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Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or jyoung@timesdispatch.com.
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The bewitching hours of Halloween are approaching -- is your home fit to fright?
If you don't have two-story inflatable cats or cauldrons of dry ice bubbling on your front porch, never fear -- it's not too late to whip up some decorations that take little time and few resources.
Halloween has become the second largest decorating holiday in America. According to Party and Paper Retailer Magazine, Americans spend $5.8 billion dollars on Halloween supplies.
But you don't need store-bought stuff to produce a spooked-out look.
Even if your jack-o'-lantern carving skills are limited to triangle eyes and a snaggle-toothed grin, you can craft a gourd that will be the envy of the neighborhood.
Hollow out a large pumpkin and keep the gooey innards. Carve a face with a large, wide-open mouth. Put the goop back in the pumpkin and let it stream out of the mouth. Your pumpkin will look like it's eaten bad seafood -- and your trick-or-treaters will love the gross-out effect.
For a little horror, stage a gory accident under your car. Take an old pair of jeans and stuff them with plastic bags. Place the waistband area under your car. Tuck shoes into the pants ends and, if desired, squirt a little ketchup around the scene. You'll stop your Halloween visitors in their tracks.
Here are some quick Halloween crafts that require only three items to make.
Project: Celestial Pumpkin
Crafter: Julie Young
Materials: Pumpkin, star cookie cutter, clear marbles
Instructions: Cut the bottom out of a pumpkin and clean its insides. Tap a metal star cookie cutter into the pumpkin in a random (or neat) pattern using a wooden mallet. Use a large, flat-head screwdriver to make holes in the pumpkin. Press a marble into each hole.
Materials: Pumpkin, star cookie cutter, clear marbles
Instructions: Cut the bottom out of a pumpkin and clean its insides. Tap a metal star cookie cutter into the pumpkin in a random (or neat) pattern using a wooden mallet. Use a large, flat-head screwdriver to make holes in the pumpkin. Press a marble into each hole.
Project: Wriggling Wreath
Crafter: Julie Young, courtesy of Martha Stewart Living
Materials: Grapevine wreath, bag of plastic snakes and black spray paint
Instructions: Spray the grapevine wreath and the snakes (available in toy stores or the science section of craft stores) with black paint. When dry, weave the snakes into the grapevine or hot-glue them to the face of the wreath and hang it on your front door.
Materials: Grapevine wreath, bag of plastic snakes and black spray paint
Instructions: Spray the grapevine wreath and the snakes (available in toy stores or the science section of craft stores) with black paint. When dry, weave the snakes into the grapevine or hot-glue them to the face of the wreath and hang it on your front door.
Project: Her Demise
Crafter: Better Homes & Gardens staff
Materials: Pumpkin, red and white duct tape and some witchy clothing.
Instructions: Cut a face out of the pumpkin. Place a hat -- a witch hat, of course, if you have one -- on the ground with the pumpkin face upside-down on top. Choose two long, sturdy tree branches from your yard for legs. Wrap each with white and red duct tape, alternating the colors. Push the legs into the ground and add black shoes. Drape a cape, coat or black fabric on the ground around the pumpkin.
Materials: Pumpkin, red and white duct tape and some witchy clothing.
Instructions: Cut a face out of the pumpkin. Place a hat -- a witch hat, of course, if you have one -- on the ground with the pumpkin face upside-down on top. Choose two long, sturdy tree branches from your yard for legs. Wrap each with white and red duct tape, alternating the colors. Push the legs into the ground and add black shoes. Drape a cape, coat or black fabric on the ground around the pumpkin.
Project: Tolling Ghosts
Crafter: Julie Young, courtesy of Country Living
Materials: Tissue-paper wedding bell centerpieces from a craft or wedding supply store, black felt and a bag of fake cobwebs.
Instructions: Open the bells. Cut eyes and a mouth out of black felt and hot glue them on as the ghost's face. Cover the bells with fake cobwebs, also available at craft stores. Hang them by their strings.
Materials: Tissue-paper wedding bell centerpieces from a craft or wedding supply store, black felt and a bag of fake cobwebs.
Instructions: Open the bells. Cut eyes and a mouth out of black felt and hot glue them on as the ghost's face. Cover the bells with fake cobwebs, also available at craft stores. Hang them by their strings.
Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or jyoung@timesdispatch.com.
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