My Graveyard Inhabitants - TUTORIAL

My yard is cool - I'm not going to deny it.  I'm not bragging - just telling the truth.  However, lately I've been feeling bleh about it.  It's been missing something...or someone...or...several someones...

To combat this feeling, I've been busy, busy, busy.  Allow me to present the Gruesome Threesome!

Mr. Bubbles the Clown eats children who take more than one piece of candy.  Count Carpen A. Ter loves the sweet, sugary blood of children who eat too much candy.  And, the witch, well, she doesn't have a name or a back story or a hat for that matter (though she will soon.)  LOL.  Got a good name for her?  Leave it in the comments!

Would you like to know how to make your own?  Let's start.

Supplies:

Some outdoor signs and their ground stakes - look for political signs as they're everywhere right now and work perfectly

Scissors and X-acto knife

Glue gun and glue

Assortment of acrylic craft paints and brushes

Primer (NOT oil based unless that's all you've got on hand) and brush

Yarn - for hair

1) Draw your desired shape out on your sign and cut it out.  For the Gruesome Threesome, I simply did their shoulders, necks, and heads.  I also made some arms and hands - that aren't done right now - LOL.  (Please ignore the one that's wrapped in duck tape - it's a work in progress.  I hope to make it into a mummy.)

2) Prime them with your....primer!  Let them dry and then coat them again.  This gives you a good surface to do your decorative painting on and covers up whatever your sign had been advertising.

3) Once that second coat of primer is dry, paint your design on your body pieces.

4) Make and glue down some yarn hair if you'd like.  If you live in a rainy area, I suggest you coat them with some form of clear sealant or varnish.  I haven't tested mine in rain yet, but I highly suspect the paint might run if it's not 100% dry. Once they're done to your satisfaction, slip that stake back into them and place them in your yard.

I'd show you pictures of them in my oh so cool yard, but a) they're not completely dry yet, b) it rained today, and c) it's too dark to take pictures outside anyways.  So, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Well, I think I am going to go work on those two rogue sets of hands.  Maybe they can be zombie hands for over by my tombstones.

There're three days left until Halloween.  It's not too late to decorate your yard!  Happy crafting.