Skull-lift! (Skull Makeunder)

To cheer myself up, I started working on a few Halloween projects of mine for 2020. This was one of ‘em! 

I took an old skull prop that I previously altered to look like a clown complete with a slurpee lid paper mache nose and gave it a look as if it was naturally decaying in the elements. I saw someone do something similar to a full size skeleton and it looked like it would fit my haunted trail/spooky garden theme for this year so I gave it a try myself. 


Here’s the night view! I just popped a color-changing LED bulb back there and it rotates through about 8 colors. I also set an orange fire LED in front of it to achieve the spooky ambient lighting.


Here’s the before pics and a little of the process. I gave it a simple coat of primer, then added skull-colored paint, tons of green hues, and glued on tissue paper and moss for a little bit of texture. 


I used the clown skull MANY times throughout my clown scenes over the years. It was time for something fresh!

Boo-it-yourself 2020 (To-do List!)

I needed to take a moment to document my BIY (Boo-it-yourself) ideas for 2020. I actually discovered that term on Micheal's official website. I also picked up tons of inspiration from the site too!

I write and plan out what I want to do each year but with quarantine I have not been in a mood to bother with Halloween DIY's at all. I recently got a sudden bump in inspiration with the recent Fall weather we had yesterday. It put me in the mood for sure!

Anyway, here are all of the projects I have planned out for now! I'll add and update as needed. I'll be sure to link back to this post any time I complete one of these projects so I can check it off the list.

Outdoor Projects
-Paint (4) silver skulls with realistic color and mossy texture and affix to shutters (IN PROGRESS 8/24/20) - DONE - pics not yet uploaded
-Repaint/redo large skull (currently a clown) to more natural colors/nature texture, add webs, light behind eyes and hang on house DONE!
-Touch up tombstones with moss and paint, add flowers and webs - DONE! Can be seen here!
-Attempt to make handmade bale of hay for display! (IN PROGRESS) 8/24/20 DONE - pics not yet uploaded
-Repaint broken birdbath and give "eerie" make under. (Actually repainted neutral tones to use all-year around 8/24/20) DONE! Link here!
-Make two pillars to hold pumpkin lanterns?! (need materials)  - DONE - Link here! (seen in b/g)
-DIY porch or stand out of scrap wood for "organ donation" scene (IN PROGRESS  8/24/20) DONE - Link here!
-Alien scene, repaint barrels using fluorescent lighting - NOT DONE
-Tree creature - spook up the store bought tree creature and put it up securely! (IN PROGRESS  8/24/20) DONE! - Link here!

Signs
-Build coffin sign with scrap wood (words to TBD but perhaps a welcome sign) - NOT DONE
-Repaint a store bought sign (words TBD but decided on fishing theme - IN PROGRESS 8/24/20) - DONE - pics not yet uploaded

Entryway/front door
-Create spooky wreath with a tombstone and critter theme DONE!
-Rearrange Halloween props and items near door, add spooky mat - DONE! Link here!

Indoor crafts
-Cut paper bat silhouettes to attach to white and orange balloons (hang up a week before Halloween) - NOT DONE
-Pennant craft with spooky paper for Robert's room or living room (pennants overlap) DONE! Link here!
-Spooky & cute crafts for mijos room (varies) - DONE - pics not yet uploaded
-Make spooky ornaments for "Halloween tree" DONE! (Our first Halloween tree was a success! See it now!)

Costume
-Begin mijo's Splatoon costume! (need wig, jacket, shorts, and white shoes)
-Construct weapon for costume 

DONE! Costume post here! (5/7/21)
I finally got around to making a complete blog post about my son's cosplay after my husband posted a picture of his finished costume on Reddit and it got an insane amount of upvotes and lots of questions!

DIY Spider Sacs

Here's a simple and inexpensive DIY idea to spook up any entry! 

I made these using old dress socks, stuffed 'em with soft pillow stuffing, tied 'em up and added some webs on the the outer layer. Before I added the white webs and spiders, I spray painted over them with green and orange fluorescent paint so that they would pop under the black light. I also popped on some extra eyeballs I had laying around. 

COST: Virtually nothing! (used materials I already had.)