Halloween 2017 Progress

So, does anyone know what the theme is yet this year? Leave your guess in the comments!

We’re all done building with wood, or at least for the main structure. Now we need a spire!

 

I asked my neighbors Johnny and Elva (who run the bike business, “The Bike Lady”) for some old bent up rims from their junk pile. These four matched diameter, so I took them and snipped out the spokes. Ready to go!

 

I counted the holes around the rims, and went for every fourth hole to attach the wood slats.

 

Every spire needs a pointy tip, so I added this vinyl downspout I snagged out of a junk pile and propped it in the center.

 

Tossed some spray paint at it, and…

 

…BLAM! I took an old Simply Orange Juice jug and stripped off the labels, then I put a solar light string from the dollar store (that blinks!) and stuffed it in the jug with the solar block taped on top.  This thing can now properly warn aircraft where it is in the sky!

 

Getting this spire up on the pergola was super easy; getting it up on top of the building was super difficult and took two of us! Thanks to bro-in-law Jason for showing up right in time for me to ask him for help!

 

Starting to cover the building now, and with styrofoam sheets.  You might be thinking, “damn, that must have been expensive,” but you would be wrong! Our friends at Utah Awnings receive shipments with these sheets sandwiched between their vinyl materials, so we got an entire truckload for free!

 

Done with level 1 and 2. For the 3rd level, I am going to need to borrow a bigger ladder. This building is now about 40 feet high!

 

Here’s the inside. I think I will plop a lawn chair in there with my laptop and a beer and listen to the comments of everyone stopping by to see it (when we’re all done).  It’s always fun for us to listen to folks that come to see our displays, especially when they don’t know we’re listening!

 

 

So I still need to fill some gaps, and finish the top level after working on it today, but I am really sick, so I’m pleased with the progress so far.

 

We’re just messing with some lighting to see what we want to do when it’s all finished up…

 

Any guesses? Leave them in the comments!

 

Now it has its first phase of painting, which is just a base grey rolled on with a roller.

 

If you have any guesses, please let us know! We have really enjoyed getting some of the feedback from everyone, and really thought that it was funny that someone thought it was a Mormon temple (which it is not, we never aim to offend on Halloween)!

Keep up with us for more progress reports on Halloween 2017!