Costume Prep

So let’s see. What do we have here. Some cardboard…some strapping…some glue, some contact paper…oooh, even a schematic diagram. What can I possibly make out of this?



Well, the plan is to make an outhouse for my company Halloween party on Thursday. Let’s see how things go together. (I looked high and low and checked a ton of appliance stores and warehouses, but no one had a refrigerator box. One guy actually said “You wouldn’t believe how popular these things are”. Uh…yeah…yeah, I would. I’m the guy that can’t find one!!)

So anyways, I got some boxes from our shipping dept and figured I could construct a big box out of them.

Gotta glue the cardboard flaps together so that everything is nice and sturdy. Liquid Nails ought to do the trick.

Flip things over and hit the other side, then apply some weight while everything sets…

While I was waiting, I took the opportunity to rake my yard. No need for a pic of that. You know what a raked yard looks like. And you know what a raked yard looks like, 5 minutes after you're done raking. Stupid wind, blowing more leaves off the trees!

So, still wanting to give the glue more time to set, I worked on making a vent pipe for the roof. A couple of soup cans mashed together, with a cardboard cone on top. (Yep, it's crooked on purpose.)

Some black spray paint and voila! (I had to use the High Heat paint – you never know just how much stress the vent in an outhouse will have to endure.)

Ok, back to the cardboard. It seemed to have set well, but I added a bit more security by making some staples out of baling wire and driving them into the monstrosity…

Some structural integrity via a frame on the bottom and on the top…

Lastly, some drywall screws and polyurethane washers to tie everything together.

Things were coming along great...when who should show up?


And he brought BEER!! (And that’s when productivity ground to a halt.) We were starving, so we threw some turkey tips on the grille and chowed down. After we’d almost killed the 30-rack, we made our way over to Clyde’s for their annual Halloween party, where we rocked and rolled the night away. It was a great evening and lots of fun.

But I’ve still got an unfinished outhouse in my basement, and a costume party that’s only three days away. Brother Bill is going to lend a hand with applying the contact paper tonight. Then I’ll attach the roof and the vent. Once those are all set, I’ll cut the doors in (the front one, and a second one in the back that I’ll use to enter and exit the creation). Then I’ll have to rig up a pair of fake legs so that it looks like I’m actually using the outhouse.

Stay tuned, more pics to come…