A Pirate's Life for Me - 2022 - Halloween Decorations Made From Lots of Items That Returned From the Dead.

Halloween Decorations on a budget repurposing as many materials as possible sourced from my own stack of material or from thrift shops and the Re-Store.

This year was my daughters 2nd annual Halloween party and I let her pick the theme for this and all future parties after her 1st Halloween party last year. Last years decorations were almost entirely made from a fence that was victim to hurricane Ida's wrath and that set the bar for ideas and possibilities of future decorations.

While last years decorations were great, they were less complicated and I did all the work myself with help now and then from my wife and kids.

This year things really got out of hand to the credit of a good friend who encouraged and helped me a lot to make it happen.

This years theme was "Pirate's" according to my daughter, so with no solid plan and a handful of very ambitious ideas, we got to work.... probably a couple of weeks too late, but we reached our goal time and date with only some picking up tools and materials to do as guests arrived for the party.

The Ecto showed up again this year to make sure our ghost didn't leave the house and no new ones came around freeloading in our domain.

We also took the pirates on the road for Trunk or Treat with the haunted picture in the treasure chest, the Drinking Pirate Skeleton, and the Cannon with Fog. I didn't know ahead of time that a contests was going on with the trunks but we took 2nd place to a Haunted House trunk that was pretty cool and deserved the win.

Halloween night called for the portable Pirate Ship that patrolled the neighborhood looking for treasures with the kids. The kids certainly scored a few extra treasures because of their ship.

Before we begin I feel it is worth mentioning that I doubt any of these decorations and props originated in my shop. Many instructables and video tutorials were looked over during this process. The wheeled cannon was certainly inspired by a build found here and I give all due credit to all those who documented their work before me so that I could give my kids the best party decorations possible.

Items made with tools and supplies used to my best recollection. (We will document much better next year.)

Drinking Pirate Skeleton.

Supplies

1. 300GPH (1100L/H, 21W) Submersible Water Pump
2. J-B Weld - Plastic Bonder
3. UDP Clear Vinyl Tubing
4. Clear Packing Tape
5. Fishing Line
6. Zip Ties
7. 5 ft Posable Skeleton with LED Eyes
8. 10-ft x 100-ft Black 6-mil Construction Film
9. 50-ft 2-ft Gray Steel Chicken Wire Rolled Fencing with Mesh Size 2-in
10. Member's Mark 22" Wine Barrel Planter - Sam's Club Item 980357631
11. Food Coloring

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. Heat gun
4. metal sheers
5. hot glue gun

Treasure Chest #1

Supplies

1. Storage Footlocker
2. Plasma Ball
3. Mardi Gras Beads "Treasures"
4. Metal cups, bowls, and other thrift store treasures
5. 1x2 furring strips
6. 4x8 sheet of 1/8" hardboard

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

Treasure Chest #2

Supplies

1. Storage Footlocker
2. Mardi Gras Beads "Treasures"
3. Metal cups, bowls, and other thrift store treasures
4. 1x2 furring strips
5. 4x8 sheet of 1/8" hardboard
6. 1x3 furring strips
7. TV or monitor
8. speakers

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

Dynamite Chest

Supplies

1. Storage Footlocker
2. 1" PVC Pipe
3. Cotton Balls
4. Brown and red Spray Paint
5. 1x2 furring strips
6. 1x3 furring strips
7. Twine to bundle the sticks

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. brad nailer
3. miter saw
4. wood glue
5. 
   

