counting down . . .

Halloween is almost here, and I still have a ton to do.  The annual Halloween party, which we normally have at my sister’s house, will be at my house this year.  This will be the very first time I have ever hosted a party that didn’t have “bridal” or “baby” in front of it.  So, this will be the very first time that I have hosted a party where the only draw was my company.  Until now, my fear of throwing a party where no one bothered to show up prevented any such get-togethers.  Actually, I still have that fear.  It’s irrational, I suppose.  I didn’t invite a ton of people (mostly because I don’t know a ton of people), but I am fairly certain that at least three people will show up.  I’m a believer in quality over quantity, anyway.

No matter how many people are there, I still need to clean the house, put the final touches on the decorations, buy snacks, make snacks, fill my blood bag with wine and load my pumpkins with candles.  Yes, real candles, not those flickering, plastic, LED things.  Fire safety be damned.  Plus, my pumpkins deserve the real thing.

I love carving pumpkins.  Sometimes the pumpkin tells you what kind of face it wants, like the one with the worm hole in it up top.  Gotta find a gummy worm to poke out of that hole.  I’m kind of a purist in that I’ve never used one of those templates where you  punch all the little holes first.  I think they are cool looking, but I’d just rather do a quick sketch and start stabbing.  I mean cutting. 

That’s how we roll in Dethlehem.

creeping up the place

Every year, I am tempted to “forget” to take down my Halloween decorations and just leave them up all year long.  I love the creepy little accents to my life that much. 

That being said, I prefer subtle decorations that blend in with my existing decor to turning my living room into a haunted house.  I want it to look like it has always been there.  And, I resist the urge to use that fake spider web stuff.  I used to be a fan, until I realized that it doesn’t look like spider webs at all.  It looks like cotton candy.  Cotton candy isn’t scary.  Plus, I saw way too many people going overboard with it to the point that it looked more like snow than anything else.  I freed myself from the faux spider webbing and I haven’t looked back. It was liberating.

Because I am cheap and own a glue gun, I like to make many of my decorations.  And, because I am lazy, most of these decorations are ridiculously simple to make.

I did not make the black skull candle, but I love it dearly.  I did make the stitched up mummy candle holders.  It’s just rolled gauze (or you could use cheesecloth) wrapped around tall, glass candle holders (the small one is actually a juice glass).  I used double stick tape to hold it in place, then made a few stitches with needle and black thread.  Simple and cheap!  I didn’t have to purchase a thing to make these since I already had the gauze which was left over from when my husband set himself on fire years ago.  Thanks, hon!

Spider under glass.  I’m so damn classy.  A few years ago I made about twenty of these spiders one evening while watching television.  I’m an excellent multi-tasker.  The body is two black pom poms hot glued together, then glue four black pipe cleaners to the pom poms.  (Sorry I don’t have step by step instructions with corresponding pictures.  Lazy, remember?)  The legs bend however you need to pose them.  This one is about to nom on an itty bitty pumpkin.  Ain’t that cute?  I have these spiders perched all over the place.  There’s one on my desk at work, too.  He does my filing for me.

  

 Okay, I didn’t make the drippy blood window clings or the eyeballs (they’re bouncy balls) I just like them. 

I did make these pumpkins, though.

Just cut fabric into an eight inch circle, and with heavy thread, stitch very loosely (twelve stitches or so) in and out around the perimeter of the circle leaving both ends of the thread hanging free.  Take a plastic grocery bag, ball it up and place it in the center of the circle.  Tie the ends of the thread together and pull them tight which will gather the fabric up (like tying the draw string on sweat pants) and around the bag ball until it’s completely covered.  Knot the thread tight so the fabric stays put.  Next, wander out into your yard and find a dry branch and break it into two or three inch segments.  Hot glue a branch segment into the pucker made from gathering the fabric and you have a pumpkin.  Seriously, it will take you less time to actually make one than it did for me to figure out how to explain how to make one. 

The pumpkins can stay out through Thanksgiving.  The eyeball jar and bats print will probably have to be packed away before then.  Maybe I can keep the bats up longer.  Just put red hats on them for Christmas or something.  Who says bats can’t be festive for all seasons?

back to normal

Halloween is over and since there is nothing more depressing than Halloween decorations after October 31st, I’ve reverted back to a more normal blog theme. 

In case you were wondering, you can resume your “harvest” decorations now.  They are officially appropriate.  If I see a Thanksgiving Tree, however, there will be violence.

halloween dos & don’ts

Do have a theme:

 Don’t offend your neighbors:

When is a lynching an appropriate decoration?  The answer would be NEVER!

 

Do have fun:

Don’t go overboard:

Was there a closeout sale at the Tacky Inflatable Decorating Imporium?

 

Do get creative with your pumpkin carving:

Don’t puss out and just paint your pumpkins:

If your mommy won’t let you play with knives, then get a grown-up to help you.

 

Don’t be clueless as to what you are trying to copy actually looks like:

I think those are supposed to be spider webs, but it looks like snow or an unfortunate cotton candy accident.  

Don’t confuse Christmas with Halloween:

Seriously?  A Halloween tree!?

Don’t fly a cute flag:

Just don’t:

Aw, what the hell is this!?:

 No, no, no!! 

I can’t stand when people confuse Halloween decorations with Fall/Harvest decorations.  It’s either one or the other, people!  There is nothing scary about flowerpots!  Boo, my ass!  The pumpkin isn’t even carved!  Sheesh!

Here endeth the lesson. 

Gettin’ Ready for Halloween!

I love October!  The weather starts to cool down and I can start wearing layers and light sweaters and all the closed-toe shoes that have been sitting in my closet collecting dust.  The leaves start showing their true colors and the air is crisper.  My paleness becomes acceptable once again. 

But, best of all is Halloween!  When scary becomes main-stream.  When it’s okay to be a little weird and decorate with skulls.  I started putting out my Halloween decorations last Saturday.  It’s fun going through the box and unearthing all the things I forgot I bought at the after Halloween sales last year.  My living room is gradually becoming appropriately creepy.  I don’t do the faux hay bales and the cute smiling pumpkins.  Nuh, uh.  I got the skeletons, the candles, the spiderwebs and tons of spiders. 

I brought one spider to work to play with Ball.  I think they are becoming fast friends.