Cheap(er) Halloween - Print Edition

I've tried to keep from spending too much on decorating for a few years.  DIY is probably the best way to do so.  Last year I started to look for decorations that could also store as small as possible.

Printed decorations are great for storage (they store flat) and cost (until you factor ink costs).  You can create your own, if your artistically inclined, or do like I've done and search for free graphics or projects from the web.  Disney and Martha Stewart are great resources.  They have a variety of things to print and decorate with.

If you like model making but don't have a ton of money, consider paper models.  It seems to be a big trend in places like Japan and Europe.  Print out the model on paper, cut it out, and assemble it with a little glue.  This is great if you have time but not much money.  I like Haunted Dimensions for their Haunted Mansion and related models but you can find other Disney related models at The Disney Experience (currently named The Haunted Experience).  Search the 'net for other paper models if your interested.

I've also took inspiration from a variety of sources and found graphics for bottle labels, spell book covers and pages, and wall decorations such as posters and framed pictures.  Keep in mind that many images can't be used in any money making situations but you could use them to decorate your house.

What Halloween Means To Me

After many years of anguishing over whether to do Halloween or not, I came to the conclusion of why not?

Growing up, I dressed up in costumes and trick-or-treated.  My parents decorated with basic Halloween things usually bought from the grocery store.  I also took interest in illusionists like David Copperfield and puzzles.  I always liked to know how to do things that amazed others.  In high school, I decided that what I wanted to have a career in was special effects.  I wanted to be the person that made the behind the scenes magic so when you watched the movie you would see a zombie or alien, not a guy in a suit with makeup. I went to school and learned mechanical puppetry, makeup effects, set design, etc.

A year or two later, I had a crisis.  I was going to church (still do) and couldn't see how Halloween worked being a Christian and all.  I struggled with it for several years, wanting to decorate but not wanting to be anti-church.  I didn't want to take part in a pagan thing.

When we had kids I finally realized that modern Halloween has little to do with the old religions and has different meanings today.  It's evolved so far from what it was originally.  (Read some of the articles on History Channel for the modern traditions of Halloween.)  I found bloggers like Dave Lowe who decorate but with a more cartoony and less gory style.  I figure Halloween is about celebrating the little bit of scariness in our lives.  For adults it might be more gore and shock, but for kids it's about costumes, candy and a little bit spooky.  So we go with cartoony skeletons, vampires and monsters.  I try to go along the same line as maybe a Disney movie might.  Add just a little scary, mix in a lot of goofiness and you have a great holiday to have fun with.

For me, Halloween is about having a spooky fun time with my family, decorations, costumes, and candy.  Plus for me, it's a time to create props and decorations to try to add spookiness to our home, at least for a month out of the year.

Halloween Begins

My wife has declared the beginning of Halloween season!  The day after "Talk Like A Pirate Day", R made the offhand comment that she knows I was looking forward to working on Halloween decorations and now that "T.L.A.P.D." was over, I could begin.  I was overjoyed.

Two years ago, I got really excited about decorating.  I was being inspired by various home haunters and numerous site dedicated to making your own decorations.  So much so, that I got on her nerves with all my talk about it.  Until the season begins, I can't talk about it.  Work on projects, listen to music or research all year as long as she doesn't have to deal with it. She does get into the spirit, though.  She likes the costumes and decorations as Halloween gets closer.

The only downside is that I've got to work on a budget.  Most people have a limited budget.  I just take that as a challenge.  Many home haunters make papier-mache props.  There are tons of printables available.  You can do quite a bit with just access to the internet.

I've got numerous ideas of what I want to do this year.  I'll try to post photos of my projects as I do them.

To-Do's

I'm starting to feel some self induced pressure as holidays approach.  "Are you crazy?!" you say.  "The holidays are several months away."  Yeah, I know but I wanted to try to make several things for Halloween and Christmas.  I know how my time tends to slip away while with the kids so I wanted to try and start earlier this year.  I've read that some Halloween home haunters start on projects around July (on average).  With the plans I had to make (and save money) versus buying this year, I created a list of things I wanted to make.  Will I get these done?  Probably not.  I have gotten more done this year (since last post) than I usually can claim.

1. I built a bookcase.  Results: not the best but nice.  I wanted to use joinery (and my router) instead of store bought fasteners.  The joints could be tighter.  I also rushed the finish (example: I didn't sand it down to the level I would have liked).


