Spooky Stencils Guaranteed To Scare Up Some Fun!

Decorating for Halloween has always been a family thing with us but with the boys getting older, I do find myself not going as "all out" as I used to. Sure, I still have fake bodies [and fake body parts] strewn everywhere and you couldn't ignore all the handing skeletons even if you tried. Last year I toned things down a little with the front window. I still have the light up ghosts and animated vampires biting into the necks of scantily clad women but I took a different route with the rest of the scene. Not wanting to bother with spider webbing and having plastic spiders all over the place I opted to use a can of fake snow / faux snow to spray on some temporary designs. This is a quick way to decorate windows and the clean up is simple, just wipe a wet paper towel over the area and you are done!

Fun With Halloween Stencils

Until I started rooting around in the boxes of Halloween stuff I completely forgot that I even had this stencil book. Needless to say, it is something that saw a marginal amount of use since only two of the six stencils were removed from the book and used on the front window. As much as I bash these books for being made from card stock instead of plastic, they are inexpensive and great if you are using spray paint or spray on faux snow to decorate something. I used two of the stencils on the front window and if memory serves me correctly, I used the ghost stencil to make a border on the mirror in the diningroom. They are the perfect size for kids and adults to use and if you are careful with them, you can get more than a few uses from them.

So what else do you get in this book besides the ghost? A rather cute but clumsy looking skeleton, a witch with a broomstick, the token pumpkin that appears in almost every one of the Dover stencil books, a high arched cat and a bat. The bat of course is my favorite because, well, because I'm weird like that. Since I only got the chance to use two of these I am going to have to take a stab in the dark as to how the others with fair with normal use. Please keep in mind, these are cut from card stock, not from plastic. Using any type of paint with them will drastically shorten their life span. One thing that sets the stencils in this book apart from others is the simplicity of the designs; the skeleton is the one with the most detail and will probably be the one that gets trashed first.

One of the coolest ones is that of the pumpkin, it isn't scary in the least and it is something that kids can trace out and make cards or decorations from without having to invest too much time in the process. Almost all of the designs are a single cut; all that means is that they are a basic cut out stencil without any internal parts that need to be traced out. This makes them an excellent choice for using spray on faux snow or a temporary spray on chalk product. Because these wet but not something that will saturate the stencil it will allow you to use them over and over again. As I said, the skeleton is the one that has the most detail to it, for windows or mirrors I highly suggest using the ghost or bat as they will come out with the best results.

Like almost all of the other six page Little Activity books from Dover, this one cost about $1.50 but it may have been less when I bought it at the online store. Why are they so inexpensive? First off, there are only six stencils per book, second, they are made from card stock instead of plastic and third, the book itself is small - a little over four inches wide and almost six inches high. There designs in this are mostly kid friendly but I could see how younger ones might be a little scared of the skeleton but the pumpkin and bat are rather harmless. They are easy to work with regardless of what you are using to trace them out with but if you are using spray paint, air brushing on a design or using anything 'wet' the stencils can and will warp.

The Bottom Line

I am glad that I came across this book when I was digging through the Halloween things. I could have sworn that I had a copy of it and it was driving me a little batty to not know where it was. For about $1.50 you get a nice little stencil book that kids can use for art products, greeting cards or decorations. I am sure that Annabelle will be having a blast with this when Halloween rolls around as she has loved using almost all of the other stencil books that I have ordered from the site or bought from used book websites. As long as you don’t expect too much from these you won't be disappointed in how they perform. Plastic stencils will last longer but they also cost more. If you are a Halloween fanatic and want something cool to do your mirrors or windows then this is an awesome yet affordable book to check out.


As always, thanks for the visit ...

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2008 Freak369


Other "Fun With Stencils" books
Chinese Symbols - Egyptian Symbols
Easter - Dragon - Pirate - Egyptian

Other Dover books for Halloween
Halloween Fun Activity Book, Halloween Tattoo Art, Little Halloween Activity Book, Halloween Fingernail Tattoos, Decorate A Pumpkin Sticker Book, Halloween Laser Cut Stencils, Halloween Stained Glass Coloring Book, Halloween Mazes, Glow In The Dark Halloween Stickers, Halloween Coloring Book