[ckenyon1964]

So, I'm kinda new to this forum, and I joined because I have a lot of ideas to improve my yard haunt and thought that by joining, I'd be inspired to get off my rump this summer and knock out a few projects for Halloween 2009. So here is an idea I've had since I first saw "Nightmare Before Christmas" when the singing pumpkins plop down onto the spears of an old fence during the opening song.

I made my graphic on the computer and intend to create a series of pumpkinrot pumpkins with various evil faces and impale them onto spears created from narrow pvc piping and decorative spiked ornaments at the top.

I'd like to make as many as a dozen or so of various heights to group together throughout my cemetery. If I can overcome my fear of trying anything to do with electricity LOL I'd also love to make them glow from inside.

Any feedback or additional ideas for this project would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Scatterbrains]

Sounds cool....

What about the electricity are you worried about? I figure you don't want to get shocked or burn down the house....but how are you thinking of wiring the pumpkins that makes you worry?

 

[ckenyon1964]

Well, I don't exactly have a great track record LOL...Once, while replacing the range hood over my stove, I had the wires wrong and gave my wife a nice shock when she used a wet sponge to clean it off...

Needless to say, since then I am always afraid of electrocuting someone or setting my house on fire. LOL

I suppose with a really great tutorial to follow, I might be able to pull it off.

I guess the wiring would have to come out of the pumpkins, down through the pvc piping, and out the bottom into some kind of hub...??

 

[MildAvaholic]

You could always use glow sticks or candles. (Though the candles are capable of burning down a house...... )

 

[Curlgoddess]

Battery powerd flicker candles work nicely =)

I like your idea; can't wait to see it come to life.

 

[The_Caretaker]

Think LEDs alot of info on leds like: Spooky Blue's Halloween Haunt Projects - Spookyfire - Fake Firelight Effect

 

[Scatterbrains]

Sounds like you want to do something similar to what I did last year

The pumpkin heads came prelighted, and I dropped the extension cord down the PVC....

All you'd need is to get some single C-7 holders. You might have to wait for the Christmas lights to hit the shelves, but they'll be there before Halloween...then use those inexpensive 6ft or 9 ft brown household extension cords to feed down the PVC, from there, run all the extension cords to a power strip. You should be able to do the whole project with just extension cords and you won't have to "wire" a thing.

 

[UnOrthodOx]

So, I'm kinda new to this forum, and I joined because I have a lot of ideas to improve my yard haunt and thought that by joining, I'd be inspired to get off my rump this summer and knock out a few projects for Halloween 2009. So here is an idea I've had since I first saw "Nightmare Before Christmas" when the singing pumpkins plop down onto the spears of an old fence during the opening song.

I made my graphic on the computer and intend to create a series of pumpkinrot pumpkins with various evil faces and impale them onto spears created from narrow pvc piping and decorative spiked ornaments at the top.

I'd like to make as many as a dozen or so of various heights to group together throughout my cemetery. If I can overcome my fear of trying anything to do with electricity LOL I'd also love to make them glow from inside.

Any feedback or additional ideas for this project would be greatly appreciated.

I had been thinking along the same lines, mixing in some pumpkins with the skulls we already impale.

As scatterbrains already said, the single C7 light sockets fit the bill. But, no need to wait for Christmas, you can find them in the lamp section of your local hardware store. "repair kits" they're sometimes called. Just a C7 socket and a length of chord, no wiring needed. ~$3-5

(But, the REAL score is fake candles at after christmas sales. $.50 or less. Bust apart the candlestick, and presto, single C7 sockets....)

 

[Scatterbrains]

(But, the REAL score is fake candles at after christmas sales. $.50 or less. Bust apart the candlestick, and presto, single C7 sockets....)

I made a huge score on those this year...don't know what I'm going to do with them, but I got a lot of them...

 

[ckenyon1964]

The C7s I think I could probably handle LOL. Great idea guys, thanks! ... I'm anxious to start and will post pics as they come to life...

 

[UnOrthodOx]

I made a huge score on those this year...don't know what I'm going to do with them, but I got a lot of them...

2 years ago, we were in Bed, Bath, and Beyond (of all places) in february, and they had a cart full of them marked $0.25 ea. I just pushed the thing over to the checkout. Still haven't run out.

 

[GDfreak]

I've been wanting to do this too for a while. My original idea was to put them on a fence (when I planed on having a fence) but the fence idea got scrapped becasue there would be ALOT of fence to cover my yard. But I really like your idea of clumping them together. May borrow from your idea if ya don't mind.

 

[Ugly Joe]

Another source for simple, dependable and safe yard lighting is to use the 12v yard lighting.

You could run a dozen pumpkins (or more) quite easily off of one transformer, and just splicing extra wire into the fixtures is really simple (and I've not had any problems with polarity on these...even with LED's).

So far, no injuries...except for my ever increasing mania for Halloween, so perhaps it's not all that bad.

 

[Nightmarequeen]

when in doubt go wireless. but some of the battery powered lights from the craft store?

 

[litemareb4xmas]

I'm doing these on my roof, alternating pvc candles with c-7 flicker bulbs, funkins and skulls/severed heads on spears, I'm using my gutters to hold it all, just running a pipe all the way done the inside of the gutter, putting my t's every 4" and I just found I will have to glue all the pipe to keep it from rotating out of place, on the ends will have some sort of wire to hold it all up I hope!

 

[Haunter's Headquarters]

Thought you might want to see a pic from a part of my haunt last year. They all have small removable battery powered lights inside them. I have double the re-bar this year... and more pumpkins!

 

[halinar]

I had been thinking along the same lines, mixing in some pumpkins with the skulls we already impale.

As scatterbrains already said, the single C7 light sockets fit the bill. But, no need to wait for Christmas, you can find them in the lamp section of your local hardware store. "repair kits" they're sometimes called. Just a C7 socket and a length of chord, no wiring needed. ~$3-5

(But, the REAL score is fake candles at after christmas sales. $.50 or less. Bust apart the candlestick, and presto, single C7 sockets....)

Yup, that's exactly what I was thinking. I snagged a dozen of the single c7 christmas candles last year after the holiday for 75% off. They make great lights for pumpkins. You could cut out the switch in the middle and just reattach the wires and then run the wire up though the pvc pip for the spear.

I have another 6 pumpkins carved this year that will be hanging from a very large poplar tree. I saw this at universal studios last year and loved it. I'm using the candle lights in them also. The plastic housings can be cut off pretty easily and it leaves you with a 3' cord and light fixture for next to zero cost.

I like this idea! I need more pumpkins now!

 

[halloweenscreamqueen]

This is a very clever idea, I like…. This would look great with my singing pumpkins, but how the heck to mount them… I have strong winds here so they would have to be impaled into the ground something fierce.

One word... "Rebar." I use loads of it during the season!! Plus, it's a good deterent for the little asshat vandals in the neighborhood!

 

[bayou reaper]

I bought about 25 cheap plastic pumpkins after Halloween for 10 cents apiece. Took a 50 light string of C7's and removed every other socket. Cut holes in bottom of pumpkins so c7 holder fit snug snapped them babies on inserted the bulbs, lit em up look great.