Halloween Talk

There hasn't really been to many new postings in any of my groups so I wanted to see if people would respond to this...so time to talk Halloween :)

Is anyone planning to do anything really spectacular this year?

Does anyone have difficulty storing larger props?

With the entire US in a depression and so many people loosing their jobs, has anyone found it hard money wise to do Halloween this year?

Just some random questions to see if anyone wanted to talk about something :)

HalloweenBoy

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Recycle!

Great topic! We are themed out to do the pirate ship yard display this year. Which I am really looking forward to because it's the first time we've done anything different other then the graveyard.
 Storage for us isn't to much of a problem we have a basement. Plus, what we've made this year I've made to break down real easy for quick putaway.
 A lot of what we make are recycled things as well. The warehouse that I work at allows us to fill out a property pass for things that will just be discarded and take it home. So most of the wood planks, plywood, cardboard tubing, and cardboard sheeting that we use I get for free.
 If anyone is interested drop by our page and check out our blogs on the pirate ship construction. Hope you enjoy!

~AA

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All ye who come aboard must give up their booty!!!!!!

Great topic!

Larger props can be a bit of a storage concern. Most of mine hang out in my office year round but the rest go to a rented storage unit and the attic. I think it's wise to plan for easy breakdown of larger props when considering the construction. Saves some headaches down the road.

I think money is always a concern. From a personal standpoint I can say that I have a huge list of wants but I do not have an unlimited budget. I have to plan for what I "must have" and let other things go or find less expensive substitutes.

As for my spectacular plans this year? I have no huge plans for adding new items to my yard display or Halloween party. Instead I hope to visit a few haunts and get some fresh ideas and inspirations up close and personal.

 

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Alter Your Ego

This is a great topic.  While I've had many years to add stuff to my collection, I make more stuff every year and send the cast-off stuff to neighbors and friends.  This year our theme is the graveyard outside with VooDoo priestesses in the wicked kitchen trying to steal victims before they enter the graveyard.  When the victim, I mean guest, makes it to the front door, they'll realize that the house is actually a morgue.  This is new this year and our big focus.  The morgue idea is more for the adult party while the graveyard and wicked kitchen are for those who drive by and the TOTer's.  My yard is very small so it's quick and easy to decorate.  Storage isn't really a problem since I have a 7' Halloween storage trailer and garage and some of the larger things I can store in the warehouse where I work (it's a family furniture store).

I've been diligently working at my 'to-do' list since mid-May.    I really try not to buy much of anything.  Last year I bought a great bat for the moon of the mural, two gargoyles for the pillars flanking the mural, and a couple of spooky pictures for inside the house.  That was it for store bought props.  Now, where my money went last year was making all of my gravestones and a coffin.  We bought the huge sheets of foam and plywood to back them, spray paint, water sealant, and a gallon of contact cement. 

This year I've bought more wood to make the coffin cart for the toe pincher that we made last year.  I have plans for a human cage and a road sign all of which use wood.  We have plans to paint a morgue mural this year, too, for the inside of the house.  I love the murals because they are made from canvas so they store away easily and they very quickly change the atmosphere where ever you hang it.  In fact, we're thinking about a small mural to go over the front door -- it would have the sign indicating it's a morgue, lots of rust and dirt, and of course the blood trail left from hands -- whether the mad doctor inside didn't wash very well or a victim tried to escape, we'll never know.  Lots of little props inside, too, but cheap and easy things to make.  I really try to find as much as I can and not buy, buy, buy.   The coffin cart is a big piece and it will break down for easier storage.  

I guess when you love Halloween as much as we do, you have to have friends.  Friends who can help you make stuff -- friends who give you stuff that you can use -- friends to join you to haunt the place on our big night.  My friends are already talking about this year's party which says a lot in our favor.  We must be doing something right! 

~ArtsyChiqua  

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☠ ☠ ☠ Mistress of Darkness and Lover of All Things Haunted! ☠ ☠ ☠

:)

I'm glad people like my topic starter :)

For me: Money has been a little tight, and since I want to do much more this year, it's been harder because I don't want my parents to pay for a lot of it. I have tried for the last 6 months to get a job and it's just hard. I heard in florida about 74,000 people lost their jobs or was it 7400?

So I've been trying to make things to sell on ebay to get a little income to recycle into new props and supplies that I need down the line for my own house. On top of that, we do more then just an outside haunt, we have a party inside which I want to expand and make really really nice, and to lower money I was thinking on getting some food from Costco isntead of ordering platters like we always did (it's easier to hea up a tray for $12 and buy more food then get a platter from publix for $45 and we're gonna have people bring things too so that'll help a great deal. Also as much as mom loves goody bags, we may just give out candy this year which cuts cost down a gerat deal as well (but the big big candy, not the little cheap stuff lol)

As for storage...we have a closet and a half full- and the attic is half halloween and half christmas, our attic is weird because in the garage area there is all the tubes and things for the air duct so its small, meanwhile in my closet is a larger opening with a huge attic space, but it's way to hard to get in thru my closet....that's the only down side with our attic....

Anyway this year I'm going to try and do a graveyard with more animatronics :) so that's my goal :)

HalloweenBoy

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Party food

Food can eat into a budget quickly. We host an annual Halloween party that's pretty sizable. The first year we did the whole platter thing. Expensive and a real pain. From our second year on (this will be year 15) we've done chili with all the fixings, cinnamon rolls and a few vege w dip trays. We dot the venue with snack food like popcorn and candy. The chili is made in advance and we have a friend (who is a wiz-bang with the cinnamon rolls) make those for us. For variety we make a mild chili, hot and spicy chili and even Adkins chili (which is yummy and good for those carb counters )

p.s We butcher a cow every year so we get the hamburger pretty cheap but you can do ok $$ wise on hamburger if you plan in advance. The rest of the chili ingredients are bought in bulk at the local Sam's Club. Pretty simple and a whole lot less expensive.

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Alter Your Ego

Money and space

Most of our parties are a pot-luck sort of thing.  The host makes the main dish and provides drinks, while the guests bring everything else.  'Course you have to okay it with your guests first. And cut down on the goodie bags - you can easily spend $5-10 on each if you get carried away.  I always made either goodie bags or bough king-size cnady since we had so few TOTs, but since I am doing a haunt, we are expecting many more TOTs, so the money becomes a concern.

My husband is starting to grumble about using all the space in the garage for the Halloween stuff.  Might need to figure out a storage solution outside, next to the garage.  Maybe we can build a Shed of Horrors with all of HIS leftover scrap lumber and plywood - THAT would clear out the garage fast!  And maybe he would give me the dead chainsaw instead of promising to get it fixed for the last 10 years...

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Blood? I got your blood RIGHT HERE!

LOL

I'm trying to respond to both responces at the same time here, hopfully this will work lol;

~chillie and cinnamon rolls seems like an interesting combo lol, it's not bad it's just interesting :)

~I'm going to have dad help me with a few ghosts this weekend because I got to put some things back on Ebay because I did really well with that. at the same time though I got to order a couple things from websites because I need them for more props (although I'm trying to be unique with some of my props so I hope all this time if I go to take the effort and invest in building that someone would actually buy it from me...

~Oh we're just all different sized nuts when it comes to this Halloween stuff, but yet we all come from they very same tree :)

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I don't know how the chili and cinnamon roll combo came to be. Maybe it's just my neck of the woods but it's kind of expected that you have the rolls with the chili LOL

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Alter Your Ego