Halloween Decor Part 1

I don't normally follow up my Halloween blogs with a "how to" for the decorations. But this year I had so many decorations, I thought it might be fun to give other Halloween enthusiasts some ideas. Here's a brief summary of the 2015 spooky decor:

• Skeleton dressed as a die hard Bruins Fan
• Ten glass candle-lit jars with themed cut-outs
• "Happy Halloween" signs
• A bat cave in the pumpkin with eight bats
• Mummy cat with lit rib cage
• Buzzard, mini jack-o-lanterns, decorated candy bucket

I'll cover all the details (including pictures) in six upcoming blogs. This blog covers how I created the perfect die hard Bruins Fan.

  The skeleton's outfit had several elements. He was wearing my Bruins PJ bottoms, my Bruins sweater, a handmade black and yellow yarn wig, and he was holding a rally sign. The clothing was the easiest since all I had to do was put it on Mr. Skinny. I did have to use a pin to reduce the waist size of the PJ pants to keep them from falling off. It is a toss up between the wig and the sign for which had a larger investment.

Inexpensive yarn used for the skeleton's wig

For the wig, I purchased two bundles of knitting yarn (364 yards each). I couldn't find small bundles, so now I have lots of leftover yarn to knit a sweater. Sadly I have NO clue how to knit. I guess I'll learn in my spare time. Each yarn bundle was $2.99, so I have roughly $6 invested in the wig. I purchased inexpensive "super saver" type of yarn since I wasn't worried about it falling apart. As for time, it probably took roughly 4-5 hours to complete. I first measured out a length of yarn about 30" and cut one black and one gold strand together. From there I kept using that as a measure. After I'd cut about 10 lengths of each color of yarn, I would randomly choose a new "measuring" piece of yarn to cut future strands. I kept doing this over and over until I had fairly randomly measured lengths that were all between 26" and 36". This gives a pleasing "sloppy" look to the wig. I grouped 10-12 strands of alternating black and gold yarn until I had about 18 total bundles. I used a black piece of yarn to connect the bundles by tying a knot around the first group, then the second, and so on.

This is one end of the wig where I started tying the bundles together

Another view showing the bundles tied together to make a natural "part"

For the rally sign, I purchased a 14"x22" piece of thin poster material for 49 cents. The other materials used for the sign were items I already had, but at most they would have cost just a few dollars to purchase. I laid out my design and decided it would look cool to have "Bruins" in gold lettering on a black background. I used my computer to print out "Bruins" in all caps in a thick font that I mirrored horizontally. I printed the backwards letters onto a sheet of self stick paper (the kind normally used for package labels). I stuck the letters to a piece of gold art paper. I used a pair of scissors and an art knife to cut out each letter. When I flipped them over, they were perfectly cut and no sign of what I used as a guide. I glued each letter to a long black rectangle. 

The rally sign. The Bruins won Halloween night so it must have worked!

Once that was complete, I had to fit the piece onto the poster around the brown bear I'd drawn. I had the idea to cut around the bear's ears and fit the black rectangle behind them. It made for an awesome effect and a tighter bond with the poster. I simply glued the rectangle to the poster and the bears ears to the rectangle. Time-wise, I probably had about 4 hours in the poster. My husband also helped me by re-enforcing the back of the poster so it wouldn't flop around while Mr. Skinny was holding it. 

Close-up of the lettering and how I fit the black section behind the bear's ear

The awesome reinforcement my husband did to keep the sign from collapsing

I hope you enjoyed the coverage of the die hard Bruins Fan decoration. I had a ton of fun creating a festive atmosphere this Halloween. Look for future blogs covering the rest of the decorations.