The Gift Shop

The display for the gift shop inside the hardware store. A fun collection this year.

Yard Art

Recyled metal artist @2redpenguin on Instagram.

Salem Art Fair this weekend. Frankenshovel might have been my favorite.

Jumping Pumpkins

Found these little party favors on Amazon for the trick or treat bags. The Letapapa Halloween Party Favors for Kids, 24 Pcs Jumping Popper Spring Launchers Toy for $15.99.

6 different faces to make 4 sets. They are so cute they might not make it in to treat bags. Playing with stringing them as garland.

A new tombstone is coming to the Grimsby family cemetery and it is tall! The new cemetery fence is done. Having trouble staying motivated and focused this year. We dropped from days in the 90s to the 70s so that should help me get back to work on Halloween decor.

35th wedding Anniversary is Coral

Hubby walked in to Lowe's to give me a report on how this bad boy looked in person. We had watched a Vlogger assemble one for his home. Got a text saying he looks OK. I said how about he is our 35th wedding anniversary gift to each other? Without knowing it the 35th traditional anniversay gift is coral! How perfext to get a deep sea gift!

This is a really good looking animatronic on its own. The plan is to do a re-paint, add some padding to the costume, add a dive belt, and make a sea bed base for Bob. He is living room decor when the Yule tree is not in that corner. The work on Bob will be in December while the tree is up. The light only comes on with sound so we plan to add internal and external lighting.

Big fan of Scooby Doo and the episode Silence in the Library from Doctor Who. Bob reminds me of characters from both shows.

Halloween on the brain

The little snake bottle is from DeeDee & Shark a very talented artist making spooky, creepy, and truly unique ceramics. Her in person shows have smaller items if you happen to catch her at a Pacific Northwest show.

Is everyone working away on Halloween projects? We knew the cemetery fence needed replacing so it is being copied using black Sintra board this summer. First test cutting of a section was this week and the sturdier fence pieces are impressive. We had bigger plans for this October only Mr. Old Fashion Halloween will be traveling with his brothers over Halloween. Disassembling the yard by myself and I need to keep it simple.

Plans and Radio Show

Taking photos of the faux pumpkins that haven't been carved. Picking them up at post Halloween sales, Goodwill, and garage sales. Getting harder to find older uncarved faux pumpkins in the wild. Working on possible designs for next year.

Found one more short one after the group photo. The 3 in back have base coats and a little color or distressing. We also ordered some larger pumpkins from Funkins last year. The scarecrow head has now been out for many seasons and is showing some wear. We ordered 2 possible large replacements.

Throughline on NPR has been playing the history of Halloween episode from 2021. The 50 minute episode, The Dance of the Dead, you can listen to here. It is kind of fun to relive the late 70s and 80s with the cultural changes in how Halloween is celebrated now.

Behind the scenes

A rare sunny moment on the graveyard. That fence was really only meant to survive the pouring rain of last Halloween. This year we have some delamination. Fingers crossed we might build a more sturdy fence and add a new grave next year.

Looking down from the window where the skeletons dance. Scraps from the same pink foam the gravestones are carved from keeps the faux pumpkins looking in the right direction. I use elastic to attach the pumpkins. Gives them some movement in the wind. If the wind blows one over the elastic keeps them from falling. Shelves from a 4 shelf unit sold at Lowe's allow for drainage and the correct height.

Template used for gravestone placement. The template is used to get the correct placement for the rebar. The gravestones have PVC pipe inside that slip over the rebar. The gravestone base slips over the rebar first.

In this photo photo the template was put back on to make sure the rebar was at the correct angle. Then the gravetsone slips on and nestles in the base. The bases are cut at an angle for the steep bank.

We took more video than photos this year as the only new items were the projection and the big pumpkin stack on the far side of the house. The Halloween album can be found here.

Mr. Old Fashion Halloween is retiring next summer. We are pushing back the post Halloween blues by talking about budget and plans for Halloween 2024. I hope you all had a great season. Today I start taking down the inside decorations.