Over the past few years, corrugate has emerged as being more than just packaging material. Its versatility means it’s moved into our homes as furniture, and entered our museums as art. It’s a great medium for a great number of things, and decorating with corrugate is fast becoming a fun, cost-effective way to be artistic and original.
With Halloween just around the corner, Halloween-lovers are looking for ways to be competitive and unique. Decorating with corrugate means your house and yard (and even your Halloween costumes) will stand out from the rest of the neighbourhood. Here’s some of our favourite inspiration if you’re looking for a place to start.
Vince the Skull
Vince is quickly turning into a year-round fixture for decorating, but he’s absolutely a hit when it comes to the Halloween season. Die-cut from sheets of corrugate, he assembles into an attractive, if spooky, skull. He’s at home on a window sill, on a spike in the garden, a Halloween costume accessory (Zombie Shakespeare is continually a party hit!), or guarding the candy dish from overeager hands. He’s one of our favourite decorations, and we bet he’ll be one of yours too.
Cardboard Jack-o’-Lantern
Want a Jack-o’-Lantern that’s quick and simple to make? Find a box you’re happy with and carve a great face into its longest side—the spookier (but simpler) the better. Grab a few brushes and paint the outside of the box in a vibrant Halloween orange (we like spray paint, as long as your technique is nice and even). Line the inside with the shiny side of tin foil, drop in a few LED candles, and seal up Jack. He may not be a real pumpkin, but he’ll garner just as much attention.
Monster Windows
The most memorable houses on Halloween are the most original ones, and we think this qualifies. Grab some flattened corrugated boxes (or sheets) and your scissors—it’s time to fire up that Halloween imagination of yours (you’ve been waiting all year for this!). Stencil out the most startling monsters, demons and ghosts you can think of, cut them out and paint them black. Put them in your windows and now you’ve got a memorable group of terrifying (yet compelling) Halloween silhouettes.
Cardboard Tombstones
No Halloween lawn is complete without tombstones and a fog machine, right? Cut boxes into tombstone shapes like the ones in the picture, dropping some weighted material inside (small sandbags work) to keep them from falling over in the wind. Seal them up with Paper Mache or tape, and get down to painting them grey (and weathering them if you’re a completist!). You get extra credit for great tombstone pun names: Emma Goner, Dee Capitated, Anita Moore-Tishan.
Black Magic Candles
Who doesn’t love a good séance? A centerpiece of black candles will stand out nearly as much as that cardboard costume you’re likely wearing. Mailing tubes are the ideal choice for making your own candles, but pool noodles will work in a pinch (though they’re more difficult to decorate in this style). Run some hot glue down the sides to simulate melting wax, paint (or spray paint) the tubes black, and top them off with some of those little LED candles you’ve been stockpiling. Summon away!
Zombie Barrier
Do your best to keep the undead at bay with the neatest window battening Halloween goers will ever see. Cut out strips of corrugated ‘wood’, cover them in wood grain patterns, and stack them haphazardly onto your windows. Throw in some hungry zombie hands, and you’ve got yourself a terrifying scene. They’re coming to get you, Barbara!
Eager to try decorating with corrugate for Halloween? Start with the basics: lots of corrugated boxes. Do you have any great examples of Halloween décor made from corrugate? We’d love to see it—be sure to share it on social media and tag us. Happy Decorating!
Sources: Cardboard Safari, Moving Insider, eHow, Makezine, Erdie, Jayscup
