Halloween is not just about wearing a scary costume. You will also have to decorate your house and instead of buying these from the store, you can make some of these on your own. Here are a few of them.
1. You might think that ketchup is the only thing around to make fake blood but you are wrong. You can also make some using a cup of corn syrup, a tablespoon of water, 2 tablespoons of red food coloring and tablespoon of yellow food coloring. Once you mix this all together, you will realize that it looks more realistic than ketchup.
2. If you want to make people think that there wild animals in the bushes, you will need a string of Christmas lights and some 35mm film canisters. With the canisters facing you, drill two holes on each one so you can create the eyes. Now put the string of Christmas lights so that the light will come out of each hole. To make it stay in place, put a piece of tape over it.
Should you be using white lights, cut a small piece of red cellophane wrap and put this over the lights to create the impression that there are wolves behind the bushes.
3. In order to create tombstones, you will need some Styrofoam, a can or two of grey sprain paint and a marker. Cut the Styrofoam to the desired size and height, spray it over using the spray paint and then write down the name of the person on the gravestone. When you are finished, plant these on your porch.
4. To create some home made bats, you will again need some foam. Another option will be to use construction paper. When you have the materials, cut them out in the shape of bat. Paint these black and then stick this to you ceiling or plaster this on your window.
5. If you have a chandelier inside your home, go to the forest and see if you can pick up a few dead branches. When you bring them home, try to put these around your chandelier.
6. You can also create some Halloween d?cor using some old glass jars. Put in some plastic insects and body parts and then mix this up with food coloring and water. To make it look more authentic, put in ragged gauze or a waxed string then put this on the dining table.
7. Spiking the punch bowl is probably something you did back in college but for Halloween, people will surely laugh when they see a hand inside. For this, you will need a plastic glove and some ice. Put the ice inside the glove then close it so the ice will not go out and the glove will be able to float in the bowl.
8. Halloween is not the same without a pumpkin. You can’t make this so you have to buy one from the store. You can take out the contents inside then put a candle or just buy the already carved one and place this in front of your house.
There are other Halloween decorating ideas you can do inside and outside your home. All you need to do is browse for a few ideas online and then follow the instructions.
Hanging fake spider webs and creating your own lanterns is one way to decorate your house during Halloween. If you want to make something bigger or more life like, why not add a mummy?
To make one, you don’t have to buy a mannequin or an inflatable. You will need though a lot of newspaper since this will help make up the entire body.
When all the parts are ready, hold everything together using some tape then begin wrapping the mummy using bandages. The best ones to use are those used in the hospital. Since this is too expensive, you will have to substitute this with toilet paper instead. It is best to use the plain kind since people will probably laugh if they noticed that it has a flowery design.
Now that your mummy is ready, put this where there is a lot of traffic like beside the front door to your house or in the dining room.
If you want to scare people, put this in places where they don’t expect like the bathtub or the closet. If people ask where the toilet is, just give them the directions. The same goes if people come in and want to hang their coat then just wait until you hear a loud scream.
Another way of making a mummy will require adult size clothes for a large mummy and child size clothes for a small one. When you have it, lay these on the floor and start stuffing it using newspaper. If you notice, the end result will make your mummy look like a scarecrow.
For the hands of the mummy, get a pair of gloves then attach this to the arm then wrap this up using toilet paper or gauze. If you can spare an old white bed sheet which you can cut into strips, even better.
As for the head, try inflating a balloon or a gallon sized milk jug then put this near the collar of the shirt. Continue wrapping until you are also able to cover the mummy’s face. If you want to put some eyes, use black construction paper then glue this on the face.
While most mummies lie still, you can make your mummy different by letting it sit upright on a chair. One suggestion will be put the chair beside the table where the candies are.
Your life sized mummy will look great wherever you decide to put it. If the tissue, gauze or strips should come off just patch it up as fast as you can.
