More than ever, we need a little bit of fun in our lives. Though trick-or-treating and Halloween parties may be postponed or completely scrapped this year (happy 2020 y’all), we can still enjoy the season with treats and decorations.
Last year, we decorated our porch window with spooky and haunting silhouettes. This year, we decided to make our little apartment windows mimic a creepy, old condemned building. Let’s get our spine-chilling and blood-curdling Halloween decorations started!
Supplies Needed For your Condemned Building
Before making your harrowing haunted house, you must gather all of the appropriate supplies! Below is a list of everything you need for your condemned building Halloween decorations.
For the Boarded-Up Wooden Planks:
- Large and thick foam board
- Paint brushes
- Acrylic paint
- Velcro or double-sided command strips
- Serrated knives or pumpkin carving kit
For the Shattered Glass Effect:
- Frosted glass “privacy” window film
- Scissors
For the Condemned Building Look:
- Caution Tape
- Tape
Making Your Halloween Decorations
This project is best used for covered porches, because the decorations are not waterproof!
The Boarded-Up Window Planks:
Step 1: Start with your foam board. Cut your board to your desired width. The length needs to fit the length of your window panes.
Step 2: Shape your foam boards into the desired shapes. Cut the sides and ends of the board to look more distressed. (We also cut a claw mark and knots in the wood.)
Hint: Serrated knives work the best. We also used the serrated tools in our pumpkin carving set to get our desired look.
Step 3: Paint the entire foam board with brown acrylic paint.
Step 4: Once dried, create shadows by dry painting (do not wet the paint brush) the edges, slashes, and knots with black paint.
Step 5: Add dimension to the boards by adding a slight gray tone to suggest bark over the brown. Once again, this should be done with a dry paint brush.
Optional: Add a little bit of red paint to make a bloody drip to your boards. We added the red paint to our claw marks.
Step 6: Then, add a little, tiny bit of green paint to add a mold/mildew effect.
Step 7: Finally, using the velcro or command strips, attach the boards to your windows!
The Shattered Glass Effect:
Step 1: Using scissors, cut different triangular and shard-like shapes out of the frosted glass window film.
Step 2: Next, peel the frosted adhesive layer from the clear protective layer.
Step 3: Place your different shards and triangles around the edge of your window panel to give your window the broken glass effect. Rub the pieces so they lay completely flat against the window pane.
The Condemned Building Look:
For further effect, add caution tape around the outside of your porch. You can also add some spider webs, ghouls, and ghosts. Also, if you would like, you can go a step further and make your your front door distressed with a bit of dirt!
Happy October and Halloween Y’all!
These old, condemned building Halloween decorations are fun to do with kids or all on your own. We hope you have fun setting up your Halloween decorations. Let us know what you will be doing this year in the comments below!
We have a great guide to pumpkins if you need help picking out your pumpkins for cooking, baking, and decorating.
Also, if you want to start making Halloween treats, try making our alcoholic, drunken candy apples (for adults only) or our kid-friendly tempered chocolate Halloween treats and decorations.
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1 comment
You two should go into business! There are people who make a living decorating buildings, homes, etc. You are so creative-talent galore!!!