When I saw the display of Styrofoam headstones at Dollar Tree last week, I knew that would be needing at least 15 of them. What exactly I would be needing them for, however, was, at the time, uncertain.
The headstones stood lined up against my living room wall for a few days while I considered my options. Making a cemetery out of them in my front yard was too predictable, and thus out of the question. So was using them as kick boards at the community pool.
After reading a Berenstain Bears book on bad habits last Friday, my kids and I realized that we had all of the supplies necessary to "bury" ours. We spent the rest of the afternoon making individual coffins out of empty grape crates that I found next to the dumpster at a local home brewery shop. After spray painting the crates black, we filled them with crumpled newspaper and covered them with scraps of colored satin (I would have used kitty litter if I didn't have cats). Then we attached the headstones and creepy crows with a glue gun.
When I asked Cortlen what bad habit he was going bury, he had trouble thinking of one. Fortunately, his siblings were very helpful and offered up lots of suggestions.
Camber had a friend from school over when we made the graveyards, so the friend made one too. When the girl's mother arrived at our house to retrieve her daughter, she saw the graveyards and was very impressed.
"Oh, you made a coffin," she said to her daughter. "That's just great."
The headstones stood lined up against my living room wall for a few days while I considered my options. Making a cemetery out of them in my front yard was too predictable, and thus out of the question. So was using them as kick boards at the community pool.
After reading a Berenstain Bears book on bad habits last Friday, my kids and I realized that we had all of the supplies necessary to "bury" ours. We spent the rest of the afternoon making individual coffins out of empty grape crates that I found next to the dumpster at a local home brewery shop. After spray painting the crates black, we filled them with crumpled newspaper and covered them with scraps of colored satin (I would have used kitty litter if I didn't have cats). Then we attached the headstones and creepy crows with a glue gun.
When I asked Cortlen what bad habit he was going bury, he had trouble thinking of one. Fortunately, his siblings were very helpful and offered up lots of suggestions.
Camber had a friend from school over when we made the graveyards, so the friend made one too. When the girl's mother arrived at our house to retrieve her daughter, she saw the graveyards and was very impressed.
"Oh, you made a coffin," she said to her daughter. "That's just great."
I was pleased that the woman liked them so much.
"If you want, I can show you how to make more," I offered, disproving everyone's theory that I am not a nice person.
Sadly, the woman turned me down.
Maybe I'll make her a dozen anyway and leave them on her doorstep.
P.S. Do you have any gross and/or slightly disturbing Halloween kids' crafts that you would be willing to share? If so, please tell! We've made Kleenex-covered Dum Dum ghosts three times in the past week. As thrilling as this is, we're ready to move on to bigger and creepier projects.
P.S. Do you have any gross and/or slightly disturbing Halloween kids' crafts that you would be willing to share? If so, please tell! We've made Kleenex-covered Dum Dum ghosts three times in the past week. As thrilling as this is, we're ready to move on to bigger and creepier projects.
Posts
20 comments
I love this idea. I am going to look at my dollar store to see if they have any of these headstone. I have tried the gospel approach to trying to get my children to be better. Hasn't worked so well, but this just might appeal to them.
Weeelllll,
If you take a small black paper plate, punch 8 holes around the edge, attach a pipe cleaner to each hole, then put googly eyes on the plate, you have a really cute spider. I cut the pipe cleaners in half so the legs aren't too stringy.
I did this craft at my daughter's halloween party in kindergarten and even the boys loved it.
OMG, this is hilarious. You are my new hero. If only my 2-year-old triplets were old enough for this. I'm going to have to remember this for halloween's to come for sure.
And just so you know, we had a Fear Factor bday party for my now 9-year-old daugther a couple of years ago. I made a kitty litter cake and it was a fabulous hit. The kids even ate the gross thing.
Recently one of the triplets has developed a severe paranoia of sleeping in his bedroom. Something about spiders and monsters. So to make him happy, I put his crib in teh closet and he's been sleeping in there just fine. I figure if anyone can get a kick out of a kid sleeping in a closet, it would be you.
My daugher was trying to make a mini igloo out of that spray foam insulation for a school project, but it came out looking more like a gooey brain. Really gross. She wants to make more...
Tampon ghosts and bats? You can save the extra supplies for Christmas - tampon angels!
http://www.tamponcrafts.com/halloween.html
jello-filled vinyl gloves. cold dead hands that are also edible! it's probably better to use the firmer jigglers recipe so the fingers don't fall off when you reverse peel off the gloves.
Here's hoping those habits don't come back from the dead!
I think that is very creative and is such a good way to make this coming holiday more personal.
Okay-is it just me, or does everyone else think tamponcrafts.com is just gross?!!
Martha Stewart has guest post pictures of their halloween decor. One of the ladies took old dolls and made a Zombie Girl Doll garden.
Here is the link:
http://contributors.marthastewart.com/portal/index.html?ctrl:id=window.default.ContestWindow&ctrl:type=render&ctrl:windowstate=normal&op=mpics&mmIndex=0&ccomm=22683&offset=32&msgperpage=8
Happy Halloween Crafting!
I saw some cute ones here http://familyfun.go.com/parties/holiday/minisite/halloween-main/halloween-main.html
I like the brain melons :)
Paper Plate Skeleton!
Here is the link
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/enjoying/071025halloween.html
It has other crafts!
Really cute and easy fun..
Used Q-Tip Craft
Dip mini marshmallows in melted butterscotch (about half the marshmallow)
Attach dipped marshmallows at the end of lollipop sticks...
There ya go!!
Great Idea!!!! I never would have thought of that. At my house we would have a whole graveyard and that would be just me.
Have you seen the spider cake with the guts that spill out when you cut into it? I think it's on familyfun. I love that one!
Jana, I found your blog through Tip Junkie, I think. But, I was having a bad day until I read your blog. Thank you so much! I can't stop laughing.
Race for complete mummy: 2 teams, 10 rolls of TP. Then have a mummy wedding.
Decorate and blow up latex gloves to make ghosts. Then stamp on them till they pop.
Paint each other's faces, or paint your own faces in a big mirror, so everyone can see everyone else.
Make paper maché skulls, paint them the next day.
Make a scarecrow out of household objects and old clothes.
One on my parent volunteers had this fun one for painting ghost. You use black construction paper and white paint. You let the kids step in the paint (they freak out when in gets between their toes). Then the step on the papers. When you flip the paper upside down, their toes are the bottom of the ghost and their heel is the head. Then they use black crayon to give it a scary ghost face. So much fun!
Oh this is too good, love it and my kids need it! I just found your blog and I haven't stopped laughing. Thankyou!
Wow, I've been slackin not checking up on your blog lately. Are you leaning towards Cleetus because it sounds like Clitoris? That's a Jonas Bonus if I've ever heard one. And today's post is hilarious, because I almost picked up 3 headstones at Walmart today, but didn't because my husband (who is a cheap bastard) would have thrown a fit at $2.50 a pop. So I got a thing of foam board ($1) and am going to construct 3 headstones with my childrens names and do a photoshoot with my children laying under them for my new blog banner. Oh, but a good craft is to buy milkbone doggie biscuits and paint them all white and string them together to make a bone garland or glue them to stuff. Your kids will be all over that business.
Post a Comment