Barrel Fountain!

Finally got the innards of my barrel prop working! The pirate is sitting upon a real barrel, but it does have several holes, so I just layered three large garbage bags and stapled them inside, so no water is leaking! I filled it up 1/4 of the way and this prop should run all night! I was thinking of adding food coloring to the water, but I don't want to stain my bucky!

I still need to finish decorating the pepsi bottled I painted over and get rid of the yellow ring! This prop should be out Wednesday! 

Drink up me` hearties, Yo Ho..

Almost done with my Halloween display for this year! Just plowed through the last of the East India Trading company burlap sacks (with help from my awesome other half! :P ) that I may use to hand candy out to exceptionally well dressed ghouls and goblins! :) Still need to stain the Gibbet post and get the Drinking Pirate fountain hooked up, and then start the laborious task of setting up everything outside! Captain Jack and the Prisoner Pirate both talk and their eyes light up. Captain Jack's wheel moves too :) Once I get everything setup and fine tuned outside I'll add some video!

Yo ho, Yo ho!

Barrel Pirate!

The last major prop of the year is almost done! The last bucky I have is now affixed to a barrel I scored at OSH! The costume is still being shipped (hoping it gets here SOON) and I still need to attach some metal rod to an arm to holdup a bottle! I think I'm going to paint a plastic soda container and plumb the water pump into that and have it splash down his exposed ribs back into the barrel! This will be accompanied by a Pirate's Life for Me playing in the background, but it's the drinking pirate, so instead of singing or humming the song he is chugging the pirates theme.. :)

I also started on some of my filler props.. I bought some burlap sacks and while I wish the stencil I made was a little bigger, I am happy with the results. First time making a stencil and what a time saver!!

All three of them proudly on display in my living room while I hash out last minute details! :) Need to weather proof everything, enclose the Scary Terry servo boards in something water proof and get ready to set everything up outside! Didn't get as much as I wanted done this year, but that's what next year is for! Next to Halloween my favorite day is November 1st because I have an ENTIRE year to plan and build for the following year! Time sure does find a way of slipping away! 

Made some smaller sacks too! Depending on how many trick or treaters we get I *may* use them to hand out bags of candy, but for now I am using them as filler props. I bought a large amount of fake coins, so I'm going to fill the sacks up with newspaper and maybe glue the coins to make it look like they are spilling out the side! I have 50 smaller sacks in total. Twenty or so completed as of now.

Swingin' on the gallows pole!

Finished my gibbet cage and gallows pole! Still need to paint the cage, and stain the gallows pole! :( Stuff isn't progressing along as much as I'd like, but come Halloween I'm probably going to be the only one that will notice.. Such is life! Been having fun building props, but my budget isn't as carefree as it once was, so I will have to get more creative than normal instead of going down and buying materials it's more of what I have on hand! The gallows pole was one exception because it cost $22 in materials to make! It is a bit too big, but I was building it at my Grandpa's house, so it looked tiny in the driveway!! The pole is 8' tall and the arm is nearly 4' long! I added a base at the bottom that is currently covered by some of the Pirate flags I've collected over the years, but the side braces are a total of 5' long and the front one is 3', so the floor space the pole takes up is massive, but I didn't want a chance of it falling over. After Halloween is over I will probably trim up the prop, so it can *hopefully* take residence along side Captain Sparrow YEAR ROUND! :)

I bought some PVC pipe to make a bunch of candles a la How To Haunt Your House .com and this will keep me tied over for the next few nights.

I also bought some burlap sacks and I'm planning on painting an East India Trading company logo on them for some more maritime flair and filler props. I've yet to paint on burlap, so this should be interesting. I'm leaning towards making a stencil and just using spray paint, but we will see! I'll post whatever method works best for me!

Happy Haunting!