Radiation Hazard Printable Sign

     If you've looked at my party pics from my recent Halloween parties (see Halloween 2017 and Halloween 2018), you may have noticed my radiation hazard sign on my fridge.  I actually made mine using my Silhouette CAMEO, but since Blogger doesn't make it easy to add SVG files to posts and since I imagine most of my readers don't have die cutting machines at home, I've turned it into a printable sign.  I made it in Paint, so it is a little pixelated if you print it at a large size.  However, if you have a better photo editing program which allows you to smooth the edges, that will probably fix the issue.  This sign could be a great addition to a Halloween zombie or science lab setup.

Materials:

*White cardstock
*Color printer
*Laminator (optional)

Directions:

*Print the sign out onto a sheet of white cardstock.
*Laminate if you wish.

Hot Glue Alien Parasite Specimen

     This hot glue alien parasite is easy and inexpensive to make, and is the perfect addition to a Halloween specimen collection.  Although I didn't use this for my X-Files party, it reminds me a little of the alien parasite in the X-Files episode "Ice."  You could also fill the vial with a colored liquid to make it look like you've embalmed the specimen, but I'm not sure if that would adversely affect your parasite if you want to reuse it for future years.

Materials:

*Hot glue and glue gun
*Vial
*Fine tipped black marker
*Label (see this post for creating potion labels)
*Thread

Directions:

*Apply some hot glue to the bottom of the vial's cork and create a line of hot glue going downward.  Make sure that the line of hot glue is still short enough to fit inside the vial.  Let harden.

*Once the hot glue has solidified, you can peel the parasite from the cork or leave it hanging from the cork, whichever way you like.

*Add a couple of eyes to the parasite using a fine tipped marker

*Close the parasite inside the vial.

*Tie a specimen label around the parasite vial.

X-Files Darkness Falls Cocooned Skeleton

     Welcome to the final X-Files Darkness Falls post.  Even if you're not planning on hosting an X-Files themed party, you can string up one of these cocoons in your yard as part of your Halloween decor.  Instead of little green mites, perhaps your skeleton was the victim of a giant spider.  Use your imagination, and have fun!

Materials:

*Plastic skeleton or bones
*Light colored "creepy" cloth (large mesh cheesecloth-like cloth sold at, e.g., Dollar Tree)
*Clear elastic cording
*Fake spider webbing
*Scissors

Directions:

*Lay your skeleton or bones on the "creepy" cloth.  If you're working with loose bones, like I was, the bones may move around a bit as you're making this, so you may have to shift them around a few times.

*String the clear elastic through the edges of the cloth, slowly pulling the edges together.  Creepy cloth tends to come as a rectangular sheet, which means that when you pull the edges together, you may get some uneven bunching at the top, which you can see a little bit in my pictures.  I didn't think it was that much of a detraction, and if you have a tree way above eye level that you can hang it from, the bunching probably won't be noticeable.

*Tie the cording to hold the edges of the cloth together.  Make sure the ends of the cording are long enough to tie around a tree branch or whatever you would like to hang your cocoon from.

*Pull spider webbing across the cocoon to give it a more web-like appearance.  Use as much or as little spider webbing as you like.

X-Files Darkness Falls Little Green Bugs

     An X-Files Darkness Falls party would hardly be complete without some little green mites crawling around.  Removable vinyl makes it possible to stick a lot of these little buggers to your wall and remove them easily once you're done.  If you keep the non-stick sheet you cut them on, you may be able to store them and reuse them for a future party.

Materials:

*Removable vinyl in lime green

*Silhouette CAMEO or other die cutter (could potentially be done by hand, but I would not recommend)

Directions:

*Import this little green bug template into your Silhouette or other die cutting machine's software program.

*"Trace" the template following the directions for your machine's software program.  If you have a Silhouette CAMEO, you can check out this post for some info on how to create a cut file from a template.

*Create many, many copies of the bugs, as many as you can comfortably fit on a 12"x12" sheet of vinyl.

*Place a 12"x12" square of removable vinyl on your cutting mat in accordance with the directions on the package.

*Load the vinyl into your cutting machine and cut using the vinyl settings.

*Peel bugs off the cutting mat and stick to your wall.

*Once you're done with the bugs, they should peel up off the wall fairly easily.  They may stick a bit to other surfaces, however.  For example, I also put some on the TV, and those ones were a bit more challenging to remove.  You may want to place one down and peel it up as a test to make sure that it peels off easily enough for your liking.