Cemetery Fence 2.0

Some of you may remember that last year I scored about 10 of these plastic columns from my employer.  My intention was to use them as fence columns for a cemetery fence.  I put together a bunch of eight-foot fence sections using PVC pipe (also free from work) and scrap 1 x 3 wood.  I used small metal brackets to attach the fence sections directly to the columns.  All this was done very last minute and while it looked good (we got a lot of compliments from people driving by), it wasn't extremely solid.  Now for the error part of the trial and error system.  The columns are hollow plastic and are in two sections.  the bottom section is about 4 feet tall and is open at the bottom.  the top section is about another 2 feet tall and is open at the top.  One week before Halloween we had a major rainstorm.  During the night, the top sections of the fence columns filled up with water, making them top heavy.  When the wind hit it was all over.  We woke up to find every fence column tipped over and many of the fence sections broken.  I threw out all of the fence sections and put the columns away (only after cutting a hole in the bottom of all the top sections so that water could not collect in them), vowing to learn from my mistakes in the next year.  Well next year is now.

I decided that the surface of the columns was too uneven to attach the fence sections directly.  I bolted a section of 2 x 4 to the columns with a nice wide bracket at the top and bottom.  The height of the 2 x 4 is the same as the space between the bottom and middle rail of the fence sections.  I squirted some Great Stuff behind the 2 x 4 to fill in all of the nooks and crannies and give the 2 x 4 a more solid base.

Here you can see how the fence sections will sit on the brackets.  There is still a lot to do on this project.  I will post more on my progress in the next couple of days.

Tombstone Update

Well, I finally finished carving and engraving my first batch of styrofoam tombstones.  I used stencils that I made with my wife's Cricut machine for the lettering.  All of the detailing was done with a soldering iron.  Some very minimal shaping was done with a hacksaw blade.  Each of these tombstones is named for each of my four kids.

This tombstone reads:  Samuel (our oldest son) and then:  Sam Bones (his nickname because of how freakishly skinny he is).  His cause of death is listed as:  wasted away.  The skull detail was made by cutting the back from a Great Stuff foam skull that I had laying around.  I attached it with some hot glue.  The shaping around the skull was done with a hacksaw blade.

This tombstone reads:  Abigail (our oldest daughter) and then:  Abbiecadabra (this seemed almost too cute; but I went with it anyway).  Her cause of death is listed as:  burned at the stake (duh).  The pentagram detail was just one that I found with a Google image search for pentagram.  I pretty much just free handed it with a Sharpie and then engraved it with a soldering iron.

This tombstone reads:  Noah (our youngest son) and then:  Noah Constrictor (this was his nickname when he was a toddler because he was a major hugger.  He liked to get his arms around you and just squeeze as tight as he could).  His cause of death is listed as:  stuffed and mounted (bummer).  The snake detail is based loosely on the logo for the TV show Millennium.  I did quite a bit of detail work with the soldering iron trying to get the snake to look more three dimensional.  It should really pop out after it is painted.  Again I did a little shaping in the center with a hacksaw blade.

This tombstone reads:  Emma (our youngest daughter) and then:  Emma Sue The Littlest Zombie (I know it's a mouthful; but trust me, it fits her).  Her cause of death is listed as:  her fate is unknown.  This was the simplest design out of all four tombstones.  I just did a Google image search for girl silhouette.  All the detail work was done with a soldering iron.

These tombstones will get a coat or two of Dry-Lok and then a nice paint job (hopefully this week).

Put a Lid on That Mud.

I was toying with the idea of putting together a monster mud prop this year until I spent an entire weekend retexturing the house...

I am officially not in the mood.

FREEDOM!!!

It's become a tradition for me to carve at least one melon-o-lantern on the fourth of July.  So, I hope you enjoy my celebration of my freedom to pay tribute to Halloween in July.

Fun With Foam!

Those of you who have read previous posts on this blog know that originally, all of the tombstones in my cemetery were made from cardboard.  My reasoning for this was that at work I had access to plentiful and free cardboard.  Last season, however was unusually wet. This made for some very squishy tombstones.  This year I have decided to make the switch to foam tombstones.  I purchased a couple of 2 inch thick, 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of pink foam at the Home Depot.  Shortly thereafter, I stumbled upon 26 sheets of 2 1/2 inch thick, 16 inch by 45 1/2 inch white beaded foam and half of a sheet of the 2 inch thick pink foam in a dumpster at a construction site between work and home.  The white beaded foam is kind of hard to work with and messy so I decided to use these sheets to make some filler stones with a very basic shape and only details that could be added with a soldering iron which is the least messy method of working with this foam.  If I follow the method that Terra uses, sandwiching two sheets of foam together for each tombstone this should give me 13 good filler tombstones for my cemetery. 

