Canadian Haunters Association Awards

So, it is that time of year again. Time to look back at the work we did last year and get a video ready for the Canadian Haunters Association Awards. I tried a couple years ago (as you may remember, 2017 was a bust) so since we got it together this year I decided I would throw my video into the race again. The competition will be stiff. There are a lot of awesome home haunters out there! The actual awards show will probably be sometime in March.

But without further ado here is my video.

Now onto 2019! New ideas! New Props!

Promised Pumpkins

A new Halloween build year has started and once again we have many projects planned. But first, at long last and as I promised on my old blogger site, some pics of my 2017 paper Mache pumpkins.

When I first began to purchase fake pumpkins I picked them up at Michaels. At that time they had different shapes but now they are all pretty much the same. They are also pretty expensive. So, I did some research on YouTube and came across Unhinged Productions. After watching his series for creating paper mache pumpkins, I was sure I could use his techniques and make my own. It is a pretty cheap process and allows me to create different shapes and sizes. It was just what I was looking for.

So, first you build the base - a couple of plastic grocery bags stuffed with newspaper. You tape that into the shape of pumpkin you are looking for then cover the entire thing in a layer of tape. Again, the instructions can be found on the Unhinged Productions YouTube channel.

You then create your mixture of paper mache. I used the one by Unhinged Productions which added wood glue and dry wall to a basic old fashioned paper mache recipe. Using the paper mache paste and newspaper I covered the plastic bags with 3 to 4 layers of paper mache. After a day of drying, I drew an outline of the face and began to sculpt using homemade paper clay. This process took a couple days.

Once this was completely dry I cut out the bottom of the pumpkin and pull out its insides. The tape is supposed to allow the bag to be pulled out more easily but I didn't use enough with the larger pumpkin and the bag ended up sticking to the inside. So his insides tore a bit and I had to fill in with more paper mache after it was cleaned out. I had less of an issue with my smaller pumpkin.

Next I did the detail work. I cut out the face, added more substance to the stems and a bit of "guts" to my large pumpkin's mouth. Then I had to wait for both pumpkins to completely dry. We had a hot summer so it only took a couple days.

Next was the paint. I started with flat outdoor latex black. I covered both pumpkins entirely, inside and out. I let that dry for about a day then I did the white dry brushing.

Finally came the colour. I painted both with pumpkin orange and used a combination of brown and greens for the stems. The last thing I needed to do was attempt to give them more weather protection. Since I use Leak Seal on my tombstones, I decided to go with that but I ran out of time to coat them for 2017. Here they are all sealed and ready for their debut in October 2018.

Welcome to our NEW website

It has taken a bit to chose a platform that would do everything I wanted it to and I hope you find this an upgrade from my old blog - chabbyhouse.blogspot.com. I will be leaving the old one up for information but from now on this will be the home of my blog posts.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks and months about Halloween, props, and Chabby House.