Facade

Every year this tree gets trimmed so the haunt can be built around it.




The front facade and frame work get started.




During building time everyone gets in the act. Age means nothing
if you can handle a paint brush!




Even the adults love to get into the painting.




Maureen getting a start on the painting of the front facade.




The details in the front took several times before we were happy with it! The first is just painted on the the flat wall. The second attempt was with paper mache. The third and last was wall board paste. It worked Great!
This is the finished window. Adding some spanish moss and silk ivy gave it the realistic look we were seeking.



The door was my next challenge. I wanted it to look like wood boards. We painted it a brown color and then let it dry. Then I took ceramic stain and painted it a second time. The glaze does not dry fast, so I took a wood grain tool and ran it from top to bottom in one stroke. Moving over on each pass. When that dried I painted very light lines to show the different panels.


Here is the finished door. As I have said before we try to get details to get that final look. Here are several closeup's of the doors little touches.

This is a closeup of the stones. They look very thick when they are only about a quarter of a inch high. Add moss and lots of sponging in different colors and you get this look.

The door knocker was my campy detail of the year. I liked it and I wanted to see it on the front. We antiqued it, glued on some tree moss, and it looked great! The kids got a big kick out of going up and ringing the door. Many parents were surprised that the door did not open.


The hinge was a final touch. We painted them copper to match the door handle, antiqued them, and then glued some moss around the edges
and sponged some green paint.




Here is the wall and windows before Joshua and Family put a few artistic touches into it.


Here is Joshua painting the tree over the hidden exit. The Family team Joshua, Tina, and Rebecca! They completely sponged the front to give it a rough surface look.


Once Kim and I saw that the door opening and closing sort of lost the look the tree had she set to work to make it stand out more. She worked for three days and many hours to give us this great mural using Joshua's original tree. She even added a small
scarecrow and bats just for me!

Here is the door open.



The finished wall without showing the mural on the left end. When it was side lit at night it really was fun!



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