Kraken W/Fog

Supplies

1. Pool Noodles
2. Romex - reclaimed from demo project
3. 2 4x8 sheets of plywood - Reclaimed from demo project
4. 2x4's for framing the plywood backdrop
5. Toothpicks
6. Cans of spray paint (Black, Grey, Pink, and blue) Whatever colors you want for your Kraken
7. 50-ft 2-ft Gray Steel Chicken Wire Rolled Fencing with Mesh Size 2-in
8. 10-ft x 100-ft Black 6-mil Construction Film and/or Dollar store plastic wrap.
9. Fog Machine - Cheap IR remote model picked up after season sale for under $15
10. 24 ft. Poly Universal Discharge Sump Pump Hose Kit

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue
7. Razor knife
8. heat gun
9. hot glue gun
10. impact driver
11. sheet metal sheer
12. duct tape

Jail

Supplies

1. 1x2 Furring Strips
2. 1x3 Furring Strips
3. 5 ft Posable Skeleton with LED Eyes
4. Thrift store pirate clothes
5. Hay Bales
6. BlackLight and fixture
7. Dollar store Rats, plastic chains, and plastic handcuff chains
8. Black and copper metallic spray paint
9. small pieces of PVC to make a jail door hinge.
10. Conduit hangers

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

Hanging Cage

Supplies

1. 5 ft Posable Skeleton with LED Eyes
2. 1x2 Furring Strips
3. 1x3 Furring Strips
4. Black spray paint
5. Thrift store pirate clothes

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

Haunted Pirate Ship Picture in Treasure Chest

Supplies

1. Old HP AIO PC - bad hard drive, speaker, usb ports, touchscreen, and could not recover Windows 10 so I successfully loaded Ubuntu and used it to loop a Pirate Ghost Ship video that I edited with shotcut to create a longer video that included additional ambient pirate ship sounds
2. Old thrift store computer speakers
3. 1x3 furring strips

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

Davey Jone's Locker

Supplies

1. Plastic heart from Walmart clearance package of gross stuff
2. Old 5v cell phone charger
3. ESP8266 loaded with WLED
4. WS2811 RGB LED lights
5. Black Paint
6. Cardboard
7. Cool box to hold the heart

Tools

1. razor knife
2. solder iron
3. heat gun

Rolling Cannon W/Fog

Inspired by

markeike and his Halloween Pirate Cannon (and Fog Machine Disguiser)

Supplies

1. 2x4's - reclaimed from demo project
2. scraps of 1x3, 1x2. anything you have
3. Black, Brown, Almond, metallic copper spray paint
4. 4" 90*, 4" Tee, 4" Cap, and 4" PVC pipe
5. 2" PVC Pipe
6. nail stop/nail plate/stud guard

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw with circle cutting jig
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue
7. pockethole tool
8. hole saws

Top Cannons W/Lights

Supplies

1. Kitchen cabinet drawers
2. Kitchen cabinet doors
3. 7 in. x 5 ft. Round Metal Duct Pipe
4. Black, Brown, Almond, spray paint
5. broken fluorescent light fixture diffuser
6. Old 5v cell phone charger
7. ESP8266 loaded with WLED
8. WS2811 RGB LED lights

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw with circle cutting jig
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. wood glue

Light Control Box

Supplies

1. Pelican style boxes from the Harbor store. 2 of the small ones.
2. Cheap outdoor extension cords from the Wall store. 100 foot Green ones
3. Zip Ties
4. ESP8266 x 5
5. 5 volt power supply

Tools

1. Drill with step drill bit
2. wire strippers
3. crimp connectors
4. Wire cutters
5. Screwdriver

Extras

1. A borrowed Pirate Ship (2019 Spirit Display)

Supplies

1. 300GPH (1100L/H, 21W) Submersible Water Pump
2. J-B Weld - Plastic Bonder
3. UDP Clear Vinyl Tubing
4. Clear Packing Tape
5. Fishing Line
6. Zip Ties
7. 5 ft Posable Skeleton with LED Eyes
8. 10-ft x 100-ft Black 6-mil Construction Film
9. 50-ft 2-ft Gray Steel Chicken Wire Rolled Fencing with Mesh Size 2-in
10. Member's Mark 22" Wine Barrel Planter - Sam's Club Item 980357631
11. Food Coloring

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. Heat gun
4. metal sheers
5. hot glue gun

