Happy Halloween

We had a little Halloween party last night.... there were just under 50 people in our pirate backyard. I was surprised there was room for that many people seeing how there is sooooooooooooo much pirate stuff out
 there!

All of the newly added lighting really made the pirate atmosphere come alive.
The lights seem to make everything sparkle...
Treasure scattered everywhere...

 Odds and ends of ships pulleys and chains...

 Way off in the distance...

 The Boutiki...

 To the left of the Boutiki you can find the "Spin to find your Pirate name" board. Sometimes the hardest part of being a pirate is figuring out your pirate name...

Beware of Pirates...

  Entrance to the step down lagoon...

 One of an over flowing treasure chest in amongst the plants...

 A ships cabin set in the lagoon...

 Some treasure placed here and there for safe keeping...

Critters hiding in the bushes...

 Signs warning of impending doom...

 Be scared, very, very scared...

 This is by the entrance to the game area...

 A few games being set up next to the rubber band shooting gallery...

 A smaller treasure chest with skeleton hands reaching up out of the ground holding onto the dead pirates treasure....

 Small skeletons clinging to the ships cabin...

 New lights in the lagoon...
New lights in the game area... (games are not set up yet)

 Walking up the other steps from the lagoon area into the game area...

 Under some ships netting is the Pirate bar...

 To the left and right of the actual bar I had set up a comfy couch and two comfy chairs that seemed to be a popular sitting spot... (not pictured)

 Neptune standing guard next to the pirate bar...
More treasures...

 The roped off walkway leads to the hose spigot...

 Another chest filled with pirate treasure...

 A crow looking for a piratey morsel...

 Lots and lots of bones....

I did manage to find a small skeleton in my yard to sit in the small boat I had floating in our pool. I would like to get a larger one, but for now it worked out fine.

There was only one small child who was frightened to tears upon entering our pirate backyard. I guess if your little it would seem a little crazy to see all of this, and so of course, it MUST be real.

It was fun to have people over enjoying our yard for Halloween. I would love to host more Halloween parties in the future. Now that winter is fast approaching... the games, chair cushions, gazebo covers all need to be put away for the season. All of the containers left in the yard that could fill up with water will all need to be turned upside down for the next few months.
The next project for my backyard is going to be a wooden pergola of some kind over the lagoon area. Taking on that job will also consist of moving about 90% of the items in that area along with some of the plants to get it to look better.
I am still needing to work on creating better games. The most popular games were the Shooting gallery, a basketball game and the foseball table.
Fun times, fun times...
big hugs,

A New Sail Boat

I have been wanting a small boat for my swimming pool for the longest time... well, I finally found one! I spotted one in a photo on the Craigslist yard sale section. When we pulled up to the yard sale... the boat was no where to be seen. *bummer* I figured I would take a look around anyway--- when asked if I was looking for anything in particular... I replied "A small boat".... wouldn't you know it, she had forgotten to take it out of her backyard to place in her yard sale. The initial asking price was $50.... I got it for $20. *score* Double score.... it floats!

Of course, I couldn't leave it white and red... so I painted it to look like old wood. I drilled holes in one of the panels and attached a bamboo pole for the ships mast. I will put it in the pool when we have company come over... now all I'm needing is a life size skeleton to sit in the boat.

I am in the process of putting up lights in my backyard. I have had this brass chandelier for over a year and now it is finally hung and hard wired to a light switch in one of the pirate stores. The chandelier was only $40.... and came with the bulbs and the crystals. There are colored star fish and ivy in the ceilings netting...

 The box of crystals ended up being double what the chandelier needed. That was lucky! If you were to pan down from that photo you'd see the hot mess that is in there right now.... Normally I put all of this in the garage but I'm hosting a Halloween party so I figured I would just store it in there for now.

 I've also been making some more outdoor games. I had some glow in the dark hands that stuck in the ground, I simply screwed them onto a board then bent them to make them appear to be reaching out...

 I added a little bit of fabric and some moss...

 and... ta-daaaaaaaaaaa~ A necklace toss game.
Here are the "Put Polly on her Perch" and the "Put the frog in the Log" game that I had previously made... now with added greenery. Down at the bottom is a "Pitch a Penny in the Pot" game... I have a few rolls of pennies to be used with that.

 I also made a "Bucket of Bones" game where you toss bones into a bucket...

 This one is funny... Tossing toilet paper into the pirate poop bucket. I used real toilet paper to which I adhered white fabric to with spray adhesive so that it looks and feels like real toilet paper but will hopefully last a long time.

  I'm feeling a little nip in the air.... I must go sit and crochet something!
 big hugs,

Salt and Pepper Shaker Necklaces

I've always been drawn to the salt and pepper shaker necklaces that I've seen online... so much so that finding some old shakers to make into necklaces have long been on my to do list. I finally found three shakers for the measly sum of $1.00.... and so it began~ The three shakers were pretty rough, but polished up nicely just the same.

 I tweaked the shakers a little bit by cutting off the bottom footing of each shaker. It just looked a little wonky to me having a big flared stand on each one.

I think they turned out kinda cute.

Here you can see the little shaker holes in the tops of each necklace... The top of each shaker still comes off so you could fill it with GLITTER and sprinkle glitter happiness where ever you go. 

 I think I've just stumbled on a fabulous marketing idea *wink* Glitter Shakers... oh yeah baby~
big hugs,