Audrey II LIVES!!!

So I spent the morning digging through the Halloween boxes looking for a few key items. The main one was a light socket outlet. These are great if you don't have an outside plug--but you do have a porch light. They screw into the base and create a socket...that you can then safely plug your Halloween lights into. This is better than the system I used years ago that involved feeding a wire under the door--much less safe. Next important thing was the bag o green lights. I tried a green bulb in the porch light--just didn't give out the right kind of light--too bright, not enough green. So I'm going (again) with the strands of lights.

I wired them back and forth, but kept them a little more sparse than last year. I also hung up the garden green plastic mesh. I debated about putting this up. Ultimately, I like having something between the trick or treaters and the porch--but not so much that it blocks the view from the window. Spiderweb, and this mesh are a nice compromise.  Next I pulled out the orange tub (serving as Audrey II's pot) and threw in a bucket of dirt (loose dirt would have been way too heavy--I just needed it to be weighed down a bit).

Next up was bringing out all of the vines I had made and taping one side of them to inside the bucket. I wrapped them around poles around the porch, and rigged a couple so that they looked semi-floating in mid-air. I attempted to get some of them to 'wave' at the trick-or-treaters. I placed the lower jaw down first, just to see where I needed to make adjustments to the vines. For future reference, I need to remember to put up the upper jaw of Audrey II FIRST--I ended up having to move the lower jaw and bucket out of the way anyway. Rigged the upper jaw on several ropes attached to the rafters, then placed the lower jaw onto the tub. And thus--Audrey II LIVES!!!! Muah ha ha!!!!

**UPDATE**

Went and grabbed the finished mini Audrey IIs and stung them on. I also put in the benches and wired them all up with the light strand for the real pumpkins. Also anchored to the porch my other plant stand--ideally with thoughts of doing a wee flower shop.  I placed the archway and weighed it down with bricks and wove some garland around it--still some work to do on that.

I also rigged one of the tentacles to 'wave' (read: raise and lower) when the door opens and closes. Forgot about it...then when I went inside a bit later, I managed to scare myself at the movement that was at the corner of my eye. *facepalm*
**UPDATE...again**

Had to wait until dark to check out the lighting. I think it's a pretty good blend of green with enough light to see some of the details and thankfully dark enough to fudge over all the little mistakes.