The Build

1. the skeleton was disassembled to separate the spine from the hips giving us a little more flexibility in how it would ultimately be positioned in the barrel.
2. The neck was also removed and additional cuts were made to increase the flexibility so the head would tilt back more. After the cuts were made and the head is tilted back I recommend using a really good clear glue to cover the neck for strength. We didn't do this originally and the head filled with water and the neck broke and the head fell off.
3. Using JB Weld for plastic did well in solidifying the joints in the arm to position everything so the bottle would be aligned so the water would go into the mouth. It would also do well for the neck as we now know.
4. using a plastic planter flipped upside down in the barrel to create a seat by cutting holes as needed to hold the hips and spine. Additional holes were drilled to accommodate the pumps tubing and wires allowing us to hide the pump underneath the skeletons seat.
5. Fishing line was used to tie the tubing up the arm and into the hole drilled into the plastic bottle.
6. Everything was adjusted and laid out using additional fishing sting to pull things into place as needed.

What I would do differently and plan to fix.

1. I would either paint the hose black or find a way to run it through the inside of the arm. I feel if I can get it inside the arm and then set everything with the plastic JB Weld the tubing inside could provide additional support seeing that it is stronger than the skeleton even though it is more flexible.
2. I would find a way to reduce the splashing out of the barrel. I had to use chicken wire and black plastic to create a back support that doubled as a splash guard.
3. I would use a glass bottle that is decorated to fit the theme and reinforce the arm as needed to support it.
4. I would approach this from the start with the idea that I am positioning the skeleton permanently and this will be that skeletons only purpose forever. In the beginning I spent too much time thinking about how to do things so they could be undone but this decoration is one that you would use year after year if done properly.

Treasure Chest #1

Supplies

1. Storage Footlocker
2. Plasma Ball
3. Mardi Gras Beads "Treasures"
4. Metal cups, bowls, and other thrift store treasures
5. 1x2 furring strips
6. 4x8 sheet of 1/8" hardboard

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

The Build

1. These chests were probably the easiest and quickest props to build with only needing to build a false bottom out of scraps I had laying around. The most complicated part was cutting the hole for the plasma ball so that the box below the ball was hidden.
2. I did use a hole saw to cut a hole in the back of the trunk to run a power cord inside to a power strip that was used to power the plasma ball, Davey Jone's Locker, and the computer plus speakers in the other chest.

Treasure Chest #2

Supplies

1. Storage Footlocker
2. Mardi Gras Beads "Treasures"
3. Metal cups, bowls, and other thrift store treasures
4. 1x2 furring strips
5. 4x8 sheet of 1/8" hardboard
6. 1x3 furring strips
7. TV or monitor
8. speakers

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

The Build

1. Just like Treasure Chest #1 but even easier because no hole had to be cut. Using scraps I made a false bottom about 1" from the top so that it looks filled with treasures even though it is just 1 layer of beads, just enough to cover the false bottom.
2. I dropped the subwoofer for the old computer speakers I used under the false bottom to hide it and that worked out really well and caused no loss in the sound that made a difference in the overall effect.

What I would do different to the chests.

1. I would decorate the outside of the chests. Even though it was dark and hard to see, it just could have been better if those details had gotten the proper attention.
2. I would tilt the chests forward and make a support to keep the lids from falling closed because of the tilt.

Supplies

1. Storage Footlocker
2. 1" PVC Pipe
3. Cotton Balls
4. Brown and red Spray Paint
5. 1x2 furring strips
6. 1x3 furring strips
7. Twine to bundle the sticks

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. brad nailer
3. miter saw
4. wood glue

The Build

1. Unlike the other 2 chests, I only built a frame for a false bottom and that held the sticks that were tied into bundles in the front and back of the chest. No need to make an entire bottom to hold the sticks.
2. The PVC was cut using a miter saw to the length that was about 2 inches shorter than the depth of the chest.
3. The sticks were then painted with red spray paint and the cotton balls were sprayed with brown spray paint.
4. The cotton balls were then pushed into the end of the sticks that would face the front of the box.
5. The sticks were then tied in bundles and arraigned on the false bottom rack.

What would I do different?

1. The only thing I can think of doing differently would be to add fuses and decorate the outside of the trunk as I mentioned in the Treasure Chest #2 build.

