# Jack-o-Lantern arch!



## disney-fan-reborn

I'm in the process of buildig a 8'x9' archway of 60 Jack-o-Lanterns which will all lit up and synchronized to music. I have been detailing the progress of my project on another forum in their Halloween section. Just so I don't have to repost EVERYTHING here (I hope this is OK), I'm posting the link to that thread here. Thanks for looking!
http://forums.planetchristmas.com/showthread.php/42366-Pumpkin-arch!


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## morbidmike

that makes you sign up to see it good luck on your project


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## HalloweenZombie

That I really cool!


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## Hauntiholik

As Mike said, you have to create an account to see the pictures.

Here's the video:






Please re-post the pictures in this thread so people can see them.
Thanks


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## disney-fan-reborn

Hauntiholik said:


> As Mike said, you have to create an account to see the pictures.
> 
> Here's the video:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please re-post the pictures in this thread so people can see them.
> Thanks


Right! I forgot about that! Thanks for reposting the "preview" video.

I don't have the pictures on a photo sharing site right now, so I'll have to upload them and then I'll post them ASAP.


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## nixie

Very cool!! Can't wait to see more!


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## disney-fan-reborn

Alrighty! Here's some pictures of the progress of the Jack-o-Lantern arch I'm building. This first picture was taken at Universal Studios a couple of years ago during their Halloween Horror Nights. THIS is where I got my inspiration for my archway.










Here we have all the Funkins I have for the 8'x9' arch laid out in the configuration I WAS going to use. I've since changed it.










Next, the arch is built using 1" PVC and a number of "T" connectors and 45* connectors. It's all glued together with PVC glue. HOWEVER, I made it so I can disassemble it into three parts (the top w/side angles, and the two side support sections).










Here, it's been painted flat black and holes drilled (before painting) so I can have some places to anchor the Jack-o-Lanterns so they don't move around. You can also see the numbering where the pumpkins are supposed to go.










I temporarily attached a few of the Jack-o-Lanterns along with the embelishments so I could get an idea of how it is going to look, and how the spacing needed to be.










That's all I have for now. I'll post more once I have something to show.


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## disney-fan-reborn

I just carved the last of the 60 Jacks last night! WHEW! I forgot how many 60 really is! Now I just have to figure out where they are all going to be placed.


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## disney-fan-reborn

Ok, I just realized that I never posted any videos of my COMPLETED Jack-o-Lantern arch for you all! So, without further delay, here are the two songs I did for Halloween last year (2010)!










And if you want to read how I created it, you can read my thread in the Planet Christmas forum here: http://forums.planetchristmas.com/index.php?/topic/41621-pumpkin-arch/

Let me know what y'all think!


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## SuperCreep31

wow, that's amazing!


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## Dark Star

Really great I love the arch itself very creative!


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## Joiseygal

That is really cool! I love the idea it is very creative.


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## MorbidMariah

:biggrinkin:WOW-EEE! That's freakin great, D-F-R! :biggrinkin:


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## disney-fan-reborn

Thanks for the nice comments! 

FYI, there are a total of 62 artificial Jack-o-Lanterns on the arch (some are on the back side which you can see reflected in the porch windows). I carved each one, and 80% of the designs are original, with some being designed by my kids, nieces, and nephews, with even fewer being altered/copied designs from the internet or other sources. There are 15 channels controlling the arch (I use LOR). I finished off the arch by covering it with burlap and artificial ivy. Each Jack is lit with a single yellow C9 bulb. I had to make custom lengths of light strings to get each light in the right place.

I don't know if you did any contests on this forum for Halloween displays, but if I had entered, I'm sure you all would have got a run for your money! HAHA!


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## kprimm

Very nice work! The pumpkin arch looks awesome. That is a very cool and original idea and the amount of work there is very impressive. It is stuff like this that makes halloween and yard haunting so much fun. I enjoy all the stuff everyone else does as much as I enjoy my own stuff.


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## T-rex

The arch looks great, what a lot of work, sounds like you had some help by some little ones, makes it even more fun!! Love the music as well, nice choice.


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## pagan

Hmmmm.. I have about that many foam skulls I cast for an abandoned catacomb wall....


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## disney-fan-reborn

pagan said:


> Hmmmm.. I have about that many foam skulls I cast for an abandoned catacomb wall....


If they are hollow inside, that would be pretty cool!


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## scareme

This looks great! I hope you don't mind if I borrow your idea. I wouldn't be able to pull off the light show. But I have an arch that I could hang the little funkins off of. Did you do anything to them? They look more realistic than the ones I have. Did you just use wire to attach the stems to the arch?


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## debbie5

How did you attach them to the arch and to each other? And how do you store the arch without breaking or scuffing them?


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## Dead Things

Very cool, great idea, and what a deal on the Funkins!


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## disney-fan-reborn

scareme said:


> This looks great! I hope you don't mind if I borrow your idea. I wouldn't be able to pull off the light show. But I have an arch that I could hang the little funkins off of. Did you do anything to them? They look more realistic than the ones I have. Did you just use wire to attach the stems to the arch?


BORROW AWAY!!!!

I DID NOT do anything special to them other than carve them. Oh, yeah, and fill in the 3-4" hole at the bottom of each one. For that I used 1/2" pink insulation board and Great Stuff foam. I cut a disk out of the pink board and used toothpicks to hold them in place while I filled in the gaps with Great Stuff. I smoothed the Great Stuff out with my hands (gloved, of course) and waited for it to dry, then sanded it smooth. Once that was done, I painted the new bottoms with 2 coats of laytex paint tinted to match the Funkins. Once they were dry they were ready to go!

To attach them to the arch, I used galvanized steel wire (one coil of 100' goes a long way!). Depending on where they were to be placed on the arch, I either stuck the wire through the stem, or through the back of the Funkin and out again (vertically or horizontally, again, depending on where it would go on the arch). I had drilled holes in the pipe of the arch and, after feeding the wire through the Funkins, fed the wire through the holes so they would not slide around once attached.



debbie5 said:


> How did you attach them to the arch and to each other? And how do you store the arch without breaking or scuffing them?


The arch comes apart in 3 pieces (refer to the photos on page 1 of this thread for this). So, when looking at the photos of the arch before it was painted, the top horizontal and angled sides are one total piece, and the left and right vertical "legs" of the arch are the two other pieces. Currently, I have the entire top section covered and hanging from the ceiling in my garage on a couple of heavy duty hooks. The two "legs" are down in the basement storage. Everything is still attached to the arch, so all I have to do is put the legs in place and insert the top section, plug in the lights and away we go! The wiring for the lights was done so I could take it apart and assemble it with little effort. Sort of "plug and play".


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## Evil Queen

Your arch is really amazing!


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## disney-fan-reborn

Here's a couple of photos of the finished product! One shows the arch during the daytime without the lights on (you can see the details of the decor better), while the other shows what the Jacks look like all lit up! It's interesting how different the same Jack-o-Lantern looks lit vs. unlit. The night photo is my favorite photo of this past Halloween!


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## scareme

You know it looks great even in the daylight, when most of our flaws come to light. I hope the one I do turns out half as well as yours. How much did the pumpkins end up costing you, and where did you get them.


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## disney-fan-reborn

scareme said:


> You know it looks great even in the daylight, when most of our flaws come to light. I hope the one I do turns out half as well as yours. How much did the pumpkins end up costing you, and where did you get them.


What you see (and don't see, 'cause they are on the back) is aproximately $1,300 worth of Funkins. HOWEVER, I paid a fraction of that....$150. I simply went to JoAnn's after Halloween and talked to the store manager about purchasing their remaining Funkins (which were already in storage) for 75% off. I said, "if you can do 90% that would be even better". She told me she would check with her area manager and get back with me. Well, a couple of weeks later I called and she said she was about to call me to tell me I could have them for 90% off! CHA-CHING!!!

