Little shop of Christmas Horror

Haven't gotten anything done on the house these last couple weeks. Putting up Halloween and then moving on to the Christmas decorations has kept things moving. Something I should have anticipated, but didn't was that it wouldn't matter if I have my workshop set up...I'd end up having some things to make as Christmas approaches.

First up: Elena is getting ready for her first Kindergarten play. I offered (or was it Ashley offered?) to help out with a set prop. It's the "street sign" for Candy Cane Lane. It's made from 3" pvc, a dowel rod...a couple wood balls and a plastic oversized christmas ornament...oh and then the carved sign of course. It stands about 6' tall. It's mounted in a Christmas tree stand and is relatively light. It shouldn't be too much trouble to move around. Which is in direct opposition to the machine that made it.

I like to think of each sign as preperation for trim work I'll have to duplicate next summer. I hope to have more updates on the house soon. Seriously. No really. I mean it.

Up and away

Our first Halloween in Big Red is over. Elena's first costume (a bat) didn't make it through our halloween party. In all the excitement, the ears got broken and the costume lost a few pieces. The excitement, of course, being a sugar fueled mob of children running about the yard and through the house like a band of Hell's Angels at a pig roast...not that we mind.

Her last minute choice for trick or treating was Supergirl. She tried very hard to get me to dress up as Superman, but I refused. I couldn't subject the world to seeing me in blue tights. I'm sure the neighbors already have concerns about the eccentric fellow who moved into that nice red house. Squeezing my body into spandex would just confirm their worst fears.

We knew we'd probably have a lot of trick-or-treaters, but WOW. Our house seemed to become a central location to park and a prime place to visit. Many neighbors we hadn't met came by to introduce themselves and to let us know they liked the decorations. More than one told us how nice it was to see the house so alive and lit up. Men, in particular, wanted to know how we did the "magic mirror" in the large window on the porch.

The most common comment was "So...what do you plan to do for Christmas?"
Now we have to figure that out.

I plan to get back to our regular programming next post with some updated pictures inside the house and a discussion about water leaks that occur before a party. Ugh.