# How do you make fake corn stalks?



## Tiff

I apologize if this has been asked before. But I'm doing a haunted house and my room, which is based off of the movie "Jeepers Creepers", requires corn stalks. I would love to use real ones, obviously, but unfortunately it's against fire code. So I need to make or possibly buy fake ones. The cheaper the better. 

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!


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## Systematic Chaos

Maybe crate paper? Seems like that would be against the same fire codes though. I'd try that and maybe very thin pvc.


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## joker

Found this on another forum thought it might help with ideas:


> 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.


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## Lilly

I have thought about making these also and even started one but never finished. (I would need about 200 )
Roll up newspaper to make thicker if needed around a small dowel to stalk size you want. tape ends together
Get some old sheets and tea dye them to desired color
for corn you can use a piece of styro, glue your silk to end ( maybe real stuff or make some up)and glue leaf sections on (no wire in these)
after corn is attached, I would suggest you add some wire to end of corn.. this way you can duct tape it onto rolled paper or dowel before adding the colored sheets to stem.
Then a layer of thin glue as you attach strips to wind around or up and down length of dowel, 

For leaves use same color sheet and cut out 2 leaf sections, with thin wire outline the leaf , glue down, then add glue to top of wire and place other on that wire..
you can then bend leaf to how you want it.

hope this makes sense


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## bolt

It might just be cheaper and easier to spray real corn stalks with fireproofing.....


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## Joiseygal

Not sure if you want to go this route, but they sell fabric with corn stalks on it. I was a scarecrow one year and used if for the thing that was around me so it would give the effect of being in the cornfield. Oh and hunting supply stores might have something also. Good Luck!


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## Tiff

Alright, sweet! Thanks to everyone with ideas. I'm gonna try some of them and see what happens.
Thanks again!


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## Tiff

bolt said:


> It might just be cheaper and easier to spray real corn stalks with fireproofing.....


I'm really thinking about going with this idea. Only because it will save time and it will look a lot better. And maybe save money after buying all the materials to make them. Would you, or anyone for that matter, know where I can buy this and how much this stuff is? I know it'll probably be pretty pricy...

Also is anyone familiar with fire code? I know it's probably different everywhere, but just general things. If so, do you think I could get by if I just wet the corn stalks down each night before the haunt? Just squirt them down with a spray bottle or something every night? Idk.....just trying to save money!!


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## Zombie-F

I was contemplating this the other day as I tire of finding corn stalks every year. Did a google search and came across this thread.

Then I got to thinking... if Bamboo stakes were used as the base for these, leaves could easily be made from paper or some other thin material and then stapled to the bamboo.

Then, coat the paper with something to protect it (latex perhaps?). A quick paint job and it would essentially be done... except for the tassel at the top.

Just thinking out loud (or typing out loud... lol).


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## Bascombe

I made a cornfield for Oklahoma out of bamboo tiki torches. I went to Biglots and bought up all their tikis at the end of the season, took the torch part out, then used floral tape to wrap cattail leaves and iris leaves up. I got some fake corn ears and put in them in a few places. For the tassel I went to the craft store and bought picks for Christmas trees. Spray painted the whole thing and had a cornfield. Here's a pic
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2015229480103267948lOvFpF


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## Allen H

I know how I would make them, but I never have. I may this year. From one 10' piece of PVC, you can get two corn stalks.

1/2" pvc
roll of construction protective paper (Home depot $12)
Hot glue
clear school glue
Latex paint to tint the glue the desired color.
Plastic water bottles (the ones that are ear of corn sized)
Wire coat hangers or ceiling hanger wire (CHW is from Home depot)
Packing tape

Definitly get the corn fabric to put up on the walls, then make two or three rows of fake corn to go in front.

Cut the PVC to length
Roll out and cut the paper into pieces 3' wide (comes that way on the roll) and 20" long
stack a bunch of the paper together so you can cut many leaves at once
cut into the 3" wide strips
then cut each strip into the long leaf shape of a corn leaf leaving a long tag to attach it to the stalk

Corn is aranged a certain way leaf placement will really sell it

attach two leaves directly opposite each other about two foot up from the bottom
about 10-12" up from that attach another two leaves but on the two sides opposite the first set
Attach alternating sets of leaves by (taping the tag to the stalk, leaf flat against the stalk pointing up) all the way up. shorten the space between leaf sets by two inches each time as you travel up the stalk
So on a five foot stalk you would put the first one 2'up, then another 12" from that, then another 8" up from that then another set at the top, so about 8 leaves per stalk

to keep them organic looking, vary the lengths of stalks and leaves
Run the hot glue along the shaft and along the underside of the leaf, run three or four strips along the underside of the leaf (the side now facing up). Stop the glue about half way down the leaf. the glue is there for structural support. once they are glued you can stand the corn stalk up right and curl the leaves back

For ears- tape a length of wire to the water bottle, then tape a few leaves to the wire so the fold up over the bottle, a hole can be drilled in the stalk that the wire slips into. I would have an "ear" on every other stalk.

the whole thing then gets painted with the glue mix, to finish it off- stuff the top of the PVC with a piece of fake plant that looks like the tuft on top. Buy a fake plant that will give you many tufts so its more economical.

I think the finished cost would be about 3-4$


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## HalloweenZombie

I was just searching for fake corn last night and came across this very link. Dave, you must have been reading my mind.


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## RoxyBlue

Found this how-to for corn stalks using magazine paper:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Corn-Stalk-Decorations

Or using butcher paper:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8626774_make-corn-stalk.html

I also found a discussion on another forum (not THE other forum) about using dried giant sunflower stalks as a substitute for corn stalks. They're easily grown from seed, although you'd need to plan ahead and start them in your garden in the spring.


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## Allen H

From the tips section of Roxys first link-
"Try over if your first attempt does not work." 
I file that under- DUH. 
I wish those tutorials had pictures.

Roxy -the issue he has with the dried cornstalks is flamability- So the dried Sunflower stalks is also out. If he went the paper route I would coat them in something to slow the burn or its the same issue.
Im still digging too, the flammability is the big issue.


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## RoxyBlue

"I file that under - DUH" - LOL

The original post is from 2008 and yes, flammability was the issue for Tiff's haunt. For those cases where it isn't, paper is fine. However, stalks made of nonflammable materials might be more durable, which would be a genuine plus.

I'm actually surprised on how little there is out there on how to make fake cornstalks.


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## Allen H

Hmmm...I may try my hypothetical method out and make a youtube wednesday vid out of it.
Im trying to build a library of useful videos with titles that are easily searchable. This does have broad appeal.


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## RoxyBlue

Update for anyone who reads this thread - here is Allen's thread with a corn stalk how to:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30563


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