Halloween 2014 In Progress

Purchases for this year have been made.  Might need a couple more things but we have already exceeded the budget so now it is put together, paint and get ready time.  Too late today to start painting but I can't wait until tomorrow.  Thinking of working on the PVC tonight to get the witches and grave digger started.  Fun. Fun. Fun.

Update - Halloween 2014

It is that time of year again.  Time to start the posting and count down to the greatest day/night of the year.  I have already hit both the Halloween Superstore and Spirit Halloween.  Here is my take on both stores.

The Halloween Superstore on Macleod Trail (just South of Chinook Centre) is great this year if you are looking for costumes.  You have to go way into the back to a small room for props.  They have a couple of good ones and their prices aren't too bad. The front of the store is everything for costumes and for in-house decorating.  The in-house decorations are pretty nice but kind of "cutesy". 

Spirit Halloween (on 32nd Ave NE beside Michaels) is okay this year.  I think they had a bigger store last year on Macleod Trail and  it had more props and accessories for the yard haunter.  Either way, it was a great time wandering through the store.  We picked up a couple of things that I hope we can put to use this year.  I am hoping to check out the other Spirit Halloween store to see if it is any different.  They also have a decent selection of costumes.

As for our progress, I pulled out the pillars out today for a look over and started the process of repainting - again.  Yes, I will need to find a better way to store them over the winter.  The main issue is that we usually have snow by Halloween and putting things away can be a real hassle.  I will need to do some repainting of the archway too. 

I am looking at building a grave digger this year and we are working on walls to enclose the witches and possibly building a Mummy room.  I will post pics once things are under way. 

Happy Haunting! 

So Ends another year

Halloween 2013

Well, it went okay.  People liked the display.   I would really like to do something bigger next year and switch it up a bit.  We had a real problem with the wind during the final set up on Halloween day.  It was very frustrating and I almost lost it several times. 





So this is how the Archway turned out.  I wanted to put a few more cobwebs onto it but ran out of time.  It looked pretty cool though.


The Haunted Tree turned out well.  My son thinks I need to "lose" the leaves.  He says they take away from the "scariness".  Not sure, maybe next year.










The next pictures are of the Tree and a far away shot of the entire front yard.

Progress

Well, I have been working on both finishing the archway and my haunted tree.  I still have detail work to do but it is coming along.


It has been pretty busy lately and the weather is only partially cooperating.  Today is supposed to be pretty warm so I hope to start getting stuff set up.

Here is the tree with his coat of monster mud and a bit of Great Stuff around the bottom of the tree.  Next will be spraying on the rubber sealant and hoping it works, then painting and detail work. 

Rebuilding the Archway (Part 1)

Step one - find all the pieces that the wind blew apart.  Okay - find some of the pieces.  Thankfully, the front of the sign was pretty intact but the back has to be totally redone.  Which is okay, I guess, I am now able to make it better.

First I had to use my Styrofoam knife to cut the shape and kind of dig out a space for the support PVC to go.  Now using a Styrofoam knife can be a bit stinky so make sure you have plenty of ventilation.

Next was to connect my existing PVC frame to the Styrofoam arch.  I used gorilla glue - lots of gorilla glue. 

While the glue was drying I placed small blocks of Styrofoam under the arch "legs" to keep them straight.  This pic is just before I added the existing front of the archway.  You may wonder why the lower part of the PVC is painted orange.  This is because that part of the archway is inserted into carved pumpkins.

Haunted Tree (Step 1)

Well, in between working on the repair of the archway, I have started working on my haunted tree.  I started this project last year but it just didn't come together fast enough - I also started working on it too late.  So, I totally took it apart and have started again using a wood base this time.  It took a couple of hours to scrounge up the wood and then saw and screw it all together.  I then gorilla glued some of the joints I don't trust too much.  I will finish covering it with chicken wire once the glue dries. 

I believe that once it is entirely covered in paper mache, perhaps some monster mud, and sealant that it will be pretty solid and stay together and upright. 

Work in Progress - Stay Tuned . . .

Work in Progress

Well, I have gotten started on the repair of the pillars.  Luckily although the damage to one piece was pretty bad, most were intact.  As you can see this was before I started.  I thought that I had lost one panel during the spring storms but nope, it was right there.

 

So the building began.  I am using Gorilla glue to put the panels together.  I tried holding the pieces together using tape but nothing seemed to want to hold the Styrofoam together - not even duct tape.  I guess I should have grabbed the clamps.  Gorilla glue does recommend clamping.  I was just hurrying a bit and didn't want to go and look for the big clamps.  The smaller ones I had were too small.  (Well, it appears that one of the panels didn't glue properly so I will have to find the clamps after all.)

 

So here we are with three sides glued together.  Getting in the last side was a real pain.  It was easier to do the first time before the top had been put in place. 

 

So the pic below is how they are looking at the moment.  I am planning on cleaning up the seams with monster mud before painting.  After painting I will add the final details - moss, etc.

 

 

 

 



  Next - repair the arch!