Sunday, October 27, 2013

Carving Night 2013

Carving Night turned out very well--much good food, carving, and fun people.  Some seriously good carving was had, and much wine was drunk.  A few too many pics to make sense to put on here, so I threw them at youtube and it made me a slideshow.  So here it is:


Saturday, October 26, 2013

3rd night of carving

Just the one, (zombie pirate) but he was a bit more difficult than the others.  I'm also holding off until Zombiepumpkins.com finishes putting out the rest of the patterns--I've got one more pumpkin I'm saving just in case something super awesome comes out and I get carver's remorse.






Friday, October 25, 2013

Pics all around

Just some better pics (playing with settings on the camera results in better quality), and just some random ones from around the house.















Giving out swedish fish and glow sticks for the trick-or-treaters.






Thursday, October 24, 2013

2nd night of carving

Did a few more pumpkins tonight.  The mermaid and the seahorse.















THE ANGLER FISH ARISES!!!!!!!

Okay, a bit dramatic, yes, but considering that the whole theme started with a first sketch of the angler fish, it's a bit momentous when it finally goes up.  Which was a bit arduous.  Had to bring in a second arch because the tarp was drooping and would have hit kids in the head.  Although scary, not the kind of scary I want.

So he went up about an hour before the elementary school let out and I was cleaning up on the porch (and not seen) and overheard a couple comments about it:

"It's a shark!  No, it's a WHALE!  No, wait..."

"OMG, IT'S THE ANGLER FISH FROM FINDING NEMO!!!!!!!!!"

"How did they do that?!?"

"Okay you can look, but don't touch!"  (a mom trying unsuccessfully to hold back her kid)

"That is SOOOO cool!"

"Gaaaah!  Soooo creepy!"

And so, I am pleased.  At the very least, there are a few kids who were just as scared of the angler fish in Finding Nemo as I was.  ...and a few kids who aren't quite sure what a whale looks like...

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

First night of carving

First two pumpkins down.  A wee sea turtle to go with the theme.  And a weeping angel cause, well, it's a doctor who pattern!  And it was a little more than creepy when I turned on the light under it...





Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Witch kitchen lights

Turned on all the witch kitchen lights tonight--spooky!



Ocean lights issue

Had some family over and turned on all the lights for them.  Unfortunately, I had forgotten (if I knew this beforehand)--the gobo lights shut off after an hour.  So the question becomes, do I want to keep them on for the trick-or-treaters?  I mean, it's maybe 3-4 hours of prime time when they come.  I suppose I could get up there and turn them on each hour.  Not for the party so much, but Halloween is a possibility.

Also should put some tape or glow tape on the front step--had someone who almost tripped entirely over it.  I think Joann's has some...

Touch ups

Had some leftover fluorescent paint and a bit of time, so took a paintbrush to the rocks, just to add a little more color.  Also did a small patch on the scene setter just to see how it would look--or rather, if it would work.  Will check it under the lights tonight, and if looking awesome, may do more.



Mantle additions

Just a few cute little guys I picked up.  Also realized that I had (apparently entirely subconsciously) collected a parliament of owls.  They're hanging out with my still favorite decoration--the vampire ( on the left) my Uncle Jim carved for me:)


Mermaid Graveyard wrap up

With all the elements ready, I wrapped up the mermaid graveyard.  Basically just a matter of putting up all the stuff I had been getting ready for a couple weeks.  May have to tweak a few things, but I'm pretty happy with the setup.  Though I'll definitely have to do some modification with the lights.  Hard to check angles and lighting volume while in the day.

Started with pulling out all the pieces.


Monday, October 21, 2013

Pumpkin Palooza

Was at Harmons and picked up several (6) pumpkins.  Price was right at $.12 /lb.  Got some good flat ones.  Now I just have to pick out some patterns!






Sunday, October 20, 2013

Beware the Sea Witch!

Quick project of last night. Just printed out "Beware the Sea Witch" in scary lettering, and sharpied over it on a piece of gray sheer material I had.  (so that it would stand out in the daylight) Painted over the sharpie with some yellow fluorescent paint (so it would stand out in the dark).  Doesn't stand out super bright, but it shows up pretty well (unfortunately doesn't do pics very well)















A bit of treasure

Just a very small project.  Had found a toy treasure chest a while back at the d.i. and had some pirate gold left over from St. Patrick's day, as well as some pearl strands and jewels.  Took one of the sea pile things I had on the front porch (had plenty) and glued on a bunch of the coins, jewels, and pearls.  Stuck it in the chest, and voila, instant treasure.



Lights Final setup

Finally put up the scene setters--they turned out looking awesome! At least, from the inside--the outside/from the street look a little...trashy.  Oh well...



