Thrifty Thrills: Part Boo

 

I'm not shy about my general dislike for most mass produced Halloween props.  Too much of what is out there is poor quality and overpriced.   Part of my Halloween mission is to lure people away from these options and into the world of creating your own which I guarantee will wind up both way cheaper and way cooler.  Sometimes I have a clear idea what I want to build when I'm scouring through thrift stores but it's far more likely that I'm going in blind, just looking for cool things that speak to me.

You may remember the metal sconce I picked up at a thrift store for $5 2 years ago seen in my Thrifty Thrills post.  Still looking for large open spaces to figure out how to use the $3 boomerang I also found that day.  Anyone with boomerang throwing knowledge, please reach out.

I knew at the time I'd work this into some sort of skull candle thing but with the move I didn't have a chance to get to it.  Until now.  Super easy and total cost is under $20 (not including the candles.)  I see metal sconces at thrift stores all the time so that shouldn't be too hard to come by.  Home Good or other off-price stores would be another place to look but may not be as inexpensive as a thrift store.

I glued 2 foam skulls from my skull stash (they're always significantly marked down end-of-season) to the spiked candle bases.  I cut the bottom off 2 water bottles for "candle holders" which I had done before for the Gothic Window and glued them to the tops of the skulls.  They help hold the foam back and create the perfect sized cup for the candle to sit in.  

For the Spray Foam I use Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks.  It doesn't expand as big as other formulas and if you can find the Natural Color it'll help down the line when painting.  Trick to this part is a little goes a long way.  You might want to practice on a piece of cardboard to get a feel for how little you have to squeeze and how much comes out.  You can build it up so start small.  I fill the space around the water bottle base first and work my way around, allowing the foam to drip down the sides & filling in gaps.

After the foam dries I added the classic glue gun glue drips as I think this makes the foam look less like a a whipped convection and more like wax.  Anywhere the foam is a little too smooth and perfect I add drips and I extend foam drips with a little glue.  

Once dried, it's time to paint it all an off white color like the candles.  I use DecoArt Patio Paint and cover all the white and glue.  Here's some side by side's of the two skulls, one already painted the other still exposed foam and glue.  You can see the water bottle bases as well.

Ack!  The jar!  Almost forgot about that.  I didn't like the gap left at the back of the skulls so I glued a Witch's Jar from my stash to the sconce.  I love when hoarding pays off. 

When the paint was all dry I thought it looked a little flat so I used some leftover brown wood stain and dabbed it into some holes and cracks as well as dry brushing areas.  It added the depth and aging I was hoping for and again, used something I already had laying around and needed to use up.  Check it out:

• Sconce = $5
• 2x Skulls = $2
• Spray Foam = $2.88
• Paint = $2.29

      TOTAL = $12!!!!!!

18 Days till Halloween...

Property Possession: Choosing a Haunt Theme

Few things captured my childhood imagination more than the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland in Anaheim.  In particular, the beginning of the ride where the boat gently drifts through a bayou, past shacks and dripping Spanish Moss, turning you away from the stark reality of the theme park and into the underworld of piracy.  The visitor absorbs aspects they aren't even fully aware of, details so subtle they can't help but be transported in seconds before taking the plunge, literally, to the playground of rascals, scoundrels, villains and knaves.

I've taken this approach to heart as I've developed Little Pearl Haunt.  After a few years of being The Spider House, I completely changed tracks.  I adore the character Tia Dalma from the Pirates franchise, in particular her incredible shack.  Filled floor to ceiling with jars, bottles, trinkets, boxes, baskets, bones, frayed ropes, cages...the flotsam and jetsam a sorceress might gather in her journeys through the metaphysical.   I'm blessed with a nice sized sitting porch which provides ample area to replicate her shack.  Having a clear focus has also made it far easier to develop new ideas.

Choose a character to inhabit your habitat and stay faithful.  Don't let yourself be tempted by a prop simply because it's so well done or "cool" if it doesn't fit in your story line.  The greater the cohesion the more effective.  Try to stimulate all the senses as well by using incense or Halloween scented candles and playing appropriate sound effects available online.  I've included links to scents from my favorite place, Dark Candles, that I think would add value to each theme as well as sound effects suggestions you can find online (Youtube).

