Halloween Decorating "How To"

[Opera Ghost]

Nice display IB.

Love the attention to detail with trivia like the Perry Mason death date. Putting in the personal touches certainly adds to it!

[zombiehorror]

Starting early this year!!!  I recently laid laminate flooring in my kitchen and discovered that the builders originally laid luan down before putting in the linoleum so as I tore up the old floor I saved as much luan as I could!!  I ended up with enough to make 3 toe pincher coffins.  Well the luan say off to the side of the garage for a couple of weeks before I just couldn't take it anymore; I had to build something!

Here's my put together but not quite finished toe pincher~


While I was building the toe pincher I turned around to rummage thru my toolbox when I heard giggling and Sam saying, "I'm in here, I'm in the coffin!", she truly is my monster kid!


As luck would have it the wife and I also redid our cabinets leaving me with a nice sized pile of stained rags~


Next up we also just happened to have a huge stockpile of paints (that my wife wanted to finally dispose of) that we've used throughout the years to paint the house; luckily most of these are earthern colors so there was no way I was pitching them.  I took the already stained rags and soaked them in some red/orange paint/water mixture because they were way to white still~


Using some more of that old paint I coated the inside of the toe pincher and then stuck the fabric right onto the wet paint~


Here are some interior shots of the coffin~


And here is the lid; I dunno but the lid still needs something, looks kind of blah!?  Then again depending on how I use it no one will ever know what it looks like.  I left the right side unpainted because some of the wood was already stripped away but also realized/thought of that to late so I have to sand some of the paint back out of the exposed parts~


I still need to stain the outside of the coffin and then age/weather it from there; After that I have 2 more to build and I'm loving every minute of it!  Hopefully this wet weather lets up and I get back to work soon but now I at least have some projects to occupy my time with.

[Hepcat]

One of these is a must:

[charp13]

ZH!!  You amaze me with your skill level! I cannot imagine looking at some salvaged floor boards and say "hey, this would make a great coffin!" I would love to get into gear early for Hallowee 2K11, but I usually don't get started til July. I am hounding my husband to build me a skeleton stockade this year. He didn't have to build anything last year, so he owes me!   Beautiful coffins!!  And nice place for a nap   

[CreepysFan]

 

That is WICKED SWEET  zombie H, a great start for Halloween.  It's never too early for Halloween.

[Scatter]

See, this is exactly why I shall never rest until we create the Official UMA Commune in Salem, Mass. 

[charp13]

Scatter- We are in! My husband and I would get a U-Haul tomorrow!     Utopia here we come! 

[zombiehorror]

Small update; was on a role yesterday and started putting some border around my "corpse keeper" but wouldn't you know it ran out of liquid nails!  Seems like any other time I'd have a few extra tubes of liquid nails laying around~

[BaronLatos35]

Zombie Horror, great work on those coffins!

[Sean]

Looking good, Erin.

[Dr. Madd]

LOVE the topic.

I make my 'dummies' from PVC pipe and elbow fittings, PVC glue, polyfoam filling, old clothes, and make the heads and hands myself from paper mache, Model Magic, anything that dries light and stiff.

To get a look at the zombies I did in 2008, come to the ol' Skull & Pumpkin and view this post:
http://theskullpumpkin.blogspot.com/2009/06/zzzzombieeeeezzz.html

That's blank wigheads with Model Magic/mache faces/ears, wigs and paint, on PVC framed bodies. I stuff them with foam, old clothes, newspaper... OH, I get those foam pool noodles for real cheap come September and they are great for cutting up for zombie (or scarecrow, as you need!) legs and arms to slip over 3/4" PVC pipe.

Good luck, have a ball, ask any questions, and make some awesome props this year!

I couldn't stay there with those things out.. Zombies creep me out.

[zombiehorror]

Just got around to working on this after being preoccupied for a couple of weeks.  Finished the trim and handles yesterday.  This a.m. I stained it and put a cross on the lid~

The stain already makes it looked kind of old...must be the luan?!


Drew this up, cut it out and xfered it over....


Did a flat coat of silver then threw on some sawdust for that bumpy texture, then repainted over that with the silver again...


Next up mixed some stain, black & brown paint and daubed that on; was going for a tarnished silver look...make that heavily tarnished!


[/quote]

[charp13]

zombiehorror! I am so glad you updated your project!! You should be very proud of yourself! Not just for your recycling efforts, but for your imagination and artistic ability       I showed my husband the first pictures you posted and he was flabbergasted that this was slavaged wood. I also showed him some old laminate shelves from a desk/bookacase that fell apart, and told him that I would like him to make me a skeleton stocks (I think that's the right word- the wooden structure with 3 holes -2 for hands and 1 for the head) for Halloween 2K11! He's been resting on his Electric -Chair laurels for 3 years now    You are the Halloween project King-ZH!

[Scatter]

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!!

[Sean]

Dude, that's GREAT.