Thursday, October 17, 2013

Angler fish final

Finished up the angler fish today. Spent half the day on stuff that ultimately ended up not working,  but I figured it would be a bit of trial and error.  Ended up scrapping the sides, as they just weren't stable enough, and flopped all about. 

For the teeth, I ultimately went with the cut up teeth from the foam sheet (from a $10 foam bed).  The pool noodled was cut down the middle, and the pressure from the noodle was enough that I didn't have to do anything other than stuff the teeth into them.  

What lovely teeth you have...

Got a start on the anglerfish teeth.  Cut up several dozen teeth out of cardboard and painted them white using several different types of white with a primer of light metallic gray so that they're a little shiny.  These will go on the sides of the jaw, and had to be made out of something sturdier than the foam that the ones above head will be made out of.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Angler fish sketch

Just a quick sketch of the angler fish, construction of which begins this week.

Mantle wrap ups

Finished up a banner for the mantle.  Saw it on oriental trading, but decided to try and make my own.  Might put up a couple more little things, but for the most part, I'm crossing it off the list.

**UPDATE**
Put up a couple more little things here and there.









Monday, October 14, 2013

Paper Cutting Archway

The last couple of years, I've been making paper cuttings from some of the pumpkin patterns that I either want to try out, or just don't end up carving for one reason or another.  I cut them out on black construction paper, then put a colored piece of paper behind them.  I've gotten quite a pile by now.  This year, I put them up all around the doorway leading into the kitchen.  It makes for a good place, as there's room to add a few more.  They've been a good project to do when it's too late to do some of the larger projects, but I still want to do something.

**UPDATE**
Now that I've made quite a few of these, I'm considering taking half of them off the archway and moving them over to the front door archway--spread them out a bit.  They've gotten a little intimidating put all together.

**UPDATE**
Have decided to leave them in place.  Every other doorway is being used for something else, or soon will be.  I'm also intending to spread these out a bit so that they're a bit less chaotic.


Sunday, October 13, 2013

Mermaid Skeletons

Tookwork outouthe first step in getting the mermaid skeletons ready.  Assembled the bluckies, not worknotnot work out so greatthen wrapped the lower half in a white garbage bag.  As soon as I find it, I'll make a slip out of the sheer flesh-colored material and put them in it.  I also made a 'tail' out of pantyhose and a hanger--but need to scrounge around and find another, as well as change out the hanger for a wire one--smaller tubing.

**UPDATE**
Got a very nice surprise when I opened up the teal fabric I had gotten for a backup.  When I picked it up, I liked that it had a subtle fish scale pattern.  When I actually opened it up, turned out it was suuuuuper bright and shiny, and that it was actually the back side that was being shown.  The fish scales were much more prominent.  Definitely much better than I had hoped.  Completed the first mermaid by making a basic slip cover for the 'tail' and hooked the fin to the end of the feet.

Here's a comparison shot of the back and front of the fabric.

Sam thinks I should spray paint the fin.  Will have to see--paint on panty hose might
Not work out so great.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Sea Flora

Put together the spray painted flowers with the expandable foam dollops.  Sliced off the bottoms of the dollops so they would sit flat, then poked the wire flowers through them.  Placed them in various spots around the rocks on the porch--but will need to secure them much better with some tape or something.




Friday, October 11, 2013

Sea Witch tentacles

Finally finished up the tentacles and constructed a belt with them.  Originally I had intended to attach them directly to the dress that Sam and brought home, but once I actually sat down with it, I realized it just wasn't going to work.  Instead, I made just a simple black belt with them folded up around half of it (the back half is tentacle-free so I can sit down easily--plus, I'll have a drape on anyways.  I'm still going to tack up the tentacles to themselves so that they're raised a bit.  The wire in them helps a little, but they're just too heavy for the wire to hold up entirely.  Intending to wear this over a black dress so that the belt blends in.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Paper mache rocks--part 3

Spray painted all the rocks today.  The expandable foam had set and was ready to be painted.  Found a really great black spray paint that had a primer and paint, which helped quite a bit with the coverage.  The only minor setback was that one of the balloons popped and left a serious crinkle.  We'll see how the rest of them react, but this might be a problem.  At least the basic structure of the laundry baskets is in place, so the whole thing won't entirely collapse, but still, could mean that I'll need to figure out an alternative at the last minute.

Smells like pumpkins

Saw pumpkins for sale today.  Still pretty high at $.25/lb, but Smith's had some pretty large sturdy ones--as well as some gorgeous white ones.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Paper mache rocks--part 2

Got a bit done on the rocks today--the weather was warm enough that I could stay inside the garage for awhile without freezing.  Got the tall rock covered, added some expandable foam to the painted one, and completely covered one of the small structures.