So I wasn’t sure how happy I would be with the skeleton after it dried and I planned to decide how to proceed next depending on what it looked like.  It dried better than I had hoped, so I think I am going to stick with this method and not start over.

The process I am using is to mix my latex paint with a bit of elmers glue.  I am then painting the skeleton and letting that fully dry.  That way I’m getting a bit of a base on it.  Then I am going back, repainting sections, putting batting over it, and then using the paint brush to “dab” on the paint over the batting.

This is going to be a long, long process and take many layers and repainting since the plastic does not take the paint well.  But I think in the end it won’t be too bad.  Most people won’t get close enough to notice a lot of detail and it will be dark lighting.  I’m just always picky on the detail.  We have decided it looks like a burn victim so it will end up in the slabatorium most likely.

Shane and Dylan made some further progress on my coffin.  They finished putting together the main box, then then sanded it, and started putting on some of the trim and one of the decorative pieces on the side.  Hopefully the rest of the trim can get done before the end of the week and the lid finished so we can stain it Saturday and then put the lining in Sunday.

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We had to finish the tombstone we were making for the coach of a football team.  Then Shane was going to start my toe pincher coffin because we need it for the mini movie we are making that will be the “save the date” for our guests for the Halloween party.  Once the mini movie is done I’ll post it.

I was going to start changing the skeleton.  What that was going to be like, I wasn’t sure when I started.

And I got Dylan going on painting some columns we’ve had for ages.

First off, the coffin.  We want to make this one on the fancy side.  It will be completely trimmed out, with decorative pieces on the front and sides and we plan to line it as well with batting and some sort of silk.

The first thing he did was use the table saw to notch out the sides so the pieces fit together.

Then they slowly started adding the sides.  This particular coffin is designed to fit me.  We were planning on making one for everyone this year, but the cost is going to put that on hold.

They were short a bit of wood for the side so the plan this week is to get that finished, get it trimmed out and stained so that next weekend we can finish the inside.  This coffin (toe pincher) will be used as an indoor prop in our vampire mansion room.

A rough estimate of the cost would be about $200 ish for materials.

Next, I was working on the skeleton.  This whole thing is an experiment so I just got a plastic skeleton to work on.  I am not ready yet to venture into getting the expensive ones.  The first mistake made was I got the wrong batting, which I didn’t realize until I started working on the prop.  I need cotton batting and we got poly.  It isn’t taking the paint well and on the whole, the plastic skeletons don’t (I stained some last year so I knew this already).  The effect right now is of a burned victim - I only did so much and am letting it dry (takes forever) before trying any more.  If I am still not terribly happy with the outcome, I will go to plan B which is use paper towel strips to make it more mummy like.

One thing I do with these plastic skeletons is cut out pieces of plastic between the ribs, the eyes, the mouth, arms, etc.

It’s always good to have more than one project going on at a time because while something is drying you can switch to something else.  That’s what Dylan and I did with the columns he was repainting and the headstone we were working on.

The columns will be used in the vampire mansion room.  One will have a dead floral arrangement on it.  The other, a bust of a vampire we got at Michael’s.  Dylan painted them a red color and then I went back and “aged” them a bit.  I did this by taking black paint, getting as much off the brush as possible, and doing a dry brush over the columns.  Here is a before and after:

The last thing we did was finish up the headstone that was ordered.  This is not for Halloween.  A football coach had us do one to put their season from last year to rest.  He wanted something very, very basic - no distressing or aging really.  I still did a bit of aging using paint as I couldn’t stand to have it go out the door so plain.

The technique I use to do that is to put a line of black paint at the top, then use a spray bottle filled with water to spray the paint, and a dry paint brush to drag it.  I do this over and over again until I’m happy with the result.  Normally I would do a lot more of this and also add the moss.  They would also have cracks and distress - but he didn’t want any of that, so this is really a very basic headstone.

That pretty much wrapped up our day.  More to come….

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Halloween ‘07 on Flickr

I think there is more there then posted on this website.