Supplies

1. Pool Noodles
2. Romex - reclaimed from demo project
3. 2 4x8 sheets of plywood - Reclaimed from demo project
4. 2x4's for framing the plywood backdrop
5. Toothpicks
6. Cans of spray paint (Black, Grey, Pink, and blue) Whatever colors you want for your Kraken
7. 50-ft 2-ft Gray Steel Chicken Wire Rolled Fencing with Mesh Size 2-in
8. 10-ft x 100-ft Black 6-mil Construction Film and/or Dollar store plastic wrap.
9. Fog Machine - Cheap IR remote model picked up after season sale for under $15
10. 24 ft. Poly Universal Discharge Sump Pump Hose Kit

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue
7. Razor knife
8. heat gun
9. hot glue gun
10. impact driver
11. sheet metal sheer
12. duct tape

The Build

1. using 2x4's and plywood a wall was built to hold the Kraken and divide the space to encourage visitors to come in and walk the plank on the way out.
2. The wall was covered in black plastic.
3. Using chicken wire and pool noodles to form a circle for the head then mounting that to the wall.
4. Cutting additional pool noodles to create pointed pieces that looked like fangs and dipping them into some white latex house paint.
5. Cut more pool noodles to make the parts the eyeballs were connected to. The eyeballs came from a pack of body parts picked up from last years Halloween clearance real cheap.
6. Using pool noodles and romex inserted inside the noodles to make tentacles. The thicker part closer to the body was 3 noodles then down to one noodle.
7. The romex inside worked great for bending the tentacles into the desired position and holding them there.
8. Wrapping the tentacles with chicken wire gave additional support.
9. Finally wrapping the tentacles in plastic wrap then painting them with grey and black spray paint as a base color. Black on the top of the tentacles and grey on the bottom but I would say to go with what you like for colors.
10. Then pink and blue spray paint to "mist" the tentacles and give that shiny illusion, but again, use the colors you like.
11. Webbing made from chicken wire and black plastic then painted to blend everything in around the mouth and hide the "Connection" to the body.
12. Tooth picks were used to hold all of the fangs/teeth and the eyes in place.
13. The fog machine was behind the wall with a few feet of the sump pump discharge hose used to direct the fog through a hole in the bottom of the wall.
14. I did change out the light bulb the Kraken was wrapped around to one that had the short circuit type flashing effect and that looked nice even though it was probably a bit too bright.

What would I do different?

1. I would use the black plastic around the tentacles and no chicken wire. The black plastic can be shrunk and melted to fit the tentacles better using patience and a heat gun.
2. I would probably use a different grey that was darker and no need for the black paint if the plastic is black.
3. I would have had the fog coming out of its mouth. I think it would have been a little better like that but I could be wrong.
4. I would try using different lighting effects instead of what I used. Lightning would have been better suited for this slimy thing.
5. I would have made the mouth bigger, unrealistically intimidating with more fangs.

Jail

Supplies

1. 1x2 Furring Strips
2. 1x3 Furring Strips
3. 5 ft Posable Skeleton with LED Eyes
4. Thrift store pirate clothes
5. Hay Bales
6. BlackLight and fixture
7. Dollar store Rats, plastic chains, and plastic handcuff chains
8. Black and copper metallic spray paint
9. small pieces of PVC to make a jail door hinge.
10. Conduit hangers

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

The Build

1. Using a miter saw I cut the 1x2 furring strips to size then laid the parts out on the ground and using wood glue and finishing brads I connected everything.
2. Using 1x3 furring strips I made frames that wrapped around the brick then screwed the bars to them and that secured everything in place.
3. I removed everything and painted it all black.
4. I mounted PVC that had been painted Copper to the jail door with conduit hangers bent around the pipe to be able to secure from both sides. Inside of that pipe is a smaller PVC pipe that creates the hinge.

What I would do different?

1. I would make this something that could be disassembled all the way so that it could be stored in a tube of PVC or similarly.
2. I really wanted to give it a more metal look so I would try to get some rusty look going with different color paints.

