Progress on my latest projects here at the Dead End workshop for Halloween 2007

*********************************************************************************************

12/05/07

I have two new favorite places to hang out!  I'd like to introduce you to the Garage of Evil Yahoo Group, where it's cool to be evil -EVERY day!  It's a group focusing on prop building for Halloween and Haunts.  Lots of fun people there, loads of good content, and plenty of crazy antics and hilarious banter.  If you have the time, stop by the Garage, we'd love to have you!

Also, visit the Garage Of Evil website, plenty of good stuff from Steve-O and Geoff there!!

 

 

Also, I just joined up at the newly launched Haunt Universe!  I know, I know... Like I NEED another "space" and forum to keep up with!  This one is pretty cool, and looks to be a great success.  It's geared toward all of us, from the pros to the amateurs.  It's brought to us by the good people of Rotting Flesh Radio and the Midwest Haunters Convention.  Check it out!!!!!

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

11/09/07

 

Tips 'N Tricks page added!

I decided to start a new page with some simple stuff on it that helps me to do some of the stuff that I do, like lighting and photographing.  I've been getting a ton of questions on both those subjects, so that's what I started with.  I'll add more as I go.

Tips 'N Tricks!

 

 

2007 Video! 

This is version 1 of the video, it still needs some music, but at least the video part is done.

 

 

Night Time shots of the Interior Decor are here:

Interior Decor

Night time shots of the Outside Display are here:

The Yard 2007

Party pictures and summary can be found here:

Party!

Daytime Pictures of everything can be seen here:

Daytime

 

*********************************************************************************************

9/30/07:  I finished it!  I'd like to introduce "Edweirdo":

I decided on "Edweirdo" as his official name, but Eddie's what I call him..  It just fits him.  There's no how-to on this one... I think there's plenty of those for corpsing already.  I didn't use a specific one for my project.. just kind of winged it and went with what I sort of remember from what worked for other people.  He started out with the latex and paper towels, then got some texturing with tissues and latex.  For the very few progress pics, see here:

http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h100/ghostessdeanna/HalloweenProjects2007/BuckyCorpsing/

Now I have to find a place to put him.  I never really thought about where I'd have him or how he'd be incorporated into the display.

I also got the other little corpsed Blucky hung by the spider with care...

Now I can move on to something new.  Or finish one of the other projects already started.  I have the hands for Ernster started, but I ran out of latex so I have to wait to get those "fleshed out". 

I can't believe it will be October already tomorrow.  So much to do... so little time!

**********************************************************************************************

9/26/07:  Today, I finished up my very first ever corpse.  It's a Blucky, but it's a corpse, by golly!

I used the last of a bucket of expired latex from Cementex that I've had for 2 years now.  I need to order more now since I really prefer the expired over the fresh stuff for doing most things.  I used mostly tissues for the corpsing.  This one will be the spider victim for the family room's spider.

I also decided it was time to corpse that First Class Bucky I bought on sale several years ago when they were out of the 4th class ones.  It's not colored like the 4th class ones, and while I loved it when I first got it, I like the lesser quality ones better.  I also made the mistake of taking the metal rod out of it a couple of years ago.  NOT a wise idea folks.  That thing flops all around now and is very difficult to handle.  So, it was the perfect candidate for a corpse!  I found that I prefer doing papier mache' much more than I do latex corpsing.  I've already got it started, so now I have to finish it.

************************************************************************************

 

 

9/25/07:  My copy of MAKE Magazine came yesterday,  I am SO excited!  There's a LOT of good info in there, so if you don't have one, get one!!  I also had a fellow HauntForum member alert me to the fact that "Daisy" and I were in the paper!  It's actually a NY paper, NewsDay.   > Denise Flaim, columnist and fellow Halloween enthusiast, did a really great article on Halloween and props and such.  It's got some useful tips in there and no doubt will help the muggles learn to make their own stuff as well.  It really warms my black heart to see Halloween growing like it is.  Even in our ready-made, store-bought, and instant-gratification world we live in, to see people decorating and getting into the spirit is just a super feeling! 

I took a day last week with my son, just the two of us, and went to the mall.  This time, we did go into the Spirit Halloween Store.  I saw a LOT of things that I could get at Big Lots or Wal Mart for HALF of what Spirit was charging.  I saw some things I could get online for half too.  Needless to say, I didn't buy anything. 

