Turn Wooden Planks Into Frankenstein Summerween Garden Decor With A Simple DIY

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First, there was "Christmas in July," which was a holiday expressly created so Hallmark could make even more Christmas movies. Now, there is Summerween, a chance for Halloween lovers to start their ghoulish celebrations a few months early. Like "Chrismukkuh," and "Festivus," Summerween was coined thanks to a TV show (Disney Channel's "Gravity Falls" in this case). The trend has caught on, allowing those in cold weather climates to host summer outdoor parties and BBQs with a Halloween theme. If you aren't ready to board the Summerween train, you might still want to take advantage of the many on-theme craft ideas — just keep anything you make in your garage until October. Wooden plank Frankensteins are an incredibly cheap and easy Halloween decoration you can tackle any time of year (and yes, we know it is Frankenstein's monster, not Frankenstein himself). 

This Summerween garden decor is easy enough for kids and makes a great summertime project to stave off boredom. All you need is a short, rectangular wooden plank (which hopefully you can source from another project), black and green paint/spray paint, a paper bag, a Sharpie, metal screws, and googly eyes, like this FKEYTO Googly Eyes variety pack for $4.39. The end result is guaranteed to give your entryway a pop — whether it's Halloween or not.

To make your Frankenstein Summerween garden decor, first paint your plank (or planks) a lovely Frankenstein green. Use a spray paint designed for outdoor use, such as Krylon Fusion in Jungle Green or Rust-Oleum in Green Apple. If kids are making this project, skip the spray paint and use acrylic paint and a paintbrush instead. Next, cut small repeating triangle shapes along the bottom of a closed paper bag. Cover the bottom two-thirds of your plank with the bag, making sure the triangles are jutting up and creating a stencil for the hair. Paint the top of the plank black. Glue some googly eyes to your Frankenstein, and use the Sharpie to draw on a mouth and some stitches. Place metal screws on either side of the plank and screw them in only halfway, so they look like bolts coming out of the monster's neck. 

If your Frankenstein gets lonely, consider making him some wood plank friends, including a jack-o-lantern (paint the plank orange and add black face details), a ghost (white plank with black face parts), a cat (black plank, plus black and yellow eyes), or Dracula (gray or purple plank, black hair that comes to a point on the forehead, and white fangs). You could even grab some gauze and make a DIY wood plank mummy. Don't have appropriately sized wood planks lying around? Try this same DIY with leftover bricks.