Hanging Cage

Supplies

1. 5 ft Posable Skeleton with LED Eyes
2. 1x2 Furring Strips
3. 1x3 Furring Strips
4. Black spray paint
5. Thrift store pirate clothes

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

The Build

1. This was a very simple build with 1x3 frames on the top and bottom with 1x3 vertical pieces to connect the top and bottom for the base structure.
2. 1x2 frames were then added in between and underneath for the prisoner to sit on and up top to hang the cage from
3. Everything was painted black with black spray paint and then hung up by a short chain I had hanging around in my assortment of junk for many many years and never could part with it even though I can't even remember where it came from :)
4. After it was all built and hanging up I found some pirate clothes to put on him which wasn't easy with him already locked up but I got it done.

What would I do different?

1. I would dress him before locking him in. ;)

Haunted Pirate Ship Picture in Treasure Chest

Supplies

1. Old HP AIO PC - bad hard drive, speaker, usb ports, touchscreen, and could not recover Windows 10 so I successfully loaded Ubuntu and used it to loop a Pirate Ghost Ship video that I edited with shotcut to create a longer video that included additional ambient pirate ship sounds
2. Old thrift store computer speakers
3. 1x3 furring strips

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw
3. brad nail gun
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue

The Build

1. First I took this old busted up PC (Free to me) and had to load Ubuntu on it because I couldn't get it to load Windows again even using the HP Recovery tools.
2. Then I used Shotcut (Free software) to edit the video file and add a thank you message every 20 minutes to all the guests plus lay down a second soundtrack of ambient pirate ship sounds so that the animation track and the ambient track could all play at one time using one player.
3. Using a miter saw I cut some 45* angles from 1x3's to make a frame with another 1x3 cut and attached to the back top piece so that I could just set the from on top and it just hangs over the front of the monitor up against the screen to make it look like a picture.
4. I painted the frame black and then sprayed a mist of a variety of metallic and brown paints over it to attempt to make it look like an old frame. The frame from start to finish took about 10 minutes of hands on time so I am fortunate that it looked ok'ish.
5. Last was to connect the speakers and crank it up. But not too loud, we have nice neighbors with sleeping babies.

What would I do differently?

1. I would loved to have not been rushed to build the frame so that I could have made it more decorative and it could have been checked before it was assembled so that the bottom middle of the picture didn't have "HP" on it.
2. I wish I could have gotten the touch screen working for convenience purposes.

Davey Jone's Locker

Supplies

1. Plastic heart from Walmart clearance package of gross stuff
2. Old 5v cell phone charger
3. ESP8266 loaded with WLED
4. WS2811 RGB LED lights or something similar that is 5V
5. Black Paint
6. Cardboard
7. Cool box to hold the heart

Tools

1. razor knife
2. solder iron
3. heat gun

The Build

1. Load WLED onto an cheap ESP8266 or ESP32 is even better. For smaller size boards you can get the ESP8266 D1 or ESP32 Mini and if you want wired instead of wireless, check out WT32-ETH01.
2. I cut the USB plug off the wire and soldered my own plug in place to power the ESP8266 and the LEDS
3. I cut a piece of cardboard to use as a false bottom for the chest, then I cut a hole smaller than the heart, painted the cardboard black
4. I then placed the LED's and the ESP8266 inside the box under the hole and ran the wire out the back corner to try to keep it out of view
5. Plugged it in and connected to it from my phone and set to the preset mode "Heartbeat"

What would I do different?

1. I would love switch all my ESP8266's to boards with ethernet. (Something I found out after buying several of the WiFi ones)
2. I would get that false bottom down as low as possible. It looks fine like it is but it would be better lower down in the box. The heart seems to just be in the wrong place as it sits high up in the box now.

