HALLOWEEN GRAVEYARD PICKET FENCE

If done right, a homemade picket fence can look just as old and creepy as a wrought-iron graveyard fence, or if you grown your own pumpkin patch, its a perfect fence. This article shows how we built a wooden graveyard fence using eight foot long sections of picket fencing. For one complete eight foot long section you will need the materials listed below.

13 - 3' tall wooden pickets
02 - 2"x3"x8' boards
02 - Fence Posts
52 - 1" nails
08 - 2" Nails

To build an eight foot long section of Halloween fence, we laid the two eight foot long boards on a flat surface separated by eighteen inches on the inside and nailed the two larger end posts to the braces.

Next, we placed all of the pickets on top of the two fence braces, spreading them out so that they were equally spaced between each other and so that the bottom of each one was eight inches above the bottom of the fence posts. This allows for eight inches of the posts to be buried.

Since this is a Halloween fence, we didn't want it to look perfectly built or new, so we spaced some of the pickets at slightly different distances apart and a few of them at slight angles. Just be sure to keep the bottom of the end pickets at the same distance below the bottom fence posts, so that they will sit straight. Now you can nail the picket to the two brace boards.

Painting
Since most pickets are made from white pine, which is a light colored wood and not very spooky looking, you will probably want to stain or paint each fence section. Since we want the fence to look old and weathered, you will want to leave it somewhat rough, only sanding areas that have sharp edges or splinters.

For our fence, we created a black stain by diluting one part semi-gloss black paint with three parts water. We painted this on with a narrow paint roller and a brush for hard to get spots, and then rubbed it down with a hand towel. The wood tends to be porous and will soak up a fair amount of the stain. Let the fence dry in the sun until it is no longer tacky.

Mounting
Begin by digging two holes large enough in depth and diameter for a fence pole to fit into. You can use either a narrow bladed shovel or a post hole digger to dig the hole. Slide the base of the end posts into the holes and then fill with dirt around the posts. Tamp the dirt down around the base of the post firmly. Repeat this process with another fence section away until you have buried all of your fence posts.

Final Touches
Adding some vines, Spanish moss and fake spider webs will help give the illusion that it has been left unattended for a long time.