Halloween count down

It's that time of year and we are in full out Halloween making mode. Having won Best Home Haunt in America last year, we are feeling the need to step it up this year. We are doubling our pirate display with more animated skeletons. Nick is making 5 more that move and talk!!! We are also adding his pirate video projection behind the setup. I have been in charge of all the faux finishing of the skeletons. Straight out of the box just won't do. I antique them and gunk them up by using MinWax gelstain in Aged Oak. That stuff makes them look awesome. I also spent part of last weekend sewing pirate costumes. Now, before you get too impressed with that, my sewing skills go no further than what I learned at Mrs. Lam's knee in 6th grade Home Ec. I created the patterns by roughly sketching on the fabric around the skeleton. I then cut out the fabric, pinned it and did a straight stitch. Thank god they don't have to fit perfect!!!! Of course after me spending half a day making them, Nick ratted them up.


Another project I tackled was making wire ghosts. I had seen a photo on the net and thought they looked wicked cool and would be perfect for the hills in the backyard. I bought a 48" tall roll of chicken wire and some thin gauge wire. I wasn't sure how much to use, so I had my husband stand up and wrapped it around him and then went a little smaller. I did it in three pieces, the body, the arms and the head and shoulders. For the head, I molded it around a head form I had and then removed the head. The body was a little tricky at first but once I figured out what I was doing it got much easier. The arms are a tube of wire that is split on each end to taper into the body. I "sewed" the whole thing together with wire. They are very cool and only cost like $3.00 each to make! Can't beat that.


Alright back to painting......