So, I made a quick & cheap Jack O’ Lantern Halloween decoration. OK, I made 8 of them. The pumpkins are $1.97 at Walmart, although the teal one was from CVS and $4.49 because not wanting to kill kids with peanuts or chocolate is definitely something that should be cost prohibitive.
I grabbed some acrylic makers from the craft section, but had to get the green one online. I got orange, black, white, & yellow in a few different tip sizes. I kept it simple, and sort of like those paper Halloween decorations that were shiny on one site and matte on the other that were everywhere from the 50s to the 90s.
I’m probably gonna hit them with a clearcoat spray so they can survive a bit outside.
You should try ’em out and make your own!
Which one’s your favorite? Hit me with some of your creations in the comments!
You may know I dig LEGO. I find it a relaxing hobby, & a carryover from my youth when it was definitely my favorite toy. These days, shelf real estate is low and big sets are expensive… but more & more competitors are popping up. They’re all over the place quality-wise.
Built some not-quite-LEGO bat sets. They are cheap as in affordable, but are they cheap as in quality?
Block Tech(fromFiveBelow) Shadow Bat 🦇 This set was pretty neat to build. The pieces don’t clasp & hold together as well as “leading brick brands,” but was fun for the money. The cage piece seemed out of place… but it works, and this used some pretty unconventional pieces in neat ways. I feel like the wings are repurposed sword blades or something? Not sure how they get away with outright cloning real LEGO pieces. This set retails for $6.00, which is decidedly off brand for Five Below. (Yes, I know.)
BrickcraftHanging Bat 72741 🦇 This set snapped together a little better, and had wildly fun building techniques, but you can see through the gaps in the bricks which usually does not happen with the “other name brands” mentioned on the box. The poseable wings are awesome and the printed pieces instead of stickers are a big win. This set is $9.99 online. If LEGO can learn anything here, it’s printed bricks over stickers all day every day.
All-in-all, they were both fun sets and neat builds. They didn’t take long, they didn’t break the bank, and they’ll look neat as part of Halloween decor. I’d suggest building both while rocking a Halloween playlist on random.
Do you stick to LEGO or do you think outside the blocks™?
I really like the little Zuru Max sets, and I am super curious about Lumibricks and some other brands like Pantasy or just the generic stuff from AliExpress or Temu that seems to be creeping into Amazon. I also have a few Snap & Switch sets form Five Below.
The wood came from a recently town-down old swing set. I didn’t like the two pallets I had on hand for this. I had an old rattle can of black paint that I used to just barely darken it up & kind of make it look more aged.
I got the one skull & forearms/hands from Giant Eagle. I got the other skull, hands, chains, lights, & netting for the back at Dollar Tree. All-in, I think I have around $20 to $25 in this? I swapped the hands for the skulls because the sizes made more sense to me.
After letting the pallet dry, I stapled the lights into the bottom, then I stapled a weird grey ratty cloth under that. Then, I just picked a spot, positioned the skulls, arms/hands, & chains, then plugged it in. OH yeah, I put a weird motion-sensor screamy thing in the one corner too, because it was super-annoying everywhere else.
Do you like to put a DIY spin on Halloween or other holiday decorations? Show me what ya got!
The sign outside of Sheffield Lanes/The Fallout Shelter in Aliquippa, PA this weekend.
I’ve noticeably slowed down with blogging. Perhaps I was blogging too much before. Real life has been happening lately. The band played twice this weekend, my real job has been taxing, etc. Perhaps I’ll find inspiration more often in the days to come.
I could rant about it, but do I really need to? There would a a Herbie/Love Bugjoke, pointing out that putting them on a BMW decreases the value/classiness of the car, maybe a joke about truck nuts & just maybe a reference to the movie Cars even though I’ve never seen it. Maybe even a joke about the dude I saw on My Strange Addiction who makes love to his car for the crowd who likes it blue. Maybe even an Optimus Prime humping your car joke. I have finally found something more annoying than flags on cars & more decorative than the mysterious stickermobile. If you’re going to glue stupid stuff to your car, go all the way.
If there are any people out there with money to waste on stupid things, I’m taking donations so I can buy a Flycaster.
