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Viewing 1 - 8 out of 8 Blogs.
While I don't have a picture of the finished project yet (I took all the pieces to work, set it up there and have failed to snap a photo of it yet), you should get the idea. Combined with the amazingly easy Creepy Candlesticks, you'll have a very classy, yet eerie-looking centerpiece for any table that you can create by stopping by Wal-Mart (I try to steer clear when I can) with a couple of bucks and about twenty minutes of your time. Let's get to it. 
Your Material List: (and cost for people that've told me this'd cost too much to do). 1. Can of Spray Paint - .98 cents 2. An urn (or however many you need to make) - I found these for .97 each. 3. Spanish Moss - .99 4. Dark red or purple-ish fake flowers - .94 each. 5. Dark long fabric (enough to run the length of your table...found in the scrap area underneath the fabric-cutting table in Wal-Mart) - .75 6. Sheer, Patterned Fabric, preferably of a lighter color - (same place as 5) - 1.00 
The whole secret to this is project is your can of spray-paint. Just use it lightly to avoid running or drips of paint. Your trying to give these items an aged look. You'll also want to get an old sheet or protective plastic to avoid spray-painting things other than your project. Squirrels get a little pissed when they come to see what's going on and end up with a new coloration (don't ask...just accept that I know these things and I'm a HUGE animal lover and would NEVER do anything intentionally). Moving on... Step 1: (you may want to wear gloves for this) Ball up your Spanish Moss and spritz it with the paint. Toss the moss like a salad and spritz it again a few more times. Depending on what color of moss you buy, you're trying to eliminate any bright coloration. Step 2: Like you did with the moss, give your textured fabric a little spritz o' paint. When the paint's dry, take out some frustrations on it by tugging, pulling, tearing or cutting the fabric (especially the long ends). Step 3: Most flowers need water to look good. Not Halloween flowers! Spritz'em with your all-purpose can of paint just like you did in the previous steps. Again, you just want to darken them and remove any 'happy' coloration. You sort of get the idea in the 'close-up' image. Before is on the left, after on the right. Step 4: Finally, give your urn a big ol' spritzin' (and no, that's not a euphomism for anything so pull your head out of the gutter people...seriously). 
Step 5: Here's your urn and how the aging looks. Step 6: Add some flowers and your good to go. These even looked good in my backyard. 
The purpose of the urns is to be filled with candy. I made them for the greenroom at the stage where I work because I thought it'd be unobtrusive, would hold everyone's favorite food group this time of year and give the place an eerie look. NOTE: This blog was posted way back in October of 2007. I'll post the final photos in a couple of days for everyone to see just how cool this looks on a table along with the Creepy Candles, some cobwebs, and lots of candy! Take care, Tijuana Taxi
Tags: Project Candy Bowl Easy Cheap Simple
Here's a quick, easy addition to the Haunted Centerpiece or just add them all over the house to deaden things up a little.
Your materials:
Anything you can find that'll hold a candle. As an example of two totally different objects, I'm using an old rootbeer bottle and a small vase from the dollar store. You'll also need matches or a lighter, a pair of scissors and your aerosal hombre', the can of spray paint.
Step 1: Get your objects. Spray paint them black.
Step 2: Put the candles in their holders. You could just leave'em like they are in the picture...uh...not creepy. What you need to do is actually break the candles about 3/4 of the way down. Once broken, use your scissors to cut the wick. Now light the cut off portions and the candles still in the holders. Take your broken off pieces and begin dripping the melting wax onto the bottles as well as the sides of the candles still in the holders.
Step 3: And there you have it. This project, as is, will set you back a whopping $1.50 and cost you about ten minutes worth of your time.
While this project was originally a blog from MySpace in 2007, I'll be posting pictures in a couple days that show how this looked in combination with my haunted centerpiece project and a couple of other decor pieces.
Take care,
Tijuana Taxi
Tags: Candes Props Creepy Project Easy Simple
One minute I was bored sipping a new flavor of Jones Halloween edition soda and the next minute (or ten) I was so high off the sugar content (I hadn't eaten anything all day), I'd created a little thing I like to call a Jones-O-Lantern. I posted this last year, but it seemed to be pretty popular based on the response I got from both the official Jones soda site and fellow MySpacers.
