Goodies

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.

2010 Theme

It's that time again.  Many of the Halloween bloggers I read never really stop creating, or maybe only for Nov. and Dec., but I just don't reach that level of dedication.

But about the time I get tired of planting things in the yard (which, "coincidentally" is when the humidity exceeds the  temperature outside), is when I begin dreaming of cooler days, ie: autumn, and all that goes with it.  It's when I start making the rounds of yard sales with an eye towards items for Halloween.

I've lucked up, I think, and will be meeting with a gal on Fri. and buying all her Halloween decor.  I know it consists of a small skeleton,  a 4' long casket, mummy parts and skeleton parts that look as if the bodies are breaking through the ground, and various wigs, masks, candleholders, and indoor items.  She's moving to South America in the fall, and they don't celebrate Halloween down there.  I found her ad on craigslist, and she's holding the items for me until I can come get them.  Heaven knows where I'm going to store a small casket, as the garage is already bulging, so I may have to check out a few storage facilities.  Between the Christmas bins (15) and things that don't fit, and the Halloween bins (7) and things that don't fit in a bin, I believe I have just cause to rent a cheap an inexpensive storage room.  She's holding the items just for me; said it's only fitting that her treasures should go to the woman known in her neighborhood as "The Halloween Lady."  I'm tickled pink.  Or orange.

Of course, it doesn't compare with what most of those in blogland are doing--I stand in awe!  But then again, I do okay for a one-woman show.  Besides, I love getting ideas and tips from everyone else.

Oh, the theme for this year:  Gypsy Curse.  I'm still mulling it all over, but have mentioned it to a couple of friends and the ideas are beginning to flow my way.  We're on the lookout for one of those small wall-less tents--the ones with 4 posts and a roof.  If I can't find one to borrow, maybe I'll snag one at an end-of-season sale.  Draped with black sheets, and an overlay of red ones, some jars of potions, hubby's crystal ball, an old, dusty book, baubles with ghostly charms, a palm with an eye in it, some Tarot cards, some of Pumpkinrot's witch jars to light the path...

Getting excited!

Halloween at Christmas

One of the blogs I subscribe to on my Reader is Our Best Bites.  Today they had a blitz of Christmas ideas--and this is the first one up:

http://www.mcphee.com/shop/products/Oh-No...-Zombies%21-Board-Game.html

It may be corny, or it could be fun--who knows?  Cute idea, though.


Oh, and then there's this:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=31816213
Just for you, Frog Queen!

And, from the same artist:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=31407219


For the guys:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=12468816

Another gift idea:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061956430?ie=UTF8&tag=rarbirfin-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061956430

I Got Nothin'

I'm afraid postings here are gonna be lean(er) for the next few weeks.  I am a Halloween nut, but I'm also a Christmas nut. What can I say?  They run neck and neck for my favorite holiday.

And I just can't blend the two. 


Unless I get something really cool under the tree--like my first Bucky skeleton!

Otherwise, see you folks in about a month.

Depressing

This weekend, it all gets packed away. Finally.

Of course, it has to come down first:

the black curtains throughout the house,  the creepy cloth, the (previously) bloody shower curtain,

the foam pumpkins,

the various and sundry items that have become so much a part of the decor, I almost don't see them anymore.

Most of it has been residing in various piles in the garage, waiting for a relatively warm, uncommitted offday to sort it out and pack it away.... somewhere. 

I seem to have acquired more than I thought.  For the first time, some of the garden/outdoor items are going into the crawl space.

Hmmm.  Maybe it'd be easier just to set things up down there next year.

Fame

A co-worker who knows a little of my love for Halloween was telling me about the Forest of Fear he and his wife went to the weekend during their first anniversary celebration the weekend before. They went through a corn maze, a 'Forest of Fear', and a Haunted hayride, and he told me of some of what they saw.

I pulled up PumpkinRot's site on the 'puter to show him some photos of his haunt, and look what I found: http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/soup.html

At first I thought it was my site and wondered how I'd clicked wrong, and then realized what it was and I was very uncool.  I squealed.  Quasi-fame does that to me. 

In the words of Chris Baker on Hauntcast: I am not worthy.

Thanks, Rot! You made my night!

The Whys

Some photos of the yard and the best compliment (s) ever.

(You'll note the lack of rain in the pictures--I stole some advice off someone's blog [can't remember whose] and left everything set up til tonight. Then I relit everything and took pictures at my leisure. Good advice!)

I had some who wanted to walk around the yard and take photos of their children with some of the objects. Some folks told me they come by every year because this is their favorite house. I had some teens gathered round with flashlights--didn't even come to the door for candy--just looking at things. ( I always give them candy if they come to the door, no matter how old they are. They get a bigger loot if they made an effort to dress up, paint their faces, or even wear masks, but always something, because these kids will be our future Haunters.)

All the while, I'm feeling like a hypocrite, because there are so many of you who have wonderful hand-built props and amazing staging and I'm such an amateur.

But you know what made my night? A little boy, maybe 3 years old, in his little prisoner's outfit with a black and white striped shirt. Young enough that mom had to hold his hand to help him up the steps and hold his bag for him because he couldn't manage both.

When they got to the porch, she prompted him "Now, say 'Trick or Treat!'" Instead, he looked up at me and said "I wike your house."

I'll live off that for months.