DIY Spooktacular Halloween Scene

This was a fun family project for us a few years back.  We spent a few evenings in a row working on this together as a family and have been enjoying the final result for several years each Halloween season.  Your scene can be used as a table centerpiece or set out anywhere around the house along with your usual Halloween decorations.

The sky really is the limit here on what you can choose to include or use for your project. We did a cemetery scene.

We did buy a few craft items for this project, but many of the supplies used were things we had already at home.  Here's an overview of what we used and how we created this spooktacular scene.

• We started with a black cardboard base (found for around a dollar in the poster board section at the store) cut in whatever size and shape desired.  We went with a rectangle, but a circle or oval would be neat.

• We utilized a chunk of Styrofoam to create the pillars at the front, a bench, some of the tombstones, a rock and a fallen cross.  We used a knife and scissors to create the shapes we wanted.  With a little black, gray and white craft paint, we made them look old and worn.  We used a black Sharpie marker to write on the grave markers.

• Some of the tombstones were made from foam makeup wedges with snippets of the corners and sides cut away.  We, also, painted those in the same fashion as the Styrofoam grave markers.

• We gathered thin sticks outside to create the bare trees.

• For the ghosts, we glued cotton balls to the ends of drinking straws that had been cut into short lengths, then we covered the cotton balls with small squares of an old, white sheet that we cut long enough to cover the straws.  We tied a white string around each of the necks and drew faces on with a black Sharpie marker.

• For the bonfire, we stacked up tiny sticks that we gathered outside and then used yellow and orange ribbon to represent the flames.

• We purchased a small bag of miniature pumpkins at the craft store for around two dollars and placed them around the scene.

• We pulled some tiny, plastic skulls, mini wax leaves and a scarecrow from some of our Halloween décor that we had on hand and placed them around the scene, as well.

• We purchased a bag of craft moss for a couple of dollars to create the grassy areas of the scene.  We, also, glued some of the moss onto the tombstones.

• We used a bag of pebbles purchased in the craft section to create the walkway through the cemetery.

• We bought a fence in the craft section for a couple of dollars that we used at the front of the cemetery.

• A hot glue pun was used to secure everything in place ... including the moss and pebbles.  For the stick trees, you just need to hold the trees in place until the glue dries.