It had been almost two years since the Northern Ohio Home Haunters group had last gathered for a make & take, so it was well overdue that we get back together and get the collective juices flowing. I had been in a bit of a lull after this year's Midwest Haunters Convention and this was just what I needed to get back into my October groove.
And, it was nice to reconnect with some old faces as well as to meet some new...
Eric was kind enough to volunteer his garage for the Saturday afternoon gathering, and had it all done up with his new "Patient Skelly" as well as some work-in-progress tombstones.
Craig showed off his "Skelly in the Outhouse" prop: pneumatic opening door, talking skull routine with synchronized flashing LED eyes, wiper motor arm movements, red LED lights inside the outhouse and a fog machine under the seat, all controlled by a PIR sensor and prop controller. Yeesh!
We also had time to help Eric finish his talking skull, the project from the last make & take we had, two years ago!
But the highlight of the day was definitely Tracee and Matt's makeup demo. We got a hands-on demo with using gelatine for makeup effects...
(I had major makeup case envy...)
Applying some gelatine (a simple mixture of store-bought, unflavored Knox gelatine mixed with hot water and manipulated with a popsicle stick as it cooled)...
Adding a length of surgical tubing for a cyborg effect. The rigidity and adherance of the gelatine was much stronger than with liquid latex or spirit gum. Something that I didn't know, but am now very eager to try out soon!
(To point out, the white areas where the tubes are attached are actually a thin overcoating of latex. The latex is used to cover and "seal" the gelatine to keep it from hardening and to keep it soft and flexible.)
Tracee also brought some of her incredible mache projects...
And Matt brought a foam zombie head that he was working on...
After more than six hours of talking, eating, watching, working and fixing, it was finally time to depart - but not before one surprise from our hosts:
And just when you think you can't possibly top "Buttered Popcorn" or "Glazed Doughnut" Vodka as a party favor, the final surprise of the night came from Stacy (via Eric), in the form of 4 sections of cemetery fence and a handful of extra finials that she didn't need - FREE of charge!!! THANK YOU, Stacy!! This is a big piece to check off my build list for this year. These are going to look great stretching across the front yard cemetery this year!
A long overdue but very successful day, with our next project already in the works for our August get-together. I'll be sure to post up the info as soon as it's finalized. I can not wait to get working on next month's project—it's going to be in your face!!
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