guesses anyone? :)Yeah, I know....tough one. :)
These are the red glowing eyes for the vinca on the slope at the front of the house. A few years ago I made crosses as sort of a Potter's Field for that area and last year we decided to put LED eyes in the bushes...to make it look like there were little scary things hiding in there.
That was the plan. And like so many good plans, that is not what happened. It started with the LED - brighter is better right?
Well, not in this case. We took two red LEDs and made these wooden frames for the LEDs to connect to look like eyes, and then attached them to stakes so that they could be put in the ground. A bit of black spray paint and they should be virtually invisible.
That part worked like a dream. But when we turned it on, in the dark, the bright LEDs looked like lasers pointing out of the bushes. We had to explain to people what it was, some even thought it was part of an elaborate security system :D Not what I was going for.
So after several experiments it was decided that hot glue would work best. My favorite minions Dan and Elyssa cut hot glue sticks into small sections, cut a small area out of one end for the LED to fit into and then heated the other end until they got soft and then pressed them on to some Teflon paper to give them a flat "eye" like surface.
Then they were hot glued on to the LEDs and and we staked them into a piece of scrap foam (pictured) put blue tape over the flattened "eye" area and spray painted the heck out of the sides of the glue stick.
Now they have a more soft and subdued look..oh, and husband adjusted the brightness on the program for the Prop-1 so that they also do not come up as bright.
Should look much better.
Next project, we are making the bushes the lights are in rattle every so often to look like there are, in fact, little creatures with red eyes in the bushes :D
Just another day at the Graveyard :)
I saw at Kmart big eyes for the bushes, but the part that may interest you was that they came with a vibrating mechanism to shake the bushes. I think they were like 4 or 5 bucks.
ReplyDeleteLOL - I almost bought those that the Captain mentions at Target. Funnily enough, thought about sending you some.
ReplyDeleteBut then husband would not be able to hook up a Prop controller to it. The only way I can get cool things like this is if I promise him more EFX TEK stuff - anyway, he and Jon get a kick out of figuring out how to make my crazy ideas work :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I bet those are battery operated....I used to have things like that....it took over an hour to shut the yard down, walking around and shutting things off one by one. Everything is connected now and can be shut off with just a few switches :)
That is very handy when it is pouring rain :D
Someday, a computer system that runs the whole yard......husband would love that! :D
gosh.. you both are so talented!
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you, I have a garden troll that seems to follow me from house to house.... many times my friends have run in from outside, saying something with spooky eyes was staring at them from the bush's. Hummmm could it be I used something like you? or maybe it was just a REAL troll, who enjoyed scaring my friends as much as you do... giggle
ReplyDeletePopping in to say hello & wish you a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteDon't work TOO hard on all those great Halloween haunted house props!
BTW: Loved the BIG spider a few posts back! '-)
Chris (-: