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Health & Fitness

A Home Haunter's Guide To Making Decorations

With Halloween approaching, here's some homemade decorating tips to make your front yard frightful!

Not long after our family moved into our home here in Levittown, I found myself standing on the front lawn contemplating -- of all things -- holiday decorating.  Growing up in an attached row-house in Queens, my Dad did as much decorating as he could on our front porch, wrapping lights around the wrought-iron gate and placing those 3-foot tall plastic candles on either side of the doorway.  There was also a plastic Santa and snowman tied down somewhere as well (this was long before the day of inflatables) to add to the holiday atmosphere.

Now here I was in my own home, contemplating the decorating possibilities.  But as I glanced from the bushes  to the lawn, images of twinkling multi-colored lights, inflatable snowmen and other Yuletide decor faded from my mind -- and were replaced with tombstones, ghoulishly grinning pumpkins and sinister scarecrows.

It became quickly apparent to my poor wife that my well-established love for Halloween was about to spill out onto the front of our house.

As you probably saw from the pictures I love decorating for Halloween.  There are plenty of folks that do it far better than I do, but with little kids in the house, I made a promise not to make things too elaborate or scary -- at least not for a while.

In terms of decor, Halloween is rapidly closing in on Christmas, with stores like Target and Party City -- as well as seasonal shops like Spirit Halloween -- offering up a menagerie of animatronics, Styrofoam tombstones, lights and more.  However, the decorations can be very expensive. 

A few years back I started skulking about the Internet for do-it-yourself tips and instructions.  At websites like Home Haunters Association you'll find instructions to build your own talking skull, opening coffins, bottomless pits and so much more.

If you're willing to put the time and patience, plus you have a little creative streak, you can create your own decorations -- sometimes for much cheaper than the store-bought offerings.

My first project was a fence to enclose my 'cemetery.'  A number of the stores sell plastic fences, but they tend to be small, flimsy and pricey -- really not worth the purchase.  I wanted something that would be sturdy, at least waist high, and not look cheap.

One of the 'recipes' I found online called for building fence with PVC pipe and pieces of 1x2 lumber.  I'm including it below. 

Another fun and relatively easy decoration trick I picked up this year was the "Freshly Dug Grave."  You stuff a garbage back with crumpled up newspapers and place it on the ground (preferably in front of a Styrofoam tombstone). You then take a large brown bath towel and drape it over the bag so it looks like there's a large 'lump' of piled up earth.  Hold it down with a couple of think metal stakes and then sprinkle dried leaves and some straw over it -- in the dark it looks very realistic.

Next year I plan to make my own tombstones with the insulation foam board you find at most home improvement superstores.  I've seen pictures of the tombstones some home haunters have made themselves which put the store-bought ones to absolute shame.

Are you a Home Haunter?  Do you have any decorating tips you want to share?  Post them below!

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HALLOWEEN CEMETERY FENCE INSTRUCTIONS

What You Will Need (makes One Four Foot Piece of Fence)

- 2 10 foot long PVC pipes
- PVC Pipe cutter
- 1 piece of 1X2 lumber, cut in half
- Drill
- 7/8" drill bit
- 1/8 drill bit
- drill bit for Phillips screws
- 1 1/4 " wood screws
- 2 20" pieces of Rebar
- Rubber Mallet

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Step 1: The Wood
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1. If your 1x2s did not already come in 4ft pieces, measure and cut the 8ft pieces in half.  Sand any jagged edges.

2. Measure 4 inches in from one end and make a mark. From this mark, measure and make mark every 8 inches until you have six (6) dots.

3. At each mark find the middle and make a mark with a pencil (The center should be around 3/4 inches in)

4. Using the 7/8" drill bit, drill the holes into the wood where the six (6) marks are.  If you want, sand down any jagged or splintery spots. 

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Step 2: The Pipe
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1. Take your PVC pipe and measure 40 inches, making mark with a pencil or other writing tool.
 
2. Using a PVC pipe cutter, hacksaw or miter saw, carefully cut the 10 ft pipes until you have six pieces.  A 10' piece of PVC should provide you with two (3) 40" pieces.

ALTERNATE DECOR IDEA: For a different style fence, cut three pieces of pipe at 40", and three at the 36-38".  More on this below

3. Take a fine grit sandpaper and lightly scuff up the surface of the pipes. Creating a rough surface on the area you wish to paint will help the paint adhere better to the pipe.

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Step 3: Assembly
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1. Slide the PVC pipes into the holes of the piece of 1x2 board you are using for the bottom. There should be about 5 to 6 inches of pipe exposed from the bottom of the pipe.

2. Use a 1/8 in drill bit to put starter holes through the wood and the six PVC pipes.  DO NOT go all the way through to the other side of the wood.

3. Screw your 1 1/4 " wood screws into the holes and through the pipes, locking them in place.

ALTERNATE DECOR IDEA: If you cut different sizes of PVC pipe, make sure to place them in the holes alternately (you'll need more than the two original pieces of pipe):

-- 48 " -- 44 " --  48 " -- 44 " --  48 " -- 44 " --

4. Slide the bottom 1x2 board onto the PVC pipes, about 5 to 6 " from the bottom.  Repeat the drilling and screwing steps as above ONLY on the middle four pipes.  Do not drill into the two outside pieces.

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 Step 4: Painting
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1. Place your fence in a well-ventilated area, preferably outside.  Depending on your location, you may want to place some tarps down and around.

2. Spray the entire fence with black primer. OPTIONAL: lightly spray various sections with gray, silver and/or reddish paint for effect.


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Step 5: Topping the Pipes
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There are all sorts of things to top the pipes with. 

- This site has plastic finials that you can place on top of the pipes for a classic fence look
http://www.hooverfence.com/ornamental/finials/plastic.htm

Look for item PL-260T-4.  These fence points have a 3/4 inch square base so you will have to do a little modification to the ends of each PVC pipe to make them fit.  A Dremel tool for this works the best. Also use a little bit of glue so the points don't come off.

- For a creepy look, you can purchase small plastic or Styrofoam or plastic skulls (I get mine at Party City) and place them on top. I use a tube of liquid nails to glue them to the top.

If you want you can also place them on before the painting steps and then paint them the same color as the fences.

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Step 6: Setting up
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1. With a rubber mallet, hammer 2 sections of rebar into the ground at each end of the fence, leaving 5 to 8 inches exposed.

2. Place the fence posts over the rebar and slide down.  Because we didn't screw in the two end pipes, the Rebar will slide right into them.

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