Meet Gus, Gertie, and Georgie, my latest project. They are a happy garden ghost family….not scary at all!

Who knew when I bought a small ceiling fan with short blades at a yard sale several years ago, one of the blades would become Georgie. My original intent was to paint the blades for my grandson’s bedroom with a bunk bed, but never got around to doing that. So Georgie and his three friends have been patiently waiting for some action.

Then, along comes our neighbors doing some remodeling, and gifts us with a ceiling fan and a ceiling fan with lights. I’ve already started making lanterns with the light covers, and am now the proud owner of two different sizes of fan blades from this gift. 🤗

So what’s a crafter to do? And then it hit me….. make some spooky? families for the yard. I put them up against a door and Yes! I could see a dad, mom, and kid. Can’t you?

1. Prep – I cleaned them thoroughly with Windex, my go to cleaner.

2. I filled in the holes with KwikWood, my favorite wood repair putty, just so I’d have more of a finished look when finished. After all, who wants a ghost with holes in his head?

3. Once the filler was dry, I sanded it and scuffed up the blades front and back with 220 sandpaper.

4. Then I painted each side with our paint brand Missouri Limestone Paint Company in “January”, a pure white. I used two coats.

5. Next, I free hand drew their faces on a piece of card stock and cut them out to use as stencils. I traced the faces onto the blades with a pencil, then used a black oil-based Sharpie paint pen to color them in.

6. I didn’t want them falling over in the garden and getting hurt so Danny found 3 4×4” blocks about 4” tall and screwed them to the wood blocks. These happened to be left over pieces of treated lumber he had stored away in the shed. He left a bit of the treated lumber showing just so the fan blade would be resting on the ground.

7. My final step is spraying them with Varathane SPAR Urethane to protect them from the weather. Fan blades are a manufactured wood product (MDF). Even though they won’t be out in the weather for a long period, this will help keep them nice for many Halloweens to come.

And here they are again! They seem so happy to be in the garden. I’m a fan! How about you? 🥰

I’m now making two more families. These are for my kids. The first set is complete and has been delivered. We have Dad, Mom, sister, brother, and can’t forget the family dog.

Our granddaughter helped screw each one to a block of wood so they would stand up without falling over. A girl is never too young to learn to use a power tool.

We put mom and dad on a bit of a slant toward the kids. And here they are!