Manning Makes Stuff - Halloween decorations, paper mache masks, costumes, party ideas, and more

Tips for applying Halloween makeup, hair color, fake blood, contact lenses, etc!

My makeup method is pretty simply and I use different variations of it almost every year.

For my face, the main type of makeup I use is Ben Nye Creme Colors (paid link) — they come in a little flat jar and you can find them at a lot of Halloween stores, often behind the counter because they’re a little pricier.

For zombie makeup or general scary ghoulish makeup, I usually just use black and white Ben Nye Creme Colors, and I just use my fingers to apply it. I start off with a base of white, all over my face. Then I use black makeup on my finger tips to apply heavy black areas around my eyes, under my cheekbones, etc, and blend them out toward the white. I use my finger tips to add shadows down the creases on the side of my mouth, and on the sides of my nose, at my temples, above my brow ridge, etc.
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Spider costume for my evil circus Halloween party

Another old favorite! I designed this spider costume for my evil circus/freakshow Halloween party back in 2003 or so. It was pretty simple, really; I bought an old suit at a thrift store and had my sister cut and sew the pants into extra arms. Then I got some cheap white gloves, stuffed them and the arms with bunting, and added attached ’em to the jacket. The arms are attached to one another with fishing line, of course, so when I moved my arms all six would move together.
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Vampire costume in coffin with stake through heart!

Oh how I wish I had better pics of this costume! It’s my favorite Halloween costume I ever made, probably around 2002 or so.
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