[Ghost of Spookie]

For those of us who look to pick up things for our halloween haunts earlier in the year, I thought I would start this thread for those early birds.

I walked into BIG LOTS today and ended up buying a few things for my Halloween projects. They have some new styles of plastic edge fencing which is meant to look like iron ($6 and $8 per pack). Nice looking I thought. Found a metal sign that was part of their bar signage (new for spring) that worked great for Halloween ($6). Picked up another red rotating Party Light (bought one last year), $10. Also picked up one of these cardboard Valentines mailboxes that I'm going to creep out for my haunted house scene, $5. Some additional details on these items can be found by checking out my album for 2010. Double click on pics in album for larger sized image and text description.

Their gardening section was still being put out but they did have a few nice garden statuarys already (think tombstone toppers).

Here's some pics of what I bought:

 

[Kimber53711]

Great buys! I might have to check out the Big Lots by me. I could use a cementary fence and that is a great price. Thanks for posting your finds!

 

[Scatterbrains]

Don't buy it all now....I need some of it to still be there when they start dumping inventory around labor day. I picked up some similar fencing there last year when it went on sale.

I also got the red light last year, but paid the $10.00. That's still cheaper than Spencers and Spirit.

 

[cinders]

Ghost of Spookie, you are really on top of things! Those items could really be useful. I like that sign a lot. You are an A+ shopper! Thanks for scouting out the stores and sharing your great finds.

 

[maleficent]

I saw angel statues at Joanne's yesterday. Sorry I didn't check prices.

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Thanks guys. Hubby isn't as appreciative of my shopping efforts so glad to get your feedback.

I bought some of BL's clearance fencing last year too and will use it this year but since I hope to do a larger walk-thru I figured I could use some different styles for different areas. I'm planning on cutting off the inverted U-portion above the black "iron" finials to make it more of a spiked fence top. Think I would like that look better. Guess my jig saw will come in handy to make quick work of that. Bought the jig saw last year from BIG LOTS BTW for $30 so if you need some tools for your home hobby work be sure to look in that area of the store too.

I'm thinking if you make a foamboard wall you might be able to simply stick these fence toppers into the "wall" to add more detail to it and make a fairly quick project out of it. Glue them in if necessary to hold, but the ground spikes are a decent size and might suffice.

 

[jdubbya]

Thanks for the heads up. I bought a couple of garden statues from BL last year for tombstone toppers. Looking forward to seeing what they offer this year. Might have to stop by tomorrow.

 

[Tumblindice]

Thanks for the heads up need the fencing and the light.

 

[Junit]

Good finds, thanks for the info!! I am in need of a good fence

 

[BlueFrog]

Where would we be without you, Ghost of Spookie? I have a big area to fence in and couldn't for the life of me figure out how I was going to do it economically. (Is it bad that I went overbudget for 2010 by the end of January ?) Those little fences might be just the thing. And that Valentine's mailbox would be perfect if I throw another Love Sucks party this year, which is something I'm leaning toward doing.

I bought that Dine with the Spirits sign last year and just adore it. I thought they'd be clearanced out with the Halloween merchandise and am glad to hear it'll be readily available for other haunters.

 

[bozz]

BL's still remains one of my favorite score stores. Just last week I pick up some of their 4' lighted trees at 90 % off, I only hope they buy some better props this year.....at least bigger ones.....last Oct. they were second only to Walmart in poor decor selection and they have done better in the past. They do a great job in the garden dept.

 

[Trinity1]

Love the fencing! I've been looking for something like that. Surprisingly enough I can never seem to find anything like it.

 

[hallorenescene]

nice score ghost of spookie. i really like the dine sign. the fencing with the u topping i would use around a grave sight. unfortunatly i would have to drive 2 hours for a big lots.

bozz, i love those light up trees. are you talking about the path marker trees? i bought some of those last year. they came in handy in my haunt

 

[bozz]

nice score ghost of spookie. i really like the dine sign. the fencing with the u topping i would use around a grave sight. unfortunatly i would have to drive 2 hours for a big lots.

bozz, i love those light up trees. are you talking about the path marker trees? i bought some of those last year. they came in handy in my haunt

Oooh...not sure what those are but they sound cool,maybe need to find them too. The ones I got were the trees that came in the potted gold and black urns......very nice looking. I took my old fake ones out to the yard and mounted them next to my shack......looks pretty cool now.

 

[halloween71]

Can't wait to see some garden statues.Lowes had the same ones they had last year.

 

[Scatterbrains]

I'm planning on cutting off the inverted U-portion above the black "iron" finials to make it more of a spiked fence top. Think I would like that look better.

That's a great idea...I should go look at mine more closely to see if that's something I can do

 

[Scatterbrains]

BL's still remains one of my favorite score stores. Just last week I pick up some of their 4' lighted trees at 90 % off, I only hope they buy some better props this year.....at least bigger ones.....last Oct. they were second only to Walmart in poor decor selection and they have done better in the past. They do a great job in the garden dept.

Geez I know what you mean. I spend too much money there...even though I wait for the 75% and 90% sales. Scored huge on Orange rope light this year.

 

[Scatterbrains]

Can't wait to see some garden statues.Lowes had the same ones they had last year.

Don't forget to check Hobby Lobby...at the end of the year (Sep, Oct) they had a lot of statues and crosses on sale.

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

From Big Lots Garden section

Headed back to BIG LOTS today to pick up two more mailboxes (previously pictured). Since you guys expressed interest in garden statuaries, here's two pics of ones that were in my store along with a pic of some garden gnomes. I got inspired by all the spooky halloween gardens and halloween gnomes created last year by people here and ended up taking home the blue hat guy, who hopefully will look like a wizard gnome when I'm done painting him. For pricing, etc. see my 2010 album.

Something I bought for my patio pergola but not pictured above was a 60-bulb mini LED random twinkling light strand, UL Rated, indoor/outdoor use, new in the patio section, (52 always on and 8 twinkling bulbs per strand). $10. It comes in cool white, which is slightly blueish when compared to warm white LEDs. I bought a few sets thinking these might also make a nice effect in a tunnel or cave in a halloween haunt. They'll look nice at night on the patio during summer use, but they are on the bright side for halloween use so I'm going to experiment and see if I can temporarily paint or cover the bulbs somehow to dim them. Figure LEDs don't give off much heat so it might work out. Has anyone done this to LED bulbs before? Or do you guys think they might be able to be dimmed, with something like an FX box? The strand is rated 7.2 Watts (0.06 Amps). If you decide to pick up some to tryout yourself, make sure you grab the boxes labeled "random twinkling"/cool white. They are next to some warm white LEDs which are "always on" strands and the boxes are near identical.

 

[Kymmm]

Great buys! Thanks for sharing. I know where I will be heading this weekend!