# Classic Universal Monster Party



## dawnski

This year I'm planning a classic monster party with rooms dedicated to the Mummy, Dracula, Invisible Man and Frankenstein. Possibly a Creature from the Black Lagoon bathroom if I have time. Thought I'd use this thread to share my prop updates. Please feel free to offer suggestions. This is a whole house party so every nook and cranny is decorated.

My first creation is a stained glass effect for the window wells in our basement. Our basement will be the main party area and will look like Frankenstein's laboratory. I took poster board and sized it to the windows. I cut out a gothic style window design. Rather than use colored tissue paper, I decided to use this as a homage to all the horror classics. The "windows" are filled with colorful artwork I found on the Internet. This took some work but they turned out awesome! For the party, I will have a back light in the window well so the colors will really pop. This was relatively inexpensive aside from all the toner I used up.


----------



## stormygirl84

GUH.  I am in awe of your designs! They look lovely! I'd pay good money for something like that in stores!


----------



## chinclub

They turned out great. You are off to a wonderful start!


----------



## dawnski

Some raw materials for my Frankenstein lab. Some interesting packing material, fan parts and thees Dollar Tree hummingbird feeders that looked like big light bulbs. Figured I would put some glow necklaces in those. Not sure how I'm going to paint these items. I have an entertainment unit that takes up an entire long wall of our basement. These items are going to fill sections of the bookshelves. Chime in if you have any ideas for painting or using the fan parts. This room will have black light so I want to get creative with the black light paint in here.


----------



## Paint It Black

WOW. I love the gothic stained glass window effect with the monster photos. Brilliant!! I will be keeping close tabs on this thread!


----------



## dawnski

Spent the afternoon spray painting. Used layers of grey, black, red oxide primer and fluorescent green. Doesn't look like much in a regular flash shot, but looks fantastic under black light. Must wait for later in the year to include on my bookshelves.


----------



## dawnski

Final project of the day. Picked up these Egyptian statues at a thrift store. Spray painted them gold for my Mummy room.


----------



## awokennightmare

This party sounds awesome! Everything you've done so far looks amazing!


----------



## HalloweenTrick

Wow the stained glass is awesome! Love your ideas so far! Since your using black lights in the lab you could fill up some apothecary jars with tonic water or Tide detergent to give them the glowing effect.


----------



## Tannasgach

What a fun theme. Dawn, the stained glass windows came out awesome. Here's a link you could use for ideas or inspiration for the Frankenstein lab: http://www.steltercreativewoodworks.com/STELTER1/Frankenstein_x.html


----------



## dawnski

Tannasgach said:


> Here's a link you could use for ideas or inspiration for the Frankenstein lab: http://www.steltercreativewoodworks.com/STELTER1/Frankenstein_x.html


Those look fantastic. Oh to have an unlimited budget!


----------



## dawnski

HalloweenTrick said:


> Since your using black lights in the lab you could fill up some apothecary jars with tonic water or Tide detergent to give them the glowing effect.


Good ideas. I also found glow in the dark slime at the Dollar Tree that I plan to put in some smaller bottles. It has a real bright glow.


----------



## DeadMonique

Awesome! Can't wait to see all of your progress. That window is AMAZING!


----------



## GobbyGruesome

Agreed on the amazingness of the stained glass window!

You might want to check out TwistedUk's Frankenstein laboratory album - it's really incredible stuff...
http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/twisteduk-albums-frankenstien-lab.html

And you saw that Midnight Syndicate's upcoming CD is heavily focused on Universal and Hammer horrors?

There's a new Bela Legosi latex mask kicking around out there - not super cheap but not outrageous either. http://www.trickortreatstudios.com/bela_lugosi_dracula_full_head_mask.html

We've had 5 of the universal(ish) monsters in our yard for the past few years and try to keep upgrading 'em a bit until we're happy with 'em (the creature has a loooooong way to go), so I'm anxious to see how this turns out.


----------



## Sublime Nightmare

Did you use regular paper or transparency?


----------



## diggerc

Sublime Nightmare said:


> Did you use regular paper or transparency?


Was just about to ask the same question.


----------



## witchy poo

Love your theme and everything you have done so far. In the Mummy room are you going to have like a treasure chest? I am big into St Patricks day since I am part Irish and I spray painted rocks and solid bricks shiny gold and they look just like gold nuggets and bricks. I also picked up cheep plastic coins and beads at the dollar store, I spray painted them gold as well. Hobby Lobby has fake jewels that you could sprinkle in. Just a few thoughts, can't wait to see more of your props


----------



## dawnski

I used standard paper for the stained glass. With a transparency, you'd get a glare from the lighting behind it. This will shine very brightly with the contrasting black. And the room itself will have dimmed lighting as well.


----------



## dawnski

witchy poo said:


> I spray painted rocks and solid bricks shiny gold and they look just like gold nuggets and bricks. I also picked up cheep plastic coins and beads at the dollar store, I spray painted them gold as well. Hobby Lobby has fake jewels that you could sprinkle in. Just a few thoughts, can't wait to see more of your props


That's a wonderful idea. I didn't think of that. I picked up a big, long chest that normally would go by the foot of your bed. But it looks like an old fashioned coffin/crate. I think I'm going to lay a mummy on top of this as opposed to using it for my dracula room. I could lay some treasures out by it.


----------



## dawnski

GobbyGruesome said:


> Agreed on the amazingness of the stained glass window!
> 
> You might want to check out TwistedUk's Frankenstein laboratory album - it's really incredible stuff...
> http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/twisteduk-albums-frankenstien-lab.html
> .


I weep at my limited artistic skills. Twisted UK's props are so amazing--something to aspire to.


----------



## GobbyGruesome

ˆLove that both of you are getting really inventive with the found objects! That's a big part of Halloween for me - solving problems with what you have handy. Keep the updates coming!


----------



## dawnski

I've been searching for a statue that looks similar to Anubis and finally found one with this Siamese cat. Turned out pretty nice. Putting a sealant on it right now.


----------



## ActionJax

I am so jealous. Last year my wife and I wanted to do a Universal Classic Monster party. But we just couldn't get it off the ground. Just plane ran out of time. And things don't look to good for this year either. I am a HUGE fan. And LOVE what you're doing. If I lived anywhere near you, I'd be demanding an invitation!  Look forward to seeing what else you're cooking up. Cheers!


----------



## dawnski

Witchy Poo inspired me to look around the house for some items I could turn gold as treasure items for my mummy room. I picked up a lamp at a garage sale for 25 cents because the glass was broken. I turned this into a scarab lamp. I had some busted up nesting dolls (broken portion in back) that turned into some lovely canopic jars. Glad I didn't throw that away. Finally some miscellaneous items turned gold. I added hieroglyphics to each stone.


----------



## Paint It Black

Nice job turning random objects into ancient Egyptian treasure!!!


----------



## witchy poo

WOW those look great


----------



## witchy poo

I just noticed you live in IL. Me too, I live in Petersburg near Springfield.


----------



## dawnski

witchy poo said:


> I just noticed you live in IL. Me too, I live in Petersburg near Springfield.


Glad to find another Illinoisian. I'm in Naperville, near Aurora.


----------



## dawnski

Okay, hopefully this is my last gold project. I found this large glass decanter at a garage sale today for $2 and couldn't resist.


----------



## pumpkinpie

That is an incredible find!!!! Looks like it was made to be dipped in gold...good eye


----------



## Paint It Black

Love this treasure too!


----------



## dawnski

Here's that coffin/crate I picked up at a yard sale. I had planned to put this in my mummy room but I don't have a good spot for this monstrosity. Plus it's super heavy and I'm worried some little fingers may accidentally get slammed. My plan now is to put this on my dining room table (Dracula room) to display desserts. Put a candelabra on top and some other items.


----------



## dawnski

Found this Creature from the Black Lagoon torso. It's $90 at Oriental Trading. It would have been perfect for the wall of our bathroom. But that's a little too high for an item that I wouldn't easily fit into future Halloween themes. For anyone interested in it, I did some searching and that seems to be the best price. It's $30 higher at some places. Plus they have a 15% off coupon code (through the 20th) if you do a search for it on the Internet. They also have a similar item for Frankenstein and Dracula. http://www.orientaltrading.com/crea...er-a2-13576367.fltr?BP=11652&cm_mmc=TellApart

I have to say, I'm impressed with Oriental Trading on their Halloween props. In years past, they've been pretty cheap looking. This year, they have some nice quality items.


----------



## Sublime Nightmare

OTC also has the Universal Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolfman. Here's the link and they're $90 each.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/api/search?Ntt=grave+walker


----------



## witchy poo

I have friends in Naperville. Long way from me though, guess I wont make it to your party, LOL. I love all your ideas, I may have to try this theme in the future so keep the pics coming  Did you sign up for reaper? If so I hope I get you cause I have a couple things that would fit your theme, HINT HINT Bethany.


----------



## witchy poo

The chest is great. If you wanted to use it you could mount some kind of stops like maybe attach some mummy hands on the edge so it wont shut all the way so fingers would not get pinched. It would look really cool tho on the table. Are you leaving it as is or are you darkening it?


----------



## dawnski

I did sign up for the Reader! That is a good idea about the mummy hands. I think I'm going to leave it alone regarding the stain. It has that classic ghost town look to it. My dracula room will be lighted purple or red so I'm not too concerned about shading.


----------



## stormygirl84

dawnski said:


> I've been searching for a statue that looks similar to Anubis and finally found one with this Siamese cat. Turned out pretty nice. Putting a sealant on it right now.


It's Bast! She's beautiful! Again, this is something I'd pay good money for.

I'm loving your Egyptian decor. I've always wanted to see (possibly do?) an Egyptian theme, but that sort of stuff can be so hard to find.


----------



## talkingcatblues

dawnski said:


> I've been searching for a statue that looks similar to Anubis and finally found one with this Siamese cat. Turned out pretty nice. Putting a sealant on it right now.


