Haunted Halloween Tree
For 2009, we added yet another Halloween tree to our
ever growing haunted forest bought from the
Halloween Connection.
The Haunted Tree, stands an impressive six feet tall, is
made a heavy-weight molded latex and hand painted. This prop is big and very creepy looking!
While the body and base of
the prop are finished on all sides, the arms are a half
prop, meaning that the back is open and unfinished, so
the tree needs to be displayed so that the back cannot
be seen by viewers. It is manufactured this way to keep
the cost down.
The Haunted Tree comes in four
pieces (the body, two arms and the base) and must be assembled using a
round, six foot tall,
twelve inch
diameter SoNo Tube, which you supply.
A
SoNo tube is actually just a thick cardboard tube used to form
concrete pillars. They are available at most
building supply
stores in a variety of sizes. A six foot tall, twelve
inch diameter SoNo Tube cost us only $10.00 at our local
building supply store. We suggest that you check local availability before ordering.
Decorations
We placed this in our
dining
room on top of a large piece of brown burlap, which we
then covered with Spanish Moss to give it an outdoor look. A thin veil of stretchable
spider webs was spread out behind the entire scene. A Jack O' Lantern with a
pumpkin light battery powered candle placed inside (for safety) was
added on either side of the tree. We enclosed the front of
the display with a small
homemade picket fence, that
measured about nine
feet across and two feet tall.
Flying Bats
We bought a bunch of rubber bats
of different sizes and hung them from the
ceiling over our display using fishing line and tacks. We cut
the fishing line for each bat at various lengths between
one and three feet in length, so that they would look like
they were flying at different levels. Read our "How
to Hang Bats" article for more detailed
instructions.
Lighting
To illuminate the
scene, we placed an orange colored fluorescent FEIT Party
Light bulb (twist type) inside a parabolic clamp-on shop
light and directed the light from above and down onto
the tree and surrounding Halloween decorations. FEIT Party Light bulbs are available in a
variety of colors and can be purchased at your local hardware store.
We also placed an
"Amazing Rainbow Pumpkin
Light" behind
the tree to create an
eerie color changing light effect.
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Safety
Tips - Never leave display lights or any
electric decorations plugged in when you
leave the house. Its always a good idea to
attach a smoke detector to the wall or
ceiling above the tree. Make sure that
plugs plugged into outlets and/or
extension cords are plugged in safely.
Always have a fire extinguisher handy
during the holidays. |
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