Tuesday, April 2, 2013

B is for Blow Molds

Welcome to Day 2 of the Blogging A-Z April Challenge!

 Each day in April (except Sundays) I will be posting here, and the posts will be in alphabetical order!  And because I have a wide variety of interests, this blog will live up to it's name.  Totally random and mostly unrelated topics. And lots of pics!

For some shameless self-promotion, I have 2 other blogs in the challenge, too.  Check them out!
Maple Grove Cemetery - Halloween related, but don't worry - no gore.
The Life of Lisa - weight loss / health related. 

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Blowmolds are a fun part of holiday decorating.  I personally like them because they look good both lit up at night and not-lit during the day.   Compared to some people on both the Halloween Forum and it's sister site, the Christmas Fan Club, I have an extremely small collection.  Vast majority of mine came from eBay and the rest are from stores in the area.  I don't know where those people find their huge collections, but they're not in SE Michigan!!

HERE is a very cool website with an extensive history of blowmolds, beginning with the humble yard flamingo.  And more info about them than you could ever absorb! 

The lonely bunnies - my only ones not Halloween or Christmas.

 I was pretty excited to find this on eBay, 
since my parents had one just like it when I was growing up.  
I don't now whatever became of that. 
(and a Crystal Skull Vodka bottle)

 My daughter calls this the "pumpkin-pooping ghost".  
I found it at Garden Ridge.

 These totem poles are among my favorites.
btw - the skeletons are Bobert (sitting) and Billiam.

 
 Skele-mingoes

This ghost was my first blowmold. 
He is now called "the Union Rep" because for some reason, 
my husband decided the blowmolds needed a spokesperson. 
The little skeletons are Terrance, Phillip & Ike. 

 2 large jack-o-lanterns and a row of ghostie light toppers.
All my headstones are handmade by me - made of plywood. 

 Getting ready to be put away.  
I received the gargoyle and the witch below after Halloween, 
which is why they are not in the yard display. 

I found Santa at an antique / craft mall.  I never see blowmolds in places like that, 
so I gasped & almost fell over my own feet to get to him. 
It was January when I found him, so he'll be out in the yard next winter!

 
I got these from a neighbor's trash.  They had been renting their house and left them behind when they moved out.  The owners apparently didn't want them and when I saw them out by the road....GRAB!

 Here are my Christmas ones at night.  
The LED tree above runs thru a series of patterns & is really cool. 

 I have several new additions for next year already.  2 large candy canes and another toy solider. 

What kind of decorations do you have?

13 comments:

  1. Oooh, I love those flamingos! My mom-in-law would go nuts for your Santas! I don't have a lot of decorations at the moment since we are in shared housing, but I usually make my own stuff like needle felted ornaments and ribbon garlands. I don't really do any other decorations other than Christmas because we just don't have the space yet, but when we do...hehehehe

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    1. We lived in this house for a good 5 years before the light bulb came on and I took advantage of the big yard. I don't know what too me so long!

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  2. I love the skele-mingos. Did you paint those or buy them that way? They're awesome.

    KC @ The Occasional Adventures of a Hermit & Oh Frog It

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    1. Thanks! I bought them this way. The bones on these are raised areas in the plastic, but I have seen some that are actual pink flamingos with a new paint job. I've also seen them made into vultures & they are adorable. I may have to try that.

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  3. I remember my folks having quite a few of these growing up. These days you are lucky to find them. Cool post!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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    1. We only had that jack-o-lantern on the cat when I was a kid and noone in our area had anything outside. I grew up in a boring place!

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  4. Man, you ARE a Halloween fan! Did you ever see Home Improvement? Their Halloween episodes were hilarious. Popping in from the a-z, and enjoyed reading your 123 things. We have much in common! :-)
    from The Dugout

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    1. I used to watch Home Improvement a lot - I'll have to look up the H'ween episodes online. They're bound to be hysterical!

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  6. I won't go into the list of decy's, don't have 'blowmolds' though I have seen some here. Oh and I thought I was the only one that named their decy's...I've a skelly named 'Dave'. Great post lovely pics.

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    1. Thanks!

      I have names for most of my bigger outdoor props and for some of the indoor ones. It just happens! I'm sure anyone who doesn't know me, would think I was insane for talking about Tom & Jane & Bobert & Billiam like they were real people.

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  7. I never knew those kinds of decorations had a name! Very cool. I really liked the Skele-mingoes! Would you believe: I own none? I think figuring out where to store them would overwhelm me! But I enjoy looking at other people's decorations, no matter what the holiday is.
    Happy A to Z-ing!
    Jess Topper/ Blogging on the Brink

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    1. They are a pain in the butt to store, since they don't exactly fold up neatly or lay flat. I'm fortunate that we have a 6 foot deep shed built on across the back of our 2-car garage. In the off season - one section of that shed looks like a blowmold nightclub!

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