One of the main reasons I’m including Halloween here is because this year I’m starting to get more involved in it than I have in the past. By that I mean that I’ve decided to cut back on the off-the-shelf junk that we always end up overpaying for. So this year I’m taking the big leap into the DIY yard haunt scene. I’ll be coming out the gate with four major DIY projects - the infamous Floating Crank Ghost (FCG), a Grave Grabber, a simple static armature figure made of PVC, and a fog chiller (which will make good use of our old igloo ice chest we used to catch rain water from the leaky roof before it was fixed). These will be mixed in with some of the non-cheezy looking props (such as tombstones) that I’ve collected over the past years. In addition the porch will be enclosed in a facade made of the stone Scene Setter pack and dressed up as a mausoleum to house the FCG.
At the time of writing I’ve already completed the floating crank ghost which only needs a paint job on the rig and a bit of a tweak in the counter-weight department. I’ll get some pics up soon with some notes and comments.
I’ve mocked up a rendering in Photoshop to kind of give an idea of where I plan to go. I’ll take photos on Halloween day and night for comparisons at the end of the month. I’ll also attempt to journal each of the major steps as I go.
Also, to the right is my driveway where I plan to set up my summer lawn tent which I will enclose three sides with black plastic (thank god for the clearance sale at Lowes - picked up a 10′ x 100′ roll for $14 bucks) and build a stone facade with PVC and Scene Setters. Since the front porch will be occupied with the FCG, I will be using the tent as a spooky little booth where I’ll be handing out candy to the TOTs.
For comparison, here is the original photo of the front of the house:
