While we have always decorated the outside of our home for Christmas, we never decorated for Halloween, and this year we decided to change that. Since our front yard is landscaped with desert plants, we decided to go for a western, Boot Hill look, including making tombstones and a coffin to house a bandit who met an untimely end. For some of the tombstones we decided to give them humorous and Southern California related epitaphs.

Don’t understand the references? No worries! There aren’t two Ts in “pit” you say? Well, it is when you’re making a reference to Chris & Pitt’s BBQ, which started in nearby Lynnwood. There were and still are several locations, and you can read about our visit to the delightfully kitschy location in Bellflower. There was an Anaheim location, but it disappeared in 2010. The Glen one refers to Glen Bell, who founded Taco Bell. While a national chain, it started in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. Madam Modjeska refers to Helena Modjeska, a Polish actress (and said to be opera singer, but it’s debatable) who moved to Anaheim in 1876. Her home is still preserved as a historic site, and resides in a canyon named after her. Anaheim has many tributes to her, from a statue to a street, and she’s even immortalized in the mural of the Chase bank in downtown Anaheim. I opted for an opera based pun, but due to her Shakespearian credits, I’m thinking of next year changing it to “Who Exited Stage Left Pursed By a Bear.” And last, but certainly not least! Andy is the name of the Anaheim mascot. With his body made of the letter A, and two small antennae, Andy is often labeled as an ant.

I’m rather proud of this, as it’s mostly made up of old pallets we had lying around from when our landscaping rocks were delivered. The weathering from being pallets that have sat out for awhile made for some great aging and choices when constructing the tombstones, and the coffin was made with left over lumber we had from other projects. The only items purchased new were the skeletons (human and armadillo) and the staked skeleton parts. As for the bandit’s outfit, I pieced it together from thrift stores and my dad mailed me a pair of boots he hadn’t been able to sell at his antique mall due to their odd size. So we did this all for under $100!

Do you decorate the outside of your home for Halloween? If so, what do you decorate with? Pumpkins galore? Cobwebs? Skeletons? A giant inflatable dragon? Let me know in the comment section below!