Just Can't Stop!

 I had almost forgotten about this blog--in fact, I had to google to find it! Does anyone else miss reading blogs? Seems as if Instagram and Facebook have become the platforms of choice now, at least among the over 40 group. But concise has never been my strong suit. I do edit myself, really I do, though you probably can't tell.

So yes, I've continued to do the Halloween thing--just haven't posted pictures from the past few years. I'll have to update the blog with the ones I can find. I have to confess, I miss my old neighborhood. Since most of my neighbors only did a few jack-o-lanterns, and no one else went all out the way I did, the kids and parents would linger and look around. Sometimes they'd leave for a while to get more candy, and then come back to wander around the yard. It was great, and I loved watching them check everything out.

Here in my newer neighborhood, it's almost a competition. The whole subdivision is filled with all kinds of things to see and houses lit up and inflatables and fun graveyards. People bring their kids from other parts of our small town and let 'em loose!  My particular street is a long one, and the kids are always in a hurry to get to the next candy-giver and check out their yards.

This year, it rained all day, slowing to a fine mist about 6 pm, then stopping about 6:30. That, plus it being a school night, kept a lot of kids away. I think parents were watching the forecast, and took them to a bunch of trunk or treats and festivals over the weekend--which was a particularly beautiful and mild one. Last year I made 250 goody bags--and had to shut down by 7:10 because I was out of candy. This year I made around 340--and had about 80 bags left over at 9 pm. 

Since the kids weren't in such a mad rush, and maybe because I didn't dress up this year, they were a lot more talkative and I got good looks at their costumes. Even the teens were friendly! lol!  My yard was pretty bare compared to what I usually do, but I realized I was working myself to death with details that weren't even being seen. So this year, I gave away a lot of items in my Buy Nothing group, and kept the more solid items: all my skeletons, my 4 heavy (okay, commercialized) tombstones, foam pumpkins, and lots of lights. I also grouped things together more closely. 

Did I miss the items I gave away? Some, yes. I miss my crows, snakes, bats, rats, and other props--but it was always hard to see them in the dark, anyway. Instead of dressing up my skeletons, I left them bare and just posed them. I added purple net lights that would twinkle or flash or fade, and I omitted the fog machine this year because it was warm and wet, with no wind. And I sat inside the front door in my white shirt with the appliqued bat, candy corn, and jack-o-lanterns and turned on a black light. I was more comfortable, it was a nice creepy factor, but didn't scare the younger ones. 

So here are the pictures for 2022:

The Halloween tree by the front door.

The other side of the door.

The old kids' playhouse was haunted this year. After Halloween, I gave it away. It's hard to drag it all the way from the back yard and back again, and my almost 8-yr-old granddaughter is too tall to play in it anymore.

My first ever inflatable.

The purple lights were a hit!

The ghost dog is always a favorite

Still using the wishing well.

Pretty much keeping it to one side of the driveway now, except the wishing well. It's DEFINITELY too heavy to move.

My arms just aren't long enough to show the whole shirt and effect, but you get the idea. 

All in all, I wasn't so rushed or frantically trying to finish everything up, only to be disappointed that it couldn't or wouldn't be seen. I had more fun this year. And I made some notes about what worked, what didn't work, and what I may try or want to buy next year. It was time for a revamping anyway; things were getting stale. Time to hit the blogs and Pinterest again, and maybe track down some Instagram accounts!

Halloween 2017

 I love to play with my skeletons in the week or so preceding Halloween, moving them about the porch and yard, bringing new ones out every other day or so.  This is a pic of some of them peering into the freebie wishing well I scored from a neighbor.

 Doll's head wreath came out of storage.

 Newly acquired planter's bench from craigslist put to good use. It got modified on Halloween day, but still looked pretty good.

 Samara coming out of the well. Didn't make her very visible, so I think she was missed by most passersby.

 I had posed this gal down on her knees at kid level, but she broke her pelvis on Halloween and I didn't have time to repair it, so she sat this one out right by the candy cauldron. Freaked out some of the kids anyway.

 More of the skeleton family (with ghost dog) antics.

 This guy was jealous of the old hag's costume and wanted one of his own, so I obliged him.

 This one's a TWD nerd.

 This one actually stood in the cemetery, and with the fogger going, looked pretty creepy.

 Zombie guy used to sit up and moan with light or sound sensing, but he got old and retired on me. Now he just hangs around the tombstones.

 Just a styrofoam head on PVC piping with netting and tulle. She really looked good with the wind blowing, but it wasn't blowing Wed. evening, when I took these pics.

 The ever popular Puking Pumpkin.

 Might just be my new profile pic.

Last year we'd only been in the house about 6 weeks when Halloween arrived and most of my stuff was inaccessible. Going through boxes in the shed this season was kind of like Christmas, re-discovering things I'd forgotten I had.  Next year, I'll probably go back to themes again. Already thinking "Spiders and Bats and Critters, Oh My!"  With the skeleton crew, of course.

Halloween pics

Can't get Blogger to upload any of my Halloween pics!  AGGGGHHH!! I have 3 year's worth to try to get this blog up to date! 


This is a test post--let's see what happens.

This is so clever!

Zombie legs bookmark:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89252992/zombie-legs-in-the-book-unusual-art?ref=v1_other_1

Even though this is made in the Ukraine, I think I may just have to order one!

Farewell, John

 I wish we'd met when I lived in Albuquerque.

You will be missed.

Wow.

An unexpected side-effect of the 2010 flooding in parts of Sindh, Pakistan, was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters; because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiders webs.
(© Russell Watkins)

What I Learned in 2011.

1. More is more.

2. If lighting is the cake, cobwebs are the icing. Everything looks better with cobwebs. And fog. See #1.
    2.a. Don't get the ones from the dollar store--they don't stretch out nicely like the ones from wally world or Michael's.

3. Enlist the help of the neighborhood teens next year. Several came over and decided to hang out, light the pumpkins, pose as corpses in the yard, and let me know when the zombie corpse was stuck. (He had timing problems.) They had such a good time, I mentioned maybe needing help next year and they jumped at the idea.

4. I need more skeletons and skulls. And another fog machine. See #1.


5. Plant some bushes along the edge of the yard. This year, as last, some of the kids were just too excited to come in through the driveway and the cemetery arch. Even though I had pumpkins at the end of the driveway to help light it up, one little girl fell in the ditch. (This will also help to keep my dog from running headlong into the road, which she tries to do, even with her shock collar.)  I could try to make a fence, but I think the hedges will add a mystery and I can always do a smaller fenced area inside the yard.

6. Take a plastic knife or spoon with me to test pumpkins before buying. If they don't make a dent in the pumpkin, DON'T BUY IT! Enough with the gourds, already.
     6. a. Think about buying more foam pumpkins. Michael's had theirs on half price by the second week in October.

7. Acquire more "creepy cloth" from the dollar store. I've seen it used several ways on different blogs and want to copy them. I have lots already and even some unopened bags, but--see #1.

8. I don't have any pool noodles, but I have to say that old C-PAP tubing has come in pretty handy.

9. This is the second year I've used the tiki torches and I really like the atmosphere they exude. I got these for half price last year in late Sept., early October, when wally world was starting to put out their Christmas stuff in their garden lot. One jug of fluid has lasted both years, with some to spare, though I only have 3 torches now. (One bit the dust last year.)

10. No matter how much lighting I have, it's not enough. Again with #1.

(On a side note, I've had at least 3 people tell me this year's display was the best one yet. That's great to hear, since it seemed so last minute to me, but on the other hand, I need to figure out why it was the best so next year will be better. Oh, the pressure...)