Although most mummies are color white, you can give it an aged appearance by using some spray paint. The two ideal colors to use for this are translucent beige and brown which you can easily buy from the craft store.
When Halloween is all over, take one last look at the mummy and then take it apart. Some of the stuff you use can be recycled for next year while the rest has to be thrown in the trash.
Now that you know how to make a life sized mummy, you can also use the toilet paper and gauze to create your own Halloween costume. If the two are identical, some people will think that they are talking to you when actually they are talking to a dummy.
The perfect and scariest Halloween costume would not be enough without the mask. Since the face is first thing that people gaze on to when he or she meets somebody, a Halloween mask worn during a party would definitely determine how scary can you get.
Today, there are so many Halloween masks being sold in various bookshops and specialty stores out there. You can choose from your favorite characters from horror, thriller, or sci-fi movies. You can even find masks which as truly Halloween inspired such as ghosts, ghouls, and monsters.
In most specialty stores, the most popular Halloween masks include gaping wraith mask, glow in dark hockey mask, meateater mask, Batman the dark knight Joker mask, deep sea mask, devil’s rejects Captain Spaulding mask, whispers hooded mask, Harry Potter dementor mask, elegant devil mask, leatherface deluxe mask, Batman the dark knight grumpy clown mask, that’s not funny clown mask, got your goat mask, red skull mask beanie, white skull mask beanie, skull mask blue beanie and so much more. If you are into departed celebrities, you can even find some which are created in their memory.
But, if you are the type who gives so much emphasis on creativity, uniqueness, and resourcefulness, then you should try making your own mask. The following are just some of your options in making your very own Halloween mask:
1. Improvised latex Halloween masks. Many people would agree that latex or hard plastic masks could be quite uncomfortable once worn. And why not? These are made from synthetic plastic materials and can even be harmful when not used properly. So if are not into wearing latex masks sold in specialty shops, you can create your very own latex inspired mask.
Here, you’ll be needing poster board or light weight cardboard, elastic or tongue depressor, and various embellishments to make the mask stand out. The instructions are quite simple, you need to cut the board with the shape of your face, cut it out, punch holes in each side of the mask and decorate it using various embellishments such as poster paints, feathers, glitter, and everything you wish to put in. The good thing about this is you can make your mask as scary and as ghoulish as you want it to be.
2. Simple paper and cloth masks. This is quite popular and easy to do because all you will be needing is a used cloth which can come from a used pillowcase or shirts, permanent markers, a pair of scissors, and lots of duck tape. Doing a paper and face mask is easy because all you have to do is lay the cloth flat and cut a hole in the center of the cloth. Afterwards, you need to take a piece of paper and draw the mask that you like. Then, turn the cloth inside out and lay the mask face down.
Using the duct tape, tape the sides of the mask down to the cloth and cut the eye holes. Let the duct tape grip the cloth and paper well then you can now decorate your Halloween mask using markers and other crafts and embellishments that you want to include.
3. Your very own printed mask. If you are not the type who is into work stuff such as cutting, pasting, and drawing, you can still make your very own Halloween mask through the use of computer. Today, there are so many sites, which offer Halloween mask patterns, which are ready for printing.
You can choose from a wide array of styles and characters depending on what or who would you want to portray. If you are knowledgeable on various computer programs and software such as Photoshop, you can design your very own mask and print it out.
This might not be a great practice especially since children scare easily but still there are quite a number of relevant stories which you can tell during a storytelling session in a Halloween party or event. Even if it’s not Halloween, you will always have a request from your listeners to tell a scary story. So people have more excuse to demand a scary story during this day of the year when spirits and monsters are supposed to be free to roam the surface world.
Aside from scary stories, you can also narrate mystery type of stories. Having a storytelling session in your Halloween party program will keep the children quiet and at bay. This is also a good opportunity to prepare other things for the party.
What stories to tell? You can search the internet for various short scary stories that have both the Halloween scare factor and at the same time children will learn something productive and inspiring at the end of the story.
