20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Bedroom

I am officially finished with Evan’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea themed bedroom and he moves in tomorrow night. You may have noticed I haven’t posted much to my blog recently. The birth of our daughter in January and this undertaking have replaced late nights making zombies.

A quick overview, I started by ripping up the carpet and putting in a fireside oak laminate flooring.

Then moved to the riveted chair rail and padded fabric panels.

Teal paint finished off the top half of three walls.

The large wall was turned into a sea monster mural inspired by some of the concept art sketches from the movie. See the time lapse video below of the mural painting.

Then came the faux beams in the corners and fake steam and water pipes.

My wife made the comforter for the bed out of the same fabric that was used on the padded panels.

What submarine room would be complete without a submarine door?

The closet was turned into a reading nook, or a plop pit (Evan loves falling onto pillows yelling “Plop!”)

Some cheap wire shelving and some oil rubbed bronze spray paint made for a good look over the desk. Every piece on the shelves has a story behind it and most items have either been in the family for some time or have a special memory tied to it.

For wall decor, a ship painting my sister gave me years ago has moved from above the fireplace to Evan’s room. It just looks right there. The porthole started as a half sphere fish tank, I added the rivets and frame, added an aquarium background cling, fake plant, and octopus beanie baby.

The dresser, desk, night stand and chair were created by Mels Creative Corner. We saw the dresser online and instantly fell in love and then commissioned the rest of the pieces. Mel and Mel do fantastic work, have great prices and are just good people.

A few odds and ends help to round off the room like the green loop rug, fluffy or weird pillows, and of course a room darkening shade shoe can take his naps without being bothered by the light.

There are a few small things left to finish but they are really minor we are working on a curtain and sash for the closet, some simple curtains, but he is moving in and I am calling it done.

Enough of me babbling, on to the photos!

Dollar store haunted village

I have always wanted a haunted village, last weekend we made it happen. I saw this technique on the36thavenue.com and decided to give it a go.  First we hit up our local dollar tree and picked up a set of their mini christmas village called Cobblestone Corners.

Second step was to paint them all flat black.  I used the cheapest black spray paint I could find.

Third step was to hit them with some white dry brushing and presto, haunted village.  It was amazing to see how creepy some of the figures turned out.  A happy fireman, once painted, looks like a axe wielding maniac.  A precious father son shoveling snow turns into two people burying a body. Some children bringing home a Christmas tree became a group of young vandals.

Fly the freak flag!

It’s that time of year to raise the Halloween freak flag!  This year, it was a family affair.  Kelly, Evan, and soon to be peanut all helped to place the first decoration of the season.

Halloween Scene

Saw this cute idea on pinterest to make a little Halloween scene in a jar.  Took a trip to Marshalls and found the large glass container, hit up Michaels for the mini zombies (with a coupon of course) and the tree and presto-chango, Halloween Scene in a jar.  Pretty good chance we will be making more of these.

Mummies

What can you do late on a wednesday night with a 2×4 and some burlap? Well you can make mummies of course!  This was an idea we found on pinterest.  Simply cut a 2×4 to a managable height, paint it black, wrap it up in strips of light colored burlap and slap on some googly eyes.  A staple gun made it easy to attach the burlap.

We did 4 varying heights to represent our family and the screwed them to a board.  A very quick and easy project that looks pretty cute.

Coffins

Part of the new cemetery layout for this year is two new coffins.  I started by stealing measurement s from a foam coffin make-n-take at Great Lakes Fright Fest 2011.

Once I had the measurements, a few cuts of 1×2′s and presto, coffin frames.  I haven’t decided what to cover them with yet but at least the frames are done.  I am,leaning towards wood paneling if I can find some that looks old and weathered.

Obelisks

To fill out the back of the cemetery, I wanted some tall simple pieces. 

How about three 5’6″ obelisks!?!?

These were made from left over 2″ foam insulation.  The same offset technique was used to give them a touch of detail.  On the back is a 3′ section of 1×2 to glued a screwed into place for strength and support.

Tombstone redux

After reading up on tombstone construction, I started making 4 new small (3 feet tall) ones.  2″ thick foam insulation was used as the base.  To add some dimension, I cut sections out of the stones with the jigsaw and offset them.  I hope that this will create some good depth and shadows when the lights are on them.

The epitaths are self sticking foam letters.  I hope that a few coats of paint will help keep them stuck for years to come.

I had some left over papeir mache skulls that were attached, along with some decorative trim pieces I found at Lowes.

Next up is painting… just need to decide how I want to paint them…

Let the planning begin!

I have my plan for our 2012 Halloween display finished!  I am a little late to the game this year but I think I have some cool new additions that will really make the yard look great.  The most noteable addition is a 16 channel light-o-ramma.  (Stay tuned for some test videos of it hooked up to night lights.)

This year, the focus is on quality over quantity.  I am making some new tombstones with more detail and more sturdy construction, all the zombies will be revisited making their stuffing and pose more zombie-like, the cemetary columns are getting overhauled and some new fencing is in the works.  I am hoping to make two coffins for the yard as well.   Oh and I almost forgot, I need to build a large masouleum to be a home for the FCG and to keep the electronics nice and dry.

More updates to come as things progress.

Our 2011 Halloween Setup

I will have more photos coming soon but wanted to share these night shots courtesy of STOLLOWEEN.  It was great to see everyone that stopped by.  Already looking forward to next year, and I think I will be calling an electrician to put in a couple extra breakers.