December 30, 2011 | 
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Face Transplant
Step 1:
In order to do this project, you must have a pre-made form. I used a ceramic cast that I have of my friend Courtney, but I suppose a Styrofoam wig-head or even a cheap (but solid) mask would work. The photo above shows the ceramic form that was used for this project. (As you can see, poor Courtney’s face has been used and abused through several art projects over the past decade.)
Using aluminum foil, lightly cover the mold. make sure that the foil conforms to all of the cracks and crevices. You may want to use your fingernails or the handle of a spoon to help push the foil into the hard to reach areas.
Step 2:
Cover the foil with a light coating of hot glue. The key here is to add very small amounts of glue. You can accomplish this by rapidly moving the tip of the gun across the foil’s surface. This layer should be so thin that it is barely noticible to the eye. The hot glue only serves as a layer to make the foil more rigid.
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What is Halloween?
Halloween is a complicated holiday, with several different possible meanings, depending on the background of the person celebrating. The holiday as we know it comes from three primary roots: old Celtic pagan ritual, Catholic traditions, and American secular celebration. With three such different sources it is no wonder that Halloween has no one meaning.
For Catholics the holiday is tied to All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day. Halloween night falls between the two celebrations, one of the saints in heaven, one of the dead not yet in heaven and not of the status of saints. Halloween was originally Hallowed Evening for those who celebrated the event: the Holy Evening between the two holy days, when the spirits of the departed saints and those of other people were close in heart and mind, and the spirits of evil lurked nearby in reaction to all the holiness. For these olden days Catholics the “meaning” of Halloween was a meaning of respect for the saints and the dead and protection against the lurking threat of evil, Satan, and the dead who had found no peace.
For older pagan tradition the connection with the dead also was present. Samhain, as Halloween was called in Celtic culture, was a time when the livestock was slaughtered for the coming winter, the fodder for the beasts reckoned up, and the last of the grain and produce was harvested. At the same time the sweet time of the year ended and the “dark” of the year began. As Catholic Christians also did, the pagans saw the time as a magical transitional point, when spirits lurked close and death needed to be remembered.
The Celts put out the fires of their homes, lit “bonefires” that burned the bones of slaughtered stock, and relit all the fires of the community from the main bonefire. It marked the beginning of the year, and the start of great events. In this tradition Halloween meant both joy and fear, beginnings and endings: it was one of the “gates” of the year when powers came through and acted on the common world. A dangerous time, yet also a necessary and joyful time, filled with bounty and hope.
These two traditions mingled in Ireland, and eventually were brought to America during the Great Potato Famine. Here we dropped most of the religious beliefs of either tradition and kept the meaning of magic, mystery, mischief and mild mayhem. For most Americans Halloween means only games, costumes, trick-or-treat and a sort of innocent freedom for both children and adults: a time when we can play at ghosts and magic, set aside our dignity, run around in the dark and eat much too much candy.
DIY Outdoor Decorations for Halloween
Halloween is just around the corner, and competition for the best haunted house is stiff. Those forking out for pre-made decorations often find the scariest part of Halloween is the bill, so a do-it-yourself approach is one way to get great results for a fraction of the cost. >From large-scale projects to quick and easy decorations, anyone can get creative for a spooky holiday this autumn.
Eerie Lighting
When setting the scene for trick-or-treaters or a Halloween-themed party, the quickest way to make a big impact is with lighting.
After dark, lighting will draw attention to your house as a Halloween hotspot – and it needn’t cost the earth. Christmas lights can be easily transformed to give a ghostly glow to any outdoor area. Freestanding Christmas lights can be covered with a coloured cloth to cast an unnatural light across your front porch or garden – but be sure to use porous materials or allow space to prevent overheating. Work Christmas fairy lights around the space, draping them over tree branches with scraps of old material or fake cobwebs. The key to a truly terrifying scene is not to over-light the area. Keep lighting moderately dim for a more mysterious ambience.
Matching Your Theme
If you’re hosting a themed Halloween party, you’ll want decorations to match. Welcome your guests to a vampire fancy dress party with tombstones on your front lawn, made from recycled cardboard or polystyrene (which can be cut into for a 3D effect). Cover them with spray paint and ivy for a worn look.