I will make some tombstones with a flat top, 

some with a rounded top,

 And some with a pointed top.

I am always trying to give my kids a reason to hang out with me in the garage.  We decided that there were too many pieces of scrap foam going to waste.  We remedied this problem by making some little foam mementos that I know my wife will absolutely hate and probably not allow in the house.  This was good practice for me using the soldering iron to apply lettering and detail to the foam.  The Batman insignia in the second picture is my favorite, followed by the Super Mario mushroom.  I will use the pink foam for more detailed tombstones.

Look Honey, it's a sign... literally and figuratively.

As a home haunter with little to no budget, I have to be as creative and cheap as possible when building props. I have developed the habit of looking at any scraps, junk, and cast-offs that I encounter with an eye to their potential for prop-making. If I think that something could be of use in the future, I hold onto it. This practice is much maligned by my wife. Whenever I come home from work with anything loaded in the back of my truck, she rolls her eyes at me and I can tell that she is silently counting to ten in an effort to keep from launching into another ten-minute tirade about how there can't possibly be enough room in the garage for anymore junk.  Thus far I have manged to retain control of the garage; so long as there is room to park our vehicles inside, the rest of the space is mine.  The block on which our house was built used to belong to the city.  They used the space to park municipal vehicles and equipment and to store a lot of junk.  The empty lot next to our house consistently yeilds up random objects that leave us scratching our heads.  We have spent the last two years tilling up a patch of this empty lot trying to get a garden to grow.  After pulling out about a million rocks, countless chunks of concrete and blacktop, and two manhole covers we have some pretty decent dirt to work with.  This spring I made my most satisfying random discovery yet.  A metal sign with a message that seemed to be meant just for me.

The universe is trying to tell me something.  I think I will hang it in the garage. 

Anti-Climactic Moment of the Week

I manage a warehouse for a fence-manufacturing company and that warehouse is located in an industrial park with other light-industrial businesses.  When I have a few moments to spare during the day, I like to stroll over to the other side of the industrial park to the soda machine.  Of course I peek in all of the dumpsters along the way.  One particular day during my stroll, I noticed someone placing an item into a dumpster.  Not really uncommon; except that he then proceeded to cover the item with trash already in the dumpster in an attempt to conceal it.  In the middle of an uneventful day, this bit of intrigue set my mind into overdrive.

On closer inspection, I saw that the item was an old trunk.  Oh boy!  There could have been anything in this trunk.  The fact that the guy who dumped it went to the trouble to try and conceal it made it even more interesting.  Drugs, incriminating photos, counterfit money, severed body parts; the possibilities were endless.  I uncovered the trunk and undid the latches; but found that the lock was engaged.  I walked back to the warehouse and retrieved some screwdrivers with which to pop the lock.  The anticipation was mounting.

I popped the lock and pushed back the lid to reveal...

A bunch of useless, boring junk.  What a letdown!  Instead of  severed body parts I get...

Precious Moments fugurines!

Blech!  I did, however take the trunk (after emptying out all of the offensive cutesy trinkets).  Maybe I will make a "monster in a box" out of it.

Uhh... I'll have a Mark Of The Beast Meal with a Coke please.

Every now and again I am prone to gluttony.  When I am in this state, I do what all real Americans do.  I head over to McDonalds.  Of course, there is one conveniently located for my lunch break.

Because gluttony is one of my favorite of the seven deadly sins, I have found the perfect combination of food items that will not only make me feel like a bloated pig; but also comes with a perverse little bonus.  If I order two cheeseburgers in a large-sized combo meal plus two cherry pies the total comes to...

That's right, $6.66.  Wash that down with a Coke and it makes for a devilishly good lunch.

Power Squid Redoux

 I saw this little guy at the university book store as I was buying some books this semester.  I am always in need of more outlets in the garage so I purchased him and brought him home.

 Just look at that cute face.  He definately needs a makeover.

 All I needed was a few minutes and my trusty Super Sharpie to transform something innocuous into a thing of beauty.

Here's a close-up of the finished skull.  Much more presentable if you ask me.

"Safety first little Ghost Rider" ..."Aww, Mom. I don't wanna wear a helmet"

Snapped a couple of pictures of my son, Noah (5 years old).  He made an interesting combo with a snowmobile helmet (found while dumpster diving) and an unfinished skull mask (Clearance from Michaels).  I am always fascinated and delighted with (and a little jealous of) the natural creativity of young children.