3 Reasons Halloween Is A Maker’s Perfect Holiday
It's half-through September, which means it's time for the Maker's Perfect Holiday: Halloween!
Fortunately, our family loves Halloween and we always find at least a couple of different ways to Make new decor. We have a long-term goal to completely transform our house into The Haunted Mansion every year. Even items for school teachers or trunk-or-treats are fun to make small things for.
I firmly believe that Halloween is pretty much made for Makers.
Reason 1: Perfection Not Required
Many Makers want to create perfect projects, but Halloween presents a different problem.
When was the last time a haunted house wasn't covered in old, deteriorating furniture and fixtures? Perfect things would stand out for all the wrong reasons. You get the opportunity to intentionally create cracks, dirt, grime and really age everything up a few centuries.
Even if you make a mistake, it's easy enough to cover it with more weathering to make it look intentional to everyone else.
Reason 2: New Materials
Let's be honest, most of us work with wood for most projects, so some new materials are always welcome.
Halloween offers up the opportunities to use materials that rarely, if ever come up otherwise. You can use insulation foam boards for tombstones, expanding foam for boiling acid, or PCV piping for wrought iron fencing. Last year I used all 3 plus some rebar for a Taylor Swift themed tombstone.
Sometimes new materials and techniques are just what we need to change pace and Halloween is a great excuse.
Reason 3: Opportunity For Fun Lighting
If you've read some of my previous articles, you know I love some fun lighting (still hate overhead lights).
Halloween begs for darkness, but you have to strategically place lights so that we can actually see the props and decor. Candles are essential, but don't cast much light so you can hide a brighter light and make it LOOK like it's coming from the candle. Light can also be shined through different shapes to add some depth and texture to your indoor or outdoor haunt.
Plus, you can use other things like fog and lasers to dial up the lighting even more.
