Even though I've abandoned more my ambitious plans for my yard this Halloween. Even though I've resigned myself to simply putting together an amalgam of previous years' props. I've still felt the need to create something new. But with little more than a week until Halloween night, that "something new" was going to have to be something simple.
Then, to my rescue, came my old faithful tree stumps.
The tree stumps have had quite a long history with me. They came into being almost ten years ago. After a hurricane resulted in the downfall of a large pine tree in our backyard. My father-in-law's chainsaw carved that tree up into multiple pieces to allow for easier disposal. But I believed the larger stumps might have some practical use. So I kept them. And over the years, they've rarely let me down. They've served as side tables at outdoor barbecues. They've been the support for temporary benches. They've acted as the "bodies" of seated props in early Halloween displays. And they've provided support for lightweight props in later ones.
But lately, I've had to acknowledge that my faithful tree stumps had deteriorated. The wind and the rain, the snow and the ice, had not been kind to them. Many were literally falling apart under the strain. And it was that process of deterioration in one of the larger stumps that reminded me of an open, jagged mouth.
I wanted a "last-minute" prop. It doesn't get much more "last-minute" than this.
Then, to my rescue, came my old faithful tree stumps.
The tree stumps have had quite a long history with me. They came into being almost ten years ago. After a hurricane resulted in the downfall of a large pine tree in our backyard. My father-in-law's chainsaw carved that tree up into multiple pieces to allow for easier disposal. But I believed the larger stumps might have some practical use. So I kept them. And over the years, they've rarely let me down. They've served as side tables at outdoor barbecues. They've been the support for temporary benches. They've acted as the "bodies" of seated props in early Halloween displays. And they've provided support for lightweight props in later ones.
But lately, I've had to acknowledge that my faithful tree stumps had deteriorated. The wind and the rain, the snow and the ice, had not been kind to them. Many were literally falling apart under the strain. And it was that process of deterioration in one of the larger stumps that reminded me of an open, jagged mouth.
I wanted a "last-minute" prop. It doesn't get much more "last-minute" than this.