Come along with us as we unbox our totally ghoul, spooky new haunted fishbowl from Target!
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I redid this pumpkin pot my sister gave me last year. The paint peeled off because apparently it wasn’t meant for outdoor use. Oops!
It developed this terrible texture and looked just plain awful. I finally got around to giving it a fresh new feel. Sanding those rough areas helped! I even added fake mum-looking plants and I think it looks adorable now!
This is our first year ever to put up a Halloween tree. What is a Halloween tree? A Christmas tree drowned in Halloween or spooky decor!
I love our Twinkly tree! It was our first family tree we bought together as a family a few years ago. We used hand-me-downs for the longest but we wanted something with amazing LED lighting that we could control. Now I just want to use it every chance I get.
I programmed candy-corn colored lights to start out with and although I hate candy corn, I love how these colors look together!
I added the strings to the ornaments and my Lil Ghoulster hung them up as high as he could reach. I had to snap a pic before I rearranged them!
I’ve started putting decor out in my yard. My favorite thing so far that I want to share are my windows. Classic and simple. I love my bright purple LEDs! More progress photos soon.
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I finally have my Halloween YouTube up and running! Here's our first vid!
Every year I feature clowns in my maze in some way, shape, or form. One year my entire theme was Carn-evil and everything was clown-themed but otherwise, even if I don't do a clown theme, I use the clown props in different ways each year to fit with whatever theme I choose.
Here are a few of my no-budget, low-budget clown props! To pull off a real clown feel, I add in actors wearing masks, clown outfits, bozo shoes, and holding honkers and/or spraying silly string. The clowns bring the scenes to life! I also add in balloons, lighting, and fog machines to really set the mood.
Ice-Skream Cone
Cost: hardly anything using materials on-hand
This prop is extremely simple and uses recycled material. Take a thin piece of cardboard painted with a cone-like texture and glue it into a cone. Add some fuzzy pillow stuffing to the top to resemble ice-cream and spray paint with a fluorescent color for a spooktacular effect under black light. I added in some eyeballs I altered with a little bit of latex and blood to resemble flesh for a special touch!
Popcorn!
Cost: $2 at most (bags and foam insulation spray)
Who doesn't love popcorn? These paper popcorn baggies were purchased at Dollar Tree and stuffed with plastic bags. I added some ruined spray foam insulation intestines I had and cut them up into pieces resembling popcorn and glued them to the top. Lastly, I added some fresh eyeballs to complete the snack.
Cotton Candy
Cost: Used materials on-hand!
I used scrap wood pieces and wrapped a material similar to pillow stuffing into a cotton candy like shape. I painted the wood piece with fluorescent acrylics and painted the cotton candy portion with fluorescent spray paint. Super simple and added a great pop of color to my maze under black light. The props pictured all on the same table in the photo are from the year we had actors grab whatever prop they wanted to wave around and taunt victims... ehhmm, visitors with!
Scrap wood signs
Cost: free!
I made a few signs to add to the maze. This is the only one I can find a pic of at the moment, but will add others when I find them! One tip I have is to use fluorescent colors and outline with puffy paint in some or all portions for texture.
Below you can see a few photos in the daylight on how we used the props. These props coupled with strategic lighting and our live actors decked out as clowns in a tent made for many memorable moments!
I hope these simple tips help you! I try to make our haunted house interactive so I'm always pondering inexpensive ways to make props that won't break the bank! More to come!
One of my newest and best source for ideas comes from our favorite place to visit during Fall with my family, which is Yesterland Farm in Canton, TX. I found out about this farm while looking up activities to do with my family when my son was still an infant. If you hear me mention this place a lot, it's because it's my favorite place on Earth. The cornfields, the maze, the spooky DIY's everywhere and the hayride... I just can't say enough good things about it!
Today's inspiration comes from the haunted hayride located within a wooded area. Among the many props along the path, my favorite are the prop ideas that utilize trees. Trees are often overlooked during Halloween but they can become a part of your display with a little help.
