Make A Glowing Graveyard For A Gory Halloween Lawn

This Halloween, I'm going to transform my lawn from a suburban patch of green into a gory, glowing graveyard complete with chartreuse goop oozing up from the earth.

Within the last five years, Halloween has exploded in the marketplace where you can buy just about any creepy decoration you can think of to turn your home into house of horror. I've been hunting around for the coolest ghoulish items on line, to help you go way beyond the old bowl of macaroni for "brains" in your Halloween décor.

Gathering Your Graveyard Props

Leave the haunted garage to the guy down the street, and create a glowing graveyard scene in your front yard. Most people compose their terrifying tableaux with a mixture of purchased decorations and a little imagination. The key to making commercial decorations "spooktacular" is how you put them together, and a bit of embellishment.

Fright Catalog has a gloriously grotesque assortment of supplies from graveyard kits to body parts. I'm particularly fond of the color changing brain. As you shop for tombstones, look for bold designs in the lettering and the relief on its façade. You'll be highlighting this design with glow paint!

Start With Tombstones

Prep your tombstones first. Most are made of a hard foam substance, which is pretty easy to paint. You can purchase glow paint, along with a thin artist brush, at most craft stores or on line. Make sure to read the package directions on the paint before purchase, in case there is a note about how the paint may react when applied to a material similar to your tombstone. For example, some spray paints can "melt" Styrofoam. Also, think about weather conditions in your area. If you are in a rainy location, you may want to pick up a sealer to apply over the glow paint. Again, check the sealer's package directions for notes about product compatibility. Make sure the surface of the tombstone is clean and free of dust. Paint the letters and image details, like the whites of eyes, with the glow paint. Allow it to dry fully before use.

Crafting the Ooze

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. You'll need about a gallon of the hydrated gel crystals in a gruesome green, chilling blue or blood red for each tombstone. 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. 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. If the crystals seem to "soupy" after 8 hours, add more granules, and if you want a darker color, add more food coloring. One note on clean up: double bag sturdy trash bags and toss the crystals in your garbage - not down your drain.

Digging and Decorating The Graves

You can set up your scene weeks before Halloween, but I'd recommend waiting until a few days before for the big night for the gel crystals. Pick a spot in your front yard that will not be in the footpath of trick-or-treaters. Most tombstone decorations come with yard stakes, that you insert into the ground to keep them upright. Shovel a mound of dirt in front of the tombstone, giving it that freshly dug look. Add your body parts and assorted gore sticking out of the mound, as if the dead are trying to escape.

Create a hole, about 5 inches deep, in the mound of dirt for the gel crystals. Place a container down into the hole (again, plastic milk container, cut to about 4 inches high will work). This container will act as a barrier, keeping the dirt from absorbing the crystals. The top rim of the container should be at least an inch below the surface of the dirt, so it is hidden. When it's time for the gel crystals, pour them into the container, filling the hole to the top. Put each small battery-operated light in a sealable plastic sandwich bag, and immerse them in the gel crystals. Use a skewer or stick to adjust the lights in the crystals, bringing them closer to the surface for a brighter effect. Place the battery-operated black light at the foot of the tombstone, shining up at the face. Because the lights are battery-operated, you may want to turn them on only at night. Also, it's a good idea to have some large trash bags on hand, to cover your scene if it rains.

Add to your decor with eerie backdrops, skeletons, and the like, but this will get you started for A Glowing Grave Scene on Halloween. Send photos of how you've transformed your happy haven into a den of doom for the holiday! And remember, if you need help for your Halloween party, from frightful, food garnish ideas to creepy cocktail concoctions, simply Ask Jeanne!