10.31.2006
2006 Day 3
It's Monday, October 30th and we are having a Halloween Party. The party is a dress rehearsal so to speak. I have completed the setup but noticed some additional lighting would make things perfect. I revamped my fog chiller design which definitely made an improvement but the wind was also being a little uncooperative. A family member noticed someone filming my props during the party, a bit odd I suppose. I'll post more pics soon, here are a few.
2006 Day 2
It's Saturday, October 28th and I'm just now getting around to setting up the yard. I went with a new layout this year which I'm really happy with. The idea is to expand the graveyard scene to the whole of the front yard. I left the old man and battling pirates in their original spots. New is the cobweb in the arch which also houses a blue flood light for extra ambience. Here's some initial pics.
10.30.2006
Haunted Tree
A new prop for this year is a 'haunted tree' (for lack of a better term). While discussing themes this year, one of the things that popped in my head for the cemetary was some sort of scary tree similar to the one found in the movie Sleepy Hollow. I wasn't sure where to start with this thing, but thankfully my wife had some good ideas to get the ball rolling. At the base of the tree is an old unused Christmas tree stand. The structure of the tree was made using cardboard concrete forms (12" and 8"), a lot of tape, some PVC, chicken wire and Monster Mud. What is Monster Mud you say? It is essentially a 5 parts joint compound to 1 part exterior latex paint mixture. We 'paper-mache'd' the tree using a drop cloth that was cut into strips and dipped into the Monster Mud. The tree measures about 7ft tall and about 6.5ft wide. It was an interesting (and messy) project and took around 10-12 hours to make. I have no idea where I will be storing this.
9.17.2006
2006 Day 1
First post of the next year. This year I'm considering a new layout and theme for the yard haunt. I'm thinking that past years have been a mash of too many different ideas. I think for this year I'll focus on one theme and work to bring in more quality. If I proceed with this route, I'll have to start simple this year and work my way up in future years. Two themes have come into my mind - convert the entire yard to an interactive haunted cemetary OR expand on the pirate theme. There are advantages to both, I think once I go shopping for items I'll have a better idea of which route is more feasible, cost effective and net the coolest result. Stay tuned.
11.01.2005
'05 Takedown
Halloween Day +1 : We left our decorations up through the night and came home tonight to a mini disaster involving the pirate ship! As shown in the pictures, somehow the mast bent cleanly in half. Best guess as to what happened is that a gust of wind shook the poor top heavy mast to and fro until it finally gave up. I'm not mad or disappointed as this will give me an opportunity to improve my design for next year, I might move to a higher schedule PVC or reinforce the mast with wood or metal.
10.31.2005
'05 Halloween NIght
Well, Halloween 2005 has come and gone. Weatherwise it was about as good as one could hope for as it wasn't too cold, raining, or snowing. We had 107 guests (yes, we kept track) and we still ended up with some candy. Princess and Ninja costumes were all the rage this year, we also had some odd costumes such as one kid dressed as a ketchup bottle and another as a hamburger. Too bad those two weren't trick or treating together.
Here's the stats:
As you can see, it looks like next year I could up the decorating ante by adding some Pretty Pink Ninjas.
Here's the stats:
| 70s Dancer | 2 | 1.87% |
| American Idol Contestant | 1 | 0.93% |
| Army Guy | 1 | 0.93% |
| Batman | 2 | 1.87% |
| Bear | 1 | 0.93% |
| Cow | 1 | 0.93% |
| Cowboy | 3 | 2.80% |
| Dalmatian | 2 | 1.87% |
| Darth Vader | 2 | 1.87% |
| Demon | 1 | 0.93% |
| Devil Girl | 1 | 0.93% |
| Dinosaur | 2 | 1.87% |
| Dragon | 1 | 0.93% |
| Dwarf | 1 | 0.93% |
| Elephant | 1 | 0.93% |
| Fairy | 3 | 2.80% |
| Fireman | 1 | 0.93% |
| Football Player | 3 | 2.80% |
| Gorilla | 1 | 0.93% |
| Goth | 4 | 3.74% |
| Grim Reaper | 2 | 1.87% |
| Hamburger | 1 | 0.93% |
| Harry Potter | 1 | 0.93% |
| Hawaiian Girl | 1 | 0.93% |
| Hunter | 1 | 0.93% |
| Inmate | 1 | 0.93% |
| Jason | 1 | 0.93% |
| Ketchup Bottle | 1 | 0.93% |
| Ladybug | 1 | 0.93% |
| Mime | 1 | 0.93% |
| Miscellaneous / Unclassifiable | 10 | 9.35% |
| NASCAR Driver | 1 | 0.93% |
| Ninja | 9 | 8.41% |
| Pig | 1 | 0.93% |
| Pirate | 1 | 0.93% |
| Princess | 15 | 14.02% |
| Pumpkin | 1 | 0.93% |
| Punk Rocker | 5 | 4.67% |
| Skater | 1 | 0.93% |
| Skeleton / Skull Dude | 7 | 6.54% |
| Snowboarder | 1 | 0.93% |
| Tiger | 1 | 0.93% |
| Toucan | 1 | 0.93% |
| Train | 1 | 0.93% |
| Witch | 6 | 5.61% |
| Zombie | 1 | 0.93% |
As you can see, it looks like next year I could up the decorating ante by adding some Pretty Pink Ninjas.
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