Lean into the style of your house - Victorian think Witch's Lair or Undertaker.  Gothic Revival or anything brick or stone for a Tomb or Dungeon.  A modern home works well for a Kill Room or Slaughter House. No need to build fake walls when you can use your own.

Use the available space to your advantage both in choosing a theme and taking into consideration your budget.  A small front porch lends nicely to a claustrophobic Tomb or Kill Room and neither require much set up.

Here are some themes that can be pulled off with just a few props while also leave room to grow over the years depending on your budget and desire.  As with all of my ideas, look for sales year round at home improvement stores, discount stores like Big Lots as well as thrift & secondhand stores.  Nearly everything I list can be acquired without breaking the bank with some leg work and patience.

Share your haunt's theme and story in the comments below!

17 days tills Halloween...

**Over the next year I'm going to do posts on each theme that will include a laundry list and photos to help set you up on a budget.  Look for my "Hundred Dollar Haunt" series and click on the links below to learn more***

Haunted House - Well, duh.  Stick with vintage and antiqued household items such as old wooden end tables, ornate frames, mirrors, old books, flocked wall paper, worn dining table chairs, velvet or similarly heavy curtains, candelabras, shredded creepy cloth, etc.  Cover everything with a Webcaster Gun for a "hasn't been touched in years" effect.
Candle: Haunted House or Apparition
Sound FX: wind, creaking boards, moans, raven calls

Swamp Shack - A variation on Haunted House and the basis for Little Pearl Haunt.  Antiqued crates, bottles, jars, cages, metal containers, charms, trinkets, bones, feathers, antlers, creepy mobiles, dreamcatchers, cauldrons, bundles of raffia attached to skulls...you never know what  the incantation will call for so best to have a little of everything on-hand.
Candle: Exorcism or Absinthe
Sound FX: Swamp sounds, frogs, crickets, water, light rain

Pirate Ship - Wine barrel planters, pre-weathered crates or age your own, hanging lanterns, rum bottles, storage chests, skulls, candles, furs & velvet, nautical instruments such as compasses, maps, a spyglass, a sextant, or hourglass and trinkets & treasures "acquired" by any means (aka costume jewelry from a thrift shop).  Researching this I found an actual wine barrel on the Habitat for Humanity Instagram for the location near me for a mere $50.  You could use this year round with a top as a backyard bar height table and then roll it out for the most wonderful time of the year.  Toss in some swords and flint stock pistols from a prop shop and, Argh!  Hoist the colors high!
Candle: Clove
Sound FX: Creaking boards of a ship as it rocks, waves, rain, thunder, wind, singing pirates

Tomb or Mausoleum - Choose an Egyptian Pharaoh or that of a Great Emperor of China and prepare a space for the journey through the afterlife.  Planters like this one or this one, planter boxes, urns, vases, pavers in different sizes, sand, mummies, fake bones, offerings, incense and myrrh burners, statues, artwork (hieroglyphs, terra cotta warriors), stylized stools & chairs, shredded cheesecloth mummy wraps. Dried palm fronds can fill a space out with a dynamic visual.  Opt for a looted or full of treasure, recently sealed look.  This is a look that can grow.
Candle: Mage, Graveyard or Crypt Moss
Sound FX: Wind, dripping water, coffin opening

Catacomb - This one takes a bit more of an investment either in time, space, money or all 3 but oh what an impact you could have.  If you have a stone or brick house and are looking to fully embrace a haunt, this could be your match.  Check out Instructables on how to make skulls out of plastic milk jugs and build an underground bone chapel.  I'm just dying to see this flushed out sometime.
Candle: Exorcism
Sound FX: Howling wind, dripping water

Kill Room - Build a Kill Room on your front porch by hanging some clear plastic sheeting and flinging corn syrup dyed red against it for a blood spatter effect.  Wear disposable coveralls and a nitrile apron with some blue nitrile gloves.   If you're game, find a medical tray and lay out some rusty, dirty surgical tools and knives. This one is easy and universally unnerving.
Candle: Dragon's Blood
SOund FX: screaming victims, muffled voices begging for help