This year, I got 18 large Funkins (about 18" diameter) from Hobby Lobby for 90% off as well. This time I was lucky they weren't sold out of them all, because that was the ADVERTISED sale price! If you want to know the secret as to when to get lights and Funkins on sale for 90% off, send me a PM!!


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## pagan

Wow! Amazing effect, it truly looks wonderful. Strong work.


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## Spooky1

That came out great. Way to haggle for the Funkins too!


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## disney-fan-reborn

I'm glad you all like the Jack-o-Lantern arch! It was A LOT of fun to create!


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## lisa48317

That is the perfect prop for that entry-way to your house, which is really cool, btw! 

It looks awesome in both day & night! Love all the original JOL faces.


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## hpropman

Wow what a wonderful prop! A lot of work and love went into that prop! Love it.


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## Sunkenbier

Im inspired to make something like this for 2011. I have always had an alwful unwealdly arch used to carry the wiring from my garage to my front lawn to power props and such. 48 extension cords can be pretty heavy. Building a nice wiring structure and decorating it like this would be brilliant.


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## Marrow

AWESOME!!! This is gonna be great! Sure to look heart-stopping when it's all lit up on halloween!

But_ GOD! _How much does that many funkins COST?!!


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## disney-fan-reborn

Marrow said:


> AWESOME!!! This is gonna be great! Sure to look heart-stopping when it's all lit up on halloween!
> 
> But_ GOD! _How much does that many funkins COST?!!


It WAS awesome! It got rave reviews last Halloween!

The Funkins cost me $150! I got them on sale at 90% off! Otherwise, they would have cost me around $1,300!


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## disney-fan-reborn

I realized the other day that the pictures of the process of building my arch were deleted when the forum they were on changed formats. So, if you missed them, or want to see them again, here ya go! http://forums.planetchristmas.com/index.php?/topic/41621-pumpkin-arch/page__st__140


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## GhoulishCop

d-f-r,

Great job! Just one question: what's an LOR? Thanks!

Rich


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## DarkLore

LOR = Light-O-Rama....a light sequencer normally used to decorate Christmas lighting.


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## disney-fan-reborn

DarkLore said:


> LOR = Light-O-Rama....a light sequencer normally used to decorate Christmas lighting.


What he said! 

It's a GREAT product, and is DMX capable (you'll need an adapter for it though, and they sell it)! The possibilities are endless with Light-O-Rama! You don't even have to have a computer to run the show. They have a "Director" that you can load the sequences onto and it will run it, along with any music/sounds, on it's own!


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## disney-fan-reborn

I'm seriously considering changing the lights in each Jack over to RGB LEDs. This way I'll be able to have different colors instead of just one, and I can still fake yellow if I want!


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## Rahnefan

That is so cool!


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## Dark Angel 27

this is flipping amazing! you are a master at this!


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## disney-fan-reborn

Any suggestions on good RGB LED pixels and a DMX controller for them? I'm considering putting RGB LEDs in the Jack-o-Lantern arch this year!


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## Devil

WOW..! one more thing to add to the list LOL..!


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## jaege

I love this thing.


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## pensivepumpkin

wow. that will get the ideas churning. now i am looking at my entry in a whole new light.

that is extremely awesome. wow.


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## disney-fan-reborn

*UPDATE!!* I think I've decided to TOTALLY re-theme my Jack-o-Lantern arch. .....

9-11-11... I changed my mind about the steam punk idea. I'm no longer going that route.... The arch is TOO cool the way it is!


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## disney-fan-reborn

I'm building a projection screen this year that will drop down behind the arch so I can project some animations I've done that go with the songs I use in my display! It should look pretty cool! I'll post pictures of how I build it in another thread soon!


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