[reignman40]

I am trying to make a fake corn field before Halloween night so I can freak some kids out with a Jeepers Creepers costume on a cross in my yard. But I'm having trouble figuring out just how to make fake corn stalks. Anyone have any ideas as far as materials and what not?

Thanks,
Curtis

[belli]

How about if you purchase stalks of corn and set up rows using long stakes spaced out and use some type of string/rope/wire across the top and bottom to spread out the stalks. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:



Not sure how much stalks of corn cost but if you can get a few rows placed that should work out ok. I see dry stalks on sale at some of those corner fruit/veggie stands.

[reignman40]

I thought about just purchasing the dried stalks. They are usually about like $10 for 10 stalks from what I've found just perusing the net. I was hoping I could figure out a way to construct my own as this would be a recurring theme. Might get costly to have to purchase the stalks each year. Plus I thought if I could make my own they would be strong enough to just push/hammer into the ground without having to rig up supports.

Anyone have any ideas about constructing fake ones? Or should I just bite the bullet and try to use real corn stalks each year?

[belli]

How about painting a pvc pipe green or golden colored, depending on if you are going for a live or dry look. Then you could go to a craft store where they have diffent types of fake flowers and look for ones with leaves that look similar to corn stalks then glue the leaves to the pipe.

[amandap80]

I actually did some hunting for silk corn stalks awhile back, and never found any. I simply purchased the dried stalks, 12 for $4 here. Do you have a farmer's market?

[reignman40]

Haven't really looked locally. Problem is it can get quite windy here. For instance over the last 3 days my graveyard of tombstones has been decimated. Pretty much any foam ones have broke where the stakes go into the bottom of them. Which is why I was hoping to maybe construct the corn stalks from a pvc pipe base. That would stick nicely into the ground and keep them safe from wind damage. My only issue is I'm unsure whether I could find pvc small enough as I do want the stalks to look realistic. Also figuring out how to do the leaves and the top of the corn stalk.

[stormqueen29]

Hmmmmmm,

Well, you can find pretty small PVC at most hardware places like Lowe's and Sears and such. The 1/2" is what you want. To paint it you'd have to make sure to buy plastic covering paint. If you get paint for metal it will just flake right off.

The leaves could be done easily enough out of scraps of material, the fake silk stuff or something similar. You can usually pick that stuff up pretty cheap, even some Wal-Marts have it. Just cut out the proper length and hot glue it to the PVC. If you want a little backbone to the leaves, it would be simple enough to glue pieces of drinking straws to the back where you couldn't see it.

The tassles might be a little harder to do, I'm thinking maybe you could buy one of those craft type corn broom things, and use clumps of that for the tassles by tying some together and sticking it in the top of the tube. They'd be easy enough to save for a few years and then replace if need be.


Another option for the real ones is to get those super cheap tomato and flower stakes and tie the real ones to the stakes. They would be hidden from view and still should keep wind damage to a minimum. You can get the thin metal ones that are about 36" tall for a buck or so I think. Or some places have little bamboo ones that are like .60 each.

I wish you the best of luck with your project.

gale

[Jymiek]

I know it's not corn stalks but my neighbor plants sun flowers every year. And in mid October they get cut down. By Halloween the leaves are a little dry and sometimes take on a dark color. At night they are very creepy. The stalks are anywhere from 5 to 8 feet. I line my walkway with them. To get them to stand up you can either use those decorative brinks with the holes and stuff the stalks in there but I found if you buy 10 foot pvc pipes (2 inch wide or so) and cut them into 1-2 inch lengths then make a point on one end they stalks will stand. Try coloring the portion of the pipe that sticks out of the ground so it can't be seen at night. We do this and blast a fog machine and hide a zombie in the middle of it and the kids love it. Looks pretty good too.

[blueikaos]

Curtis,

Did this wind up working for you?
I would love to see pics!