Oh, what a beauty! You did such a great job on that!


----------



## dawnski

A happy find today! Probably will put in my Dracula room. Three feet tall, the weapons are made of metal and can come off.


----------



## Paint It Black

dawnski, You are coming up with some really great props with big impact - the medieval shield, the coffin, the stained glass window. Too bad that OTC creature is so so expensive. I wonder if anyplace else carries it at a lower price?


----------



## witchy poo

Love the shield. I have been looking for a vampire skull that is not to expensive. I did a vampire theme in my living room last year.


----------



## Sublime Nightmare

Oh wow, Witchypoo! That's awesome! 
I'm excited to see how the Universal Monsters party turns out. I want to do something similar, but not necessarily "Universal Monsters." I'm definitely keeping my eye on this thread.


Oh, lol! I just noticed the Dracula baby in the carriage! I'm not a fan of zombie babies, but that actually works!


----------



## dawnski

Witchy Poo I love that Dracula jar. I've been having a great weekend. I just picked up these two busts at a resale shop. This year I'll probably put vampire fang marks on them. I can re-purpose them every Halloween. Tomorrow there's a vintage garage sale in Chicago I'm going to check out.


----------



## stormygirl84

Saw this on FB today, thought of you and your party. Hope it gives you a smile, if nothing else.


----------



## dawnski

That's so funny. I might use it on my wall, thanks!


----------



## dawnski

Finished another project. I have a foyer/hallway with a large mirror at the end. I wanted to create a mausoleum look to this passageway. I saw a wonderful version on Mandy's Pinterest page. http://pinterest.com/kmb12357/things-i-have-made-halloween/ She did this with foam board on her garage door. I needed something flat that wouldn't destroy my wall.

I picked up black poster board and marble contact paper. I cut mausoleum size rectangles and affixed to the poster board. I doubted my ability to write script style on the contact paper. Many mausoleums have placards on their slabs. I found brass/gold looking letterhead at Staples. Trying to keep with my Universal theme, I found pictures and birth/death dates for the original authors and actors of the Universal movies. The printing is light and looks like what I would imagine a real brass print plate would look like.

It's not as nice as Mandy's but it will certainly work for the hallway. Add colored lighting, spider webs and a few accessories and this will look convincing enough. I made 12 in total. Closer to the date, I will tape these all together and hang with minimal holes in the wall. Cheap way to decorate a large area!


----------



## Paint It Black

Another great idea!


----------



## stormygirl84

Love it, love it, love it!


----------



## witchy poo

The busts are great, can't wait to see what you do with them. I am blown away with your mausoleum. If you had not said they were poster board, contact paper and gold paper I would have never been able to tell they were not real. I really love that you used authors and actors in the films. Can't wait for your next post.


----------



## Tannasgach

dawnski, you're doing an amazing job with this theme, your enthusiasm comes right through your posts and your projects are outstanding.  This is a great theme for thrift shop hunters like myself; you can collect things for a lot of themes all rolled into one party.


----------



## dawnski

I have a foosball table that I want to turn into my laboratory table. I saw this pic from a Young Frankenstein play. Thought I could replicate the side of this lab table with cardboard and attach to the side of my foosball table.


----------



## dawnski

Tannasgach said:


> dawnski, you're doing an amazing job with this theme, your enthusiasm comes right through your posts and your projects are outstanding.  This is a great theme for thrift shop hunters like myself; you can collect things for a lot of themes all rolled into one party.


I've become a total thrift store/garage sale fan for finding cool, items I can turn into props for my Halloween parties. For those afraid of not being crafty, you really can't mess things up. That's the beauty of Halloween. Even broken or mis-shapen things have their own creepy charm. These items turn out much nicer than anything I can buy at a Halloween store. I focus my Halloween store purchases now to items I can't make and scene setters as needed.


----------



## dbruner

The stained glass is phenomenal. Be sure to post lots of pics, can't wait to see the mummy room


----------



## dawnski

I picked up a Tekky Toys John Doe animated body last November on clearance at Darkside Displays. I had a few tense moments this weekend where I couldn't seem to get him to work. For some reason today, he just started working on his own. The music is a little loud but the heavy breathing is a nice effect. This guy is going to lay on my laboratory table. Not sure if I want to keep it sound activated or use a foot pedal yet. Here's a video on how he works. Pretty cool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uCrjhIgs-Y


----------



## kellygirl555

Awesome windows! Last year my Frankenstein Lab included beakers filled with "Atomic Glow"...found it on stevespanglerscience.com for about $10. A few drops added to water and it glows green under black lights.


----------



## pumpkinpie

dawnski said:


> Finished another project. I have a foyer/hallway with a large mirror at the end. I wanted to create a mausoleum look to this passageway. I saw a wonderful version on Mandy's Pinterest page. http://pinterest.com/kmb12357/things-i-have-made-halloween/ She did this with foam board on her garage door. I needed something flat that wouldn't destroy my wall.
> 
> I picked up black poster board and marble contact paper. I cut mausoleum size rectangles and affixed to the poster board. I doubted my ability to write script style on the contact paper. Many mausoleums have placards on their slabs. I found brass/gold looking letterhead at Staples. Trying to keep with my Universal theme, I found pictures and birth/death dates for the original authors and actors of the Universal movies. The printing is light and looks like what I would imagine a real brass print plate would look like.
> 
> It's not as nice as Mandy's but it will certainly work for the hallway. Add colored lighting, spider webs and a few accessories and this will look convincing enough. I made 12 in total. Closer to the date, I will tape these all together and hang with minimal holes in the wall. Cheap way to decorate a large area!


If the tape doesn't hold them, use straight pins (for sewing). I use them for everything including my spider webs. They are easily hidden, can be painted if need be and leave tiny holes. Works so much better than nails or tacks.

Btw, love this idea for a hallway. Really neat, can't wait to see them on the wall. You could even grab some of the plastic flower vases like what u see for Memorial Day, paint them to match and use them with flowers or as accent lighting (just drop in a pin light or solar light from DT)


----------



## dawnski

Found these awesome art nouveau style pillows of the Universal monsters on Society 6. They are kind of pricey but would look great on our couches. I'm keeping them in my "back pocket" if I can't find a cool design of my own to make. http://society6.com/search?q=hallowette&page=2 Besides the two pictures I've attached, I like the Frankenstein and Wolfman pillows.


----------



## Tannasgach

dawnski, I don't know if this has been mentioned but have you seen Midnight Syndicates new "Monsters of Legend" cd? 
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/07/spooky_band_midnight_syndicate.html


----------



## dawnski

Tannasgach said:


> dawnski, I don't know if this has been mentioned but have you seen Midnight Syndicates new "Monsters of Legend" cd?
> http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/07/spooky_band_midnight_syndicate.html


That is awesome, I'm going to have to pick that up!


----------



## Sublime Nightmare

I really hope this link works. It's a great Invisible Man prop. Looks like plaster cloth molded around a wig head or something. Here it is...


----------



## dawnski

Sublime Nightmare said:


> I really hope this link works. It's a great Invisible Man prop. Looks like plaster cloth molded around a wig head or something. Here it is...
> 
> View attachment 161854


I've seen that. A friend of mine wants me to make a see thru Invisible Man like that, but I'm not sure. I kind of like the film version where his head is fully covered in gauze with those steampunk kind of goggles. Not sure which way I'll go with it yet.


----------



## GobbyGruesome

Sublime Nightmare said:


> I really hope this link works. It's a great Invisible Man prop. Looks like plaster cloth molded around a wig head or something. Here it is...
> 
> View attachment 161854


Well if Dawnski doesn't want it, I'll take it!  We've been working on a yard of universal monsters and this would be nice addition. Thanks for posting this - maybe we'll give it a shot!


----------



## Jack'sEckstein

Love the decorations and love the theme!!!!


----------



## offmymeds

You could easily make that mask using rigid wrap. If you have a foam head....just put some foil over it before you wrap it.


----------



## dawnski

*Wall of crosses - Transylvania Inn*

Finally got around to finishing another project. I plan on turning my kitchen into a Transylvania inn. The one that Renfield visits on his way to see Count Dracula, where the villagers warn him not to go. I want my walls to be filled with crosses, rosaries and garlic. Here's my pile of crosses. This was super easy. I wrote a tutorial on it here: http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/128314-easy-diy-wall-crosses.html#post1487579

Fake garlic is another matter. I couldn't find a way to make realistic garlic strands. I picked up two strands online for around $22. http://www.amazon.com/20-Garlic-Strings-Artificial-Vegetables/dp/B008RIT2H4 I've seen Hobby Lobby sell individual garlic. Might purchase a few of those to put out on the table.


----------



## ActionJax

Been itching to see what else you've come up with. Anything new to report? I look everyday. Thanks.


----------



## dawnski

Ha, I've been on vacation and now in the last week before the kids start school. Hopefully will try and get something done soon!


----------



## dawnski

Well ActionJax, just for you, I got motivated and did another "stain glass" series. This one will be placed over our back door and adjacent windows. The kitchen will be done up as the Transylvania inn with the religious crosses. I found a great bunch of religious icon style pics for one window. The other two windows contain more humorous images keeping to the monster theme. I call these "conversation starters." Something for guests to find and have a chuckle over. I tried a different design with a series of peaks for my door. This was harder to match up the pics to the design. I think I'll cut off those peaks and keep it as two long series of images for the party.


----------



## dawnski

Well this was interesting. Another HF person posted on a thread a website called BlockPosters http://www.blockposters.com/ where you can upload an image. You type in how many pages across you want the image to be and it will give you a pdf allowing you to print out a block poster of the image. This image will be pixelated depending on the quality of the image. 

I took a hieroglyphic image and turned it into a block poster. It turned out pretty good. I plan to tape these together and put on the glass front of my fireplace. Then I will put a mummy laying in front of it. I'll also place some of those gold artifacts I posted about earlier here. If you need an image for a large space and don't mind cutting and taping, this website could be just the thing for you.


