All Hallows Eve – aka Halloween!

Ok, hands up who loves this time of year? The chill in the air, the leaves slowly turning from green to russet red and golden yellow, the sound as they crunch underfoot; the smell of freshly brewed coffee and cinnamon rolls. It is one of my favourite seasons. I love wearing thick woolly jumpers and making hot chocolate drinks in the evening before settling down to watch Strictly Come Dancing on T.V. Taking a stroll around Richmond Park and Petersham Nurseries or visiting Osterley House gardens. I think I am happiest in autumn. Of course, another great reason to love October is Halloween! While I may have trained as a prop maker and now earn my living turning your baby’s and children’s hands and feet into cherished keepsakes, such as these simply gorgeous freestanding bronzes, I do love turning my hand to make-up. The gorier the better!

I love nothing more than creating monster faces for me, my family and friends. Of course, over the last few years we haven’t been able to get out much to celebrate All- Hallows Eve, so we decorated the house instead! You can create really amazing looking decorations for very little money or you can splash out on the best gory bits and bobs you can buy. To help you out this year, I thought I would share some ideas here: Very important safety info first though – keep these decorations out of the way of little fingers and greedy mouths!

Spider’s webs

If you have a big budget for your Halloween party, you really can’t go wrong with using the stuff the professionals use. Flints theatrical suppliers sell Kobweb Spray. It really is the best you can get and creates fine filament webs that look very, very real! If you don’t want to spend too much, then you can easily get away with stretchable webbing – from that well known online retailer – which are usually one use only but they are very effective. Little plastic spiders look great on them too. Want to get creative, retro and eco-friendly all at once? Think DIY and good old fashioned string! Yes, that’s right. You can use string to make your own webbing. It will look and feel rustic, which is perfect if you don’t want to go too crazy with the blood and gore. You can also hang whatever you like from the string too. Such as little chocolate treats or pipe cleaner spiders. You can get the kids to help too. This is a great little video on how to make a web.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaHMJVMQits

Ghosts

What is spookier than ghastly ghosts floating around the room? Some might say their better half after a Friday night – I couldn’t possibly comment – but I think spectral visions are right up there on the scare scale! Top notch ghosts can be had from plenty of online platforms. I particularly love this frightening mirror ghost - you can find this on Etsy UK.

Don’t want to spend the bucks? How about making several different sized ghosts out of paper and using a generous amount of glow in the dark glue around the edges and where the mouth and eyes would be? Then just stick it onto the wall with Blu-tack and you’re good to go. Want a more 3D effect? Glow in the dark ghost balloons! Simply purchase glow sticks and a pack of balloons, some lightweight cloth to cover the balloons with, a marker pen and fishing wire or string (I do love string!) to hang them from the ceiling or bannisters. These are best made on the day. Pop a glow stick into a balloon and blow up. Tie off. Then draw a ghostly face on the balloon (think Casper or the Scream mask), making sure the tie is at the top of the head. Drape the balloon in your lightweight cloth (cutting a hole where the tie can come through) and suspend using the string. Make sure you crack the glow sticks before inserting!

Skeletons

There are so many skeletons to be had out there you will be spoilt for choice! You might get so carried away that your home could get mistaken for a gruesome graveyard… Life-size skeletons can be had for as little as £50 but how about a 12ft tall skeleton dressed as the Grim Reaper? That would make a fantastic centrepiece for your celebrations. You don’t have to go full skeleton, you can create little mini bone piles dotted around your house or on the front porch. There are plenty of places you can buy a pile of faux bones and once you use some fake cobwebs on them and scattered some crinkly autumnal leaves around, they will look authentic and scary. Want to get a little fancy? Dry ice. Extremely easy to use. But do read the instructions carefully and dry ice is to only to be used by adults! Place a bowl of water underneath the bone pile and place in a block of dry ice and instant, eerie mist will flow out. If you don’t have the room or the budget, there are plenty of paper skeletons out there that can be hung from bannisters or stuck onto a wall. I hope you like some of these ideas. There is no limit to decoration except your imagination. Whatever or however you decide to celebrate, I hope you have a truly ‘ghastly’ time! And Christmas, you can wait your turn thank you… for it’s Spooky season now.

If you are interested in Image Casting’s bespoke life-casting service and would like to find out more, please go to our website: https://imagecasting.co.uk/

Or email me: info@imagecasying.co.uk

Happy Halloween!