Yes autumn is here and with it the Great Halloween. For those who are a bit like me and love to celebrate this special night, here are some tips. First I must say that I live in UK so I might mention some shops which are not in your country but generally it shouldn’t make much difference.
Before you buy any decoration for Halloween, walk around some shops and have a good look how the stuff they’re selling is made. I’m sure you’ll find out that it can be quite easily made at home and if you have children you can include them in this activity. Good example is tomb stone. All you need is some cardboard (old boxes), paints; PVA glue. If you need an inspiration for shapes, search images in Google. Cut the shape from cardboard, paint black, grey or even white. You can also paint a cross; write names and dates on them. For more dramatic effect paint blood, moss, roses, grass…
If you decide that certain things can’t be made at home and you have to buy them, do some research first. Recently I’ve noticed that people are using Ebay, bidding twice as much on items they can buy in ASDA, Wal-Mart much cheaper.
The best way to prepare your house for Halloween is to use black bin bags. Cut them open and stick them to the walls, fences, even on the floor. They work like a blank canvas; whatever you put on it will already look spooky. I’m sure you’ll agree that spiders look better on the black wall than on your original wallpaper patterns and even if you don’t have a lot of decoration, black colour does the job.
Here is a tip on how to create any Halloween creature (witch, ghost, vampire, tree sprite..). Use party balloons to create heads. Place a bin bag (black, green, orange or white) over the balloon and tie slightly with the string around the neck. Draw the eyes, nose or whole face on the paper and attached them to the balloon, using double sided sticky tape. If you use helium balloons, they float so you can just attached bits and pieces giving your creature the final look. If you use air balloons you need to fastened balloon to something solid (chair, branch, stick, fence…), then create desired body from cardboard or crepe paper. Again look for inspiration on internet. You don’t have to be an artist to create a good witch.
Scene setters. You can usually buy them quite cheap but they might not be what you looking for. I personally like castles, towers, churches. The best way to get what you want is to do it yourself. Draw your scene on A4 sheets, simply as a plan. Make the scene fit to its destination whether it’s a garden, fence, part of room or fireplace. Then use A2 sketch pad (you want something thicker than ordinary printer paper but nothing too heavy) to create sections of your scene. When creating the scene use basic shapes, more like silhouettes, don’t bother too much with small details. Remember it’s going to be dark and the detail work will lose its effect.
Table decoration. Use the Oasis or any other kind of foam as a base. Choose the shape or the container you are going to use. First cover the foam with some cheap material like leaves, moss or simply paint it. If you decide to use leaves or moss fastened them with a piece of wire approximately 1.5 cm long. Bend the wire in half and use it as a pin to keep leaves in place. For a decoration you can place a thin candle in the middle, just simply push it into foam or wire it in. To create a special Halloween features like grave stones, pumpkins, bats etc. I use Fimo. Fimo is oven-hardening polymer clay. You can get them in all sorts of colours. When you create your design, make it a bit thicker so you can push wire or wooden skewer though the middle before you put it into oven. Then place in the oven (see the instruction on the packet). Then place your design with the wire or skewer into your display. Other alternatives for using Fimo (see 10 Halloween cake decoration). Whenever I make a table display I make it 3D, so it looks good from every angle of the table not just the front. Remember: If you use candle in your display and you intend to light it don’t forget to spray whole your display with the fire resistant spray and keep an eye on it.