----------



## dawnski

Found a bunch of fun martini style pictures with some of the classic monsters, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Dracula. I plan on using that BlockPosters site to create an image montage behind our bar. This area will have black lights. I'm hoping the bright white of the paper will help to make them glow.


----------



## pumpkinpie

Awesome pics, those will look perfect with your bar!!!! Now u just need to find some funny bathroom ones


----------



## pumpkinpie

dawnski said:


> Well this was interesting. Another HF person posted on a thread a website called BlockPosters http://www.blockposters.com/ where you can upload an image. You type in how many pages across you want the image to be and it will give you a pdf allowing you to print out a block poster of the image. This image will be pixelated depending on the quality of the image.
> 
> I took a hieroglyphic image and turned it into a block poster. It turned out pretty good. I plan to tape these together and put on the glass front of my fireplace. Then I will put a mummy laying in front of it. I'll also place some of those gold artifacts I posted about earlier here. If you need an image for a large space and don't mind cutting and taping, this website could be just the thing for you.


Just saw this...not only great idea but beautiful!!!! U could literally encapsulate an entire room in hieroglyphs for that tomb like feel...amazing!!!! Thank u so much for sharing I'm thinking I may have to try this myself


----------



## dawnski

dawnski said:


> Found a bunch of fun martini style pictures with some of the classic monsters, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Dracula. I plan on using that BlockPosters site to create an image montage behind our bar. This area will have black lights. I'm hoping the bright white of the paper will help to make them glow.


Already have the bathrooms planned out. Our upstairs powder room is dark purple and works well with black light and black and white pictures. This room is going to have all Nosferatu pics. Not really Universal, but since I was going back that far, thought I would include a little tribute to that movie. Our basement bathroom is deep blue. This one will be a homage to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I've got a few funny creature pics I found and that someone else included here on this thread. I have high hopes for this room. Hope it turns out how I'm imagining it.


----------



## DarkManDustin

I'd get a plasma ball, (for sound effects purposes,) and the monster spirit ball. It looks great.


----------



## pumpkinpie

Great ideas!!!! Can't wait to see them


----------



## dawnski

DarkManDustin said:


> I'd get a plasma ball, (for sound effects purposes,) and the monster spirit ball. It looks great.


I just looked up the monster spirit ball. Oh my gosh, that is the coolest! I've got to get one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1jXKdLI9Ow


----------



## DarkManDustin

dawnski said:


> DarkManDustin said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'd get a plasma ball, (for sound effects purposes,) and the monster spirit ball. It looks great.
> 
> 
> 
> I just looked up the monster spirit ball. Oh my gosh, that is the coolest! I've got to get one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1jXKdLI9Ow
Click to expand...

I bet you could get both pretty reasonable online.


----------



## dawnski

I've done a search and it seems they're only on Ebay for $125. I don't know how much those were originally to know if that's a good price or not. If anyone sees this for sale online, let me know. It's the Gemmy animated monster spirit ball. There are ones of a witch and genie but I'm looking for the Frankenstein guy.

I just picked up a larger sized plasma ball at a resale shop today. Pretty happy with that purchase!


----------



## ActionJax

Dawnski,

Everything looks so cool! I love the martini pics! Those are going to look great. Thanks for keeping the post coming. Like I said before, I'm really excited to see what else you come up with.


----------



## Tannasgach

yay, dawnski's back and posting some awesome pictures and ideas!!!


----------



## Miss Erie

I cannot wait to see what you do with your Creature basement!!!! He's always been my fav as he creeped me out a a very early age.


----------



## dawnski

Today I did a little spray painting. I cut up some old black t-shirts. These I sprayed with red oxide primer and neon blue. I plan to cut these into strips and hang in our Creature of the Black Lagoon bathroom as seaweed. I took an old suit and pants and sprayed these with the red oxide primer and neon green. I thought the jacket turned out great. This will be for my Frankenstein monster. The room will have black light so I hope he glows appropriately.


----------



## dawnski

I bought a Creature from the Black Lagoon movie poster for my bathroom. But that Block Posters site has really got my creativity flowing. I am blowing up this image I found. My plan is to outline it with glow in the dark paint. Because the image has muted colors, I think the black light will pick up the bright white of the paper really well. This image should really pop behind the seaweed on the wall.


----------



## DeadMonique

My only suggestion is that you oughtta move a bit closer so that I can come to this party


----------



## dawnski

Rainy day today so I thought I'd work on that Creature pic. What a time saver! Originally I had planned to get green material, cut out a silhouette of the creature and draw it in. Then figure out how to stick it to my wall. This just took an afternoon assembling the sheets. Then I outlined the image with black light paint. And honestly, I didn't even need to do that. I brought out my black light and it looked great as is. Very pleased with this project.


----------



## ActionJax

That is gonna look sweet!


----------



## pumpkinpie

Loving that suit, it will make a perfect Frankenstein!!!!! Everything is looking so good


----------



## ActionJax

Yeah I forgot to mention that too. I love the way the suit looks. Can't wait to see how old Frankie turnes out.


----------



## dawnski

Today I worked on my mad lab jars. Lots of good labels on the Internet. I made my own labels for my large body part containers. A few of these I'll dirty up. Most will be filled with tonic water, colored water or powder. I check out antique stores and pick up old medicine bottles. Finally have the chance to use some of them!


----------



## ActionJax

You are just rockin it! And it seems like this is so effortless for you. I need to pay you to come to my house to decorate.


----------



## dawnski

My Invisible Man room will be in our living room. I wanted to create the feeling of a stuffy library with curiosities and portraits. Last weekend I found a wonderful antique looking picture frame and added a Bride of Frankenstein pic. Think it looks perfect with the frame. Here are some other pics I plan to use in this room.


----------



## dawnski

ActionJax said:


> I need to pay you to come to my house to decorate.


Ha, my brother-in-law says I should go into business doing this!


----------



## pumpkinpie

Love the new pics especially the Mrs. Looks like that frame was made for her


----------



## dawnski

It's alive! I finally got around to building my Frankenstein monster. Not bad for my first character build. 

The base is the drum kit stand from our Rock Band game. 1/2 PVC slides perfectly in place into the stand. He's pretty secure--don't have to worry about him toppling over.

I used some old patio chair cushions for the stuffing and pool noodles for the arms. The PVC arms are long and extend all the way into the monster hand. I simply used the glove velcro around the pool noodle to secure in place.

From the way I built the chest area, I was able to push the foam padding in between the two pieces of PVC. This created a natural torso look. Very pleased with that lucky break. I have to say that jacket looks awesome with the red oxide primer and fluorescent green. The clothing gives off a muted greenish glow in black light.

I plan to have him in my basement for the Frankenstein lab but, if I have too much stuff down there, I might put him by our front door. Right now he's going in my storage room because he keeps scaring the family every time we walk by.


----------



## pumpkinpie

He turned out magnificently!!!! And great idea using the Rock Band stand (I may have to borrow that idea).


----------



## Kelloween

I just found this thread..great theme and ideas..I'm gonna keep watching what you do..AWESOME!


----------



## booswife02

Those stained glass windows are the best thing ive ever seen! Wow! This party is going to be great! This theme is near and dear to my heart. Cant wait to see more pics....


----------



## dawnski

I want to dress up as the Bride of Frankenstein, but not the classic white outfit. More of a rockabilly style. I found this awesome apron on Etsy I plan to purchase. The husband is planning to dress as Frankenstein, the scientist, not the monster. http://www.etsy.com/listing/1240088...ess-apron-hollywood?ref=listing-shop-header-0


----------



## dawnski

Using this pic for my invitations. I couldn't find a more perfect image. We're having a cook out for Labor day weekend so it's the perfect time to get the word out.


----------



## Tannasgach

Cute apron dawn and Frankie looks awesome!


----------



## pumpkinpie

Loving those costumes and the invite. I absolutely love rockabilly, awesome costume concept.


----------



## stormygirl84

I'm so jealous of you and your party. So creative, so fun, and SO my style!!!


----------



## offmymeds

Your Frankie turned out GREAT!! and love the invites and the apron


----------



## dawnski

Just some boring work today. I had a couple Christmas candelabras. Thought they could use a makeover. Got some clay and plastic bat rings to change the front design which were Christmas bells. Also used some left over black spray paint which was glossy as opposed to flat. I'm sure this will chip away after the party. But for now it's good enough. Not sure where I'll put these but they'll fit somewhere with my theme.


----------



## dawnski

As luck would have it, I'll get to start my laboratory work sooner than I thought. Usually I wait until my son's birthday (end of Sept.) to start working. Don't need to see a bunch of Halloween stuff in his photos. But my sister is closing on a house on Sept. 22nd. It's a 100 year old house lived in by an elderly woman who apparently was a hoarder. Not the gross TV show kind, but she has a crap load of stuff. Plus several storage sheds. The lady is leaving everything behind and moving to Michigan. So my sister wants me to start helping her clean out the house from then and all thru October. I know, she has no comprehension that's my crunch time!

That means an early start on my decorating. On the plus side, I can't wait to dig in there and see what goodies I can find. My family laughs at the "garbage" I consider treasure for Halloween. This will be a cleaning/picking expedition.


----------



## Paint It Black

The candelabra will add some ambiance to any room. I like them. 

Wish I could go treasure hunting with you. Sounds great!


----------



## LairMistress

Hope you get some great stuff, Dawnski!


----------



## SonofJoker

Man I wish I could come to your party! I'd love to have a party like this. Heck, I'd love to have a house to decorate like this!


----------



## dawnski

You should have seen it last year when I did a zombie apocalypse party. Here's a link to that with some of the decorations I did. http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/dawnski-albums-2012-zombie-apocalypse-party.html I didn't include any guest pics but we must have had at least 20 zombie guests plus others as different types of apocalyptic survivors. They really stepped up to the challenge.