But honestly, I haven't gotten very much done lately.  Been in a kind of slump and just couldn't get myself to DO anything.  I did start some corpsing of 2 Bluckies for new and improved spider victims:

I just kind of lost interest in finishing them though, so they've been sitting on my desk for 2 weeks now.  I did get a spark of inspiration to make something new and threw together this candle cover thing for one of my favorite spiced apple candles:

I have it on my Projects page too, but there's no real how-to on it.  And I FINALLY started to work on a body for Ernster.  I used the DTD I made from my son Brandon, and gave it a PVC skeleton.  Then I stuffed it with newspaper and plastic grocery bags, taping the duct tape more securely and making the former thinner since I wanted a skinny old man body.  I still have to make the hands and fill out the shoulders, but here he is so far:

I also finally got the box emptied that had most of my labeled potion bottles.  Now I can start putting the new labels on them.

**********************************************************************************************

9/11/07: Friday, I spent the day with Andy running around town.  We went to a few Thrift Stores in search of stuff for the display, plus I needed a jacket and shoes for the gravedigger, and fabric for the dining room.  We also went to the mall so I could go to the book store in search of the Halloween edition of Make Magazine.  No luck there and if y'all can believe it, I walked RIGHT PAST the Spirit Halloween store with no urge to go in.  I know -- hard to fathom!  But we did get another copy of The Chamber of Secrets since mine is gone thanks to a certain son of mine.  Speaking of that son... I had him try on the cool outfit I bought for "Ernster".  He liked it so much that he wore it for a few hours. 

Saturday it rained ALL DAY, so I spent the day in my formal dining room hanging black fabric that I bought at Wal Mart for a buck a yard.  Since I chopped down the scary tree, I had to think of something new to fill up the wall space again.  The purple fabric I used last year was really kind of a pain to put up, so I went for the easy curtained wall look.  It's different... for sure.  Now I just need to figure out how to tie some kind of theme in for the decor.  The hanging bottles and such that I had last year just don't seem to fit in with the room any more. 

 

  Sunday, I decided it was time to get the gossamer up.  I had my son assist me in getting down some of the boxes from the attic.  Of course, that required me to spend the first half of the day cleaning up my 2/3 of the garage.  (The husband's 1/3 is a disaster area still and I'm not allowed to touch it because then he won't be able to find anything.)  Anyway, I got the boxes open and went through some of them.  I pulled out the gossamer and went to work.  I got the office done that night and got the ghosts and spider webs up while I was at it.  Monday, I finished the rest of the house.  I decided against doing the gossamer in the bedroom this year, and used some of the extra gossamer on the walls in the foyer and hallway that normally get the camo strips covering them.  I really don't know what to do in this area now.  I went ahead and hung more fabric on the outside of the entry to the dining room in the foyer area.

I am REALLY going to miss having the tree in the hall way.  There's so much missing from there now without the hanging stuff on the ceiling.

I started off Tuesday with a little Blucky cosmetic surgery for a couple of my little buddies.  I cut the eyes and noses out, plus cut out the mouth areas on two Blucky skulls, and used some joint compound and scrap beef netting to fill the holes in so they are recessed like they should be.  After two coats of JC, I sanded them down and sprayed them with spray urethane varnish.

They still look kinda goofy, but they look better than before.  This one is actually for my improved spider victim.  Once again, Krough with his cool cocoon victim has inspired me to remake something better than it was before.  I also did some work on the hip areas using two methods.  I used a heat gun to push in the protruding front part of one hip section.  That worked alright I guess.  I used DeathLord's instructions on doing the other one.  I cut the front half off and filled it with Great Stuff instead of the florist foam.  I'll be corpsing both of these, so they don't have to be perfect and this is my first try at modifying the appearance of one other than painting it.  Wish me luck on that!

*********************************************************************************************

9/05/07:  I got the papier mache' witch hats done.  They're all painted with the last of my black latex paint and some dry brushing.  I went with a different color for each one, just so they wouldn't be so monotonous.

I had a day of cleaning, then a day of yard work, so I haven't been getting much done.  I wanted to clean out my closet so I could find stuff when I start working on small details and need my craft supplies.  I also cleaned out some clothes I haven't worn in ages.  :)

***********************************************************************************************

8/31/07:  I got the papier mache' witch hats almost finished.  They're all painted with the last of my black latex paint but still need some dry brushing and then a clear coat.

I also finished over half of the treat bags.  Now I just have to fill and tie them off.

And finally, I decided to give Goliath a much-needed coat of DryLok and a new paint job.  So far, I've just gotten the DryLok part done on just him and not his base yet.

That's about it for now!

*********************************************************************************************

8/25/07:  This week was the first week of the new school year, and the first year that ALL THREE of my kids are in school, so I had plenty of time to work on new stuff.  Unfortunately, I was not very inspired.  On Wednesday, I was sitting at my desk looking at the cover of one of my favorite Halloween books, "Halloween" by Joanne Sullivan.  (If you don't have this book, I urge you to check it out.  It has some great costume ideas, party suggestions and some pretty neat little snippets about traditions and other things.)  Anyway, I suddenly had the urge to make some witch hats from papier mache' to sit around for decorations.  So I raided the recycle bin for some cardboard and newspaper and got to work.