Torn body parts and other gruesome decorations may not be ideal for a children’s party, but hanging bats can be made by recycling egg boxes or simply cut from black sheets of card. Making hanging decorations allows children to get involved in the preparations. A chest of old beads and chocolate coins works well for a pirate-themed get-together, and cursed Egyptian mummies are easily built with toilet paper. For more Halloween theme ideas visit Escapade.co.uk.
The Classic Pumpkin
Nothing says Halloween quite like the humble pumpkin. Carving vegetables for Halloween is a centuries-old tradition, and the North American pumpkin, popular for its availability and comparatively large size, is now the standard vegetable of choice for carving on Halloween. Making Jack o’lanterns is a fun activity for young children (though they should obviously be supervised and not put in charge of any knives). Involve them by asking them to draw the scary face on the pumpkin, which you then cut out.
- If indoors, make sure surfaces are protected with plenty of newspaper. Cut a circle around the stalk of the pumpkin, keeping the knife pointed towards the core (this will ensure that the lid stays in place).
- Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and flesh until the pumpkin is hollow. The seeds can be toasted and eaten, while the flesh can be used in a host of recipes.
- Now’s your chance to get creative. Sketch your design on the pumpkin first and then carefully cut it out. Usually this design is a menacing or grotesque face, but the possibilities are almost limitless. Bear in mind that the more you cut away the more fragile the pumpkin becomes. If art isn’t your forte, there are a number of designs online that you can trace or use as stencils.
- Once carved, pumpkins usually only last for a couple of days before decaying. Coating the cut edges with petroleum jelly, storing the pumpkin in the fridge or soaking it in a bleach-water solution means it’ll last longer.
- Place a small candle in the base of the pumpkin to light up the cut-out design at night. Try multiple jack-o’lanterns and experiment with different themes and images to make your decorations stand out from the crowd.
Posted in Haunted House Props | 
Tags: DIY Outdoor Decorations, Halloween Decorations, Outdoor Decorations | 
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Monster In A Box
I’ve built a prototype Monster-in-a-Box that I’m pretty happy with – based on Mark Butler’s Super Easy Monster in a Box, I just added a few enhancements – a real trunk (thrift shop $10), the drill opens the lid instead of lifting the box, a light inside to illuminate a half corpse prop (lid lifts about 3 inches – just enough to see “something” inside!). Originally I used a hardware store flasher disc (39 cents) to intermittently interrupt power to both the drill and the light so the box lid bangs erraticlly instead of at a steady pace but since it takes some time to “warm up”, I pulled it out in favor of a short duration timer instead. Here’s the scoop: …. (More)
Bloody Eyes Skull
I bought a Glow-in-the-Dark Skeleton 50% off after Halloween. I glued rubber eyes into its eye sockets with holes drilled straight through. I used 1/4″ tubing to connect the eyes to the aquarium pump (~$20). Be aware that aquarium pumps only will pump up so high. Placement of the cauldron to catch the red water will adjust the flow out of the eyes.
I used a small ultrasonic humidifier in the cauldron to give a fog effect, but the falling water disrupts the fog. I illuminated the skeleton with a black light and used a strobe light on the falling water. The falling water under a strobe light give a great effect…..(More)
NOTE From ADMIN: My Brother and I did something like this. But instead of Eyes, we had blood coming out of his mouth and we put Dry Ice Inside.
Dragon
This was one of our first attempts at making an animated prop, and also using Monster Mud. We’re pretty happy with the result. The dragon’s mouth opens and closed, with fake flames in the mouth. Its wings also flap. We decided to just do the upper torso of the dragon. So it has arms and wings, but we skipped the lower half. It stands at about 6 feet tall. Here is a basic “How-to” on the dragon.
Biglots had a bunch of animated yard decorations. Including a frog, whose mouth opens and closes. We figured this would be the simplest way to get the mouth to move on the dragon. So we took the head off the frog, and used some wire to get a basic shape for the dragon head.
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