One of the improvements that came out of the comments, was instead of using an actual candle (I just love using fire...the way it flickers..dancing...uh...nevermind) someone came up with the idea of using small, battery-operated Christmas lights. Another thirsty person who had a lot of time on their hands, strung several of these lanterns together on a string of purple and orange Halloween lights! So here it is as originally posted. Experiment with it and enjoy making your very own Jones - O - Lantern!
Step 1: Get some Jones Soda Halloween Edition and drink'em down! We're using a Candy Corn flavored can this time around.
Step 2: Your materials:
Your now empty can of Jones Soda (wasn't that a refreshing way to start a project). A sharp, smallish knife like a pocketknife. Tealight candle. Matches or a lighter. A can opener.
Step 3: Using the can opener, simply open the can like you would any other can that needed to be opened by a can opener (um..yeah, I know that sentence sounds wierd).
Step 4: Take a look at the rim of the can and make sure that there aren't any protruding sharp edges. If there are, you can usually bend them back with your knife.
Step 5: Using your pocketknife, very CAREFULLY cut out the pumpkin face on the front of the soda can (eyes, eyebrows, mouth...if you can get the nose with destroying the can...kudos to you).
Step 6: Sit back, pat yourself on the back, admire your little can-carving and pop open another soda to celebrate.
Now all you need to do is light your tealight, let a little wax drip into the can, blow out the flame, set the tealight onto the wax to help keep it centered in the can (IF IT IS NOT CENTERED PROPERLY THE CAN WILL GET EXTREMELY HOT), relight the candle by inserting a lit match through the mouth of the little pumpkin face and enjoy.
NOTES:
PLEASE! PLEASE! Use a little light set instead of a candle! It's much safer than my original version. That way you don't have to stress about someone deciding picking it up would be a good idea and you can just enjoy your party without worrying about an amulance ride!
Take care,
Tijuana Taxi
Tags: Project Jack-o-lantern Prop Light
Sometime in June, while doing some research regarding paranormal magic effects and illusions (I'm a magic hobbyist), I came across Brian's site. Those that know me also know how much I enjoy a well designed website. Brian's site was full of great information, videos, photos, etc,. One thing that really stuck out was Brushwood's paranormal slant to his magic and the finale of the show known as the EVP Illusion. Like a typical magician that's accidently fallen into some Tim Burton woodchipper, Brushwood's angle on magic was a breath of fresh air. In August, I'd received word that Brian would be performing at Halloween Horror Nights! Sitting in the Animal Planet Live stage, my friends seemed a little skeptical about this whole 'let's go see the magician' mission I was on. They weren't all that excited and their excitement waned when the opening act came out. The opening act were three muscle-bound gymnasts performing strength-balancing feats using one another for ballast. These three performers, for as cool as some of their positions were, had about as much character as a bag of carrots. No smiles, no thankyou, no greeting, no interaction with the audience (my biggest peeve EVER) at all except a request for applause. As they walked off, I turned to realize that my friends were staring at me with a 'this better be good'. Brian energetically hit the stage performing something called the Human Crazy Straw. Placing a large water cooler bottle with a spigot atop a six-foot ladder, Brian began mixing together water, milk, Pepsi (it's a Universal Park people) and orange juice into the container. Brian proceeded to wrap a long, clear tube around his body. Much to the joyous disgust of the audience one end of the tube was attached to the spigot and the other end was inserted into his nose and pulled out through his sinus and into his mouth. Brushwood then placed a small paper cup on the floor a couple feet away, turned the spigot on the jug letting the disgusting liquid gravity-feed itself throughout the tube (you could visibly see it happening), into his nose, out his mouth and finally into the cup. After the audience's own mixture of semi-vomiting and applause, Brian quickly introduced himself. Quickly moving on, Brian proceeded to find a couple of volunteers from the audience for his next effect. Both volunteers are handed microphones. One is handed a box containing a small nail while the other spectator is told to run a play-by-play commentary about what is taking place (for knowledgeable magicians, you'll realize this is Paul Harris' brilliant presentation for the PDQ coins across effect he performs). Brushwood then proceeds to insert the nail into his right eye, through his sinus cavity and finally out of his right eye! It's a great way to get the audience involved even if they can't get close like the people on stage. His volunteers reactions are great when they suddenly realize what's taking place. Brian moved into his next effect which I just can't seem to say enough about only because of his brilliant angle of presentation for what's become and old and tired effect (Kevin James performed this old and tired style while he was at HHN and I had to stop watching all the people around me yawn). Simply known, in layman's terms, as putting a skewer through your tongue, Brian's presentation builds to a gross, yet funny climax. Again Brushwood uses a volunteer from the audience whose reactions to everything make it even funnier. Because I know certain magicians read this