In between drying times, I also worked on new labels for the witches' potion bottles and jars.  I wanted a more "antiqued" and uniform look for them.

Last week, I worked on making labels for this year's treat bags as well.  I have 180 of them that now need to be glued to the paper bags.

I added a couple of new pages on my Projects page as well.  That's about all for now.  Haunt on!

********************************************************************************************

8/11/07:  I decided to forgo the pirate haunt this year and opted for working more on my existing traditional Halloween theme.  I think more tombstones without epitaphs will be on the workbench soon.  I am also reworking some existing things, like my witch stuff, and adding more to my cemetery.  One of the things I have wanted for a while, is a "deadicated" gravedigger.  So I used one of the pirate heads I started to make "Ernster Gräber":

I also decided  I need a more authentic looking witch doctor, so I started "Umuthi":

Now I just need to get my son to stand still long enough for me to make a DTD of him so I can get the bodies going for those two.

*********************************************************************************************

8/07/07:  I was just looking through my pictures from year to year of my display and inside decor.  Man I have REALLY come a LONG LONG way since I first REALLY got into the whole haunt thing.  Just from 1999 to 2003 was a huge change.  From 2003 to 2004 was VERY noticeable, and from 2004 to 2005 was an enormous step up.  What surprises me even more is the difference in 2005 and 2006.  I can't believe how much further I progress as each year goes by.  I keep wondering when I am going to get tired of adding more every year, or when I am going to physically not be able to do it all.  Hopefully that won't happen for a long long time.  I really enjoy making new things.  It's a release, a creative outlet for me.  I hope it never ends. 

I finally finished up the tree a few days ago and named it "The Wailing Tree".  I'm quite proud of how it turned out. 

 

On HauntForum, we have contests periodically for our members to participate in.  It kind of promotes creativity and gets people making new props.  Right now, we have Monster Mud Mayhem going on where Monster Mud is the main ingredient for our contest props.  I am a moderator on this forum, so I can't enter the voting, but I can enter a prop as a show and tell type thing and hopefully get other people to join in the fun in doing so.  It spurred me to make a new prop, and her name is Daisy:

I don't think I've made a prop that fast that involved drying times.  Even more surprising was the fact that Daisy was the first entry.  I'm just glad I could think up some kind of prop on my own from just looking around my desk.  :)

*********************************************************************************************

7/30/07:  I took a couple of months off from working on the tree, and did some work with a neighbor in one of her bathrooms, tiling and stuff.. then I revamped my kids' bathroom and my breakfast nook.  When that was done, I started on my bathroom, which is almost done.  I had to take a few days off from working on that and decided to get some more progress on the tree.  I got the bottom filled with Great Stuff, and coated it with 2 layers of Dry-Lok.

*********************************************************************************************

5/13/07:  Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there.  I finished up RIchard and my rocks on Wednesday.  Then I started my new tree.  I haven't decided on a name for my tree yet.... but here is how far I've gotten:

I have to coat it with more layers of paper, then texture it with paper towel mache, then work on the base of it so it's bug and lizard proof before I can paint it.  I'm thinking Great Stuff sprayed up inside the base for that part.  In any case, there ya have it.  My friend, Ivy, who I know I can count on, brought me the first round of beer bottles so I can start the invitations for this year today too. 

Time to call my momma.  :)

*********************************************************************************************

5/06/07:  I got the urge to make some rocks.  Yeah, ROCKS.  The great thing about working with paper mache is that there is a drying time, so I can work on several projects at once.  Unfortunately, I usually start too many, then never finish them and end up with 30497543 half-done things sitting around the house.  Anyway, here are my rocks so far:

*********************************************************************************************

4/30/07:  The website's nearly done and everything's been uploaded, but I'm still going through and tweaking it here and there.  I did some dental work on my latest scarecrow head:

 

**************************************************************************************************

4/24/07:  I've been back to work on Halloween stuff again and am revamping (yeah, AGAIN) the website.

I got some paper mache' wig head castings started for my pirate crew, and a big skull started for a new scarecrow since I sold PumpkinHead.  I finally crumbled and disassembled the Scary Tree, and actually used the scrap 2X4 pieces for my TCT that we made at the first Florida Haunters Make N Take this past weekend.  Pictures can be seen here: Florida Make N Take - April 21, 2007

 

*************************************************************************************************

All information contained on this website www.theghostess.com is provided for FREE, is intended for entertainment purposes and general sharing, and may not be reproduced without express permission from the website owner. If you have been sold information regarding or taken from this website, please contact the admin at the link in the navigation menu. Copyright 1999-2015, The Dead End.

free hit counters
free hit counters