Crafting the Ooze

Where to Buy:
The other preparation you'll need to do is with one of my favorite decorating products - polymer gel crystals. These are granules, resembling coarse salt, that expand to 400 times their size when mixed with water.

Roughly 1 tablespoon of crystals will hydrate to fill a gallon of water.

What's really cool about this product is that you can tint the water with food coloring, creating a colorful gel. The brand I use is Soil Moist and I can usually find it in plant nurseries, as it was originally developed as a water storage product to keep the ground moist.

When you visit the Soil Moist website, you'll see line of this product made for novelty and decorating purposes with color options as well.

I've found that the main difference between the clear granules from plant stores and the colored decorative version is the size of the gel crystals. The decorative crystals are usually bigger and chunkier, like ice cubes, whereas the plant crystals are like tiny pebbles.

If you see a color and crystal size that you like on their website, inquire as to where you can find it in your area. Otherwise, check around for the product in your local stores, and tint it yourself.

The idea for the gel crystals with your Halloween scene is to create a glowing ooze, seeping out of the mound of dirt in front of each freshly dug grave.

Ingredients:
You'll need about a gallon of the hydrated gel crystals in a gruesome green, chilling blue or blood red for each tombstone.

How to Craft the Ooze:

1. Empty plastic milk containers, with the top cut off, work well as mixing containers; keep in mind that food coloring may stain the container you use.
2. Read the package directions for official instructions and proportions, but all I've ever done is measure out the granules, add water, and mix in some food coloring.
3. If the crystals seem to "soupy" after 8 hours, add more granules, and if you want a darker color, add more food coloring.
4. One note on clean up: double bag sturdy trash bags and toss the crystals in your garbage - not down your drain.