A Whitehaven family are putting the ‘extra’ in extraterrestrial with their out of this world UFO-themed Halloween decorations.
Stacey Sharkey, 35, of Fleswick Avenue, Woodhouse, Whitehaven, has created the otherworldly display with the help of her three boys Mason, 20, Logan, 17 and Ollie, 13.
All of the decorations, lights and props are either handmade or thrifted – and the family have done it all to help raise money for local charity Bee Unique – which offers support to special education needs families.
Stacey said: “We always decorate the house and go quite big for Halloween and the local kids called us the Halloween house last year. So this year we thought we’d go a bit bigger and do a completely different theme which is why we went for aliens.
“So because we’re doing it we thought we’d put a bucket out and help raise some money for Bee Unique.
“I’ve got an autistic adult son and two autistic boys, and Bee Unique do quite a lot for the kids in the summer holidays but loads cheaper, so we just thought Bee Unique would be good to raise money for.”
Overall the family have spent under £100 doing up their garden – with most of their budget going on 200 sweet cones for local trick or treaters.
Despite their small budget, they’ve created everything from a light up UFO abducting a miniature cow to a 3D printed alien and a full-scale spaceman – raygun included.
She said: “We have literally thrifted and made everything. So all the spaceships and everything are made from things we’ve made, found or thrifted and most of the lights are secondhand off Vinted or are what we’ve got from family.
“My son Logan has 3D printed the Paul-style alien too. It’s the biggest thing he’s done so he’s chuffed with it.
But we haven’t spent a lot on it at all to be honest, and we’ve definitely done it with no planning, we’re a house full of neurodivergents, so there’s definitely no planning involved! We just get the stuff and wing it.”
Stacey added that the display had also become a project for her younger sons who have worked on it as part of their homeschooling.
She said: “We love doing it and the kids love doing it and making things fits in well with their homeschooling.
“But we’re definitely going to go bigger every year and we’ll definitely do something bigger and better next year.”
The family are still adding some finishing touches to the display this week and are in the process of setting up a photo opportunity in front of a portal for local families to visit.
Local people are welcome to visit the display and any donations to Bee Unique can be made in the family’s garden in their collection bucket.