Rolling Cannon W/Fog

Supplies

1. 2x4's - reclaimed from demo project
2. scraps of 1x3, 1x2. anything you have
3. Black, Brown, Almond, metallic copper spray paint
4. 4" 90*, 4" Tee, 4" Cap, and 4" PVC pipe
5. 2" PVC Pipe
6. nail stop/nail plate/stud guard

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw with circle cutting jig
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. miter saw
6. wood glue
7. pockethole tool
8. hole saws

The Build

1. By far my favorite build for this year. I started off with some old 2x4's I had sitting in the back yard for the last year by cutting them with the miter saw to the length and width I eyeballed to be enough to get around the fog machine I have. That would be the bottom base frame that the rest would be built on.
2. Then I cut the side pieces 6 inches shorter and then the top side pieces another 6 inches shorter to give each level up a step up.
3. I cut the middle front pieces and then drilled pocketholes to screw them all together from the inside. I then added glue and screwed everything together tight.
4. I originally planned to use 2x4's to make the bottom too but it was pretty heavy already so I decided to use scrap 1x2 and 1x3's and leave gaps between to reduce weight and keep lots of breathing room for the fog machine as well as an easy way to drop the wires below and keep them hidden and out of the way.
5. Then I cut a bunch of 2x4's to 9 inches in length and using pocketholes and glue I made 4 sets of 9x9 inch squares. Then I cut circles out of those to make wheels.
6. I drilled a hole in the center of each wheel and used a dowel rod for the front and back axel and a round piece of wood drilled out using the hole saw as a hub for each wheel.
7. I also used a bigger hole saw to make a wooden washer painted black to go between the wheel and the body to keep the wheel from rubbing on the side of the cart.
8. I used a scroll saw to cut out and paint with metallic copper paint the mounts that would hold the cross piece that the cannon's barrel would pivot on.
9. I painted everything with an Almond colored spray paint then used a dark brown to paint all the random streaks on everything which started as a slip up but ended looking good to me so I kept going.
10. In the back on top of the side rails some of my brads popped out the top and messed everything up. So I grabbed some nail guards and painted them the same copper color and nailed them down to cover the mistake and I really liked how it tuned out better than before so the mistake ended well this time.
11. I assembled the pipe and fittings for the barrel and drilled hole in the side to insert the smaller pipe that would mount the cannon to the cart. I did not glue the barrel together except for the part where the smaller pipe went through the bigger pipe so that fog would not escape there and to keep it from moving side to side.
12. I painted all the pipe black with spray paint then misted over it with the almond and brown paints giving a real nice and subtle look that was more like metal.
13. Using a piece of the sump pump drain hose to go from the fog machine to the tip of the barrel after trying it out with just the PVC pipe I found that the fog just worked a little better with the hose than without it but it did work either way.
14. I put the fog machine in the cart and positioned everything so the fog would go through the hose.
15. I positioned a IR Blaster that was programmed to the IR Remote from my fog machines so that it would trigger the cannon and the Kraken fog machines at the same time.
16. The IR Blaster was about $13 online and I used a PIR Sensor to set up a scene using the SmartLife app that both worked with the sensor and the blaster and made the fog motion activated which was awesome and really simple.
17. Using a Cricut I cut out a stencil and using black spray paint I added East India logo to the front and sides.

Top Cannons W/Lights

Supplies

1. Kitchen cabinet drawers
2. Kitchen cabinet doors
3. 7 in. x 5 ft. Round Metal Duct Pipe
4. Black, Brown, Almond, spray paint
5. broken fluorescent light fixture diffuser
6. Old 5v cell phone charger
7. ESP8266 loaded with WLED
8. WS2811 RGB LED lights

