Hacking Summer

It’s still August, but the stores are looking forward to Back-to-school merchandise, then on to Halloween. And that means summer merchandise is being heavily discounted. This can be a boon to the home haunter. There are tons of summer items that can be hacked for Halloween

For example, garden statues are a great buy. Even the cute cherubs can take on a spooky look in a darkened cemetery. Dab some UV paint on the eyes and make em glow like a old Bonnie Tyler music video.

Then there are options for lighting. There are tons of lanterns of all shapes and sizes sold these days. Built for votive candles or tea lights, they make great atmospheric lighting. Cover those awful bright colors with some black paint and a misting of silver or brass paint. Then, on the glass, spray on some frosted glass spray paint and a bit of black spray paint to look like soot. Stick a battery operated tealight ( I like the ones from Minions Web – they last forever!) in it and place it in the graveyard.

I found this battery operated hurricane lantern at Big Lots for $5. It’s plastic, but looks good enough to hold in my hand as I open the door for trick-or-treaters. A little drybrushing on the base with some metallic paint at it will look even better.

And what would summer be without pool noodles? You know.. those flexible, floatable, whack-your-little-brother-over-the-head fun filled pool toys. Even something as simple and ‘summery’ as pool noodles can be used for Halloween. It’s amazing what you can do with these things.

Use them as an architectural embellishment for a mausoleum, as at spookyblue.com
Fill out the arms and legs of Halloween dummies to sit on your porch.
Use yellow noodles as giant French fries and go as a box of your favorite fried fast food (ok, this is a stretch, but it’s real. I saw it on Pintrest)
Cover with striped stockings and high heels, and you have Wicked Witch of the West legs to stick under your house
Legs for a huge spider
Even hanging from the ceiling in a haunted house scare zone.