What I've learned from previous years

That's a great tip regarding the duct tape -- Ill have to try that.

Let's see . . . lessons learned (thinking . . . more thinking)

have I learned anything yet?

1. Get your Halloween stuff out early and make sure everything works. Nothing like finding out at the last minute you don't have the right floods or bulbs have burned out.

2. It is never too early to program your LOR sequence.

3. It is never too early to start buying candy for the onslaught of ToTs. The secret is, don't open the bags too early!!

4. When using a latex spray gun to paint a large prop -- please remember to move the cars out of the driveway and make sure they're not down wind of the sprayer!

5. Always label your storage bins with their contents each season. By the time you're checking your supplies, you will have forgotton half of what's in every bin. And if there's "that one thing" you're looking for, it will be in the last of the dozen bins you look through.

6. A five year old will change her mind every week when asked what she wants to be for Halloween -- so don't start asking until October. (June is way too early)

7. Chances are your mother-in-law will not see the humor in putting her name on a tombstone in your graveyard.

1) It's never too early to start on prop making. This year will not be very spectacular as I had too much happen lately to work on props. So, I'm having to reuse a lot of props and they are mostly ones that need work *SIGH*.

2) If you change your theme each year. Make sure that you do any totally new props first and then reskin the old one later. That way you've got two sets of props in case your grand scheme doesn't come off. If I had done what I originally planned, (deskining in December in preparation for reskinning later), I would have not enough props to even do anything at this point and would have to skip this year.

3) Alwyas search for sounds early. There's nothing like the last minute scramble to put together your soundtracks for your Awesome props.

4) If at all possible, Set up your lighting early (like now). It's one of the most important aspects and can be the most frustrating last minute. You can always reposition. But, if you find that you've misplaced a flood light or an extension cord, It's best to find out now.

5) You can never have too many speakers and amps.

6) Test your moving props now. Dig them out of storage and test them this weekend.

7) Check all your props soon and see what needs touch up paint. Don't paint them yet (more damage will likely come). But, you can watch for sales that way.

8) Seal your paper mache well and spray it with something to repel animals. I used paper mache to patch a corner of our columns that had gotten beat up and sealed it like I normally would. Came out the next morning to find rabbits munching on the corner.

That's all I can think of for now.

Hmmmm. What I've learned:


You can never have enough: paint, glue, tape, batteries...

Shop for prop building stuff throughout the year. Ditto if you do party stuff and need prizes. There are always cool things out there that can be used for props and prizes to be had for REALLY cheap. Check cull bins in the hardware store, clearance aisles, bargain bins...

Use plastic plates as paint palettes and keep large plastic freezer bags handy. If you need to stop painting in the middle of a prop, lightly mist the paint with some water and pop it into the bag (seal it well!) and the paint will stay usable for your next round of painting. This only works for acrylic/latex paints, tho.

Do NOT paint things on the dining room table or anywhere there is carpet without putting down protectors. You WILL make a mess. It's just a given.

Do your prop building in December - March if you live south of the Mason/Dixon line. It is too [email protected] hot to get anything done during the summer and you'll be forced to try to do stuff frantically in your lovely dining room... see above.

Make a list and prioritize. If you don't, you'll be doing whatever props pop in your head, and stopping and starting so many that you'll be in a tizzy trying to get them all finished.

Help is good. Beg, bribe or whatever you can do to get spouses, friends and kids if you have them to help out.

Good enough is good enough. As beautiful as many of the props are on here, most of the lovely details and intricate and time-consuming work is going to go unnoticed by the general TOTs. Do what you can, and if you want to spend more time on the details, do so, but don't freak out because your spanish moss isn't draping exactly like it would be if it were real, or your paint job isn't perfect.

TAKE PICTURES. TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES. PRACTICE TAKING PICTURES WITH NO FLASH AND GET A TRIPOD OR SOMETHING THAT CAN HOLD YOUR CAMERA STEADY. I suck at remembering to do this - and I regret it every year. I get a few setup shots, a few wobbly night shots and then forget to take better pictures.