Well, COVID-19 has presented a lot of unique challenges this year. I personally love the opportunity to get creative and think outside the box about many rituals that we have taken for granted during the holidays. For trick or treating this year, it’s important for us all to continue to stay physically distanced to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
But, that doesn’t mean the Spaths are giving up on Halloween.
We decided to put up a contraption to hand out candy- a ghost on a zipline! It was inspired by this guy, who did something similar.
We plan to put candy in the bucket attached to the back of the ghost and zip it down to the kids 60 feet away, so they don’t have to come up to our door.
It was simple to put together and cost us a total of $16.17. Pretty frugal!
Halloween Ghost Zipline Materials
For the zipline, Josh got 100 feet of ⅜” Diamond Braid Polyester rope from the hardware store for $5.98. The pulley on top is a 4” Plastic Clothesline Pulley for $5.48. The retrieval rope is 500ft Mason Twine for $4.74. (Prices reflect a veteran discount).
To set up the zipline, we needed to establish the start and endpoints of the rope at a declining angle. We’re lucky to have a big hill down to the street. With this setup, we needed a downward grade to the rope to pull the ghost down. We put a few rocks in the bucket to add more momentum downwards.
Then, we tied the rope as tight as possible between the two points. Josh made an arbor knot at the top, then fed the rope through the looped end for the top anchor point. At the bottom, he used a tensionless hitch around one of the trees in our front yard. Then, all that was left to do was to attach the ghost to the pulley and put the pulley on the rope.
Simple.
For the retrieval system, we tied Mason twine to the back of the ghost. To make pulling the ghost in easier, we tied the other end to a paint roller stuffed with a scrap piece of wood so a drill could be attached. So, the ghost can be pulled up quickly and efficiently… like so.
To make the ghost, the boys and I found some mosquito netting we had lying around. A white sheet would also work. We put that over a white wire hanger. For the head, we found a foamy soccer ball and poked the top of the hanger through it. We put an extra piece of white cloth over the ball so the black on the ball didn’t show through. Then, we secured the mosquito netting with a zip tie. Finally, we drew eyes and a mouth on with a permanent marker, and voila… The ghostiest of ghosts. We attached a halloween bucket to the back with a zip tie, and we were in business!
Old School Frugality
I’m loving this setup. It’s so ghouly and in the spirit of halloween, while minimizing COVID exposures. We plan to attach our Ring doorbell to the tree at the street for the kids to let us know they’re here. I might also attach a walkie talkie to the ghost so we can scare and talk to the kids…muahahaha.
I especially love how creepy the ghost looks flying down to the street. We may have to set this up next year, as well… COVID or not!
Hope you guys have a great and safe Halloween!
Stay frugal, ya’ll!
Disha
How are you celebrating Halloween this year? Comment below!
Standard Disclaimer: Not meant as individualized medical or financial advice.