Halloween haunting DIY 2
Sunday, October 28, 2012
I ADORE candelabras. This next project is perfect for those who may prefer not to use real candles. instead, make your own using a hot glue gun, a big bag of glue sticks, PVC pipe couplings & Flame-less flickering tea votive. This tutorial on how to make a faux dripping candle appearance is in a coveted copy of the book "How to Haunt your house" by Shawn & Lynn Mitchell. They have 3 in the series of their Haunting books. They are available on their website :http://www.howtohauntyourhouse.com/
as well as a few online book store sources. This project is in their first book of the series. They kindly shared on the DIY network exactly how to reproduce the look, suiting it to what ever decor use you may have in mind. The tutorial is available here
:http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/halloween-decoration-how-to-make-a-faux-dripping-candelabra/index.html
So overjoyed with how easy it was as well as the outcome which produced many "you made that? no way! Teach me how.".
For the Halloween party, I creepified the candelabra by adding a black crow and spider webbing. The perfect centerpiece for the creepy foods table.
I could not get the thought out of my head on how to make realistic creepy night animal eyes which would appear as though they are watching you from a far. Finally the light bulb hit and this is what I whipped up. in daylight, they come out looking a bit like one eyed ninjas but set in pairs dispersed through the haunting woods trail... creep factor and distract from the next jolt of hauntingly fright moment.
At the Dollar tree {everything is $1 or below} I found a 12 pack of small pingpong ball style eyeballs. You could always make your own eyes using pingpong's but these were available & quick.
They also had 3 packs of the flamelss battery operated flickering tea candles. I bought over 10 packages of these to use for Halloween. From the carved pumpkins, candelabras and the eyeballs. Still far less in cost then already made projects.
Using an exacto knife or drill, you make a hole in the underside. Depending where you plan to put your one eyed ninjas, determine where you want the hole which will be where you insert the plastic flame tip of the candle. You need to test the size of the hole simply by inserting the flame tip into the hole. Too small? I used a steak knife tip to scrape the hole, shaving small bits off to enlarge it until perfect.
On the tea light, you put hot glue circling the plastic flame tip. Not too much or it will ooze from the eyeball placement. Just a few spots close to plastic flame tip.
When you are putting the eyeball on, apply it in a small twist fashion as it comes in contact with the hot glue. This will spread the glue in a uniform way that will help prevent oozing as well.
Cut rectangle shapes, using your dried eyeball candles as a source of amount, with 1 inch wider then the sides, using black tight knit fabric.Find placement of the eye pupil, mark with white chalk for accuracy. Cut an almond shape from this spot fitting to the proper size of your eye to show.
Using hot glue gun, wrap your eyeball light up, making sure the hole is in proper place. You MUST be sure to have every bit covered right down to the base so light does not shine from underneath. Ruining the illusion.
The eye on the left needs more fabric on the base bottom. Off in the distance, in bushes, amongst the fallen leaves around 20 or more feet away from where people will be walking, place your eyeballs in pairs.
These worked out great for our trail haunting. I place them by tree stumps with leaves scattered around to add to the mirage. The kids LOVED it! These flickered to give the appearance of eyes twitching and blinking off in the distance. Making the kids do a double take, giving a distraction as they walked the trail before... BAM! scary guy moment. Screams and jumps. Thrills and laughter. It's all about messing with their perceptions. Distractions that are not "obvious" help knock their guard off. More or less. Mess with their heads. And they could not get enough. Going back on the trail a few more times.
Now I'm off to see if I can get my hands on book 2 & 3 of " How to haunt your House " for more projects to work on over the next 360 days... I've got a Teen Halloween Haunting to plan in our own house next year. As well as the creep factor to play on with the woods and old graveyard next door.
Halloween. My favorite Holiday just got better.
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie
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