Revised 12 Ft. Skeleton Prop

The revised 12-foot skeleton prop for 2025!

We're getting down to the wire, but I was still able to get one more prop off of the "to do" list! A few years ago, I picked up the popular 12-foot skeleton from Home Depot, as I needed to add some height to my display. I originally corpsed the head and added a full reaper's cloak made from a roll of black fabric and creepy cloth, ensuring that it looked different to all of the other 12 foot skeletons in all of the other yards. 

Halloween, 2024.

And while I liked that initial look, I didn't LOVE it. It always looked a little too "cartoon-y" and the proportions always looked off. And whenever it got wet from rain, it became very heavy and everything would sag. So after last year's incident where the base and head snapped and broke due to being blown over from high winds, I knew this was the year to completely revamp him...

High wind damage, Halloween, 2024.

I first secured a replacement base and a new head-to-neck junction to replace the broken pieces. After all of the replacement pieces were gathered and installed, I first went to work staining the entire skeleton. I wanted to get that darker, more aged and dried look. And while it took a bit for the stain to fully dry on a few of the pieces due to the nature of the smooth plastic, it immediately looked ten times better than the corpsed flesh treatment I had originally done.

Replacement head-to-neck junction from Frawsted Creations.

The next step was to add a new cloak. And based on a cool reference photo shared by Cemetery friend Brent Wilson, I wanted to add whisps of fabric to further the decayed look. This lighter treatment of fabric would also keep the entire skeleton lighter in weight overall, and less likely to catch and winds and possibly get blown over again.

I ended up using the original old black fabric, cut into long thin strips, and then loosely wrapped around the legs and arms, further adding larger tattered pieces for the waist and shoulders. I added a few pieces of tattered stretched creepy cloth as highlight accent pieces over that and called it done. A lot less fabric ended up looking way better!

For restraining the overall approach to detailing it, I couldn't be any happier with the final look. A quick turnaround and setup in a new location toward the back my display was just the refresh it needed. I added an off-white uplighting to add that extra bit of creepiness and attention at night and now it's once again a main focal point in the Cemetery, towering over the rest of the props in the display.

Home Depot 12 Ft. Skeleton Upgrade

Something that I have noticed this year is that EVERYONE around me has a Home Depot 12 Ft. Skeleton in their front yard now. Heck, some people have two or more! I was suffering from FOMO (fear of missing out) last year, so I ended up biting the bullet and buying one for my display, too. (Really I wanted to add one because I realized that my display was lacking in anything over 7 feet in height and I needed something to break the flat, limiting, horizontal feel of the cemetery setup...)

Immediately upon buying it, I already knew that there was no way that my display would have just another 12 ft. skeleton plopped into it. At this point, these skeletons have become so commonplace you almost ignore them in any display. (Personal opinion, of course...)

So to get mine to stand out, I decided that I wanted to have a 12 ft. corpsed, cloaked reaper!

I started with the basic assembly, but did a tried-and-true drop cloth and heatgun corpsing technique to the head and neck, the only features of the skeleton that would be visible.

After attaching the stained, dried flesh corpse head, I wrapped the entire figure in a black fabric hooded cloak, complete with creepy cloth to give it a few different black hues and to give it extra textured layers. After pinning all of the fabric sections together, it was time to drop him into the front yard.

He now sits at the beginning section of the cemetery display, the first thing you'll see as you come up the street for trick-or-treat. He guards over a coffin that will contain an old skeleton with internal lights and fog, and the entire scene is bathed in a new LED green strobe light. I'm running out of time for this year, but the next step will be to add some sort of wooden staff to his hand. I'm leaning toward some sort of illuminated lantern, but we'll see...

I'm super excited to see the new skeleton reaper in position, and with the simple upgrades will definitely bring a little something extra compared to the sea of out-of-the-box 12 ft. skeletons that everyone else has.

As my young neighbor says, "Uhh.. creepy cool?"

  

Lowe's Haunted Living 48" Tombstone Upgrade

And another quick prop upgrade is finished and ready to go! 

So last month I wrote about a full schedule really hampering my prop-building time for this season. Luckily, the big box stores have been upping the quality of their offerings, allowing me to pick up a few of their pieces to add to this year's display.

Although as a dedicated home haunter, there would be no way that I could simply pull the prop from the box and put it straight into the yard without giving it at least a little extra touch-up...

So just like I did with the Home Depot Grim Reaper Statue and the Lowe's Haunted Living Cauldron, I grabbed this really cool matching Haunted Living 48" tombstone from Lowe's and went to work...

Out of the box, this tombstone had a really great texture and finish, but I wanted to give it a more naturally aged stone look. I dry-brushed a complete, thin coating of light grey to lighten the entire piece. I then went in with a green dry-brush in the recessed areas for a cool mossy look, followed by a black wash to give the piece an overall dark, grimy sheen.

After the updated painting, I wanted to take the customization one step further and decided to add some melted candles to the top section of the stone. I ended up cutting a few angled pieces of toilet paper roll, and then globbed hot glue around the base of each to attach it, followed by a thick drizzle around each to simulate melted wax. After all three candles were set, I simply gave each a full coat of off-white paint and they were done. Now on Halloween night, I'll simply drop an LED tea light into each for a completely realistic candle effect that will really take this tombstone to the next level.

The original prop from Lowe's.

Toilet paper roll and hot glue candles.

I placed the completed tombstone into my yard and I think it looks absolutely great! Another detailed piece that will sit at the front of the display to really draw the eye in.

And now on to the next project on the list!

  

Lowe's Cauldron Prop Upgrade

Another quick prop upgrade is finished and ready to go! 

So last month I wrote about a full schedule really hampering my prop-building time for this season. Luckily, the big box stores have been upping the quality of their offerings, allowing me to pick up a few of their pieces to add to this year's display.

Although as a dedicated home haunter, there would be no way that I could simply pull the prop from the box and put it straight into the yard without giving it at least a little extra touch-up...

So just like I did with the Home Depot Grim Reaper Statue prop, I grabbed this really cool Haunted Living Cauldron from Lowe's and went to work...

Out of the box, this cauldron had a really great texture and finish, but I wanted to give it a well-worn, rusted look. So with paints already in my garage, I dry-brushed a complete coating of orange, followed by a light misting of dark orange and flat brown spray paints. And that was it. Done. In less than an hour, I had the rusty look I was going for.

Before.

After.

The only thing left to do, was to go old school with it! When I first bought it, I decided that I wanted to have the cauldron as a "witch prop" in front of the group that would be handing out candy. So it had to "do something" to get the attention of the trick-or-treaters. And like any good cauldron, it needs to smoke and bubble, so I decided to go out and grab dry ice. I have never used actual dry ice before, but I found a local vendor and secured a few test chunks. I added hot water to the cauldron and dropped the chunks in, marveling at the instant "smoke" rolling over the cauldron's edges and the unexpected "bubbling" from the dry ice's reaction to the hot water. Perfect!!

The final step will be to add some green LED lights to the inside of the cauldron for Halloween night, and this prop is ready to go! A quick and easy touch-up that took no time at all, and this will be a nice new accent piece in this year's display.