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I will do a complete how-to once we have gone through the entire process.  But for now, I’m just blogging about what we did yesterday.

Shane is actually working on a tombstone for someone else right now. The pink foam is found in sheets at Home Depot.  I believe at Lowe’s it’s the blue.  We use the 2″ thick foam.  First the basic shape is cut out with small hand saws.  Then the details begin to be added.  The router is used for cutting out insets.  He’ll also use it for the lettering when he gets to that point.

Dylan used plaster of paris to create some molds that will eventually be glued on to headstones before the painting process.  Once they are glued on and painted over, you can’t even tell that they weren’t “carved” out of the foam.

The molds we got at a hobby store and are ones used to make soaps.  Shane got these a couple of years ago - we have crosses and angels.  Since then we have not been able to find any molds that aren’t cutesy.  We got lucky finding the crosses.

Dylan and I decided to use scraps of the foam to make some small “markers”.  Now the ones shown are upside down to dry after being primed.  This is the beginning of the painting process.  First, primer goes over the foam to seal it and also help cover up that pink.  After the first cuts were made, we “distressed” the foam using saws, wood burner, etc.  These were also cut at an angle at the bottom, so that they will look crooked when put in the graveyard.

I did not get past the priming phase yesterday as they were not drying quickly.  What is still to come is a couple of coats of the main color, then the technique to “age” the stones with paint, then the moss.

On our way home we did stop by Big Lots to see if they had any Halloween decor out.  We are always on the lookout for cheap things that can be modified.  Here is what we came home with -

This skeleton will not been seen as is.  It will be heavily modified.  I have plans to mummify him.  Another thing that can be done and is relatively easy is to stain them.  Last year I did this to a couple.  But I first cut out extra plastic between the ribs, etc.

The pictures will be part of the walk through - they are the kind that change as you walk by.  Yes, the frames are the cheesy plastic, but in the setting they will be in, with dim lighting, it is not worth it to modify that and spend the money.  No one will see them long enough to notice.

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Shane and I recently did this on our way up to the mountains while out for a weekend ride in the Lotus.  There is a wonderful old cemetery not too far from the house and we stopped by to take a look at some of the headstones.  

We are always looking for new ideas in regards to not only shapes and wording but also the little things - cracks and how they form, what they look like when they are weathered.  If you want headstones in your Halloween graveyard to be realistic looking, then I would suggest not buying them at your local retail store.  You really need to either do it yourself, or pay to have custom ones made.  It’s all in the detail.

I loved some of the shapes we saw at this cemetery.  Some of the carvings and intricate work.  These types of things can easily be duplicated when you have the right tools.

Now a recent trip of mine to visit my brother in Wisconsin, took me to a very old cemetery.  There is a noticeable difference in what the climate does to the markers.  Here in Colorado, due to the dry climate, we don’t get all the heavy, wonderful moss.  This is such a great element to add to custom tombstones.  A must really.  And the picture to the left - I love how they are leaning.  This is a very easy thing to duplicate as well.  We have done it to one of ours and I plan to add another like this this year.

Some of the markers were so old and falling apart, that there were rock sitting behind them in order to keep them propped up.  What a great idea.

To have a realistic looking graveyard, you need all these elements.  You don’t want perfect looking headstones all lined up.  You need small, large, cracked, mossed, broken, etc.  Will people notice every small detail on each headstone?  No - especially if your graveyard is large like ours.  People can’t get up close.  But all of them put together is what makes it look the way it does - old, creepy, realistic.

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We’re very fortunate in that we just wrapped up a business whereby we had to store a number of cars and needed a place to “detail” cars. Since we’ve sold most of the assets and are just keeping a few of the “toys”, reads Lotus Elise and Old Jeep, we’re using the rest of the space for our decorating projects.

Having this luxury is awesome! However, we’ve spent the past 5 years or so building our elaborate decorations inside our homes 2 car garage. As Jodi posted several days ago, we’re slowly getting ready. Having any space to build props whether it’s a garage or inside an extra room or even the basement is helpful for any Halloween haunt. Your needs will grow as the size of props and projects grow, ours have. Now, we’re on to bigger and better ideas that will nearly take over our home this years. I’m sure in a few years we’ll need twice this space as we let it get out of control, and we do, get out of control, but in a good way.