blog, I won't go into details about the presentation. Most magicians tend to adhere to the rule 'monkey see, monkey do'. Magicians should try to see him to understand how unique, intelligent presentation can take something simple like this effect and turn it into a highly entertaining showpiece. Next up? One of my favorite pieces of his show and something that I heard people talking about during our little jaunt through the park. Actually it's not a something....it's a someone...sort of. Brian talks about wanting to enter the always lucrative market of children's birthday parties. Explaining that he has created a new routine just for children, he'd like to know if we'd like to see it. At this point you just HAVE to know how this odd magician's tastes could skewer that staple of Americana, the children's birthday party. Brushwood shifts into children's magician mode and asks if we'd wake up his little friend in a box resembling a MickeyD's HappyMeal package, Mr. HappyPants! On the count of three everyone says 'Hi, Mr. HappyPants!' Out from the box with a voice reminiscent of Regan's Satan-possessed tween carcass comes the voice of Mr. HappyPants...'Greetings mortals!' HappyPants resembles something like a satanic version of the hamburger helper glove after all the cuteness had been sucked from it's giggling little cartoonish body. It's an hysterical piece and one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. I won't go into detail here (you really have to see it for yourself and I'd hate to spoil the shenanigans involved). But let's just say that Mr. HappyPants is a hand puppet, there's a long needle involved and the effect is based on something simply called needle-thru-hand. My friends (being Disney puppeteers) completely LOVED it! For his finale, Brushwood's EVP Illusion is something you just have to experience yourself. When the effect is over let's just say you'll have an experience that will make you amazed, spooked, insanely shocked and walk away with a story and a permanent souvenir that's much cooler than any of the horribly designed t-shirts, cups or crap for purchase at this year's event. EVP Teaser Trailer Brian's approach to magic is refreshing. If I could only tell you how many times I've seen the same old effect taken off the same old shelf at the same old magic shop performed using the same old instructions. Above all, his creativity to his presentations, his handling of volunteers and his interaction with the audience is exceptional. Now if we could only get all the magicians out there (I'm looking at you, Mr. Kevin James) to put on a show with the energy, professionalism and interaction Brushwood's show does, magic would be perceived in a much better light than the dim one it currently shares with balloon animals and mimes. Take care, Tijuana Taxi If you're interested in learning more about Brian and Mr. HappyPants, check out the links below: Brian Brushwood's Official Site Brian's MySpace Profile Mr HappyPants MySpace Profile
Tags: Brian Brushwood HHN 2007 Halloween Horror Nights Magician Illusion EVP Magi
Over the last few years the Sci-Fi Channel has been showing one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Ghosthunters. Ghosthunters began very quietly as a series about two blue-collar Roto-Rooter Plumbers (Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson) who lived a second life as wranglers of hard evidence involving ghosts and supernatural activities. As soon as I'd seen the premiere episode, I was hooked. More than anything, the show was endearing and innocently charming. Early on, the series dealt with their day-to-day grind as plumbers, how they managed their own personal relationships and documented the supernatural.
There've been a LOT of shows on television dealing with hauntings and the supernatural in the past. Most of these shows take the stories as fact simply because someone said, 'Hey...I was in my room the other day and the rocking chair started rocking all by itself.' Ghosthunters, on the other hand, will listen, come in, really look at all the facts and say, 'Hey..Close the window in the room that the rocking chair's in and your 'ghost' will go away because there'll be no more breeze.' This is one of the biggest reasons to watch the show. TAPS (Ghosthunters is the name of the series, the group that actually does the investigating is known as TAPS - The Atlantic Paranormal Society) goes out of its way to debunk ANYTHING that could possibly cause what appears to be 'paranormal' activity. Their desire to find genuine evidence of the paranormal is what makes the show so compelling. When they've explained away all of the things that could cause what people believe is paranormal activity (headlights shining into a room from cars making a distant turn, open windows, water pipes leaking, etc), what you're left with are some of the most incredible voices, images and video that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
Not too long ago, I was lucky enough to meet two of my favorite TAPS team members (Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango) for an extremely quick meet and greet at Downtown Disney's Virgin Megastore. A friend of mine and also a huge fan of the show had told me that they'd be making a low-key appearance at the store. I arrived at Virgin right after work and didn't see anything but a display featuring all three seasons of the show...but then I went upstairs. It was just after six when I got in line and their were already about fifty people in line. By eight, there were almost three hundred! It was a testament to the show and the work they (TAPS) do week after week.
