Halloween Haints

Halloween, our favorite holiday, is nearly here. The Colonel saw a new Halloween decorating idea on line and wanted see if we could do it for ourselves. There were no instructions accompanying the photograph of the decoration but we both hold college degrees and felt very confident in our ability to execute the project.

We were going to make ghosts to set out in the yard. We wanted to make one for our yard and one for My-Favorite-Father-In-Law's yard. He also likes decorating for Halloween.

The material used in the ghost fabrication is chicken wire. The Colonel and I stretched out the roll of chicken wire and using wire cutters, cut the roll into four 6-ft pieces.

We then took two of the pieces and "stitched" them together with tiny zip ties to create a tall tube.

We placed the chicken wire tube over a bucket so that it would stand as we began forming our ghost. We used a piece of rope to mark the shoulders. The Colonel then cut the excess wire away (we would use that to form the head) and we closed the top end of the tube.

Sculpting with chicken wire is not easy. I pinched and pulled on the wire and eventually a ghostly human form took shape.

The Colonel worked on the head as I worked on the body.

When we were satisfied with the form of the ghost we took her out into the yard to be painted.

We were pleased with our first attempt. We placed her in various spots in the yard to see what she would look like.

The Colonel then painted the yard ghost with glow-in-the-dark spray paint. We later checked her out in the dark garage. She glowed perfectly.

It was time to sculpt another ghost with the remaining chicken wire. The second ghost took less time to make (we knew by then what we were doing). She was taller than the first ghost and she looked older. I got the feeling that they were mother and daughter ghosts.

The Colonel and I liked the older, taller ghost and decided to give her daughter to My-Favorite-Father-In-Law. He was thrilled with her. We placed her in the front yard and used landscape staples to anchor her in place.

When we returned home we placed our ghost in our front yard. She looked great. I especially think seeing the fence through her is a great effect.

This is my other Halloween yard decoration...a pole-dancing skeleton. I couldn't resist. It is lit up at night with a spot light.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!