Sign – An Unorthodox Halloween

“Getting Huge-er”

As Talia says, Wiggles is “getting Huge-er”.

After molting to 2nd instar:

From Bugs 2013

almost ready to molt again.

From 2013 buildup

Wiggles now has a sibling as well. Originally we collected 3 additional eggs, but only one has survived.

A monarch egg closeup:

From Bugs 2013

Chompy, Wiggle’s sibling.

From Bugs 2013

Of course, all this fun with the macro setting on the new point and shoot has also brought a lot of frustration with it. There is no manual focus on this thing…and that means lots of suckage.

From Bugs 2013

Seems that what I want for Christmas now is a proper macro lens for Bertha (the nice camera).

With all the bug fun, I actually did manage to get around to something for Halloween. The near annual ‘new sign’.

Captain Alec’s Skull Shop.

Day 1 of the ‘mini society’ sells was this afternoon…

And, with that, Announcement sign V 2.0 made it’s debut.

From 2011 buildup

Since it’s creation last year, the announcement sign has found use after use, and the need for it to travel finally resulted in the new stand construction. Couple of quick A frames, and some keyhole brackets on the back of the board make it fully collapsible for transport. I want to get a couple of proper brackets ala ladders for the legs, but the rope served it’s purpose for now. The ultimate plan is to build 3 more sets of A frame legs, one shorter, and 2 of the same sizes for Sign 3.5…

As you may have noticed, we were not the only ones out being a little off-beat at the selling day either. Our neighbors were also thinking October, and together we made a little Halloween center!

From 2011 buildup

Of course, that was my cousin’s (and former neighbor) store. We hadn’t purposely planned it, and I found it most amusing, myself.

So, how did the Halloween alley do? Here they are with a line at both.

From 2011 buildup

One more sale day in 2 weeks…

From 2011 buildup

Alec sold out of the large skulls (10) and nearly sold out of the small (35/40)…and probably could have sold out if I hadn’t needed to get going right at shut-down, due to scheduling today… The Trick or Treat bags next door sold all but the display bags.

Bob goes to work.

Finished up the new “announcement sign” over the weekend. Adding Bob and getting the board all up and ready.

Then it was just time to put Bob to work.

From 2010 Buildup

Fluorescent white makes bob really pop at night, and his arm slowly waves back and forth once the lights come on.

From 2010 Buildup

As the sign says, the Laboratory is showing September 20th, so we’re under a crunch to get things done.

Also finished up the re-design on the tank assembly. Last year’s last minute addition.

New lights all round, paint, no more wood. Cannibalized a part of the generator last year to place at the base of the tank assembly.

Debating whether we need to put something to block the light there between the doors.

From 2010 Buildup

Wondering if I need to add some sound to the thing as well….

Sign 3.0

Goodbye to a tradition….

Sign 2.0 is being retired.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

It served us well for 3 years.

However, the need to touch it up every year. The problems that became apparent with flipping the wooden number boards around every day breaking/stripping the hooks on which they sat, the fact that storing it + numbers was always a pain, and the desire for something more suited to multipurpose use all played into the decision to retire it to be cannibalized for other projects.

Sign 3.0 emphasizes simplicity, multi-purpose usage, and light weight.

From 2010 Buildup

Still with a few surprises at night.

From 2010 Buildup

A new “announcement sign” is also underway.

Bob’s swiftly scrounged together board from last year will be updated with the same criteria in mind.

From bob

Let the countdown begin.

The countdown sign.

This has become a rather popular addition to the yard leading up to Halloween.

2 years ago, it began with a piece of plywood I found, a couple hooks, and some poster board.

Among the problems being the weather mutilating the numbers, and the fact you really couldn’t see it at night…

And…no one seemed to know WHAT it was counting down TO. Oh, sure, I could go put “days to halloween” or something on it, but I like folks to wonder sometimes. And, occasionally, one would ask what the numbers were for.

Last year, we decided to give the thing a good and proper upgrade. Sign V 2.0 got some heavy duty outdoor paint, a permanent housing for a blacklight fixture, some more scrap plywood to make the numbers out of, and some flourescent spraypaint ensured that the weathering and light problems were solved. (though we did lose the cool nighttime face)

The light fixture proved itself to be quite weather resistant through a rather turbulent October, that made me think of leaving it up through the winter after that first snowfall.

By this time, most folks knew what the numbers were for. Very few asked, but I still got a lot of comments. Often with someone hollering whatever the number was for the day. But, we had the problems of the numbers starting to fade in the sun. Well, except the few that I had mistakenly painted with non-flourescent spraypaint first before going back over it with the flourescent.

We joked about getting it out at several points during the year. Having a ‘285’ or a ‘139’ sign out for a day or two during the year. But, once it hit double digits, Jen’s been a bit more vocal about it. Several times mentioning ‘we should put up the sign’.

Well, it’s been burried, and I really only had enough numbers to start at 59. Then, this last week, Jen got asked if we were still doing Halloween, for a neighbor was wondering as they hadn’t seen anything yet, and the sign wasn’t even up.

Well. Who am I to argue with requests? I did have some scrap subflooring left from construction, so another number or two wasn’t so hard. So, Sign V 2.1 got a fresh coat of that outdoor paint for the sign and all the numbers last night. And the numbers all got a base coat of orange prior to the flourescent.

And, we moved it off the grass and onto the porch to prevent problems with the lawn for now.

I’m thinking of adding the blog address to it as well.