Super Last Minute Trick-or-Treat House

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Intro: Super Last Minute Trick-or-Treat House

Around 11:30 AM on Halloween, I decided to decorate and hand out candy.  At 7 PM, I had finished with only purchasing electric tea lights and candy.  It was quite the rush to gather materials, paint, hang, cut, clip, stretch, etc., but it got done using a lot of stuff I had around the house.  A lot of the time was actually spent on cleaning up the front yard.

I made hanging lanterns out of aluminum cans, decorated them a bit with black spray paint, and used bits of bicycle inner tube for the hanger. 

The ground lanterns were previously painted tin cans that I just recoated in either black or orange.  To keep them from blowing over, I added some pebbles.

Lump charcoal and chalk decorated the sidewalk and directed trick-or-treaters.

I set up an evil alter to a gargoyle I had in my yard.  Thank goodness for having an odd appreciation for yard kitsch.

The bloody bench was an very old drop cloth.  For old paint splotches from previous use, I covered in red spray paint.  Then I mixed some red and brown finger paint and mushed it around and splattered it.  I draped a bit of rusty chain over it and placed a mum planter with fading blooms next to it.

I used 5 black trash bags in all for banners and the witch/evil nun.  The witch/evil nun was a necessity for covering up an overly pretty topiary obelisk, and I only used a Styrofoam mannequin head, a couple of trash bags, and some black electrical tape.  Electrical tape was also used for hanging up some of the trash bag banners and roping off certain areas of the garden.

The pumpkin was carved in 15 minutes.  We already had it but never got around to carving it.  I wish it had been better, but perfectionism goes out the door when in a complete butt rush to get it done.

I used bulldog clips for hanging strips of bicycle inner tubes on the arbor at the entrance of the yard.  Thanks to the bicycle inner tube contest, I had plenty of material already on hand.

Cleaning the yard was probably the most tiring.  There were plants on the tree hangers, and those hanging pots had to be taken down to make room for the hanging lanterns.  I clustered potted plants together with the heavy and/or dangerous ones on the outside to discourage any thievery.  It was just a lot of little things because of a lot of it hadn't been done in a long time.

10 Comments

I want my house to always be like that! Well, I have an apartment, but if I lived in a house I would totally hang up lanterns like those and stuff.
It's definitely fun to have spaces to fool around!  But it's sometimes hard to see the awesomeness of renting until you own.  Well, unless you like manipulating a yard and gardening and stuff...  Can't say I blame you there!
DO NOT ENTER!
But if you do, please stay on the path.
That is amazing. I love those lanterns!
Nice! Love the sheet on the garden bench :D Saves moving it to stop it spoiling the mood :D
Indeed! The bench is quite heavy and bulky, and it's WAY too cheerful for Halloween. Plus leaving it there and covering it filled a good amount of void.

Thanks!
This reminds me... can we have a slideshow tour of your garden please? I know you like plants and photography. And I've only ever seen bits and pieces. Would be great to see some pictures of it all and tags of what plants are what, they'll be wholly alien to anything we grow where I live.
I did an update on my blog, and it consisted of ~70 images. I probably only covered 1/5 of what's in my front yard alone. I could do a partial slideshow, but I'm not sure the interest level would be there. HOWEVER! I'm certainly flattered that you'd like to see more of it, and I'll certainly consider pulling together a slideshow of at least some of the sights to see.
Huzzah!  I impressed you!  At least to some extent!  Thanks!
You continually impress me, but you know how I especially love Halloween stuff....