I am SO not a conversationalist, but Steve and Tango were really great. They talked with fans that wanted to talk a little about their own experiences, came down to the kids level when the littlest fans wanted to tell them a ghost story and were just genuinely friendly towards everyone. Two people ahead of me, a woman had given Steve a baseball cap signed by several Disney characters. When Steve graciously accepted it and showed it around proudly saying, 'I'm a huge Disney fan', I'd found some common ground for quick conversation. When my turn came, I simply thanked them for the work they did, making the show so enjoyable to watch and that they had a bunch of fans over at Disney MGM Studios. We posed for a quick picture, said some quick goodbyes and away I went with even more respect than I'd already had for the Ghosthunters.
Tags: Ghosthunters TAPS Paranormal Disney World Hollywood Studios
If you drink soda and don't feel like shelling out extra cash for those cheesy plastic goblets that can cost an arm and a leg this time of year, you're in luck. After finishing off 20 ounces of your favorite beverage from a plastic bottle, you can create your very own cheesy plastic goblet, save yourself some cash and, most importantly, get a few more uses out of it before you toss it in the landfill. 
Step 1: Your tools: A 20oz plastic soda bottle (check the end of the project for other ideas). A pen/Sharpie/marker of some sort. A sharp knife or dremel (a dremel is THE tool of choice for this). If YOU use the sharp knife of your own volition, be forewarned - IMPROPER USE DURING THIS PROJECT WILL GET YOU CUT! I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR IMPROPER USE OF SAID KNIFE! Aaaah...I feel much better, now. Step2: Unscrew the cap and use it to trace a circle in the center of the bottom of your bottle. Step3: Using your knife or dremel (again people...BE CAREFUL WITH THE POINTY/CUTTY THINGY! EVERYONE SHOULD OWN, LOVE OR CONSIDER OWNING OR GIVING A GOOD HOME TO A DREMEL) cut out your circle on the bottom of the bottle leaving a hole that we'll place the neck of the bottle through later on. Step4: File out the freshly cut hole (THE HOLE YOU CUT WITH A DREMEL OR CAREFULLY CUT WITH A KNIFE). 
Step5: Using your Sharpie, trace a line around the bottle where the curved bottom and the straight sides of the bottle meet (hopefully that'll make sense to you). Step6: CAREFULLY cut along this line. When you're done, the 'neck' portion will become the base of our goblet. Step7: You should now have three pieces. The cap. The bottom of the soda bottle that will become our base. The rest of the bottle that will be the actual goblet we'll be drinking out of to celebrate the cheesiness of this little project. Step8: Insert the neck of the bottle through the hole that you cut in the bottom earlier. Step9: Once the neck is through the hole (you may have to trim some more, it's a fairly tight fit), screw the cap on to hold the goblet to the base. Step10: Using a match or sandpaper, you can either melt the edges smooth or sand them down a little so nobody cuts their lips on the goblet (it is slightly sharp along the edge). Make sure you didn't cut yourself earlier and cause any kind of damage to your phalanges, then sit back and admire your crafty little goblet. Now you can paint the outside or add gems or whatever your little black heart desires to give it a more spooky look. I'll be posting some labels later on that you can just print and tape to the bottle. 
Once you've complete this project, experiment with it! Photo A shows what the goblet looks like with a drink in it. Photo B is this same project using a 2 liter bottle of soda. You could put punch in it or candy. Photo C is the 2 liter bottle again, but this time I turned the base upside down. You could put decorations in there, candy, or other small items. Another option with the upside-down base is to line it with foil and place dry ice in it for an eerie fog effect (my personal favorite touch). Another idea with the 2 liter is to use it as a candy dish. To do this simply cut the long sides off the bottle and use the neck and the base together. Ever since I first tried this I haven't been able to look at plastic bottles quite the same way. Enjoy, be careful and take care.
