Halloween Decor - How to create your front yard into a fake graveyard for an outdoor party.

Ok, you're going to be home anyway handing out treats, not tricks for Halloween, right? Why not decorate your front yard as a graveyard. The holiday really is to celebrate the Day of the Dead, so make some spooky tombstones, put up some fun decorations and invite the little kiddies into the spirit world.

The first thing you're going to need is a sign. I have the cutest standup sign ready for your custom invitation right on it. I ordered this stand up sign from Austinstar.com and Hollywood Mega Store. Click on the Lifesize standups link at the top of the page or just go to the standup page by clicking here. The online store features other life size standups for just about any occasion. Hollywood Mega Store is one of my affiliates and I do get a small commission if you buy your Halloween stand ups from me.

Place your sign out front in a very viewable area so everyone in the neighborhood can see it. You could also use the sign for invitations to those you want to invite to enjoy your night of the dead party. I would right click on the image of the sign, add your text in a photo editing program like Photo Shop, then print out as many invites as you need and mail them. Get started today so people will have time to make plans to attend your party. Don't forget to include Who, What, When, Where and Why!

Now, you've sent out your invitations, you need some stuff to decorate with. Styrofoam boards make great tombstones. Just use a simple pattern, some gray and black spray paint and carve the names and dates into the front. Loop some spiderwebs around them and put some mounded dirt in front of them and voila', you have an instant grave yard! You may have to back them up to a fence and tack them to make them stay in place, but that's even cooler! I put mine in front of my garden which has a wooden border.

Funny Tombstone Epitaphs

Add funny tombstone epitaphs and other sayings to your fake tombstones. Things like "I told you I was sick!" Here are a few more:

• Here lies Johnny Yeast, Pardon me for not rising
• Here lies Lester Moore, 4 slugs from a .44 - No Les, No more
• Here lies the body of our Anna, done to death by a banana, It wasn't the fruit that laid her low, but the skin of the thing that made her go
• I would rather be here than in Texas
• It was a cough that carried him off, It was a coffin they carried him off in
• Lawyer's epitaph - The defense rests
• Dentist's epitaph - This is the last cavity I will fill
• Here lies the body of Maggie Bent, she kicked up her heels and away she went
• Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go
• Here lies old Rastus Sominy, died a-eating hominy, in 1859 anno domini
• Coal miner's epitaph - He's gone underground for good
• Sir John Strange, here lies an honest lawyer, and that is Strange
• Auctioneer's epitaph - Going, Going, Gone!
• Here lies Ann Mann, lived an old maid, died an old Mann
• Here lies somebody, who is non of your business

The spiderwebs are easy to find at the grocery store or your local Walgreen's, plus it's cheap. It's also easy to clean up later. Bonus! So buy at least 10 packs of the stuff and put it everywhere in the yard you can find a place to hang it. It stretches really well, so if you have two trees or posts, just go ahead and put it between the two and stretch it as far as you can. The web stuff comes in different colors, so go crazy. Add some fake spiders, especially giant ones!

Now who doesn't know how to carve pumpkins? Just get a bunch of pumpkins, say 10 or so and go to town. If you have kids, they can help get the goo out. Save the seeds for roasting. Here are some easy to follow Halloween Pumpkin Carving sites:

• Pumpkin Carving 101
• Extreme Pumpkins.com
• The Pumpkin Wizard

Grab some of those cheap pumpkin carving packs in the seasonal isle of your local grocer. They are just the thing for carving pumpkins and even beginners soon get the hang of it. The more you practice, the easier it gets.

Have your pumpkin carving party one day ahead of your Halloween party. Get all your carved pumpkins in one place with their candles lit and take lots of photos. Don't use the flash. Hold the camera very still or use a tripod. Shooting in the dark is easy if you can keep the camera still. Otherwise you will get blurred photos. Save these photos on Facebook and share them with your friends. Hey! Use Facebook to invite your friends too.