As my mother is often fond of saying, Life is plan B…

Well…I’ve been hit with a whole rash of ‘plan B’ all year long.

When the year began, I knew it would take me several years to switch over to my planned new theme involving Spider Woman. Heck, it took a good 3 years before I was happy with the whole Witch Doctor thing we had going.

I identified VERY early in the year that the plans for the front yard were a little too ambitious to be able to complete this year, and they were shuffled off to the back burner. Other plans were put in their stead that I was pleased with.

The Stele were started, but needing to finish up some improvements on the Laboratory, they were set aside till that was done…Then the Demons were created, and set aside as well in favor of the Laboratory work.

The last 2 weeks have seen fit to remove the Demons and Stele from the equation for the year in 2 storms. I was prepared for the rain in both instances. I was not prepared for the wind. The first, winds out of the north broke our gazebo and toppled the Demons into the rain. Worried most about the Gazebo, I secured it back upright with ropes, hoping to be able to repair the legs in time for Halloween. (the Gazebo is used as well) Storm 2 saw winds out of the south, collapsed the gazebo the OTHER direction. Securing that in the middle of the night, I failed to see that the Stele had been blown out from under it as well…They will be salvaged, but not this year.

So…here we are, the majority of the work to date ruined…

What does one do?

Well, we take stock of what’s available and move on. Plan B.

The Olde BYOB project is getting a makeover.

His legs amputated, as they really just got in the way for his purpose (but I needed to build them for the tutorial), and he’s been given the guts of one of those Christmas Reindeer to make him wave. He’ll get some fluorescent paint, and the wire to make the arm move painted black to hide it, then lit with a black light.

From 2010 Buildup

And, all is not bad. A very kind soul heard my plea for a knife, and sent some along…

From 2010 Buildup

The kids got one last chance to have a little fun before heading back to school…So, we hit Lagoon, and I got to play with the point and shoot camera…

From 2010 Buildup

From 2010 Buildup

From 2010 Buildup

From 2010 Buildup

From 2010 Buildup

As dusk set in, it reinforced my feelings that Lagoon REALLY only comes to it’s full potential for Frightmares.

These spokes are all supposed to have lights in them….

From 2010 Buildup

More missing lights….

From 2010 Buildup

From 2010 Buildup

Everywhere you looked lights were missing/out. This seems rather sad in summer, yet only adds to the creepy atmosphere in October.

Back to the homefront, it’s time to prepare for the Hungry Ghost festival.

While not traditional by any stretch, I put my own spin on the festivities…

From 2010 Buildup

I was at the Swap Meet on Sunday with my boy, and he wandered over to a little importer stand and picked up a package of “Laser Finger Beams”.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Now, maybe I’m wrong, but these looked an AWFUL LOT like the “super bright” ones I just bought and reviewed…

With Alec’s permission, we did a little side by side comparison. “Super Brights” on top, “Laser Fingers” on bottom.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

So, Laser fingers feature a somewhat cheaper construction:
They are one piece, no replacing batteries.
They use a smaller size button battery.
The switch and battery contacts are of cheaper design.
Catching a pack with $3 that has been burning a hole in his pocket, they clocked in at just a shade cheaper as well.

However, they also have straps instead of the clamps, which would allow them to be attached to a much larger range of items.

That’s all fine and dandy, but how do they stack up?

Once again, “Super Bright” on top, “Laser Finger” on bottom.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Red was noticeably dimmer than it’s “Super Bright” counterpart, but White was much brighter. All in all, I’ld say they stack up rather well…

Again throwing together our Lindberg Skull for a quick setup.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

One might be concerned with the smaller batteries equating to shorter life span…

However, if Talia’s kids meal variety is anything to judge by, that’s not a problem. (we still had a few of those in the drawer, and other than the character design, they are identical to the laser fingers)

And, a quick search on the internet reveals these things are REALLY, REALLY CHEAP. WITH shipping, clocking in at under $.50 ea. (or cheaper if you can manage the bulk)

That’s a heck of a deal. I’ve heard some reports of them being in various dollar stores as well. That would be approaching Treat prices…

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Another busy weekend wrapping up.

First up, just an example of my chalk. Unassuming by normal light.

From 2010 Buildup

It really comes to life in the black light.

From 2010 Buildup

Next, the Demons got a quick wash to prepare them for life under black light.

From 2010 Buildup

And I managed to discover a means to paint my skulls that is invisible in normal light. (ignore the blue and greenish tinged ones on the far right, done before I created the new paint)

From 2010 Buildup

And, what’s even better is it brings out a range of colors under black light. From white to gray to tans.

From 2010 Buildup

Finally, tired of black light work, I started work on the new scarecrows for the year.

From 2010 Buildup

More will follow if the technique proves sound.

Also working on Kyle’s mask…hoping he can blend in with said scarecrows this year…

From 2010 Buildup

Back in November I reviewed the Floralytes. I loved these for lighting my pumpkins last year, and it was time to buy some more so that I could bring more pumpkins into the yard for this year’s theme adjustment. (more on that later)

You can imagine my surprise to find the floralytes had doubled in price. That led to me searching for a new light. And I found these “clip on super bright LED lights” from Jack’s Toolshed.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Now, my order did not go off without a hitch. Ordered last Thursday, they shipped on Friday. However, the tracking number they gave me did not register with UPS, and said it had been cancelled. My email to customer service on Friday was answered on Teusday, they had placed a new label on my shipment but it did not populate in their system, so there was no tracking on my package…

They arrived safe and sound despite this setback, however.

Actually smaller than I expected, they come with a clip, but can be separated from that clip easily. Perhaps just a bit TOO easy. It’s possible they could FALL off if bumped while angled ‘up’.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

How do they perform, however?

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

For whatever reason the ‘white’ is not near as bright as the rest. It is also not as defined in a spotlight. Almost like it’s shining through a dirty or frosted bulb. I checked 5 different ones, and they all were the same.

Red, Blue, and Green, however are all nice and bright.

The clips are sturdy and attach to things quite strongly while the swivel mount is stiff enough to hold a position. Meanwhile the spotlight style of the lights do not detract from them serving as lighting for the interior of items. A quick 30 second setup here features a lindberg skull lit on the interior by a red light while a blue one shines from above.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Another concern with the lights would be in the switches. I’ve had some that are a bit loose, and you have to pull them back a hair from ‘all the way on’ to get them to light. And, the battery compartment can also pop open easily.

Neither of these are anything a piece of tape can’t fix, however, and for under a buck, what more can you really expect?