Tools

1. Drill and drill bits
2. jigsaw with circle cutting jig
3. brad nailer
4. impact driver
5. wood glue

The Build

1. This was my wife's idea. I used the drawers and doors from a remodel to make the cannon hatch decorations. The drawers were faced bottom side out and cut 7 inch holes right in the middle.
2. Then I cut some support wedges from 1x2 furring strips at around 25* I think it was. Then glued and nailed the wedges to the drawer and then the doors to the wedges to make it look like the doors were resting on the cannon barrels.
3. The cannon barrels were 20 inches long to cover the 18 inch beams that they slide over that stick out from the house which gave me 3 barrels per 5 foot vent pipe.
4. I spray painted the barrels black
5. Used duct tape to secure the pipe from moving around in the hole in the drawer.
6. I cut out some 7 inch circles from a broken fluorescent light fixture diffuser given to me when I was picking up things to use for making decorations from Habitat ReStore. Lots of cheap decoration making supplies there so check them out if you have one nearby.
7. Using some CAT6 wire I made a wire harness that went from cannon to cannon from one end to the other to control the 4 LED's mounted inside each tube behind the diffuser
8. Once again I used a ESP8266 with WLED to control the constant red light with random white light flashes to simulate random cannon fire.
9. Last year for Christmas I built a controller box for lights but I guess I will explain that here since I used it in the display

Light Control Box

Supplies

1. Pelican style boxes from the Harbor store. 2 of the small ones.
2. Cheap outdoor extension cords from the Wall store. 100 foot Green ones
3. Zip Ties
4. ESP8266 x 5
5. 5 volt power supply

Tools

1. Drill with step drill bit
2. wire strippers
3. crimp connectors
4. Wire cutters
5. Screwdriver

The Build

1. Cut the ends from the extension cord to usable lengths. The male end was cut with about 10 foot of cord attached and the female end with about 1 foot.
2. Cut another 10 foot of cord to go from one box to the other
3. Cut the remaining cord into 5 equal pieces
4. drill a hole as close to the size of the cord as you can and insert the male cord through the hole and crimp connectors to the wires and screw them down to the correlating terminals of the 5 volt power supply. If you don't know what you are doing here, find someone that does know what to do and let them do it so you don't hurt yourself, someone else, or burn up your power supply or worse.
5. drill another hole to insert the cord that will go from this box to the next one and insert the cord in the hole and crimp connectors to the wires and connect these wires to the 5 volt side.
6. If you want to be able to plug something else in that is 110V then drill another hole and insert the cord with the female plug attached and crimp connectors on the wires and attach to the correlating 110V screw terminals of the power supply. You are just connecting wire for wire to the incoming 110 Voltage to have the additional plug. Seriously, pay someone to do this, don't mess with this it will bite you and these instructions are just so you can tell the electrician what you want done.
7. Now drill a hole in the other box to run the cord through that comes from the power supply and carries 5 VOLTS ONLY!!! For my build I used a terminal strip to split the + and the - wires 5 ways to power the 5 ESP8266 and their lights.
8. Drill 5 cord holes and insert the 5 cords
9. From the terminal strip I ran a + and a - wire to each ESP8266 and split those to a 3 pin plug that held the + & - wires and the control wire for the LED's (One of the 5 cords)
10. Repeat 4 more times until you are out of ESP8266's and light controller wires
11. At the end of each of the light control wires I soldered a plug so I can plug and unplug strings of lights easily. At this time I do not have weatherproof plugs but I highly recommend them and eventually I will change mine out to them.
12. If you have already flashed WLED in all the ESP8266's then plug the box in and if you did it yourself against my advice then keep your fingers crossed that you don't let that very important smoke out of anything.
13. Connect to your WLED devices and program everything to your preferences and enjoy the show.

This thing was a beast and it was missing lots of parts so I had to do my best in assembling enough of it to make something that looked like a pirates ship. It worked, people loved it, if you ever buy one, make sure you check to see that you are getting all the parts.

I put the sections together one day and two days later I put the sections together in front of the house. Two days after that the party was over and I loaded up the sections on the trailer and brought everything back to its owner.

They finally got to see their ship, or what they had of it, and I was able to make sure my Daughter had another epic Halloween party and Trick or Treat display like no other in the neighborhood.

Last year at five years old and this year at six she runs around as fast as she can to get some candy and return home so she can proudly give out candy in front of her Halloween house.

She already has themes picked out for years to come with Night of the Living Dead next year and Harry Potter the year after. She picked these themes last year along with this years Pirates and has stuck with them to my surprise.

Seeing and knowing how proud she is of it all makes the 2 months of hard work worth it. Oh yeah, this took 2 months and I could have used 2 more even with a good friend helping me nearly the entire time.