Are you planning on having a Halloween party this year? This graveyard picket fence is the perfect way to display your favorite Halloween sweet treats.
Halloween is the time for carving pumpkins into spooky jack o lanterns and making fun Halloween inspired food.
It is also time for decorating and this is one of my favorite kid-inspired DIY Halloween decorations.
Nothing sets the mood for a Halloween party better than a table centerpiece with a spooky look. If you also have lots of themed Halloween food, so much the better.
This graveyard picket fence is meant to resemble a fence that sometimes surrounds tombstones in a graveyard – complete with creepy crawlies.
I made mine in a few hours and it can be used to decorate in a lot of different ways.
Since I am not a metal worker and this is supposed to be a fun and EASY craft, I am making my fence with craft sticks.
Note: Hot glue guns, and heated glue can burn. Please use extreme caution when using a hot glue gun. Learn to use your tool properly before you start any project.
Making a graveyard picket fence
All you need to make this project are just a few supplies. I gathered these together:
- Wooden craft sticks
- White spray paint
- Plastic creepy crawlies
- 1 piece of white felt
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
To get started, I trimmed the edges of 32 craft sticks to make them flat edged, and used sharp scissors to make a point on each end of 15 more.
My sticks were 15 cm long and I cut the ones that had the points in half to make my pickets.
This project was a trial and error thing for me, and I ended up wasting a lot of craft sticks. I ended up throwing my first draft away and started again, making the base first.
This gives something for the pickets to adhere to and helps to keep the whole thing square as you work.
Lay the craft sticks down side by side (as evenly as you can) and hot glue four sticks to the bottom of the base. This holds the sticks in place quickly.
To make the pickets lay two craft sticks on the table and add hot glue to the back of the pickets about 1/3 up and down from the edges and push it in place.
I found it easiest to do the edges first, then the middle picket and end with the other two. Each picket section uses five pickets.
TIP: as you hot glue, be sure to test to make sure the base of them is level with the table. This will ensure they will sit well when you attach them to the base.
Once you have the six picket sections finished, just add some hot glue on the bottom edge of each picket on the inside and press against the edges of the base.
You will have two picket sections on each long side and one on each short side.
After you attach the sections to the base, add a couple of drops of glue where the sections meet to tack them together.
ANOTHER TIP: at this point, you’ll likely have strings of glue. It is best to remove them now instead of waiting until you paint, or you’ll end up with a spider like effect. (don’t ask me how I know this!!)
Place the finished graveyard picket fence on some large cardboard and spray the whole thing white with spray paint and allow it to dry.
When the paint has dried, use hot glue to attach three plastic creepy crawlies in place, climbing up the fence to get to the goodies.
Finish the project by cutting a piece of white felt the size of your base and hot gluing it in place to protect your furniture.
Dollar store spiders are fun to use in any craft, especially around Halloween, since spiders are one of the symbols of Halloween. Check out how I used them to make spider ice cubes, here.
Time to display your goodies
This fun Halloween picket fence makes a great table centerpiece. Use it along side of a candy corn centerpiece for extra effect.
Display your favorite Halloween sweet treats in the center of the picket area. There are lots of ways to do this:
- You could put a whole cake or small bowls of treats in the center for a special effect.
- Add some moss and add a clay pot pumpkin with some Halloween candy in it.
- Use it to showcase my Halloween dirt cups and they looked great in it.
- Make some little graveyard cookies for a fun graveyard effect.
Add moss and fill it with gourds
Pin this picket fence for later
Would you like a reminder of this Halloween decor project? Just pin this image to one of your holiday boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Admin note: this post first appeared on the blog in September of 2017. I have updated the post to add a printable project card and a video for you to enjoy.
Graveyard Picket Fence - Halloween Fence Table Decoration
This graveyard picket fence is the perfect way to display your favorite Halloween treats. It would make a great table centerpiece.
Materials
- 47 wooden craft sticks - 15 cm long
- white spray paint
- package of plastic creepy crawlies
- I piece of white felt
Tools
- hot glue gun and glue sticks
- sharp knife
- sharp scissors
Instructions
- Trim the edges of 32 craft sticks to make them flat edged, and used sharp scissors to make a point on each end of 15 more.
- Lay the craft sticks down evenly side by side and hot glue four sticks to the bottom of the base.
- To make the pickets lay two craft sticks on the table and add hot glue to the back of the pickets about 1/3 up and down from the edges and push it in place. Each section uses 5 pickets.
- Once you have made the six picket sections,, add some hot glue on the bottom edge of each picket on the inside and press against the edges of the base. You will have two picket sections on each long side and one on each short side.
- Add a couple of drops of glue to hold the sections together.
- Place the completed base on cardboard and spray with white paint. Allow to dry.
- Attach spiders and creepy crawlies to the pickets on the sides.
- Cut a piece of white felt the size of your base and glue it in place to protect your furniture.
- Fill the base with your favorite Halloween treats.
- Another use is to fill with mini gourds or pumpkins.
Notes
TIP: as you hot glue, be sure to test to make sure the base of them is level with the table. This will ensure they will sit well when you attach them to the base.
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