Dungeon - Halloween shops sell wall murals that look like stone walls if you're feeling that.  Otherwise, go with chains (real or fake), hooks (real or fake), restraints, metal baskets, hanging metal baskets, tiki torches, pavers, gates (check used building materials places like the Habitat for Humanity Store for these), locks, traps, skulls and bones, etc.  Go heavy on the metal, stone and fire (real or otherwise).  Perfect for a stone or brick home, you're more than halfway done just reading this!
Candle: Cemetery Gates
Sound FX: Dripping water, moans of prisoners, creaking gates, jangling chains

Witch's Liar - A spin on Voodoo Priestess shack.  Line some brooms up next to the door to let visitors know the coven is meeting.  Create an Apothecary with glass and medicine bottles, a mortar & pestle, cauldrons & other brewing vessels.  Hang Phrenology & medical charts, insect specimen boxes.  Old books, mirrors, trinkets, bones, feathers...stock the shelves with all the necessary supplies for potion making.
Candle: Full Moon or Dark Grove
Sound FX: Bubbling potion, cackling witches, clinking jars, incantation chants

Spider Infestation - I gotta tell you, I loved doing this for all those years.  It's actually on the "easier" side once you get your supplies together and can be done inexpensively with some DIY pipe cleaner spiders.  There's loads of store bought options as well and a good mix of sizes and styles makes for an agoraphobe's nightmare.  Instead of fake webs, check out this pretty neat technique on making giant spiderwebs out of beef netting that would can be kept from year to year.
Candle: Arachne's Garden
Sound FX: Scuttling insects

Slaughter House - Okay, not going to post pictures for this one only because I find them pretty intense.  For this it's all about chains and hooks, cleavers, etc., real or Halloween prop.  What you hang is up to you - there's realistic options for all sorts of "meat" available online. 

Candle: Dragon's Blood

Sound FX: Screams, saws, meat hitting the floor

Mad Scientist Laboratory - Beakers, tubes, bubbling colored fluids, smoke, scales, charts.   You can find supplies at the craft store, thrift stores and sometimes schools have sales to clear out excess & old stuff.  Thrift stores also offer up wonderful metal stuff like Turkish coffee makers, also available at kitchen supply places.
Candle: Silver Bullet
Sound FX: Bubbling chemicals, chemical explosions, maniacal laughter

Old West Undertaker - Perfect for a Victorian.  Crates, planks of wood stacked and ready to build the next coffin, a sign listing available services, death notices, rusted tools from a second hand store, wooden crosses made out of stakes antiqued with SOS Pads/Steel Wool, tombstones.  Go next level and build a coffin to advertise your goods.  Bring the scene to life by dressing as the Undertaker either with a stunning (and $$) costume from Historical Emporium or build one out of pieces you already own and a pocket watch & hat.  

Candle: Coffin

Sound FX: hammering, sawing, creaking wood

Cabin in the Woods - If you're a camper you likely will already have a lot of what you need for this.  Think classic horror movie set up - teenagers go to a cabin in the woods for a weekend only to learn they're being stalked by a killer of local legend.  Set out some sleeping bags & camping gear, bloody up some clothes from a thrift store, hang random ominous sharp & deadly objects around like hunting knives and crossbows (for when the heroine looks like she's nearly done for but yet, as she crawls backwards, her had comes upon an object...what it is?  A speargun?!?!  Hazzah!  She is saved!"  If you have one, pull out your wooden rocking chair and a place a lantern on a wooden table.  Lay out a blanket of dried leaves: a forest floor crunching under trick-or-treater's feet.  Dress the part and wear a hockey mask or trench coat.  Come up with your own story, it's YOUR woods these disrespectful kids came to party in.
Candle: Dark Grove and Falling Leaves
Sound FX: Crickets, wind, rain, howls, forest sounds

Sleepy Hallow - Credit to my darling betrothed for this idea.  My West Coast upbringing can limit me despite spending 4 years East Coast in college.  His perspective is vastly beneficial despite his complete befuddlement over my Halloween obsession.  So I bring to you, Sleepy Hallow/Ichabod Crane Haunt.  If you are blessed enough to have a tree lined lane, sidewalk or drive (Sacramento I'm looking at you) - please do this!!  This one is perfect for the audiophile in that you can plant speakers along your visitor's path to develop and tell this story.  Start with the wisp of a swirling wind followed by a hooting call of an owl.  As they draw near, add the distant sound of thundering horse hooves, drawing near.  Lanterns light the way to safety (?!?) as crows alert their dire warnings overhead.  Create your own forrest by attaching branches to porch columns and posts and lay a bed or dried leaves you've been hoarding as the weather changes.  A lone scarecrow with pumpkin head is just enough to elicit distant memories of this classic legend.  Google the legend for more inspiration - it's Civil War timeframe elicits an abundance of opportunities.