2. I've made several rings.  Results: varies.  I made several rings from one dollar Sacajawea coins, one from a Canadian two dollar coin, and one from coconut shell.  The coin rings were good practice and look relatively nice (but could use more polishing).  The shell ring looks good but could use a finish that makes it shine more otherwise it's very dull.  The only real complaint is that I have a hard time sizing them.


3. I found a chest of drawers/dresser being thrown away.  I sanded down the frame (leaving the drawers) and refinished it with Johnson's Paste Wax. Results:  very nice.  We're using it as an entertainment stand.  The only down side?  It's not meant to be a stand holding heavy things like the t.v., CD collection and DVD collection so it seems to bow slightly in the middle from the weight.  Still to be done: convert some of the drawers to hold the DVD player and other electronics and still run the wires through the back to the t.v. and speakers.

I hoped to get some projects done like some paper mache jack o'lanterns, maybe a flying crank ghost or other such mechanical ghost/creature and some sort of display for the porch.  The potion bottle collection also needs a better display.  I just have to decide how I'm going to do these.

What People Throw Away

I feel guilty when I look in the garbage.  I look in my garbage and think about stuff I should be composting, recycling (although my wife is good about grabbing that stuff), or just the fact that I'm adding to a landfill somewhere.  I also look at the stuff other people throw away, not to the extent of opening bags of garbage but more of glancing at it.  Many times people throw stuff away that stumps me.  There was the photo album (made me wonder who throws away an album or why it was thrown away), the Christmas tree still wrapped in lights and ornaments (I collected a couple), or the case from a technical school with books, IDs, and tools still in it.

Then there are the times that I find something neat and it just makes me want to look at the garbage even more in the future.  I've mentioned the table I found and refinished, but in the past I also found an old steamer trunk, a rolling metal tool chest with stuff inside, our coffee table, and multiple DVD's, CD's, and books.  I'm especially proud of having salvaged multiple fresnel lenses from big screen t.v.s that people have thrown away.

My latest find?  A gas mask!  It's in good shape but needs to be cleaned.  It's got leaves and dirt on it from sitting on the ground near the dumpster.  My first thought was to use it for a Halloween prop or costume (you have to admit, gas masks are creepy).  My wife mentioned it would be great for a zombie apocalypse.  I think she may have been mocking my taste in movies...

Candlesticks

I made these candlesticks probably a year ago, but only recently bought candles for them. I decided that using them for Halloween was as good a reason as any to buy cheap candles for them.

Their construction was simple. I bought two different sizes of furniture legs and a square piece of molding from Home Depot. I drilled a hole into the center of the molding to fit the screw that was on the end of the leg. I applied a small amount of glue to the leg and screwed the leg to the molding. After the glue dried, I drilled a series of holes in the end to accommodate the candle. I applied several coats of stain until I was satisfied with the color and put a coat of polyurethane on it to seal it and to keep the wax from sticking.

There were several things I learned from doing these.

1. The molding had a convex center. The drill bit kept slipping off center. I used a nail set to make a divot to then drill into. 
2. I don't have a drill bit or anything that could make a hole for the end of the candle. I drilled one deep (about an inch) pilot hole then went back and drilled multiple holes, starting with a shallow large hole and going smaller the deeper I went. 
3. As the candles started to near the bottom, it occurred to me that these are wood and there wasn't any guard to keep them from burning when the candle got to the bottom. This time, the candle wick fell over into the wax as it neared the end and put itself out. Also, I haven't tried to clean it out yet but the wax has filled the hole. This could be potentially hard to deal with. 
4. Cheap candles drip a lot when in a slight draft (just keep turning the candlestick to get drips on all sides). Really got the look that I wanted.

In the future I may explore other shapes.  I'd like to see if I could make a large floor candelabra but may have to hold off because of the kids.  Maybe I'll try a wall sconce.  In the future, some of these may be made as gifts for friends.

Poison Bottle

In every mad scientist's laboratory, you'll probably encounter dangerous chemicals. I wanted to have a bottle that would have only a poison logo on it. I also had to think about what I would put into it to give the impression that poison was in it.

