Sometimes you never know where a path will take you

About 12 years ago we went to our first HAuNTcon.  This was way before we were involved as much as we are now :)  

It was 2006 and we took lots of classes, learned so much and met so many people that are now our haunt family.  One of those people is Mike Krausert (Tattoo, then with Bad Boys Scenic Design).  We took their foam texturing class and ran with it.  That year we made two major (at least for us at the time) projects

The first was our new mausoleum.

Our first large foam facade was made possible by the skills we learned in that class.

This facade is long gone, we were sad to see it go.  But we went on to build the abbey.

Now this facade is sold and will be on its way to Oklahoma next week.


Stay with me, I have a point. :)  When we put it for sale I got a message from Mike asking why we did not contact him to buy it?  I was like, what?  You could so make something better than that.  He called the abbey a 'work of art'.

Our mentor just called one of our creations a work of art. I would not in my wildest dreams have thought that back in 2006 we would be in in a place where our mentor say that to us.  Just can't believe it.  What a long and very fun journey this has been.  This is why the DG Crew have been longtime supporters of HAuNTcon, who has been a long time supporter of Home Haunters learning and taking it to the next level.  See you all in January! 

It is all in the bones

Since I have not blogged in a bit (a long bit) I am going to try to catch you up on Davis Graveyard props. We built several new props last year and I did not take the time to share them with you so here we go.

The Davis Graveyard crew is a great group of talented people.  This was a prop from years ago, and probably one of our first solid foam props.

The eternal flame.

Here is how it was put together.  This prop now over 4 years old is still a favorite and always hides in the back of the yard.  Its location is not important because it is a perfect piece of the puzzle that works hard without being the centerpiece.

We have retired a lot of props, but this one is a classic.

Thanks to the DG crew for this awesome staple to the display.

There are five identical arch pieces - the are hand cut and router-ed down to make the shape

The perfect hair

for your child's costume, or in my case monster mud creations. Found this smoking closeout deal on wigs. 

We used these wigs for the monster mud bust class we did at WCHC this year. Perfect for a mudding project that needs hair. At $2.99 each, it is a great deal and they fit foam wig heads perfectly even though they are child sized.

This is the same type of wig we used for the hair on Kiss of Death.

It appears that the lifetime of a scarecrow

outdoors 24/7 in Portland Oregon is about 4-5 years and then they start to decompose. The first one is our first scarecrow for the garden.  He was a traditional scarecrow with a straw hat and overalls, the hat is completely decayed and gone the overalls are following at a rapid pace.

This second one was my pumpkin head scarecrow with tree branch arms covered in burlap, very Sleepy Hollow like.  I have not been able to find the head.  

The oak leak hydrangea has taken over the frame and just a bit of the burlap is left on the back of the frame.  Time and nature will claim everything.

I want to go out at dusk and take more pictures.  I am enjoying reclaiming my garden and it's Halloween flair.

Another reason to visit the UK

We are heading over in November of 2019 to Edinbugh, but we are going to need to stop in London and check out this

Hollow Hotel

After its unexpected closure, The Hollow Hotel invites you to its grand re-opening! But if you listen to the whispers in its winding corridors, you might lose yourself as each turn entices you to delve further in; until you can't turn back. Journey through a maze of hidden passageways that will either lay you to rest, or lead you further into the hotel's dark heart.

Uncover the hotel's intricate histories, dark secrets and hidden agendas. Whoever built The Hollow Hotel built a literal death trap; designed just for you...

The Hollow Hotel an immersive interactive psychological horror that draws inspiration from the historical events surrounding America's first and most terrifying serial killer - H.H.Holmes - the man whose preferred instrument of murder was a hotel.

It is an interactive haunt experience - this sounds like a lot of fun.

And now for something completely different

You know this guy.

He is our ruined abbey we made about 6 years ago.  We have been working on it each year to fine tune it.  And now, we are off to something new.

A replica of Ardgowan Chapel in Scotland.

This is our latest project.   We are building upon our newly developed technique of using solid foam instead of frames with 1-inch foam attached.  Although the storage need is considerably more, the set up will be easier and much faster.

We are using our latest toy - the Hot Wire Foam Factory Router.  If anyone remembers our NOLA project from January, this is the tool we got from them to make the scene that we built over that weekend.

Looking forward to this new project.  Will keep you posted with updates through the build season.