Last year's fall season was started with a bang. Hurricane Ike was a direct hit on Houston (thankfully I live on the NW side) and we suffered a very scary night, some damage to our house, and power outage for just under 2 weeks. aaaannnd my MIL invited herself to our house instead of going out of the path of the storm to relatives where she was invited .
Decided to go ahead with a party even though we were seriously set back with repairs and had Halloween and the party two days in a row and suffered complete burnout. I didn't even hit the after sales and sort of regret that NOW
since all of the unique stuff that I saw last year, I don't see out there now.
Burnout lasted well through the new year. I did manage to pick up a few little things in the x-mas sales but it was mostly lighting. (and I still have to find where I squirreled it away)
Started building stuff come February 2009 - mostly fixing things that were left undone last year. March saw the build of my version of the beloved stone - using a garden angel and scaled down for my little graveyard.
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I entered a $20 prop contest on another halloween forum with a Wolfman tombstone (had a wolf shield and red lit eyes), and was surprised that I actually got votes - it was fun and I really started getting sort of excited about the upcoming Halloween season.
I also got a FCG rig from Pugsly this year since neither the hubby nor myself are apparently savvy enough to make one, so we've got to get that mounted and arranged after we put the mausoleum out.
I decided to focus more on the inside decor during the summer (less exposure to the heatwave since I could work inside), and with the help of DaveintheGrave, made an awesome moving eyes painting that will be the focal point of my party.
Discovered FreeCycle and landed some odd things for decor - like the puffer fish that I made a museum mount for display:
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Also got a hanging birdcage, a great plaster urn, and a 2 foot plaster column. ALL are being used for party decor.
and an antique globe lamp that was just begging for blood:
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And then really got inspired with some Michaels cheapy foam eyeballs, making a raven with a nice gooey eyeball dangling from its beak and the flowers that LOOKED back at you (EYE-rises).
Other inside additions include a haunted rocker (with much help from Otaku) and a mausoleum/crypt front to cover the passthrough from the living room to kitchen that ALWAYS bugged me during our past parties:
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I've also got a stone well that I built out of white bead styro chunks and mortared using great stuff foam. I plan on placing my Donna of the Dead inside it, but not releasing her catches so she's still compacted and under 3 feet tall... it will look like she's coming up out of the well, and I get a nifty prop for practically nothing.
I actually don't have anything BIG to finish. Just bits and pieces and actual setup.
Decided to go ahead with a party even though we were seriously set back with repairs and had Halloween and the party two days in a row and suffered complete burnout. I didn't even hit the after sales and sort of regret that NOW
since all of the unique stuff that I saw last year, I don't see out there now.Burnout lasted well through the new year. I did manage to pick up a few little things in the x-mas sales but it was mostly lighting. (and I still have to find where I squirreled it away)
Started building stuff come February 2009 - mostly fixing things that were left undone last year. March saw the build of my version of the beloved stone - using a garden angel and scaled down for my little graveyard.
I entered a $20 prop contest on another halloween forum with a Wolfman tombstone (had a wolf shield and red lit eyes), and was surprised that I actually got votes - it was fun and I really started getting sort of excited about the upcoming Halloween season.
I also got a FCG rig from Pugsly this year since neither the hubby nor myself are apparently savvy enough to make one, so we've got to get that mounted and arranged after we put the mausoleum out.
I decided to focus more on the inside decor during the summer (less exposure to the heatwave since I could work inside), and with the help of DaveintheGrave, made an awesome moving eyes painting that will be the focal point of my party.
Discovered FreeCycle and landed some odd things for decor - like the puffer fish that I made a museum mount for display:
Also got a hanging birdcage, a great plaster urn, and a 2 foot plaster column. ALL are being used for party decor.
and an antique globe lamp that was just begging for blood:
And then really got inspired with some Michaels cheapy foam eyeballs, making a raven with a nice gooey eyeball dangling from its beak and the flowers that LOOKED back at you (EYE-rises).
Other inside additions include a haunted rocker (with much help from Otaku) and a mausoleum/crypt front to cover the passthrough from the living room to kitchen that ALWAYS bugged me during our past parties:
I've also got a stone well that I built out of white bead styro chunks and mortared using great stuff foam. I plan on placing my Donna of the Dead inside it, but not releasing her catches so she's still compacted and under 3 feet tall... it will look like she's coming up out of the well, and I get a nifty prop for practically nothing.
I actually don't have anything BIG to finish. Just bits and pieces and actual setup.
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