I've got the plans for next Halloween!

Actually, I've got the plans for this Halloween, but I had to throw a Burton quote in there.

I probably will not be able to make new tombstones this year, but I hadn't really intended to.  It's on my future to-do list, but not this year.

I think that I'm going to go ahead and make the stanchions and chain to cordon off the cemetery this year.  I would really like to make a fence, but it doesn't seem do-able this year due to lack of storage space.  We are remodeling the house, and everything is out of order for awhile.

I didn't use my fogger last year because it was too smoky.  I definitely need a chiller for it, so that is on the list for certain.  I will have to decide whether to make the chiller look like a tombstone, or just hide it.

I need to put up curtain rod hangers to hang the black spiderweb lace curtains that my friend gave me last year.  I really wish that I had done it last year!  They will be on the porch.  I hope that two panels are enough for the larger portion of porch.  Otherwise, it may not look right.  I also hope that they are long enough, but I think that they will be.  I scored a bunch of free curtain rods from a friend who found them in her new house, so I have that part covered.

Last year, I used two curtains over chairs for Wally and Becky (Walgreens skeleton and ACC "Bucky" skeleton).  If I put them in chairs again, I will need something else to cover the chairs, like more creepy cloth.  If the curtain idea doesn't work out, I could use creepy cloth instead, but there is another house nearby and the owners did that last year.  I would prefer having something a little different from everyone else.

I will make a memorial wreath for the cemetery, with one of the lenticular portraits that I bought last year.  (update, I made this on 7/23, and there's a tutorial here:  http://thathalloweenhouse.blogspot.com/2014/07/lenticular-funeral-wreath-prop.html)

My 3 yr old is currently obsessed with Casper the Friendly Ghost, so I am going to attempt to make him a papier mache mask, and a costume to go with it.

I did not make the faceless creep last year.  I don't know where to put him, but I'd like to get him done. 

I also did not put up the skeletal executioner, and I intend to use him this year.  His halberd needs repaired, part of the handle went missing. He needs a new cloak, and new eyes too.

Ditto for the witch, she needs her skull fogger repaired with silicone (aquarium repair). She could also use a new body, really. 

Will I use the bluckies, glow-ghoul, vampire, Peter Stubbe, or the Gent this year?  I don't know.  I hate to over-crowd the scene, and I would need to buy rebar, for sure. 

Oh, and there's also the grave robber.  I can't even remember if I still have his head, how bad is that?? 

Bluckies need repaired, I will have to buy a poultry needle at DT when they come out.

Wally needs repaired, and really, so does Becky.

Lady Rev needs new hands, so I can give her a candle again.

Lady Rev will be fitted upon the stake for the old satellite.  This frees up the stand to use with the skeletal executioner.  (he needs a name!)

The skeletal executioner also needs new hands, a new cloak, and his halberd handle needs to be repaired.

I ordered a nice gated arbor to put across the front walk. My other half must love me immensely, because he agreed to drill holes into the concrete, to anchor it down.  See, I kinda didn't measure the walk before ordering it...and the walk is 4 inches to short width-wise.  Eep!  It will be beautiful once it's fixed, though.  I'll drape it with Spanish moss for the holiday.

I'm on the lookout for two small Scene Setter type pictures.  I saw one last year, but can't remember where. It was a horizontally oriented "dungeon" window with a skeleton appearing to break out.  We have the perfect spot for them where a couple of basement windows used to be.

I still kind of want a bubble fogger, but the reviews on them are terrible. 

I'd like to find another talking bust like I used to have (kind of a President Monroe look), and one of the talking "animated" urns that Kmart sells.

I know where my grave-buster skeleton is going to go (has to be within reach of an outlet, since he's electric), and I will have to figure out a better way to stake the Headless Floating Ghost down.  Maybe I should go out there while the ground is still soft, and set up the base for his stake, to get that out of the way.

I think that I solved the problem of making fake candles for my tall stand that I thrifted last year.  I measured the size of the holders, and then happened to spy a paper towel roll sticking up out of my recyclables.  It's almost the perfect size, and I won't need to cut much off, because I'd like to put long candles in there. 

I don't need them to be weatherproof, because I won't be leaving them outside overnight.  I plan on wrapping the tubes in masking tape, and then dripping hot glue around them.  The glue will act as "stops" to keep the candles in place, hide the tape lines, and look like wax all at the same time.  The shades may not match up, so I may paint them.  However, it is also going to be dark, and I don't think that the imperfections will be too noticeable.  The glue may also help the tape to not peel off.  We'll just have to see about that. If all else fails, I can either paint the tubes, or wrap them in paper, and then use the hot glue drips over either of those.

I was going to make PVC candles for them, which would be great in the long run, but for this year, I'm trying to work with what I have, vs. spending more money.  I do have PVC for my other projects, but probably won't have leftovers for candles this year.  I have also amassed several battery operated tea lights from dollar stores over the years, so that is covered.

Experience the Time Warp, 2014

It's that time of year again, with one minor exception.  It came a little bit earlier this year than usual.  It's what we "haunters" have always dreamed of.  Halloween decor on the shelves in JUNE.  That's what I said, JUNE! 

Every haunter knows that the best stores start stocking the orange and black right around the 4th of July.  The stick-in-the-mud stores wait until back to school season is over.  (who DOES the marketing for those stores, anyway??)

This is the time of year that we generally gather en masse in online forums , and this year, we find ourselves saying incredulously that the stores are actually beginning to stock.  We have been throwing our ideas around for a little while, and discussing swooping in and scooping up merchandise that "the others" wouldn't suspect having Halloween potential.  We thought that we'd have another month, possibly two months, of the very same.  Then the threads began:  "Such and Such Store 2014".  And, it wasn't just a parking spot for future ideas regarding their current merchandise, it was about true-to-life Halloween merchandise. On. The. Shelves!

Maybe these stores are finally starting to catch on?  The earlier that you put it out there, the more that you sell.  It works with Christmas, doesn't it?  The only real difference is that a lot of Halloween merchandise, isn't very good quality.  It's often cheaper to make your own Halloween decorations, and better than the factories churn out.  I find myself excited about the concept of decor being out there already.  I want to go see it, but do I want to buy it?  Not necessarily.  Not unless it's something innovative that I can't make, or, something that is a lot cheaper than I could make it myself.

Still, I'm in the zone early.  I've checked our local Goodwill a few times over the past week.  Not with the same rabid zeal that I will once September rolls around, but it IS that time of year now.  I've checked Dollar Tree a few times.  No luck at all there, yet.  Checked Dollar General this afternoon.  Nothing there yet, either.  However, my new LTD catalog came in the mail today, and I dog-eared several pages of components that will make great additions to my scene.

It has officially BEGUN.