Ghost family portrait. source: instructables.com
If I explore the far reaches of my memory, I can recall the sheer excitement I had every October with the much anticipated night of trick-or-treating. You’d think it was the candy (and as my teeth ache, my mouth also waters when I think back to all those mini Snicker and Hershey bars…not the dark chocolate bitter ones, though…blech!). However, in actuality, I was so much more excited about donning my fabulously mom-made, albeit itchy, costume and pulling out the dusty box of half-broken decorations (Scotch tape and Elmer’s to the rescue!). Halloween was really about the make-believe that always involved a healthy dose of the “scaries”. That’s why, when I came across this fun weekend DIY project, creating a ghost family portrait, I knew I had to try it myself. It also does DIY double-duty: it captures our kids (and/or four-legged ones) in a moment in time, and it serves as fun Halloween home decor that can be pulled out of that storage box year after year!
Now look at the camera and say “Boo!”.
Graveyard photo. source: instructables.com
Boy ghost in graveyard. source: instructables.com
Girl ghost in graveyard. source: instructables.com
Ghost Family Portrait…here’s what you’ll need:
- camera
- old time costumes
- Photoshop or Pages programs (for editing images)
- printer
- antique frame
Visit doodlecraft’s page on instructables for full how-to. Meanwhile, check out the images below to see how I did…!
Original images of Klunkers and background.
I first took these photos and tried to keep my camera steady. A tripod would have been a good idea. The arrow indicates that in my Pages program, I would next need to lay Klunkers over the background image.
Ghost Klunkers and background fused.
As you can see, I had to shift and rotate the Klunkers image so it fit better onto the background image. I then pulled the “opaque” levels down so Klunkers would appear ghostly…Stay Klunkers!
Ghost Klunkers antiqued.
Next, after exporting the image onto my desktop as a pdf file, then opening it up in Preview, I cropped the image and saved as a jpg. file. I then dragged it in iPhoto and placed an “antiqued” effect on it, adding an old time, eerie feel.
Framed Ghost Klunkers!
The finished ghost family portrait! He and Casper would get along fine!
Klunkers photography by Skaie Knox, HomeJelly
