HALLOWEEN WINDOWS: REALISTIC BLOOD-RED HANDPRINTS
Wonder how to bring more horror to your Halloween house party? Bloody handprints, traces and splashes will do the job, trust me! It's been tried and tested, moreover, it's relatively easy to make your own blood-like decals. Use (and reuse!) them on any windows, bathroom mirrors, even walls and virtually any clean flat surface you can attach them to – I could think of white goods and furniture here, too. Why not create a messy murder scene in the living room? Oh, that will be nice. Without further ado, let's see the exact steps to reproduce the bloody prints you see on the photos.
List Of Necessary Materials
- Food dye: blood-red and blue colours
- Tape & plastic wrap roll
- Latex gloves (optional, you can work bare-handed if you like)
- Craft glue (be sure to pick child-safe glue if the little ones are going to help)
- Cutting board
Step 1
- Setting Up Everything
First and foremost, choose a room you'll be able to clean up easily when you're done – maybe one with no carpets, so that you can wash the floor in the end. Pay extra attention to the act of wrapping up the cutting board as you need a totally flat and smooth surface for this project to work out. Place a large piece of tape on the back of board to hold the wrap in place tightly. And a friendly reminder: don't wear your favourite clothes while working... unless they need some more colours as well.
Step 2
- Let's Make Some Blood
Fill a large cup with some of the glue along with just a drop of the blue colour. Mix up well. Then start adding red dye but not all at once, do it drop by drop as you don't stop stirring. That way you'll be able to fine-tune the bloody colour for maximum realistic effect. Keep in mind that your fake blood will look a bit darker when it dries, which means you should stop adding red just before you see the desired result.
Step 3
- Forming The Prints' Bases
It's time to prepare the actual handprints. Apply an even, thick layer of craft glue onto your palms – things are going to be quite messy, so now is the best moment to put your gloves on if you like to. Okay, let's leave some prints – press your hand down on the wrapped cutting board and do so many times until the prints are well-defined. Use some glue to fill in any gaps and then keep applying even more glue on top to make a 3mm thick base. Form as many blood prints and splashes as you want and then let them dry.
Step 4
- Paint It All Red
Paint it all blood-red, indeed (glove alert goes here). Cover again your palm, now using the earlier prepared fake blood – a plastic spatula or spoon can be of great help here. 3 mm is still the thickness you want. Similarly to the previous step - press your hands down to the bases to paint them in the bloody colour you've made. In order to make sure it's 3mm thick everywhere, keep spreading more of the “blood” with the spatula. When you're ready, let the now bloody bases dry until they get a waxy appearance. Then, separate the ready handprints from the plastic wrap and place them all over the windows and why not the blinds! Bear in mind that for a smooth application you need well-cleaned window panes in the first place. That will make the prints and drops stand out nicely and you'll be able to take them off the windows easily after the Halloween party. I somehow ended up having some nasty red stains on my blinds but was lucky enough to find a team for window blind cleaning here in Sydney to fix that. To avoid my scenario, just be more careful while working and wait longer so that the bloody glue is actually dry. Wishing you all a scary Halloween!
