Castle Moola

The Castle is a huge deal to Jon. He spends half the year planning for The Castle, new tweaks, new additions, new tricks, etc. Then he spends all of October working to make it happen.

He saves up a week of vacation and takes the first week of October off to get The Castle up. Then he spends the rest of the month fine tuning and making new things.

Last year, he made a Skull Chair and added a tunnel to The Castle.

This year, not too much has been added. That is how it works out sometimes. The weather hasn't been playing nice. The work schedule hasn't made Jon available when the weather was cooperating. Things just haven't jived to allow Jon to make or add anything new.

Jon also, has been restricted by my budget. Which is something people always comment on. We get the "Oh, if I had thousands, I'd decorate like you guys..." or "If I was as creative...".

Here's the thing, Jon and I know we've been blessed in the creative, handy department. We have NOT been blessed with unlimited moola. We both work. We have bills. We don't spend thousands on The Castle.

The average outlay of money each year for The Castle is about $200-300, including candy. We buy 5 gallons of smoke fog solution at $10/quart. Candy to hand out to the hundreds of kids that come by. Blue bulbs, candle lights, stake lights, and strobe lights to replace any that have broken during their year of storage. A few sheets of plywood and paint. If there is a good deal, Jon may buy more skeletons, but only if the deal is really good.

Since 2007, when The Castle first made its appearance with the painted plywood, we've spent less than $3,000. The plywood alone was $1,000, which we've bought over the course of 5 years. Some years were better than others, and we would spend a little more. We certainly don't spend thousands every year. We don't have thousands.

The Castle is a labor of love for Jon. It is a hobby he enjoys. He is able to invest little and create much. To me The Castle is a celebration of creativity.

Creativity...I'm all for it.