I chose to start with an empty Tabasco bottle. I figured you would only need a small bottle of poison if it was really that dangerous. Next I had to decide what type of label to put on it. You can make a label to look antique by downloading something someone has already done (search the internet for potion bottle labels) or design one yourself, print it, then age it in several different ways. While I intended to do that for some of the other bottles, I decided to use Dave Lowe's tutorial on sculpting a relief onto the bottle. I used a couple of skull and crossbones images as reference as I designed and sculpted to logo onto the bottle using polymer clay. I baked the bottle at a much lower temperature than instructed by the clay's directions to prevent the bottle from breaking. I left the sculpt unpainted. I added twine to the neck of the bottle (inspired by Dead Spider). I wanted to sculpt something onto the top of the bottle or at least paint it a different color but ran short on time, so the bottle top stayed a classic red.

When I think of classic "movie" style poison, I think of something thick, viscous and black. Blackstrap molasses was the perfect choice. When filled, it looked perfect behind the white skull and crossbones.

Glowing liquids

I wanted to have a mad scientist bottle and jar display as part of my decorations this year. I also wanted to make use of my old black light if possible. There are many substances that glow in UV light. I tried three things this year.

My first and simplest was to combine liquid soap and water. Many sites recommend specific soaps/detergents but I had to find something that I already had to work with. I ended up using a little shampoo. Unlike the clothes detergent I have, it did not cloud or color the water plus it smelled nice ;). I then added a small amount of blue food coloring. In regular light it looked like a basic blue liquid but would then glow when the lights went out and the UV was turned on. My wife liked this one best.

The second I tried was from inspired by a scientific website. Take some fresh spinach, muddle the leaves and add enough rubbing alcohol to cover. Let steep for a few hours and then strain. The liquid should be a dark but clear green. (I did two batches to fill the bottle I chose without diluting the color with more alcohol or water.) Under a black light, the green changes to a deep, almost blood red. The effect was very cool but the way my lighting was set up, it was hard to see. After about two weeks, I noticed the green was slowly turning brown. I went ahead and dumped it out to try something else so I didn't get any photos but will try to get some later.

The last experiment I did was based on several recommendations found on the web using highlighters. I bought a four color pack at Wal-Mart because I wanted as many colors as I could get (if it worked). I took the highlighter apart and soaked the insert in cup of hot water (others have suggested alcohol). The blue and green didn't work as well as I hoped but the yellow was intense. It was so bright it overshadowed everything else that glowed. Next year, I'll have to dilute it down a little.

Once you decide on a liquid, you'll have to put it in an appropriate bottle. I've had several in my shop that I've had various other plans for, so I just pulled those out. Specifically, I used a mini sake bottle, a Chambord bottle, a Martinelli's apple bottle, and a Orangina bottle. All chosen for their shape and with their labels removed. If I had more time, I would've finished the bottles with faux antique scientific labels and maybe some other customization. I think I did well with the little time that I was able to put into them.

Halloween 2010

This Halloween was the first year that I really did something to decorate. Prior years we had gotten a small collection of odd and ends that we considered Halloween related. A few Halloween Barbies, a Zero and Jack that my wife's work produced, and some random miscellaneous things come out as our decorations in past years. This year I decided to spend a little and get a few more things. There were restrictions. I had to watch the budget (which I did spend a little more than originally intended), there could be no reference to anything referred to as evil in the Bible (e.g. witches, devils or similar things) and everything had to be kid friendly (no blood).

I got a little carried away. I've gotten inspired by a variety of blogs and sites describing how to make your own decorations. So I ended up spending a little more than the Mrs. would have preferred. You've got to start with something and while I have tools, I didn't have much in the way of supplies. So I bought some spider webbing, a bag of bugs/skeletons/bats, and a Blucky at Big Lots. At Michael's, I bought a giant spider, battery powered tea lights and some foam pumpkins. Later, I stopped into Party City and couldn't resist some squishy eyeballs and a plastic skeleton garland. I picked up some rubber worms (fishing lures), highlighters, candles and white Sculpy at Wal-Mart. More about how all these items were used in follow up posts. (Trying to take advantage of post Halloween sales, I also bought a Michael Myers mask, wighead, prop hands and a Midnight Syndicate cd). Total for Halloween (other than pumpkins for pie, Halloween themed drinks for the adults and candy) came to about $150. I try to be detailed on this list not to annoy the reader but more to remind me what I spent. My wife would have liked it if we spent less but she justified it saying that out of the ten years we've been married, we have spent very little on Halloween.

I have always had a do-it-yourself bug, though. Following Halloween, I have discovered sites like Stolloween that makes use of papier mache to make all of the decorations for very little money investment. So next year, my plans are to maybe pick up another Blucky or electrical/mechanical parts and everything else be made by yours truly.