Over the weekend, I finally got a couple more storage bins for the newest Halloween stuff. Some of it was "cutesie", and that's not usually my style, but I have friends who will like it. So some of it will be gifted to them--a Halloween wreath, a Halloween flag, a paper garland of skulls--but most of it will stay with me.
Candleholders that feel like wax themselves
As I was sorting the similar items into bins, it occurred to me I should probably be cataloguing what I have. After all, I'm up to 9 bins now, not counting the stuff that won't fit into plastic storage bins. I began listing the newest things in categories: Bones and Skeletons; Masks and Wigs; Tombstones; Candleholders; etc. Some things fit more than one category, of course, and right now it's all in a spiral notebook, but I can see where it could easily be cross-referenced and put into the computer. I could detail myself to death here, so that will just wait until a post-holiday winter's day when I can't find anything else to do.
Uh-huh.
There are two ground-busters from the Casket Donor, a mummy and a skeleton:
Some netting "ghosts" that will probably be disassembled and washed in Rit Color Remover to make them glow:
I haven't checked to see if the green bats will glow in the dark, but I'll bet they will.
I'm not sure if this guy had insides, but he doesn't now, so I may have to re-purpose him after I get a chance to check him over more closely. There is also something that seems to be a Frankenstein tree-hugger, but I haven't tested that theory yet.
I really like these small candleholders! The witches had a blue cauldron-shaped votive holder in between them, but I dropped it carrying armloads from the truck to the house, and it broke. I'm hoping to find something I can use in its place, maybe from Michael's. It's about time for the Halloween items to start showing up there.
Here are 3 "semi-cute" signs that I think I might can doctor up a little. Reminds me of those old highway signs--you know, the ones that advertised the shaving creme back in the 50s? That rhymed. Can't remember the name of the product, though. Bryl-Creme? No. But I think it did start with a B.
Guess my early dementia is kicking in here. It'll come to me, though.
Another couple of semi-cute signs. They have potential.
And my favorite, next to the casket itself:
He's not toally poseable, but all his joints bend. They just don't rotate and bend.
While I was indulging in a little Halloween fantasizing and wondering how to use all the things I have, my subconscious dredged up an idea I've read somewhere, probably on one of your blogs. Since I plan to have the candy outside this year, away from the front door where Tandi would bark herself into a severe case of laryngitis, and will need to make a pathway to the Gypsy Tent, I'm thinking I should work out a storyline for the old gypsy woman. I might not put out explanatory signs or anything, but something to help me organize my yard, and utilize some of the groupings I have. For example, the path could pass through a cemetery. Then I can use the tombstones and ground busters. Maybe it should go past a "swamp", where bats and reptilian body parts give off a green glow.
I have reconciled myself to the fact I will never have the production that most of my favorite bloggers have, just because I am a one-woman show. And I don't have the time, space, know-how, or inclination (at least in this heat and humidity!) to build those wonderful moving props I see in Halloween-Land. So I need to make the most of what I have or can buy.
Any advice or suggestions for storylines?
BURMA SHAVE--that's it!
I knew it would come to me.
