Today I stray ever so slightly from the homebuilding topic, although it relates to a post in which I wrote about tree faces some time ago. That particular article has been a fairly popular post over a long period of time for a number of different reasons. Tree faces make great year-round landscape decorations and folks like to go crazy with them in some very creative ways around the Halloween season, too.

Am I out of my mind?! ....well, let's move on. I know it may seem a bit odd that I'm writing about tree faces and Halloween in late April but I happened to see something this past weekend that you don't see every day that made it relevant.

Have your kids been little stinkers lately? Ground 'em for Halloween!

That'll teach them a lesson!

Here's a unique Halloween yard decoration that I've kept (unintentional) tabs on for the past couple of years. It's displayed in a subdivision just down the street from ours and I have yet to have seen any other yard with anything quite like it.

I've found that decorating your home for Halloween is an ongoing process. Everywhere I look on the web, I see where people have their own Halloween yard and home decorations chronicled on a year-by-year basis and often cataloged by prop so that we can see the steady improvements and additions being made.

People are more than proud to show the world, as well. Who could blame them. It's a lot of hard work, in many cases, to come up with props that will scare the pants off of kids and adults alike. It takes time to see what works and what doesn't.

I've found an eerily grotesque amount of home-grown Halloween websites with some really cool ideas and a few corny ideas just for fun. All with the main focus of having a good..but scary time.

Would you like to put your home handyman skills to the test this coming Halloween by learning how to make your own Halloween props? If you're the DIY type and you enjoy scaring the kiddies at Halloween, I've 'dug up' some great links to all sorts of scare the pants off of 'em yard props and 'killer' decorations that you can build yourself.

I'm talking about skeletons (Bucky's), torsos, hands, flying crank ghosts, skulls, zombies, spooky audio effects, lighting and fog techniques (some very detailed), demons, gargoyles and all manner of creatures and devices.

Some of these Halloween props are simple enough for beginners and others are rather involved but well worth the fun of building them yourself for a fraction of the cost of store-bought.

Come along as you prepare to greet your guests properly for Fright Night!

Here's a Top 10 Halloween costume list for boys as chosen by a typical 11 year-old boy.

Are there any Halloween haunted houses in my area? A question that will be on the minds of many haunt-seekers preceding the Halloween season.

Are you thinking that you may want to make your own haunted house this year! (see below)

Here's a few great links to Halloween Haunted Houses, Real haunts and Virtual Haunted Houses:

A bounty of Halloween costume ideas can be found at Eddie's Trick Shop.

We occasionally visit the historic Marietta Square here in Georgia and a regular stop (especially for my 10 yr. old son) is Eddie's Trick Shop. You could literally spend an hour or so browsing all of the cool trick props, masks and incredible Halloween costumes. I know because we've done it on many occasions.

What is a Halloween costume post doing on The Fun Times Guide To Homebuilding: a homebuilding blog? Never you mind. The Halloween holiday is responsible for too many Fun Times to let it slip by without a Guide To a great source for Halloween costumes. Besides..Eddie's is on the historic Marietta Square where there are many Homebuilding sites nearby.

Here's why Eddie's is a great source for just about any Halloween costume idea...

Halloween yard decorations and tree faces would be a ghoulish addition to your Halloween plans this year. Tombstones, ghosts and grim reapers are the reason for the season and if you are one of those that plots and plans year-round to figure out the best way to scare the wits out of unsuspecting trick-or-treaters, then this post is for you.

Here are some links to Halloween yard / lawn decorations, tree face ideas, papier mache, vintage decorations and more...

Have you ever seen tree faces before? I'm sure most people have seen those humorous looking clay (or some other material) faces nailed to trees. They've caught on and you can find them in just about any gardening shop, as well as many other types of department stores and, of course, on-line.

Looking for a haunted inn to stay at? Have you seen your share of T.A.P.S. - Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi channel and want to get a taste of the real deal? The Buxton Inn, located in Granville, Ohio, is one of the most notorious in the great state of Ohio. Originally built in 1812 by Orin Granger, The Buxton Inn is the oldest continuously operated Inn in Ohio. The building itself originally served as a post office and stagecoach stop between Columbus and Newark.

The Inn's namesake, Major Horton Buxton, operated the Inn from 1865-1905 and his picture hangs in the lobby to this day. Major Buxton's image has been claimed to have been seen in various parts of the Inn. Then there's Ethel Bounell. She was the innkeeper from 1934-1960 and she died in room #9. Guess what?! Yes...she's been seen, too...ahem...after her demise. There are more ghosts in the basement where the help used to dine and sleep. I had a couple of beers in the basement tavern and didn't see a darn soul (Ha!) except the friendly barkeep. OK...I'm not a believer of ghosts and paranormal activity...normally. That's just me. Other folks would argue their case, until they turned blue in the face, claiming that this place is haunted.

It is said that you'll have a better chance of "seeing or hearing" something if you stay in room #7 and/or room #9. Go for it!