is stuffed coveralls with a pink sheet as the costume. His head is wire, styrofoam and cardboard. His skull is paper mache and paperclay.

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

With the help of some wood glue, clamps, hockey tape, paint, and loads of patience, I was able to reconstruct the broken tree I got from the company which shall not be named (I think the Oriental Trading company is officially banished from my Halloween kingdom at this point).

As you can see, I've started decorating it with large spiders, skeletons, a few lights and garland. The reason for the post, however, is not to parade around photos of my Frankenstein tree, brought back to life. It's to tell you about the quick and simple Halloween Ornament How-To now available in my monster workshop.

All you really need is some clay (I used cheap Crayola paperclay), some cookie cutters, some ribbon and some paint to make yourself Halloween shapes for trees, wreaths, doorways or windows. This is a good one to do with the kids.

Below are more images of the tree so far. Enjoy!

Happy October first! Today signifies two things: one, the official start of Autumn and the holiday season (for me); and two, a reality check on how swamped I am with projects.

I'm a little behind schedule. It has given me a touch of anxiety. Luckily, I've finished the most challenging (or perhaps it's more accurate to say detail-intensive) props I've ever built.

I've been fixated on this little beauty that has taken me a month to build, and it's called "Edmond's Abandoned Carousel". I don't have time to go too much into detail this morning, but luckily everything you want to know about it should be on the other end of the above link (it's also listed in the project updates box to the right).

That link leads you to the backstory behind the prop, an image gallery, a how-to, a video and a slideshow.

Enjoy! And remember, if you want one for Halloween, I suggest you start today.