SonofJoker said:


> Man I wish I could come to your party! I'd love to have a party like this. Heck, I'd love to have a house to decorate like this!


----------



## Willodean

where did you find the photos for the window? I have been wanting to create a collage of the sorts to stay up all year round with those classic characters....


----------



## dawnski

I'm a Pinterest nut. I have them all saved on different boards.

Frankenstein and other classic characters http://pinterest.com/zim2/halloween-frankenstein-and-other-classic-monsters/
Vampires/Dracula http://pinterest.com/zim2/halloween-vampiresdracula/
Werewolves http://pinterest.com/zim2/halloween-werewolves/
Swamp/Swamp creature http://pinterest.com/zim2/halloween-swampbayou/

At least 20,000 pins are Halloween related. Everything is categorized and I also have boards on particular haunt themes. These include Halloween DIY for props and decorations as well as horror/zombie art. I now have enough Halloween ideas for the next five years! http://pinterest.com/zim2/



Willodean said:


> where did you find the photos for the window? I have been wanting to create a collage of the sorts to stay up all year round with those classic characters....


----------



## booswife02

Dawnski those Pinterest boards are fantastic!


----------



## PennyCash

Dawnski your windows are absolutely wonderful. love, love, LOVE them


----------



## HalloweenTrick

Dawnski everything looks great so far! I can't wait to see all of your props and ideas! I hope you take alot of pics!


----------



## dawnski

For our Labor Day BBQ, I've taped up a few Save the date fliers. It always gets our friends excited to know what the new theme will be.


----------



## dawnski

After our party clean up, it's on to dismantling our basement and get it ready for Halloween. I've included some before pics so you can appreciate the makeover later. I've decorated heavy in the past and have taken down many items. But since I'm doing the Frankenstein lab down here, more than likely I'm going to have to pack up everything on the shelves too. Not sure yet. As you can tell, we are the teen hangout house. Tons of DVDs and my husbands comic collectibles which don't fit the classic monster look. We do have some horror action figures. I may keep my Johnny Depp/Christopher Walken Legend of Sleepy Hollow action figures somewhere in the house. Walken's head can come off and be replaced with a skull or simply without. Pretty cool.

Those basement windows are where the "stained glass" poster boards will go. The foosball table will be my lab table.


----------



## Paint It Black

I am glad you posted the befores (great space btw) because it really helps give ideas for those of us with similar areas or furniture! Thanks.


----------



## witchy poo

Great space for Franks lab. I love your basement.


----------



## BillyBones

Great space, I would so love a house again.


----------



## 48894

That basement should make a great lab for Frankie.


----------



## SonofJoker

That is an awesome basement!


----------



## dawnski

Got started on the basement. This is a challenging space. There is so much to fill. I have 12 corner shelves, 16 shelves, three 3' long knick knack shelves, a small size stand alone bookshelf and then a lot of wall space. What originally looks like a lot of bottles and props starts to get spread very thin. Today I took out all my props and parts to see how I could start filling up this space.

For my bookshelves the idea was to utilize the space with as little stuff as possible. From a previous post I showed how I spray painted a bunch of miscellaneous packing cardboard. One looks kind of like a furnace. This was able to fill one shelf. My husband has an idea to secure his iPad in this space and either have fire or some kind of plasma field pulsating in it. 

I was pleased with the other two pieces of packaging. One piece had a generator look to it. I attached a hose to it. The other piece had a large concave section. I was able to attach a plasma disc to it. These fit perfectly onto one shelf.

The last two pieces of packaging were small. I thought it would be cool if I had some type of waves pulsating from either side. I printed out an image of sound waves. This looks great under black light. I put a mouse in a jar in front of it. There is glow in the dark slime at the bottom of the jar. I hope the black light will reach to the back of the shelf. I think this will be a nice visual for our guests.


----------



## dawnski

Placed items on the corner shelves. Some of these will be lighted, others with colored water. I quickly realized there was a lot of dead space on either side of our big screen TVs. I found a blog called Clockwork Atomics with an artist who draws steampunk type drawings on napkins, of all things. Really cool designs! I used the www.blockposters.com site to enlarge these. Unfortunately, he only had three of these drawings. I could use one more.

Very pleased with a deformed face mask I found at a garage sale. Stuffed it in a jar and now it looks like a lab experiment.


----------



## dawnski

Another shelf with a doll experiment. I spray painted some plastic packaging that held wine bottles in a box. The doll fit perfectly into that space. I spray painted the doll four different colors and added some bolts. The wiring is Dollar Store floral wire. The pipe material was from some warrior mallet that got broke in half. Nothing left to waste, I say! I'll do a test later under black light to see if this is enough or if I need to add a few more details to this shelf.


----------



## dawnski

My plasma ball. I needed something tall in this space. I took a flower planter, a transformer looking vase I painted silver and the plasma ball. These I adhered together with Museum glass. This stuff is awesome. Once you put it on, the items are very difficult to move. But at the same time you can peel it off and it does not harm any of the objects. Good only for flat surfaces, not walls. Real useful if you have table items that you don't want moved.


----------



## Paint It Black

some great ideas for your bookshelves. I like the doll and the mouse areas.


----------



## dawnski

How to hide unsightly bookshelves? With poster board, of course. While I was able to move our DVDs from my other bookshelves, I was not going to box up all these books. Instead I turned the area into Dr. Frankenstein's work board. A few notes jotted down along with some anatomical pics. This allows me to decorate a large space very easily. 

Last pic shows the general area with the plasma ball. I plan to hang some LED drip lights I found at Menard's on the ceiling above the plasma ball.


----------



## pumpkinpie

Great idea!!!!


----------



## dawnski

Werewolf Trophy Head Build
Here are the steps for my trophy. I cut cardboard to the shape I wanted. Got some batting from an old cushion and cut material I found at a thrift store. I stretched this and adhered with tape. Beforehand, make sure you cut holes and add string for mounting on the wall. Once that was complete, I took put two small holes in my werewolf mask and cut through the backboard. Then tied it all together. I did this build earlier in the summer and stored in the basement. I used cheap duct tape so it all came undone. I redid with Gorilla tape, which should hold better. Unfortunately the trophy backboard looks a little lumpy now. I added ping pong eyeballs. Not the greatest but it will do for the room.


----------



## dawnski

Invisible Man study
Worked on this room today. Brought up the appropriate knick knacks for the library shelves. Added the werewolf trophy head. Earlier in this thread I told you about those cool classic monster portrait images. These I put on black card stock with adhesive spray. I know many people like to find fancy picture frames for their Halloween pictures. I would rather not put additional holes in my walls if I don't have to. I can just tape and take down. Then I don't have to have a box of picture frames taking up space in our storage area. 

I leave the frames for items I may put on tables or shelves. I don't know if you can make out, but on one of the bookshelves, there's a picture of frank and the bride. My grandmother had a whole mess of different family member wedding pictures saved. Back in the old days ('40s), pictures were put in these wonderful gothic/deco cardboard frames with a cover. You flip the cover over, insert the tabs and now you have a ready made picture frame. I love these because they look cool and they store flat.

This room is nearly done except for lighting and cobwebs. An Invisible Man character prop will sit in one of those chairs. If I have time I might try and make something float in this room. It would be great to find a pipe and have him holding it with his invisible hand.


----------



## dawnski

I forgot to mention, I love the little zombie boy and girl on that one bookshelf. I made these last year for my zombie party. Picked them up a thrift store for $2 each and dry painted the zombie green and red blood. I wanted to give it a faded look.


----------



## Paint It Black

The werewolf trophy is awesome. The poster boards with the drawings and formulas are a perfect solution for that area. And I appreciate all your picture ideas, especially the old cardboard wedding photo frames. I have a lot of those too. And the ideas for not using bulky, large frames on everything. Very clever stuff here, dawnski. I am having fun following along.


----------



## dawnski

Thanks everyone for the kind words and likes.


----------



## dawnski

Had these cool old books of Dracula and The Invisible Man. Used them as a stand for my Legend of Sleepy Hollow guys - Christopher Walken sans head.


----------



## dawnski

Did a lot of work today but only showing a little so far. Here are a few more little alcoves to the Frankenstein laboratory. I added Dexter as a little "find" for the kids. The big light bulb pic is interesting. It originally was a hummingbird feeder from the Dollar Store. I made a new bottom stand using an empty can of dog food. I'll throw a light stick in there for the party and put it on a shelf.


----------



## dawnski

When you walk down into our basement, we have a floor to ceiling framed poster of Alba, the Man who Plays with Death - an awesome magician poster. The frame is etched with skulls. But it just doesn't fit the classic monster theme. Today I covered this with a knight. 

I've made fantastic progress with my laboratory table. There's a minor piece I have to finish but then I'll have some photos. It turned out great!


----------



## dawnski

Okay, I finished the majority of work for the basement lab. Here are the photos. Can't remember if I posted here prior, but I picked up an awesome medieval crest with swords and mace. I added this to the wall with the knight. The gargoyle lights on either side of the knight are pretty neat. I've had them for at least 20+ years.


----------



## dawnski

A few more lab shelf props. Here is a complete view of one section. I added a hunchback in a cage. On the bottom shelf is a zombie arm that will move its fingers on the night of the party. The top shelf bottle will have glow in the dark fluid. 

The head turned out to be an easy but good looking prop. This is an ornate food stand I picked up at a garage sale. The zombie head is from our party last year. His eyes glow. On top is a Dollar Store brain covered with a frozen yogurt container lid. It looks like an exposed brain. Floral wire (again from the Dollar Store) is attached to two jars. One has a heart. Both will have glow in the dark slime or fluid for the night of the party.


----------



## dawnski

UHF Brain - I think you'll like this one. At a garage sale I picked up this old UHF/VHF antennae. I spray painted a tin box black and glued the antennae stand to the top. I took the wiring from the antennae and taped it to the front of the tin. I put one of those glowing brains on top. I found a science looking image and added new labels to the top. This turned out way better than I expected. And the kids (or adult kids) will enjoy turning the dials to rotate the antennae.