Candle: Dark Grove, Falling Leaves or Full Moon, 

Sound FX: wind, galloping lone horse, crows, crickets, night forrest sounds

Burbank people, but at night...plant speakers in the city
trees to start the audio story on the path to your haunt

Bat Cave - Perfect for a stone home, especially one with a smaller front porch, entrance.  As easy as sticking some Command toggle hooks to the ceiling and hanging bats.  If you want more of a cave look, again using Command hooks, create a rounded false ceiling by hanging grey creepy cloth or a grey tarp or drop cloth.  Use strips of burlap to create hanging stalagmites or vines.

Candle: Crypt Moss

Sound FX: Dripping water, flapping bat wings, high pitched bat shrieks

Funhouse - Turn your pillared front porch entrance into the gaping mouth of a creepy clown.  Line the walls in alternating sheets of red & white plastic tablecloth to create a tent.  Funhouse mirror, signs advertising the "freak" show.  Dress as a carnival barker.  Or clown if you want no one anywhere near you.

Candle: Dark Carnival

Sound FX: Carnival music played at unusual speeds, Hurdy-Gurdy, sinister laughter, children's screams, bells & whistles of the midway games

Nefarious by Nature

If you suffer from Trypophobia, turn back now...

The aversion to the sight of irregular patterns or cluster of small holes, as seen in lotus pods, was recently in the news again providing me a nice knock up the head reminder of our wonderfully creepy natural world.  

Mother Earth offers up her unearthly treasures through Twisted twigs, gnarly burls, driftwood, black bamboo, Spanish moss, stone moss, shells, feathers, antler sheds, bones, fossils, raffia, sponge mushrooms, grapewood branches and more.  

Grape vines can be twisted into baskets, cages, or wrapped like vines around shepherd's hooks.  

Did you know you can buy tumbleweeds?  Or even grow your own? If you can't find your own, that is, but what a fun thing to add to a Wild West Mortician haunt.  Dried lavender, flowers, fruit & herbs can quickly stock an Apothecary - just pick & dry throughout the year to build up a supply.  

Dried pomegranates and artichokes are particularly devilish looking and dried quince slices might trigger a trypophobe.  

Palm fronds in an Egyptian tomb would help fill out space and is visually dynamic.  They can be expensive to buy so if you're lucky enough to live in an area with palm trees, keep an eye out for fallen fronds or if you see trimmers working on a tree, offer to take some off their hands.

Gather up dried leaves and spread around to create a forrest floor for a Cabin in the Woods or Priestess Shack.  Trick-or-treaters will delight in hearing the crunch under their feet.

My daughter loves to collect treasures on our hikes and I have found the little bags we gather to be a treasure trove of props for the haunt.  So while you can pick up many items at the craft store, you can also stock your haunt gratis if you keep your eyes peeled on your journeys when out enjoying nature.  This is also a fun excuse to stop at those roadside rock, fossil and souvenir shops that look so intriguing.  Look for fossilized coral, Ammonite, trilobites... whatever catches your eye.

    

This lovely old twisted root has been sitting out front

since I bought my house 15 years ago.  This year I realized it looks like a petrified heart

Sweet magnolia pistil turned ominous spiky bulb

Raffia wrapped Apothecary jars

Healing aloe puts on it's scary face & gets in on
the action

Feathers, White Tail Deer bones, shells and beads make for
hair-raising mobiles (hanging prop!!!)

A couple pieces of driftwood, sea glass, bones
and feathers form a macabre sun catcher/mobile

Spanish moss drifting in the breeze creates a nice swamp effect

Corn stalks speak for themselves

Lotus pods, I swoon

Share your frightening finds in the comments below.

23 days till Halloween...