You can even draw from personal experiences or stories. It’s often “cool” hearing a story from someone who has experienced it first had or was really there. This gives the story a personal touch and the kids just love the idea of stories happening for real.
Remember not to overdo it though. These are children we’re talking about and if you scare them witless, they will certainly have nightmares and you’ll have parents breathing down your neck the next day. Now that would be a real scary situation for you as organizer or storyteller.
If you lack some modern shorts and have not time to prepare your own stories, you can always turn to the classics. There are several classic ghost stories that children nowadays have yet to hear.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of them. The headless horseman of Washington Irving is sure make some children gasp. You can tell the story of the Flying Dutchman, a mysterious ship that is said to be a doom ship that brings bad things to other ships that crosses their paths. Dr. Frankenstein’s monster is also always popular.
Another classic is A Ghost Story by Mark Twain which has several adaptations that you could read for the kid‘s enjoyment. Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows is said to be the best ghost story in history. You might also find some suitable adaptation for children somewhere in your bookstore or on the internet. Another work of Blackwood is The Empty House which is also pretty good.
Now, I have to remind you at this point that you will be reading these stories to children. You might want to kind versions that would be easier for children to grasp and understand. If you’re Halloween party is for adults, which I also think putting a storytelling session is a great idea, you can be as eloquent as you want. But in the meantime, simple and short adaptations would be better for children’s party.
If for some reason you can’t get any storytellers for your party, other options would be buying an audio or video CD of various ghost stories. There are several of these in the market and you can easily buy one off the rack of your favorite bookshop or audio store.
The idea here is to keep your options open. Of course Halloween parties involve game and prizes but having a Halloween storytelling session can be both fun and productive.
You don’t need to buy a costume for Halloween when you can make one yourself. What is even better is the fact that you don’t have to be a tailor or seamstress to sew it together. You just have to be creative and use whatever you have in your closet or get a few of these items from the thrift shop.
Using your imagination and putting different items together is much better than tossing a sheet over your head and saying you’re a ghost. Since Halloween doesn’t always have to be scary, think of other characters you can play like perhaps a clown, tin man, a pirate or a gorilla.
For a clown outfit, you should start by looking for a colorful pair of sweats pants. If you don’t have any, see if there is some other baggy clothing lying around. Since clowns have big buttons on their coveralls, use colorful mesh dish scrubbers which can be found in your kitchen or the grocery.
For your hair, get a wig because it will take more than a day to get off the color on your hair. Get some white makeup for your face and then find a pair of goofy shoes to complete the outfit.
We all know tin man from the wizard of Oz. To dress up just like him, you will see cardboard which will be most of your costume. To make yourself look like him, you can spray the cardboard with silver spray paint or attach aluminum foil all around it.
For your hat, see if there is an old funnel in the garage. You will need black shoes for your feet and silver eye shadow for your face. Another option will be to make your own make up using silver face makeup with cold cream and food coloring. Don’t forget to put black eyeliner to draw lines from the corners of your mouth to your chin.
Making a pirate costume is probably the simplest of them all. For this you will need a pair of black or brown hospital scrubs. You then cut the top portion as well as the sleeves to create a vest. To make it look good, sketch and skill and crossbones onto white felt then paste this on the back of vest.
Now put on a white shirt and just wear a pair of jeans. Since not all pirates have wear a hat, you can wear a bandana instead just like some of the characters in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Lastly, to be a gorilla, you will need a lot of black fur and then sew this up to your top and bottom. Since the mask is hard to make, it is best to just get the costume from the store.
Once you have finished planning what you are going to wear, it is time now to look at what accessories there are available. If there are none, then you have to buy it at a thrift shop or consignment store.
Making your costume for Halloween will surely save you a lot of money since most costumes cost more than $20 a set. The best pat is that you don’t have to feel guilty when you decide to throw it away since you can probably make a new one the following year.
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