----------



## dawnski

Saved the best for last. Remember all those spare parts I had at the beginning of this thread. I had the front of two oscillating fans that I didn't know what I would do with them. I took a large piece of cardboard and made an arch for my wall. I cut out two longer pieces to be the columns of this arch. Painted all this grey and then spray painted black and iron oxide.

I had a plastic poster tube lying around. I took the two fans and placed the tube in the middle. Darn, if this didn't start looking like something. I got some more Dollar Store floral wire and stretched it out in the tube. Then I fed a set of green string lights through the tube, allowing an equal amount on each side. This I stuffed into the two fan grills. It gives an effect of electricity pulsing around the grill and through the poster tube. Yay! I punched holes into the cardboard and secured these items with twist ties. Mounted on the wall.

In a stroke of genius, I remembered that I had a zombie doctor from our party last year. I brought him out and put on Colin Clive's head, the actor who played Dr. Frankenstein.

The lab table is our foosball table. I put cardboard over the table and hid it with black material. I laid out my John Doe rising animatronic and added some medical accessories. Took a few fake chains and added them to our ceiling. That really fleshed out the scene. I have mini strobe lights in the "pocket" area of the foosball table in front. I also picked up a "try me" button at Spirit Halloween to let guests manually bring the monster to life at will. I know our guests will love this prop.

All that's left is to decorate the bar, add spider webs and lighting, plus my stain glass prop for the basement windows. That will be done closer to the party date.


----------



## Paint It Black

Your "brain" projects are super cool. The zombie brain set-up, and the antenna devise are both so imaginative!! The medieval items are really nice too.

Wow - your fan parts - just wow!! You have just used everything so creatively. Awesome job!!!


----------



## HalloweenTrick

Dawnski those look great I live what you did with the fans and lights!


----------



## Tannasgach

I love the creativity you're using for your lab! So many great ideas for inspiration.


----------



## dawnski

Sorry I haven't been posting. Curriculum nights and now I'm leaving on a trip with the hubby. After next week I should be back at work. Picked up this cool Dracula's Pub sign at a Big Lots store. Perfect for our bar.


----------



## pumpkinpie

Everything is looking so good!!!!


----------



## dawnski

I'm back! The husband had a business trip to Orlando which meant a free hotel room for the rest of us. Couldn't pass that up along with a trip to Disney. When we got home, I was so excited to see my Secret Reaper package! Shebear1 sent me some great presents. I can't wait to use them. I think that gargoyle is going to look great by our front door.


----------



## dawnski

Decided to work on my mausoleum area. I put the poster boards up but they looked kind of plain on the wall by themselves. I remembered I picked up navy blue satin sheets for $1 at a garage sale (always on the look out for things to use as drapes for Halloween). I cut these into strips and hung to cover the exposed walls. Huge improvement! Added a pillar with some purple/black flowers in a vase. It's looking very mausoleum like now. Later I'll add cobwebs and some blue lighting. The only bummer is the "brass" signs that included pics of actors and authors along with the movie/book they did are so light. I know people will not be able to read them the night of the party. Overall I'm pleased with how this turned out. It's an impressive walk thru into our party from the front door.


----------



## dawnski

After finishing the mausoleum area, I decided to make something fun for the laboratory. I saw a cute gag on Pinterest for a push button sign. I decided to create my own version. My son has an emergency alarm. If you press it, it yodels. That amuses in a Young Frankenstein kind of way. And yes, I realize my button is actually black. Didn't pay attention until after I made the sign. But it will be dark and only my most annoying friends will call me out on that. Click on the link to hear this silly alarm http://www.emergencyyodel.com/


----------



## kallie

wowee! Can't wait to see the finished product. Dawnski, your props are amazing and the time you've put into everything has surely paid off


----------



## dawnski

I have this dead space above our front door that was screaming for a makeover. I made a skeleton diorama. Guests arriving to Transylvania. The gargoyle gift from Shebear1 was the perfect touch creating my Welcome to Transylvania sign. This will tie in nicely to my Transylvania Inn inspired kitchen. 

The tattered black garland is from old black t-shirts. That worked so well I plan to use it for other rooms as well. My husband got rid of a bunch of plain black t-shirts that I can use.

On a side note, I picked up the skeleton on the right at Grandin Road. Your run of the mill skeleton. I picked up the skeleton on the left at Costco for $10 less. This one is a pose-able skeleton. Wow, what a difference. It stays in place so nicely in whatever pose you want. You can see how he's sitting up all by himself. I had to prop up the other one with suitcases. Wish I saw the Costco version first.


----------



## HalloweenTrick

Looks great dawnski. Love what you did with the shirts.


----------



## dawnski

Hey all, do you know where I can find sound clips for the Universal movies? I've found a few for Dracula and Frankenstein. But I'm having a hard time finding anything for the Mummy, Wolfman and Invisible Man.


----------



## dawnski

I had to show off my amazing Dracula bust that I got for FREE!!! Last year I went to buy it from some guy who posted the item in our area. He must have seen me swooning over it and was sweet enough to give it to me for free. Even though I have a Dracula room, I feel it might be lost there. He really should be seen by all. I'll have to see where he ends up as I decorate.

My son's birthday party is this Sunday. After that it's go mode for me. Expect some good posts.


----------



## Paint It Black

What?! I thought you were in "go mode" already. Wow. Can't wait to see what's up your sleeve next. And, that bust is better than any I have ever seen.


----------



## ActionJax

I would LOVE to find one of those! Is there any markings or info on the manufacturere? Has anyone seen this in any stores?

Can't wait to see what else you're going to be doing!


----------



## ActionJax

Oh and as for the "clips" for Uni Movies. Check out YouTube. You'll find everything you need or want. Many post already have some great music featured with them.


----------



## dawnski

You can click on this link for more info. I had just asked the forum if anyone could identify it. I included the markings in the back. Someone found that it is an artist from Wisconsin that did festivals. This was done in 1979. http://www.halloweenforum.com/general-halloween/130444-help-me-identify-dracula-bust.html



ActionJax said:


> I would LOVE to find one of those! Is there any markings or info on the manufacturere? Has anyone seen this in any stores?
> 
> Can't wait to see what else you're going to be doing!


----------



## dawnski

Today I took some time to put together treats for the kids who attend our party. These are skull and bones Sweet Tarts in test tubes. Five fit in a tube and filled 49 tubes. Thanks to a person from another post who mentioned that Pop Rocks are super hard to get out of carpets. I had planned to fill these with Pop Rocks but for sure some kids would have spilled them.


----------



## Tannasgach

dawnski, you must have the patience of a saint to fill all those. lol They look really cool, wherever did you get them from?


----------



## dawnski

I got that from Amazon. It was a set of 40 test tubes with a test tube rack. And then I bought some extras. It didn't cost very much. I think it was $16. Picked this up last year and it's driving me crazy that I can't find the rack. Hope I find it before the party.


----------



## dawnski

Got lucky today. I stopped in at our area resale store. In addition to picking up some items for next year's party, I found this awesome cat carry case for only $7. It has holes in the side and has a nice leather look to it. I plan to put lights inside along with some body parts in my laboratory. The signage on the case is simply clear full sheet labels from Avery. I'll be able to peel it off and use the prop next year with a different purpose.


----------



## dawnski

I wanted to put some signage on my walls but didn't feel like putting these on poster board. I used full sheet clear Avery labels. Frank's Lab is leading down into our basement party area. Dr. Acula's Parlor leads guests to our dessert table. Next time, I'll make sure not to overlap my labels. You can see that the overlap shows up whiter. The last is a quote I liked from Edgar Allen Poe. This appears in the walkway of my mausoleum above people's heads.


----------



## Tannasgach

"Frank's Lab" & "Dr Acula" lmao love it!


----------



## dawnski

Hmm, just set up all the lighting in the basement to see how it looks. Lots of dark spots I'm going to have to fix up. Glad I did this now instead of waiting to the last minute! But the black light looks great in the areas where I've set it up.


----------



## HalloweenTrick

I'm sure it will be great dawn. Your going to have a ton of other projects all lite up! It may just even out. Maybe some nice lanterns will work from the dt store. I used these one year and everyone loved them! I'm thinking of buying more this year and painting them to match the scenes.


----------



## Miss Erie

M


Paint It Black said:


> What?! I thought you were in "go mode" already. Wow. Can't wait to see what's up your sleeve next. And, that bust is better than any I have ever seen.


I LOL'd at this! Seriously Dawnski, I'm a little scared to see what "go mode" is  I love seeing your new posts, I'm truly in awe at what you've done. It's been so fun seeing all the progress. I'm just jealous I can't come to this party. You have to take a zillion pictures of your party in action so I can live vicariously through them.


----------



## ActionJax

I absolutely agree. Since I didn't get my invite (LOL) I have got to see how the actual party goes. I am so jealous. Another year is going to go by and my wife and I are just too busy to get things done. I'm at least going to start the yard decoration next weekend. (fingers crossed). And that's probably all we'll get done.


----------



## dawnski

My husband threw a wrench in my bar decorating plans. Seems his precious Alex Ross Avengers print can never come off the wall. Not ever, ever, ever! It's on some precarious anchor system that will probably pull down our wall--he is not a handy man. It takes up a huge chunk of design space. All I can do is throw a sheet over it. 

The Dracula's pub light is on the side instead of the middle of the bar. Some extra props for mood above the microwave. The candelabra is from my Secret Reaper Shebear1. Decided to put the Dracula bust front and center. However, we've hired a bartender who will probably stand right in that space. I might have to move it over. This area would have looked better with two pillars on either side. I'm using the other one in my mausoleum hallway. I have two taller ones for two busts that will go in the real Dracula area upstairs. Never thought I'd say, "I need more pillars!"

This area will be full of bottles of alcohol so I'm not concerned that it looks sparse. Not my best work but fits the atmosphere of the room.


