Thread: What to search for at yard sales....

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Need to start searching thru the yard sales to find good props for the halloween party this year. Besides the obvious, what sort of things are good to find to make props out of? What have you all bought at yard sales to use as props/builds? If you have pics, please post them too.

I just don't want to not buy something that might be great because I hadn't thought of it...

TIA
Kaye

I always look at old tools and farming stuff. (axes, hatchets, cleavers, etc). My haunts genreally focus around death so that stuff comes in handy.

Well we dont have yard sales here but at second hand stores we are always on the look out for motorized things we can hack and use for props....examples would be singing reindeers, santas, christmas trees etc. Candle holders/stands, wig heads, robes, wedding dresses, fabrics, old laterns, etc.
Last great finds that I came across were an old pump organ and a bird cage.

MsM

Shiatsu massagers for one thing. I found 2 at the goodwill. 8 bucks. Not bad in my opinion. You can make zombies or groundbreakers with them (animated). I dont have a picture of mine, but they say " Shiatsu" on them, lol.

Originally Posted by MsMeeple

Well we dont have yard sales here but at second hand stores we are always on the look out for motorized things we can hack and use for props....examples would be singing reindeers, santas, christmas trees etc. Candle holders/stands, wig heads, robes, wedding dresses, fabrics, old laterns, etc.
Last great finds that I came across were an old pump organ and a bird cage.

MsM

Motors can also come from can openers, microwaves, blenders, almost any kitchen appliance!

I try to look for PVC pipe and fittings, flat backed cherubs and angels (to add to tombstones) candy and candle molds (for casting tombstone embellishments) Glass jars and bottles, especially if they have cork stoppers (for potion jars).

Wig heads are a great find, and as mentioned shaitsu's

Black cloth, burlap cheesecloth - can be used for all sorts of drapery

Anything gothic looking (clothing accessories eg studded chokers, bracelets)

So much more that I could add but there's some ideas to be going on

so far this year ive picked up a few old kids costumes, a bunch of embellishments for tombstones, really junky old dried floral arrangements for set dressing, baby dolls...

i am really trying to build my costume selection so ive been focusing on those.

i generally do a quick walk through of a yard sale, and then go back through adn imagine everything creepified.

Depends on what sort of haunt setup you do too.

In addition to the other suggestions, I'd be looking at old suits or fancy dress for corpses, large picture frames, tacky lamps that can be creeped up, ect...

I am trying to do the inside of the house in a more Victorian/old fashioned type setup, so I look for old furniture and decor that looks similar to that style.

Just found a birdcage with floorstand for $2 that's going to have something pretty creepy inside. Got a puffer fish that's going to be placed in a bell jar as an odd display piece...

Hey Frankie's Girl, I found one of those birdcages at a yardsale some years back and I used it for Halloween too. That's my son Shadow (yes that's his real name)dressed as Barrel from NBC. That's my victorian lady in the background.

In my case as soon as I read about some great finds here they seem to pop up at all my local sales and I grab them up and then never do anything with them...lol!
My friends have been finding lots of halloween decorations and props so far this year. We discussed this not long ago that people tend to sell off the halloween stuff early in the year when they srping clean I guess.