Thread: Graveyard and Large Paved Area

Tweet

This is my first post on this forum so I hope I put this in the right place. First of all there are a lot of very creative and artistic people here. I'm very impressed with what people come up with using very simple tools and materials. Great Job!

Here is my question. I have a small grass yard area and a very large paved driveway. I'm planning the graveyard haunt but I think I need to cover some of the paved area. I wanted to make a path to the door and the other areas have some sort of ground cover. The other requirement is the "ground cover" needs to be able to be deployed quickly, the day of the haunt. I hope this makes sense. Does anyone have any ideas on what to use for the "ground cover?"

Thanks for your help.

first of all i welcome you to your first post of many here:

are you saying you want to make your patio look like part of the grass yard?

Originally Posted by ctarpey

first of all i welcome you to your first post of many here:

are you saying you want to make your patio look like part of the grass yard?

It doesn't have to looks like grass I'd just like it to not look like pavement.

The area is a paver driveway that can park five cars.

R

Well, first of all, a fog machine would be great for disguising pavement. But perhaps you could also get some cheap, mega cheap, indoor/outdoor carpet, like at home depot. spray some super 77 adhesive on it and stomp some dried leaves on it. Then roll it out the night of the haunt. Just my random thought.

miss phantom is right fog and lighting make the scene and you wouldnt even know where u are.. the green carpet pieces that tthe mini golf courses is what you need otherwise a green tarp some fog lighting nd moss and your scene is set.. remeber though when its dark out and as long as you use fog and lighting to your advantage you should be good!

Fog is a must in any case. I have the same problem - tiny yard, big driveway, so I use leaves, lots of leaves to cover the concrete. I attach the grave markers to 12" X 12" particle board bases to stand them up.

Camo net, or a coat canvas tarp in undercarpet adhesive then put mulch or peat moss on it. It will roll up and then unroll like fresh grave yard earth! If you just use brown paint instead of carpet adhesive it will help hide the tarp better but the peat moss wont stick quite as well.

For a path, I've just laid ropelight on the ground and everyone seems to stay between the lines without a problem.

For cover...leaves...however, with the climate changem the leaves that used to fall the week before Halloween now fall the week after Halloween. Mulch would be a good solution. Our county landfill sells it dirt cheap and would be really easy to spread out...just pray it doesn't rain.

To hold up props...I had to solve that dilemma this year as I had some bluckies with PVC in them that I needed to standup in the street. Forgive me if the measurments are wrong, but I think I used a 2"x10" and then drilled holes in it for 10" nails I got at Lowes. They might have been 12". But anyway, insert the nails up through the board and slid your prop down on it. It'll also work well as a base for tombstones. Make sure you just don't leave the boards laying around with nothing on the nails, as that will cause serious injury if someone falls on them.

Here's some shots of what I did on my driveway. You don't have to go crazy to make it work.

The two scenes on pavement



Closer 1



Closer 2



I used this stuff from Spirit-

http://www.spirithalloween.com/product/jute-roll/

And some tan landscaping fabric from Home Depot. Be sure to look for the landscaping fabrics at your local center in spring and summer. The variety is really good and you get a lot in a roll too. All that neat fence came from Lowes on the cheap in the fall. Rolls right up when you're done too.

I threw on some logs I had laying around the property to hold it all down as it was windy on halloween by me. I rattled my brain how to hold up the fence on pavement for quite a few days until it came to me at the last moment- boxes with weights in them. In the day pics you can see the boxes somewhat. The fence is wired to the sides of them- quick and dirty. I also made use of a few microphone stands last year. They make excellent stands to hang and hold things.

The best part- it's dark. People see what you want them to see and you do it with lighting. What looks like schlock during the day becomes this at night-





Pavement is a challenge but you can easily create ground cover and get things standing upright without too much trouble. Best of all- it REALLY expands the display in a big way. Don't avoid it just because it's hard!

Good luck!

Dan

Consider the ultimate grave yard prop for a driveway: A hearse.

The advantages of owning a hearse are actually quite numerous (with apologies to David Letterman):
#10. Big enough to bring home most prop building materials from Home Depot
#9. Only "seats" two
#8. If you get tired on a long trip, you have a convenient place to take a nap
#7. It's a convenient place to store props in the off season
#6. It's usually black, and black spray paint for touch-ups is 98 cents a can at Wal-Mart. As a haunter, you undoubtedly know this, because you're already buying it by the case.
#5. Turn on the lights, and people will get out of the way for you in traffic
#4. Lots of space to install a "killer" stereo
#3. Goth girls "dig" guys who drive hearses
#2. Saves money when your final drive is taken
and the #1 reason to own a hearse?
Because no one will ever ask to borrow it.