----------



## dawnski

Dragged out Frank today. He is standing to the right of our bar and next to our basement bathroom. I will spruce this area up closer to the party date. And straighten out his head. He's kind of slouchy right now.


----------



## dawnski

Did some more work in my Invisible Man study. I have two large entrance ways on either side of this room. I wanted to close these entrances half way so guests don't see all my props at once. I took satin sheets ($1 to $3 at your local thrift store) and slid dowel rods through the hem to make it easy to hang up. The shiny material adds a touch of elegance rather than using a plastic table cloth or broad cloth. 

This room seemed to call out lace. Found some small lace table coverings for $3 a piece. Last year I picked up six lace valances for $10 at a garage sale. These are spray painted black and fluorescent green (in case they're ever in a black light room). I put these over my fitted wood frame valance. This room is shaping up nicely. I just have to motivate myself to finish my Invisible Man. The frame is made and it's sitting on a chair waiting for me to flesh him out.


----------



## Paint It Black

Great ideas with the sheets and the lacy table coverings. 

I thought I saw the Invisible Man, sitting in that leather chair.


----------



## dawnski

Started the entrance to the Mummy room. I wanted a kind of archaeological dig feel. I thought the white sheets made it look like you're entering a tent. I decided to use those Avery 18665 full sheet clear labels again. They worked so well on the material. What a time saver. No stenciling or outlining words. And it peels right off so I can use the material again. I also printed out some pics to put on each side of my entrance sign.


----------



## Paint It Black

Like the sheet idea, and the peel-off lettering. The room looks great.


----------



## witchy poo

Looks great


----------



## webwari

dawnski said:


> I used standard paper for the stained glass. With a transparency, you'd get a glare from the lighting behind it. This will shine very brightly with the contrasting black. And the room itself will have dimmed lighting as well.


Amazing work! Something you may want to try for the stained glass - I recall from an old grade school craft project making faux stained glass by soaking paper in oil. That should make it transluscent without the glare problems you mentioned. I'm not sure how it will work with the ink/toner and paper you used, though, so you'll want to test it to make sure it gives the right effect without any bleeding, tearing, etc.


----------



## dawnski

Good idea. But I'm all for quick and easy. That sounds like a lot of work!



webwari said:


> Amazing work! Something you may want to try for the stained glass - I recall from an old grade school craft project making faux stained glass by soaking paper in oil. That should make it transluscent without the glare problems you mentioned. I'm not sure how it will work with the ink/toner and paper you used, though, so you'll want to test it to make sure it gives the right effect without any bleeding, tearing, etc.


----------



## dawnski

I know you'll appreciate this one. I realized that I didn't have The Fly represented well. I have a portrait picture in the Invisible Man room, but that's it. I had three large flies with little clips. Two of them I clipped to the lace valances that appear in this room. For the final fly, I shrunk down a pic and hot glued it to the fly. A great gag. I can't wait for people to find this. These will find their way into the Invisible Man study for the party. I'm including the image that I shrunk down. It's from some kit you can purchase.

By the way, I recently watched The Fly and it really stood the test of time. Such a great film. The clothes the actors wore were simply stunning. Vincent Price's sweater vest suit combo with the crisp pocket square. And all the casual wear that Patricia Owens wears as Helene Delambre--you'd think she was going to a ball everyday. There's a scene where she's wearing this beautiful silver satin dress. David Hedison as Andre Delambre comes in and says, "You'll want to change your clothes because we're going to the ballet." Nearly spit out my drink. Oh, this old thing? Heaven forbid someone should see me in public. What a bygone time.


----------



## dawnski

Here's a fun idea if you have french doors. I found interesting classic monster art to put in each small window panel. The first is a door that leads down to our bar (laboratory). These panels are filled with fun drink poses and edgier pics. The second door is to our office which I never decorate. This allows me to hide the mess that is my office. This is by our front door and leads to the mausoleum hallway I created.

I set up another "find" for our guests. Mixed in with these pics are two Mystery Science Theater 3000 images.


----------



## dawnski

Made a travel pic for my Transylvania Inn room. Come visit beautiful Castle Dracula.


----------



## dawnski

Yikes, I just realized it's only 2 weeks before our party. Got to step it up. Here are my children of the night. This is a Dracula stand up. The two "brides" of Dracula are my zombie stand ups I made last year modified with some paper vampire teeth. The room will be dark so I'm not too worried about how they look.


----------



## dawnski

Finally worked on those two busts I picked up during the summer. I didn't want to go crazy on blood--wanted something that looked a bit more elegant to match the busts. I also plan to use these for other parties and didn't want to ruin it with paint. I decided to use hot glue over the areas I wanted to paint. We'll see if it comes off okay after the party. I did a test and it seemed okay. These will look fine in my Dracula dessert room. But I might put them in my urns outside.

If I had this in a black light room, this would look pretty cool with black light paint.


----------



## Paint It Black

Dawnski, did you find those busts at Home Goods? That's a great idea for them. Your standups look good modified this year to go with your Dracula. I love it when you can use props again in a different way.


----------



## dawnski

Picked up the busts at a resale shop.


----------



## Wolfman

Awesome decor for a party! I just now stumbled across this thread, and was disappointed that you neglected to include The Wolfman. But viewing the photos, I realize there wouldn't be much of a theme regarding the Lycanthrope. Dismembered bodies, shredded clothing, paw prints and little else. Gypsies and pentagram a, maybe. 
Your shindig will be a huge success!!


----------



## dawnski

I really wanted to incorporate the Wolfman into the party but it was hard. Even for pictures, there wasn't a lot of variety when sticking to just the Universal black and white photos. All I have is a werewolf head on a trophy mount. But you did have a good idea. Maybe I can include some shredded up clothes in our backyard area. I'm gonna start thinking on that!


----------



## Paint It Black

dawnski said:


> Picked up the busts at a resale shop.


Even better!!!


----------



## dawnski

Driving me crazy--way back in March my husband picked up a Creature of the Black Lagoon bank that was going to go in our downstairs bathroom for the party. Now I can't find the darned thing. I've gone through all my boxes. Clearly I put it somewhere "special" and all memory of that place has disappeared from my brain. Aargh!


----------



## dawnski

Wolfman, you inspired me. I now have a dedicated Wolfman room for the party. This is the hallway leading to our garage and mud room where people will hang their coats. In a way it fits, because our dog's cage and bowls are here too. This room comes off the Village Inn where I have a whole bunch of religious/superstitious stuff to keep the vampires at bay. The atmosphere leading into this room works for me.

Here's what I did. I have a 4x5 foot wall art that couldn't be removed. I took black craft paper and cut claw marks out. I also cut a few small holes in various areas. I took Wolfman pics and taped them behind this. Once I hung up the craft paper, I tore through to expose the pictures.

I recently picked up the Helsa character prop on sale at Grandinroad. I was just going to put her outside. But now I've turned her into my version of Meleva the gypsy from the movie. She's a little top heavy with the jewelry. I'll fix her later. Before the party, I plan to put paw prints on the floor leading into this room.

Thanks for the motivation!


----------



## dawnski

Also in my Invisible Man room I have the wolfman's head mounted. Guess he didn't make it.


----------



## dawnski

Well the mummy room is almost complete but is probably the hardest room. It's so big that my props kind of get lost in here. Also for whatever reason, people do not congregate in this room. It kind of ends up as the pooped out room when people get tired and want a break from the party. At any rate, here are some of the props. A friend of mine is letting me borrow her big mummy and sarcophagus the day of the party. I'll have to show you better pictures then.


----------



## dawnski

Another panel for my Wolfman room. This one includes the gypsy curse, Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night, May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.


----------



## dawnski

Baby experiment - Holy crap, this looks so awesome with my light effects. I can't wait to show you on party night. From my earlier posts, this is plastic that came from a wine shipment to hold the wine in place. I attached the doll and spray painted several colors. Nowt the plastic is more opaque. I put green string lights behind this so the lighting shows through. This creates a silhouette effect for the doll. In front I have the black light which fully illuminates the paint.


----------



## dawnski

Here is my dessert table complete with coffin and mood lighting.


----------



## dawnski

Set up my luminaries for outside. These are mason jars with Universal pictures wrapped around. Super easy and looks great.


----------



## dawnski

FYI - I went to Spirit Halloween and picked up their LED spot light for $19.99. Wow, that uplighting makes such a huge difference. The glow on the spider webs and the lighting and shadow on my vampire bat looks absolutely awesome! I was going to wait for the 50% off sale to buy more but I see that the green is already sold out online and there were only a few left at my local store. Grab your 20% off coupons and pick up some. You won't be sorry.


----------



## ActionJax

Everything looks GREAT! Quick question....where do we get a 20% coupon from? I'd like to head over to my local Spirit store tomorrow, and pick a couple of those LED spot lights. Thanks.


----------



## stormygirl84

I'm loving ALL of your inventive Wolf Man decorations - that's my favorite of the classic movies! I'm thrilled you found a way to work him in.

And I'm also utterly I love with your Egyptian stuff. As I said before, I've always wanted to do an Egyptian theme, but it's a tough one.


----------



## dawnski

Here's a coupon pic for a 20% off one and a $5 off of $15. Only good through Oct. 13.


----------



## dawnski

I was on a "garage sale" site and picked up a kid's werewolf costume for $7. I'm going to try and build a kid wolf prop for that room this weekend.



stormygirl84 said:


> I'm loving ALL of your inventive Wolf Man decorations - that's my favorite of the classic movies! I'm thrilled you found a way to work him in.
> 
> And I'm also utterly I love with your Egyptian stuff. As I said before, I've always wanted to do an Egyptian theme, but it's a tough one.


----------



## dawnski

Hmm, my invisible man dummy is not working out for me. On to plan B.


----------



## dawnski

Okay, I decided to go with the truly Invisible Man with a floating fez. Did some lighting today. Almost finished with my werewolf. He doesn't look great, but he'll do for the party.


