Creepy stone castings

Hands-on time: 2 hours.
Total time: Add 48 hours curing time.
Skill: Easy and kid-friendly with adult supervision.
Cost estimate: Under $14.00.

Materials & Tools

• Halloween mold (skeleton, ghost, Frankenstein, etc. available at dollar stores, sold as decorations, or use cake molds)
• Damp cloth
• Cement mixture (1 box of 2 kg for smaller molds, Poly cement by LePage available at hardware stores, or for larger molds and colour tints Stepping stone mix by Milestones can also be used)
• Old bowl or disposable container
• Spatula or spoon
• Measuring cup and water
• Strong hook or wire
• Acrylic craft paints in assorted Halloween colours
• Craft paintbrushes in assorted sizes
• Exterior varnish, spray or brush-on

Haunt your house this Halloween with creepy decorative stone creatures made of cement. These hanging horrors are wickedly easy to make for ghoulish greetings for your front porch or party décor.

Lightly wet the Halloween mold with a damp cloth. Mix the cement mixture according to manufacturer's instructions. Wait 10 minutes. Place pieces of wood, books or bricks under the mold along the border to keep the mold levelled. Pour the cement mixture into the mold, level and pat down into the mold with the spatula. Wait 15 minutes and then place a hook or wire at the center about 2 inches down from the top border. Press the hook into the cement. Let dry overnight and then remove from the mold. Wait the full 48 hours of curing time before painting your creature.

Apply 2 coats of acrylic craft paint as a base coat, use black, white, or grey depending on the figure you chose. Let dry between each coat. Paint the creature with acrylic craft paints in assorted Halloween colours. Silver and florescent colours add an extra spooky effect. Once dry, add your detail touches like scars, stitches, and so on with a small paintbrush.

Finish by applying at least 2 coats of exterior varnish (let dry between each coat) to the completed stone creature to protect it from Autumn's nasty weather. This Halloween décor will last for years. You can also add creepy spiders, bugs, and webs to complete the trick.

Tips

• Plaster of Paris can be substituted for the cement. They both give excellent results and cost about the same. I used the stepping stone mix for the skeleton because it has more of a stone look to it, whereas the plaster has a smoother surface, which is terrific for painting.
• You don't even have to paint your stone creatures - they are quit creepy in their natural state. Cement and stepping stone mixes can even be tinted in an array of colours from greens, to browns and blacks. Finally, almost any type of paint can be used on cement, and therefore you can use what you have on hand, from spray paints, airbrushing or metallic paints, gouache or you can even use markers. Get bizarre with this project.
• Using a plastic liner is always an option - they can result in creases in an detailed mold. However, liners are recommended to ease an item out of a tight mold, and to prevent breakage.

Variations

• Other spooky inspirations for frightful Halloween stone creatures are spiders, ghosts, bats, cats, witches, Dracula, Frankenstein and even tomb stones to decorate the lawn. These creations can also be hung on exterior brick walls with special brick hooks available at hardware stores.
• For more assorted Halloween projects for kids and teachers visit The Halloween Safety Guide. This is a guide filled with great information and tips to help keep your Halloween celebration safe. Also see Halloween Online. It includes how-to guides for haunting, decorations, make-up costumes, and special effects.