Tags: Project Decor Goblet Dish Dinnerware Recycle
Want to build your very own 'haunted portrait' like the ones used at Disney's Haunted Mansion? Well here's a completely quick, cheap and effective way to put your house guests at unease during my favorite time of the year.
Step1: Do a Google Image Search for a picture that suits your needs. Or just take one of yourself or a friend. To get the most out of the effect, you want an image where the eyeballs are fairly large or exaggerated like our skeleton image in this example.
Step2: Get the image to completely fill an entire page (the smaller the image the bigger the eyeball area will have to be and the thinner the mounting board later on).
Step3: When you're happy with your favorite unsettling image, print it out.
Step4: Your tools list: Small pocket-knife or exacto blade. A black Sharpie marker. A piece of blank scrap paper big enough to cover the area behind your picture's eyes. Scotch Tape. Foam board to mount your image on. Later on you can add a real picture frame and other embellishments. Right now we just want to grasp the basic illusion.
Step5: Mount your image to your foamboard. Then, using your knife/exacto blade, carefully cut out both eyes being sure to cut all the way through the foamboard behind it. This'll leave you with two holes you can see through.
Step6: After you've cut the eyes out, go back with your Sharpie and darken the white areas of the foamboard inside the eyes.
Step7: Take your blank piece of scrap paper and cover the eye-holes from the back.
Step8: Securely tape the scrap in place.
Step9: Using your Sharpie marker, place a dot representing the pupil in the center of each eye-hole.
Step10: Move your new creepy project around in front of your face! Keep your eyes on your portrait's eyes and be prepared to be spooked! Check out the pictures below taken of the project. Notice how no matter what angle I snapped the photo from, the eyes appear to be following me? Enjoy!
For some added fun, hit up the dollar store for some cheap frames, scan or take pictures of friends and families, photoshop the images to look old using a sepia filter (for the pros out there...I know, I know...you can do all kinds of stuff to help the aging process. This is just to keep it quick and simple for those that've never tried to make their own props). Make different sizes and experiment with them. Set them all over the house to create the very unsettling feeling that your guests are being watched everywhere they turn.
Tags: Props Portrait Moving Haunt Mansion Disney Eyes
Project:
Eerie Elements Labels
Hey people!
During the 2007 Halloween season, someone had asked me to make them something I'd really never given much thought to before: Halloween-themed labels for old bottles and jars. A friend of mine was having a halloween dinner for some friends and thought it'd be fun to put a few creepy labels on some of the containers. You'll find those labels below. While right now there are only a few, it's something I thought was a lot of fun. THIS year expect a HUGE library of new labels to keep popping up!
To use these labels simply right-click the label you'd like, save it to your computer and use your photo-manipulation software to resize it as needed. Print them on sticker-paper or just print them normally, cut them out and affix them to the halloween-starved bottle of your choice. Wah-lah! You now have some very easy, cheap and cool looking potions for your next party.
About the Eyeball Clump image. The 'Eyeball Clump' was more of an idea that turned out right. Find a jar or bottle you'd like to fill with a bunch of our little severed optic friends. Using your photo manipulation software (Paint, PSP, APS, etc,), resize the image to fit the heighth of your bottle and also print it wide enough so that if it were rolled into a loose tube, it would match the diameter or your container. Either laminate the image or place it into a ziploc-style bag to protect it from water. Rolling it into a loose tube inside the bag(you want to leave some space between your eyeball clump image and the wall of the container), insert it into your jar, add some semi-clear water to the top(add yellow food-coloring to the water or floaty bits of what ever your twisted little mind can come up with), put the lid on and you've got a container full o' eyeballs. Printing on heavier paper or cutting out the image and affixing it to a heavy paper will help keep it the diameter you need.
I've tried to make these directions clear (I'm a little flighty sometimes). If you have questions, improvements or cool ideas, please don't hesitate to send me a message. I'm a HUGE fan of feedback from people. I'd also LOVE to see how people are using the labels in their spooky decor!
So, without further adieu, here are the labels!
Enjoy and take care,
Tijuana Taxi
Tags: Potions Elixirs Label Jar Bottle Labels
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