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

Egyptian hieroglyphs wall decorations

I made these craft foam wall coverings with hieroglyphics stenciled on them to create the look of ancient Egyptian tomb walls for my 2017 Halloween party. They were fun and pretty easy!

I’ve experimented with making big wall coverings for previous Halloween parties, using different materials that all come with different pros and cons… I’ve tried hanging big rolls of craft paper and applying a pattern with a giant stamp and tempera paint; the paper didn’t want to hang straight and the paint made it get all warped and wrinkled. Read more…

Making plastic bones look aged and dirty

For my bayou/voodoo-themed Halloween party, I ordered a hundred little plastic bones; I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with ’em, I just knew I wanted ’em! They were pretty cheap; I got ten packs of ten bones for a total of about $22 from some online party supplies store.

When I got the bones, they were pure white and smooth and shiny, and I wanted to make them look old and dirty before incorporating them into my decorations. This is what they looked like right out of the package:
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Spooky mausoleum drawers Halloween decoration

I was in charge of creating some decorations for a huge cemetery-themed Halloween party at a friend’s house several years back, and we decided to turn the dining room into a morgue/mausoleum by putting fake marble drawers on the wall. These were fun and extremely easy to make, and they’re great for a cemetery-themed party, a zombie-themed party, an asylum-themed party, etc. Here are the materials I used:
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