I'm sharing this idea because home haunting has changed for me now that I live away from the city and I'm always looking for ways to utilize my natural surroundings. This prop is situated on a tree stump with fluorescent colors and additional textures to give it an eerie and radioactive feel. What better way to utilize an old cut down tree than to spook it up?
Thanks to my Aunt checking in on me, I discovered At Home now offers Curbside pick-up. Previously when I checked it wasn't an option so I've added some things to my basket. One of them is this spooky living tree prop! I noticed its the same one from Yesterland Farm (the one pictured above) after putting it in my cart. I'm all about adding fluorescent tones to my props and adding a black light nearby for that pop of color. I can't wait to put my version together this year. I'll be sure to post the finished photos and update this post for future reference with a link. Stay tuned!
Sometimes I just like to look back on old photos and remember the good times my little family and I had together! These are photos on our first visit to the farm during Fall.
They're actually two different mazes and the haunted version opens up at night. On this particular day, I remember it being extremely hot. They wouldn't allow strollers in so we had to take turns carrying our son. It was exhausting but so worth it!
It's become our new family tradition to go to the farm during the fall festivities but it's highly unlikely we'll get to go this year. I'm so sad about that! It was finally going to be the year my son is actually old enough to enjoy the kiddie rides. I'm going to hang on to a little bit of hope, though.
My next wishlist from the store At Home! Unfortunately, you can't order online or do curbside even though their website technically says you can. It's probably only for certain items. None of the items I've listed below can be ordered online but are still worth sharing!
Light up deep sea fish
Perfect for any spooky under water deep sea scene!
Price: $16.99 - At Home
Light up eel
I can imagine a couple of these with some lit seaweed decor in an underwater cave scene.
Price: $16.99 - At Home
Stone-look Jack-O-Lantern
I wish I could buy a few of these for my garden! The moss gives it an eerie touch.
Price: $5.99 - At Home
Bronze Pumpkin Fence
I love this simple fence as a backdrop for any spooky scene.
Price: $19.99 - At Home
Hanging Pumpkin
I would hang this hanging above my pumpkin patch, for sure!
Price: $19.99 - At Home
Halloween Kitty
This would go perfect near a glowing pumpkin!
Price: $4.99 - At Home
I've been online Halloween browsing for awhile now. I recently stumbled upon Target's Halloween goods. You can actually preorder them! Some of the items are already sold out but the website says "check back on release date." I'm going to check back in on August 27th to see if I can score some of these items. I had NO EARTHLY IDEA you could pre-order Halloween items from Target. I've been checking many sites for months but failed to check Target for some reason. Arrg! Either way, here are my favorite spooky new items for Halloween 2020 all from Target! I've also linked directly to the item if you're interested!
LED Skull Pineapple!
This is probably the neatest new Halloween item I've seen for 2020! I can envision two of these near my front door or even sitting on my kitchen window sill. It's great for that spooky tropical feel!
Price: $15
Where to buy: Target
Halloween Ornaments 6-pack
These spooky ornaments are sold out on pre-order and it's no wonder why! They're simply spooktacular! I would personally add a string and colorful beads in Halloween colors and make necklaces using these!
Price: $5
Where to buy: Target
Halloween bowls
Cute and spooky bowls for eating your favorite ghoulish goodies.
Price: $6
Where to buy: Target
Customizable Halloween Frame
This frame is perfect for ghost writing! Price: $10
Where to buy: Target
Animated Halloween Fishbowl
This Halloween fishbowl is perfect for ghouls who want fish but don't have the time to maintain or care for them.
Price: $35
Where to buy: Target
Stackable pumpkins
Achieve that classic Halloween feel with these stackable pumpkins!
Price: $20
Where to buy: Target
Baby Dragon
I love dragons so I kinda need this cute baby skeleton dragon!
Price: $15
Where to buy: Target
That's it for now! I'll continue to be on the hunt for great new items for 2020 and share anything I found that is noteworthy!
~Yours ghouly~