How to Make a Small Parade Float With a Halloween Theme
When Halloween rolls around and you're looking for a different way to celebrate, consider entering a float in a parade. Parades generally attract a big audience, so a float can be a perfect way to show off your costume and set design skills. With the right equipment and some imagination, constructing a small parade float with a Halloween theme--such as a graveyard or cemetery--is not too difficult and can be lots of fun. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Vehicle with trailer hitch
- Small-sized flat-bed trailer
- Astroturf
- Staple gun
- Chicken wire
- Tin snips
- Fake gravestones
- 2 x 4
- Saw
Instructions
-
-
1
Obtain a vehicle with a trailer hitch. SUVs or pickup trucks are ideal options because not all vehicles can handle towing a heavy load. The vehicle will be used to tow your float.
-
2
Obtain a small flat-bed trailer with a wooden base. Businesses exist that rent these, but keep in mind it has to be returned in the same condition in which you received it. A better option would be to borrow one from a friend, if possible.
-
-
3
Measure the bed of the trailer so you'll be aware of how much Astroturf or other type of fake grass to buy.
-
4
Create the base by covering the bed of the trailer with Astroturf and attaching it with nails or a staple gun. Although it is not necessary, to give the float some contour, make a hill or two with chicken wire before installing the Astroturf. Chicken wire can be cut using tin snips and easily shaped into mounds, which can then be attached to the truck bed with a staple gun.
-
5
Attach fake gravestones throughout the base of the float. The fake gravestones can be made by cutting the shape from wood or foam and painting them gray. You also could purchase fake gravestones from a party supply store around Halloween. To attach the gravestones, nail or glue them to a wooden base made of a 2 X 4 sawed to the length of the grave. Paint the base the color of the grave so they'll blend in. Then, nail them to the floor of your float.
-
6
Add any other props you'd like to include that are commonly found in a cemetery or related to Halloween. Ideas include spooky trees, a black cat, skeletons, coffins and fencing.
-
7
Attach your completed float to the tow vehicle using the instructions provided with the trailer.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
For a great addition to your Halloween-themed float, create some costumes such as a mummy or zombie and have two or three riders on the back of your float. If it is allowed, they can throw candy to the crowd along the parade route.
Another option for added effect would be to find a CD of spooky Halloween noises and play it from a portable CD player hidden in the float.
Driving a truck that is pulling a trailer requires an experienced driver. If you are inexperienced, find a friend who has done it before to drive it for you.
Drive your float slowly. This is especially important if you have riders on the back.
