Today has been stressful.  It’s my job, once again, to take care of the kids when I would like to get some work done.  Garage/shop cleanup, Christmas decorating, misc. chores.  We’ll see if more will happen later.

Hit

Hit

So Far

With the budget of time and money that I have, I can't always make fast progress at setting up decorations. The entire month is usually spent setting up and creating new decor. I have managed to get some stuff up.

My bottles have gone up. It seems every year I get one or two new interesting bottles or jars to add to my apothecary. The labels are mostly free downloads from the net but a few are homemade, usually inspired off a few favorite sites. Contents vary widely from the Shrunken Man's skeleton to "radioactive" liquids that glow in UV light.

My foam pumpkins have come out. I like the idea of having some classic jack o' lantern designs year after year. Saves a little money although I would prefer to buy and carve new ones every year. Eventually I'll repaint these to look more realistic which is good because the original paint is wearing off.

We have an archway that divides our living room from the dining area. A year or two ago I put a nail at the top and hung a big furry spider from Michael's up there. Everyone seems to like it because it always seems to get a lot of comments. I'm still working on a better way to create a spider web to go with it.

My wife and I have mini Halloween toy collections going. I have multiple Halloween PEZ dispensers and she has several Halloween Barbies and a Groovy Girl that have come out.

The decor is also in the kitchen. We have a variety of coffee mugs that we have switched out for spookier ones. Nothing like spooky right from the start of the day.

There is still a great deal left to come out and go up. My Blucky skeleton is still (mostly) in storage. I want to resculpt the head and perhaps the body this year (more inspiration from Dave Lowe). My wife's pillows need to come out (more on these later). Most of the paper decorations still to be put up. I have plans (inspired from R) to make

Spent my budget of the month at Target. I bought another foam pumpkin, a skull (I don't know why I didn't have one already but this one does look half decent for the cost), a single black silk rose, another mug and a Coraline DVD that had gone on sale for almost half off. I have been wanting to buy some more colored lights to add to the mood but couldn't justify the extra cost. I got more with the money I had.

Cheap(er) Halloween - Print Edition

I've tried to keep from spending too much on decorating for a few years.  DIY is probably the best way to do so.  Last year I started to look for decorations that could also store as small as possible.

Printed decorations are great for storage (they store flat) and cost (until you factor ink costs).  You can create your own, if your artistically inclined, or do like I've done and search for free graphics or projects from the web.  Disney and Martha Stewart are great resources.  They have a variety of things to print and decorate with.

If you like model making but don't have a ton of money, consider paper models.  It seems to be a big trend in places like Japan and Europe.  Print out the model on paper, cut it out, and assemble it with a little glue.  This is great if you have time but not much money.  I like Haunted Dimensions for their Haunted Mansion and related models but you can find other Disney related models at The Disney Experience (currently named The Haunted Experience).  Search the 'net for other paper models if your interested.

I've also took inspiration from a variety of sources and found graphics for bottle labels, spell book covers and pages, and wall decorations such as posters and framed pictures.  Keep in mind that many images can't be used in any money making situations but you could use them to decorate your house.

What Halloween Means To Me

After many years of anguishing over whether to do Halloween or not, I came to the conclusion of why not?

Growing up, I dressed up in costumes and trick-or-treated.  My parents decorated with basic Halloween things usually bought from the grocery store.  I also took interest in illusionists like David Copperfield and puzzles.  I always liked to know how to do things that amazed others.  In high school, I decided that what I wanted to have a career in was special effects.  I wanted to be the person that made the behind the scenes magic so when you watched the movie you would see a zombie or alien, not a guy in a suit with makeup. I went to school and learned mechanical puppetry, makeup effects, set design, etc.

A year or two later, I had a crisis.  I was going to church (still do) and couldn't see how Halloween worked being a Christian and all.  I struggled with it for several years, wanting to decorate but not wanting to be anti-church.  I didn't want to take part in a pagan thing.

When we had kids I finally realized that modern Halloween has little to do with the old religions and has different meanings today.  It's evolved so far from what it was originally.  (Read some of the articles on History Channel for the modern traditions of Halloween.)  I found bloggers like Dave Lowe who decorate but with a more cartoony and less gory style.  I figure Halloween is about celebrating the little bit of scariness in our lives.  For adults it might be more gore and shock, but for kids it's about costumes, candy and a little bit spooky.  So we go with cartoony skeletons, vampires and monsters.  I try to go along the same line as maybe a Disney movie might.  Add just a little scary, mix in a lot of goofiness and you have a great holiday to have fun with.

For me, Halloween is about having a spooky fun time with my family, decorations, costumes, and candy.  Plus for me, it's a time to create props and decorations to try to add spookiness to our home, at least for a month out of the year.

Halloween Begins

My wife has declared the beginning of Halloween season!  The day after "Talk Like A Pirate Day", R made the offhand comment that she knows I was looking forward to working on Halloween decorations and now that "T.L.A.P.D." was over, I could begin.  I was overjoyed.

Two years ago, I got really excited about decorating.  I was being inspired by various home haunters and numerous site dedicated to making your own decorations.  So much so, that I got on her nerves with all my talk about it.  Until the season begins, I can't talk about it.  Work on projects, listen to music or research all year as long as she doesn't have to deal with it. She does get into the spirit, though.  She likes the costumes and decorations as Halloween gets closer.

The only downside is that I've got to work on a budget.  Most people have a limited budget.  I just take that as a challenge.  Many home haunters make papier-mache props.  There are tons of printables available.  You can do quite a bit with just access to the internet.

I've got numerous ideas of what I want to do this year.  I'll try to post photos of my projects as I do them.

Workshop Wanna Do's

I aspire to one day be able to have a shop (and the time) where I can go to make whatever I would like.  I've got most of the basic tools and my shop is my garage.  It's just finding the time to work out there.

Until then, I've got plenty of ideas of things to work on.  Anything from useful, like the air filter for the cat litter box, to just fun, such as the giant lens "Solar Death Ray".  Since my time is short, my hardest decision is which one to make.

I've been researching shop made tools.  Three I've looked into are a tablesaw, bandsaw, and lathe.  They seem awfully expensive considering you can find plans online for some of them.  I could probably save my money and go buy one but I like the thought of making my own.  That way I can understand the tool better and be able to refine it or make accessories for it.  Considering space versus what I would like to do, I've been contemplating making the bandsaw first then the lathe.

I figure a 12" bandsaw will be a good starter size in my small space.  I have found a number of plans for shop made bandsaws, most of which are at least thirty years old.  The only exception is several offered by Matthias Wandel at Woodgears.  He doesn't offer a 12" but I am adapting the old plans online to info he's posted on his blog.

A lathe is relatively easy to make in comparison as you can find lots of how-to's online.  I shouldn't have to much trouble with building one once the bandsaw is made.

One note:  Since hurricane Wilma came through and knocked out our power, I've been more interested with having tools that are less dependent on electricity.  Yes, that means more manual work but that could give me more time to work on perfection rather than just knocking something out.  I've found references to bandsaws and lathes that are treadle/pedal powered and am considering setting up my tools to work manual like that.  I'll have to work that out at another time.

Until I've got more time, I'll just have to work on the design.  That way, I won't have to figure out so many details as I go and in the end save some time.  I'll post more as I go.