----------



## nightbeasties

^I adore this idea!


----------



## ActionJax

Dawnski, thank you very much for the coupons. Used them and got some great stuff. Thanks so much!


----------



## dawnski

Some work on the classic Transylvania inn full of crosses and religious icons. The garlic strands were a nice find on Ebay.


----------



## dawnski

Thought the sign for my Invisible Man room turned out nice.


----------



## dawnski

Thought my sign for the Invisible Man room turned out nice. These clear Avery stickers rock!


----------



## dawnski

Here are some pics of the Nosferatu bathroom. I am lucky enough to have a dark purple bathroom. By the way, don't be afraid of dark colors in a small room. It really looks nice. Nosferatu images in a neat line across all four walls of the bathroom plus some extras on the ceiling. There is a small candelabra in this room and there will be blue party lights in here. My favorite is the Bela Lugosi image I found that's hidden behind the bathroom door. Something fun for people to find as they exit.


----------



## Paint It Black

dawnski, the purple bathroom is really fun. I do like all of your signs for the rooms too. And the garlic strands. I forgot that I bought two of those for my vampire lounge. Need to go find them now...


----------



## Wolfbeard

Your decor is awesome! This really cracked me up! 










Eric


----------



## dawnski

Just finished up the last room, Creature of the Black Lagoon. Our basement bathroom is a dark blue so this worked out perfect. There is not a lot of space inside so I put my "seaweed" at the entrance of the bathroom as opposed to inside like I wanted to do. Various creature/horror pinup pics and creature art. Also the movie poster and that large cut out I made using Block Posters. Finally found my Creature of the Black Lagoon bank which is sitting on a small table. 

Also thanks Stormygirl84 for that creature pic with Ariel. That is in this room too.

I used blue party lights and a small 12" black light. The black light envelopes this room while the blue mutes the images as if it's underwater. Took some photos in that light so you can see.


----------



## dawnski

Put up my Science! wall, a tribute to mad scientists everywhere. I especially liked the Monkees lab pic find at the end. This is taking up dead space next to our air hockey table in the basement.


----------



## pumpkinpie

Looking good...and I'm absolutely loving the blue bathroom lights. I can't believe the amount of detail u have put in to every room


----------



## ccj

I love how you made the signs with clear labels! What font did you use for the Invisible Man -- it looks awesome!


dawnski said:


> Thought my sign for the Invisible Man room turned out nice. These clear Avery stickers rock!


----------



## dawnski

The font is called VTKS SABONETE - http://www.1001fonts.com/vtks-sabonete-font.html
Here are some other fonts I've used for various parties
StraightToHell BB - http://www.1001fonts.com/straighttohell-font.html
Capture it 2 - http://www.dafont.com/capture-it.font
H74 Zombie Attack - http://www.fonts2u.com/h74-zombie-attack.font



ccj said:


> I love how you made the signs with clear labels! What font did you use for the Invisible Man -- it looks awesome!


----------



## Tannasgach

dawnski, everything looks ah-mazing!!! Wow girl, you really worked your butt off on this theme but every room looks so cool, your guests are gonna love it!


----------



## HalloweenTrick

Looking good Dawnski!! Love the bathroom and poster!


----------



## dawnski

Mummy poster on stand. This appears at the entrance of our mummy room.


----------



## ccj

Awesome -- thank you!


dawnski said:


> The font is called VTKS SABONETE - http://www.1001fonts.com/vtks-sabonete-font.html
> Here are some other fonts I've used for various parties
> StraightToHell BB - http://www.1001fonts.com/straighttohell-font.html
> Capture it 2 - http://www.dafont.com/capture-it.font
> H74 Zombie Attack - http://www.fonts2u.com/h74-zombie-attack.font


----------



## Halloweenie1

dawnski said:


> Mummy poster on stand. This appears at the entrance of our mummy room.



Love this! love the whole thread....what a great job on everything!

Saw these on Etsy & thought maybe you would like to have a look...could fun & go well with your theme.








https://www.etsy.com/listing/161261256/vintage-horror-film-place-cards-instant?ref=favs_view_1
https://www.etsy.com/listing/161256691/swamp-monster-thank-you-note-cards?ref=related-6


----------



## dawnski

Those are pretty neat Halloweenie1.



Halloweenie1 said:


> Love this! love the whole thread....what a great job on everything!
> 
> Saw these on Etsy & thought maybe you would like to have a look...could fun & go well with your theme.
> 
> View attachment 179831
> 
> https://www.etsy.com/listing/161261256/vintage-horror-film-place-cards-instant?ref=favs_view_1
> https://www.etsy.com/listing/161256691/swamp-monster-thank-you-note-cards?ref=related-6


----------



## dawnski

Had some time and some bottles I picked up at a flea market over the summer. The powder is fireplace ashes. I plan to put tonic water in the long test tubes to glow under my black light.


----------



## dawnski

Oh my gosh, so check this out. I bought the GrandinRoad Victoria prop on sale, thinking I would use her for next year. Then an epiphany happened. I stuffed her hair and netting into the wig. Perfect since it had all that extra space for the beehive. Look, I now have a Bride of Frankenstein to go with my Frankenstein. Can't wait to put them together.


----------



## dawnski

My drink special menu. We hire a bartender for this event because there's too many people to serve and enjoy the party at the same time. Mummy's curse, Corpse Reviver and Dracula's blood red margaritas


----------



## pacman

Brilliant dawnski , i love the Universal monster classics and i love everything you have been making and adapting for your party , with me anything from the original universal monsters is fine by me even though my daughters think there lame and boring they have a special significance to most of us horror fans , i reckon yours is the party to go to ..... wish i could come hope you have a fantastic time i am sure it is going to be a massive hit.


----------



## Halloweenie1

dawnski said:


> Oh my gosh, so check this out. I bought the GrandinRoad Victoria prop on sale, thinking I would use her for next year. Then an epiphany happened. I stuffed her hair and netting into the wig. Perfect since it had all that extra space for the beehive. Look, I now have a Bride of Frankenstein to go with my Frankenstein. Can't wait to put them together.


She looks awesome! ...I love the werewolf on the wall. Nice.


----------



## dawnski

I could not get my Frankie and the Bride together in the spot I originally had. Plus they looked so nice I figured people would want to do a photo op with them. I rearranged some furniture and now they are a focal point of the room. Worked out much better. The old area is now an appetizer area. 

I'm also including a pic of the before pic of my bride. This is GrandinRoad's Victoria with all her hair and gauze pulled up into the bride wig. I added green lights to go with the lab.


----------



## dawnski

Here are the before and after shots of the basement. The only big things I had to remove were the music equipment (Drums, Guitar). 

All of the husband's action figures have been stored away. That was the most time consuming of this makeover.

We have our friends and family party this Saturday with up to 70 guests and the following Saturday is our teen party with about 20-30 teens. Transformation is complete!


----------



## dawnski

One last little add on. I picked up a large aquarium tank for my daughter who wants to build a terrarium. Since we didn't start that project, I could let this awesome prop go to waste. I had that animated hand in the room. But it doesn't move well on carpet and I felt it would be lost or keep falling off a table. Now I've made a little habitat for him. The brave kids can stick their hand in and activate him.


----------



## dawnski

Starting to set up for tonight's party. I'll try to add some pics here if I have the time. Here are the "stained glass" windows I made for our kitchen. You'll also see part of my version of Maleva the gypsy from the Wolf Man.


----------



## Paint It Black

The Thing pet is brilliant! Great use for that hand.


----------



## pacman

Looks amazing have fun


----------



## dawnski

The living room has a small homage to Dorian Gray. This picture changes to an old, decrepit version of Dorian. This is part of the Invisible Man study. Also wanted to say thanks to my Reaper who got me the nice skull towel.


----------



## dawnski

My friend dropped off her awesome sarcophagus and GrandinRoad mummy. Thanks to the fellow HFer who told me that sarcophagus was for sale in my neighborhood. I knew it would be perfect for her and then I get to borrow it! Always nice to have a friend who loves Halloween as much as I do. The detail on the sarcophagus is amazing. It is in 3 pieces. I'm including the original sale pic so you can see it in regular light.


----------



## dawnski

I'll try and post a few more pics later. Here's a sampling of our Frankenstein lab basement. The lighting turned out perfect!


----------



## dawnski

Some full view pics of the room.


----------



## dawnski

Had some time today to share a bunch more pics. Here is Ye Olde Village Inn


----------



## dawnski

Here is the Wolf Man room - really a walkway leading into our mudroom (coat room for the evening).


----------



## dawnski

The Mummy Room - Green lighting from those Spirit LED spot lights.


----------



## dawnski

Some of the smaller props from the Mummy Room. Many of these items were from thrift stores or garage sales and repainted.


----------



## dawnski

The luminaries looked great outside in the evening. In the small bushes I have a set of battery operated string strobe lights that include thunder storm sounds.


----------



## dawnski

Some more lab pictures.


----------



## dawnski

It was nice to see the guests get involved with the different props. Several people got scared of the John Doe prop. They were not expecting it to move. That was well worth the money! Since I started doing themed Halloween parties, our guests really have stepped up to the challenge. We had many vampires, a couple Invisible man, wolfman and Frankenstein monsters. I don't like to include all the costume pics for people's privacy. 

Now we get to do this party all over again this Saturday but for a teen crowd.


----------



## Paint It Black

Your guests do look involved in your pics! That's so cool. You know you really grabbed their attention and I am sure they were glad they went to your party. You got lots of good photos too, which are fun for us to see.


----------



## offmymeds

It turned out fantastic!!! You did a great job!!


----------



## ActionJax

I am really impressed. Everything looks outstanding! You should be very proud of all your hard (fun) work.  And thanks for letting all of us enjoy it with you.


----------



## pacman

I,m with ActionJax , great job and thanks for sharing it with us .


----------



## HalloweenTrick

Dawnski, You did a awesome job everything looks great! I bet it was a ton of fun!


----------



## hippieman556

I like the setup


----------



## Kelloween

Awesome job! I can tell a lot of thought and work went into all!


----------



## dawnski

Thanks everyone! When I finally start to take all this stuff down there are a number of pieces I would like to trade if anyone is interested. I'll post them here on this thread. Next year's party will be a hotel theme. I'm looking for hotel related items and creepy curiosities that I might put on all these shelves I have. It's going to be a Twilight Zone Tower of Terror meets Grandma's attic kind of vibe.


----------



## pumpkinpie

Omg Dawnski...everything looks amazing!!!! I love how great lighting can make everything go from awesome to amazing  Glad you all had fun, the kiddos will love it


----------



## dawnski

Pumpkinpie, I can't believe how awesome those LED lights worked out. I encourage everyone to run out to Spirit after Halloween and pick them up when they're 50%. I have a ton of string lights but the LED spots really made any props looks 10 times better. 



pumpkinpie said:


> Omg Dawnski...everything looks amazing!!!! I love how great lighting can make everything go from awesome to amazing  Glad you all had fun, the kiddos will love it


----------



## ActionJax

Just an FYI for anyone interested in those LED spots. I also saw them at Home Depot for, $14.99. The exact same ones as Spirit. My local one had them in Blue, Red and Green. I stocked up. And Dawnski is correct. They make the props come to "life"! Mawhaaahahhha!


----------



## ChrisW

Dawnski - great job, wonderful use of found items and inspired decorating.
I picked up a few of the LED spots this year as well. Hidden in corners behind chairs and furniture, they added a great lighting effect to the rooms.


----------



## dawnski

I don't see how to get to the for sale sub forum except by accident so I'm just going to post these here. I went through all my Halloween stuff and have a ginormous amount of items I no longer need. More than what you see here. If anyone is interested in trading, drop me an email. If you want to buy only, then I'll have to add on the shipping charge. For 2014 I'm doing a haunted hotel. I'm looking for anything that would fit with that theme. Besides the usual hotel type stuff, I am looking for any oddities or gothic style items--think creepy attic items.

First on the list are large wall art. 
Pic 1 includes movie posters of Frankenstein, Invisible Man, The Mummy and Creature of the Black Lagoon. Gently used.

Pic 2 are homemade wall art using the blockposters site. The lab wall and the creature have been outlined in glow in the dark paint. He stands about 4' tall. The werewolf has the quote, Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

Pic 3 are "stained art" that went on my door and windows. FYI - I would have to fold the door art in half to send.

Pic 4 I have a series of Alice posters if anyone is doing a fairy tale or Alice themed Halloween party


----------



## dawnski

Let me know if someone wants these lab wall components I made. These look good in regular light. It is painted in black, green and fluorescent orange. I like the piece that looks like a mini furnace. We put our iPad inside to show Universal movie pics but you could back light this for an orange glow inside or do some kind of fire effect. The circular pieces are the front of old oscillating fans. I used a clear poster tube in between to create the lab effect you see. I still have this tube which I can send if you decide to pick up some posters.


----------



## dawnski

More items for trade or sale

Pic 1 - The awesome glow baby. This is opaque plastic back lit with string lights with glow in the dark paint accents.

Pic 2 - Mummy cartouches. Be aware that these are front view only. They are nesting dolls I bought at a garage sale. The backs are broken. 

Pic 3 - Bottles of all sorts

Pic 4 - Giant test tubes. These are actually used for playing paintball. I used doll stands to hold them upright. I'm not sure if you could keep liquids in them if they are laying sideways but they held liquid standing upright.


----------



## dawnski

Whoops, I added the wrong mummy picture. Here's the pic of the cartouches. That mummy is also up for trade or sell. He was a moving ground breaker but he cracked off the frame. Now I just use him to drape over items. The head and shoulders have a wire frame so it is not floppy. Also for trade or sell is an unused gutter ghost (example pic below) still in package, a Try me button (didn't work with my non-Spirit John Doe) and Creature of the Black Lagoon figure.


----------



## dawnski

More items for trade or sale. Just drop me an email.

Pic 1, 2 - Zombie torsos. These are target practice sheets that have been cut and laminated, then attached to a cardboard backing. You can put them on your wall or attach to PVC for a full figure. The two female figures have material skirts attached. You can also see in that pic the many items I have.

Pic 3 Monster cages - two hanging cages, one with a hunchback and the other a decaying corpse

Pic 4 Project build miscellaneous and some DVDs. One is a compilation of I believe 100 horror movies, Tales from the Darkside TV series and Friday the 13th TV series. The TV shows are pretty tame and might be fun scares for tweens.


----------



## dawnski

If you like Scene setters, I have a few for you.

Pic 1 - Frankenstein's monster - this is full size

Pic 2 - Bathroom scene setters and toilet vinyl

Pic 3 - Medieval style scene setters

Pic 4 - Skulls and body parts - I've outlined the body parts with glow in the dark paint.


----------



## dawnski

Want to make a room to ward off vampires? Here are the materials I used for my Transylvania inn room. It includes over 50 crosses, images and one virgin Mary wall art. I include a pic for reference -- I used tacky putty to hang these. Some of these had gems glued on which fell off. I have extra gems if you would like them.


----------



## dawnski

I can save you a lot of toner ink if you would like any of these image pics I printed out.

Pic 1 - Creature of the Black Lagoon 

Pic 2 - Universal monster portrait pics - These are glued to a thick black backing board

Pic 3 - Universal monster general pics

Pic 4 - Hipster Universal monsters

Pic 5 - Nosferatu series


----------



## dawnski

Some miscellaneous items.

Items to create your own werewolf. This is a child's werewolf costume. I cut the shirt apart to create a dummy. There is lots of extra material if you would like to create a better version than I did. He was kind of last minute.

I have some steampunk looking images I found online and used blockposters to enlarge.

I have some left over zombie related biohazard images.


----------



## Ghost of Spookie

O M G !!! With Halloween over, just getting around to checking in on some threads and opened this one. Dawnski you have tackled more than anyone I know, not just one or two monsters in a theme. I have really enjoyed all your work and how you used your various spaces to decorate. This is a party I would have loved to have attended. Thanks for sharing all your progress photos and the tips along the way. You Rock!


----------



## KimandRob

Hi dawnski-


I absolutely love everything you did for your party-such amazing work and very inspiring!!! It actually inspired us so much that we want to do a classic drive in movie party as our theme next year!!!


Are any of your items still available in #263 thread? I really adore those posters you printed out-I can look what we have for trade but I think most of our stuff is packed up, and we did a country fear party this year, so not much hotel items but we do have an oddities wall every year too!


Thanks in advance, you are amazing!!!!!


----------



## printersdevil

How did you make the gypsy woman? It looks like skeleton hands, but what about the head? Is she one of the things you are getting rid of? I would love her.

Fantastic decorating! I would so love to come to a party like this!


----------



## dawnski

This is a Grandinroad life size figure that I accessorized with gypsy wear. I picked up a few figures when they were on sale. I highly recommend them. They're sold out now but I'm sure they'll bring them back come August/September.



printersdevil said:


> How did you make the gypsy woman? It looks like skeleton hands, but what about the head? Is she one of the things you are getting rid of? I would love her.
> 
> Fantastic decorating! I would so love to come to a party like this!


----------



## printersdevil

How much was she on sale?


----------



## pmpknqueen

So I was finally able to check back on this thread and I was so excited to see your party finally came together! It looked so awesome and looked like it was tons of fun to prepare for! Glad your guests had fun!


----------



## dawnski

I waited for a 40% off sale. I think they were $99 originally plus the shipping. Oriental Trading also sold some life-size versions for $89 but didn't have the same kind of sale.



dawnski said:


> This is a Grandinroad life size figure that I accessorized with gypsy wear. I picked up a few figures when they were on sale. I highly recommend them. They're sold out now but I'm sure they'll bring them back come August/September.


----------



## printersdevil

Thanks! I love her and will watch for it.


----------



## dawnski

Hi all, letting you know I've started a thread for my 2014 Halloween party with a haunted hotel theme. More of my crazy attention to detail. Here's the link: 
http://www.halloweenforum.com/party...33612-2014-haunted-hotel-halloween-party.html


----------



## 3pinkpoodles

dawnski said:


> A happy find today! Probably will put in my Dracula room. Three feet tall, the weapons are made of metal and can come off.


Dawnski- I am just running into your thread and it looks like your party is long since over. However, THANK YOU for the inspiration! I am working on something similar for my kid's school carnival, where I will be working on the annual haunted house. This year the theme is CLASSIC HALLOWEEN, and we'll have the following rooms:

Vampire's Lair, Witch's Coven, Frankenstein's Lab, as well as a cemetery, haunted pumpkin patch (with werewolves) and spider room. But nothing gory, and all focused on the older versions of what Halloween used to be. Every year it gets bigger and better, and this coming year will be no exception.

I had gotten "stuck" on Vampire ideas, as the internet does not offer a ton of set/scene pictures. But this Shield and swords.... I love it. I want it. I will be a garage sale-ing FOOL for the next 9 months and I am determined to find something like this!

Thanks for the continued inspiration! And I also loved your stain glass windows... GREAT idea!


----------



## dawnski

If you need any suggestions, let me know. When you're garage sale hunting, look for old sheets, especially satin. I used those as "curtains" and it added a very classic, gothic atmosphere while using up a lot of wall space. Or any curtains that might look gothic if you added black spray paint. I think it's awesome your school does an annual haunted house. If you check out my Pinterest page, I also have a lot of boards for various classic Halloween themes. Just scroll through them. http://www.pinterest.com/zim2


----------



## 3pinkpoodles

Thanks Dawnski- I've been all up in your pinterest stuff  Great boards!!!! Can't wait to see what you are working on for your NEXT bash!


----------



## girl77

Do you still have movie monster props still left? i am having a vintage movie monster themed party this year and i might be interested if you have anythng left !


----------