First things first, moving all of the tools and stuff from our garage is the first logical step in getting organized this year. Next will be building counters and spaces to do more tombstone work and organizing the tools. The goal is to have it in place in the next few weekends so we can start laying out our October plans and getting started sooner rather than later.

Space to grow and test ideas in secret is awesome!!!

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After poking through the cabinets and doors section, we stumbled upon several shelves of iron work stuff that was still in the wrapping. There was tons of this stuff. It’s a good thing we went in our mid-size SUV or we’d have bought the lot. It was $5 per piece or $20 for 5 pieces. We bought the set of 5 with plans to add an arch to the main entrance to our cemetery and add another smaller archway along the fencing somewhere, like a side entrance. If it goes well, we’ll probably go back for more.

We also found all kinds of other fun stuff. They had a plethora of shutters, doors, windows and other such building stuff for $20 bucks or less. Plus, there’s a lot of old beams, wood, cabinets, roofing, tiles, light fixtures and all kinds of great finds for making an old haunted house.

Check your local city, county or state for recycling centers near you. You may be surprised to discover a building materials recyclers or some other great recycle center that has all kinds of great things for haunting your yard. If you locate something, share by posting in our comments section.

These iron pieces are a great find!

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The other great thing is what we work on will be kept secret - the neighborhood kids won’t be able to ask what we are doing this year!

We have decided to do our first walk through.  Part of it will be going through our house and out into the garage.   We plan to have friends help us keep the number of people coming through under control and we plan on building a couple of fake walls to keep the rest of the house from being visible.  As we start constructing those we’ll take pictures and post the progress.

So I’m eager to get going.  One of the things on our to-do list, besides adding some new tombstones, will be to construct a very real looking coffin, or as we like to call them in the Halloween world - toe pincher.

Stay tuned as we will start posting tutorials as we get started!

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This year, instead of setting up in the bathroom down in the basement, we will be setting up in our garage so that trick-or-treaters will be able to view it.  The past two years we have done it, it has been one of my favorite things we do, but has only been “enjoyed” by our Halloween party guests.  This year that will change.

I am a firm believer that gore is not needed to create a scare.  Not that well placed body parts and such aren’t effective - we have done it before and will most likely do it again this year in some capacity - but the element of the “unknown” can be just as creepy.  We also get a lot of very small children and so we are careful about what we do.

I think we are planning our first walk-through this year, and the voodoo room will be part of it.  The opportunities that can open up to us by moving it out of the bathroom and into the garage are endless.  For now, I’ll describe how we set up in the bathroom.  As the months progress and we start planning out the garage, I’ll add to this.

One thing we did was put a pentagram on the floor.  This was something that freaked people out a bit.  Dylan took great pains in trying to get it right - his advanced math skills came in handy!  I would really like to add more detail this year.

I also did some research regarding symbols.  I printed them out, tore the edges of the paper up and soaked the paper in coffee.  This gave them an older look.  We also drew symbols on mirrors.  I created a spell book - with some authentic spells and I even included the ingredients on the table, so that if anyone got adventurous enough….

The jars were quite a find - they were given to me.  I had made a request on freecycle and someone responded.

Of course you need bones and skulls lying about.  Lots and lots of candles too.  Don’t forget the shrunken heads.  Year one I made them out of apples - this past year I bought them.

This last year we also dressed up our animated butler and turned him into a bit of a voodoo witch.  This next year I will have a live person doing the honors.  I have a particular friend in mind!  The butler will have other responsibilities in another part of the walk-through.

Last but not least, the one element that creates the whole mood is the music.  I was lucky enough to find some that is actual voodoo drums playing.  The music is a must.  For me it was a good sign when some guests would not step over the threshold of the room.  Hopefully this year we can bring it up to the next level.

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