Your friends and family members will barely recognize themselves when they see what you’ve done to their portraits this year. Ordinary pictures you had on the wall, or on shelves, can look spooky for Halloween then replaced with the normal pictures when the holiday is over. Give your friends, family – even a picture of your dog – an eerie make-over that’s perfect for Halloween.
Select the photos you want to transform. Make black and white copies of the pictures and print them out with your computer, on regular printer paper. You can make the photos look very old by doing an easy trick. Make a cup of water and put a few drops of black paint in and stir it well (paint must be water-based). Lightly brush the photos with the paint water and allow to dry.
Purchase cardstock and use it to make backings for the Halloween portraits. Brush a thin layer of decoupage adhesive or watered-down white glue onto the back of each picture. Center the photo on a piece of the cardstock and, if necessary, trim the cardstock to fit the portrait.
When the glue is dry use an Exacto knife to cut out the eyes on the pictures. Cut tiny circles, all the way through the eyes, to create an opening for eerie, lighted eyes. The holes you make should be about a quarter-inch in diameter in order to have the lights fit perfectly into the eyes.
Use miniature, red LED Christmas lights to turn the portraits into something much spookier. You can find the lights at places that sell Christmas decorations or a place that offers party supplies. The tiny, red lights are perfect for giving your portrait’s a spooky look for Halloween.
If you want to make the pictures even scarier, cut triangles out of white paper. Glue or tape two of these “fangs” to the mouth on each picture.
Remove the backing from the chosen picture frame and set the new photo in it. Slide one of the red lights into each eye opening and, if needed, tape them in place. Since the lights come in a strand it’s best if you make a collection of eerie portraits and display them all close together. Black fabric can be used to hide lights which aren’t in pictures.
Slide the backing onto the picture or just tape it in place. You can further create a spooky look for each picture by draping it with cobwebs. Everyone who sees the photos will find them scary and perfect for Halloween.