The countdown is on my friends.
T minus 8 sleeps until the big night.
I LOVE HALLOWEEN!
Reasons:
- a reason to dress up, who doesn't love dressing up? And those people that hate it? Well, it is my experience that they are always the ones that have the most fun when they are coerced into it (and I consider myself a full fledged coercer, among other things)
- candy (I still have my children convinced that "oh honey, don't even bother trying that type of candy, it's foul, let mommy take that and get rid of it for you")
- scary things. Okay, I have to qualify this slightly. I don't really usually love scary things. Movies I can sort of sit through, hidden behind my hands, but I don't enjoy them so much. The Haunted House thing at Universal Studio that my husband convinced me last year was a Horror Movie Museum still gives me nightmares (and I swear if any of those "actors" had of gotten any closer to me, our stay in California probably would have ended up with me being bailed out of jail for assault.) But Halloween scary stuff I like! I like the dollar store eyeballs, the creepy sounds CD's, fake skulls and I even like the Monster Mash (which I supposed is technically more cheesy than scary, but I'm throwing it in there anyway.)
- our annual Halloween party
- the opportunity to make more seasonal decor items (bet you saw that one coming, eh?)
And that last reason is my seamless segue into a few things that I have made and would like to share:
I made this with a wooden embroidery hoop:
Inspired by this:
Found here: Lushlee
Then I shoved it in one of those cheapo black wreaths from Michael's and hung it up like this:
(psssst.....that little stand thing that Cliff is resting on was $2.99 at the thrift store, just needed a bit of what what? Yup, Black Spray Paint)
I bought this old typewriter at a garage sale for $5 a few years ago (this is the same typewriter that is part of one of those stories that my mom tells over...and over...and over...while marching my new find up our front sidewalk (which at the time was plywood because we had just built and had only mud for a front yard) my toe caught an edge and down I went. Face first into the mud. And my loving mother not only burst into hysterical laughter but now re-enacts it at most family gatherings. I will be doing a layout about that very soon...)
Normally I tuck photos of friends and family in the keys, but for Halloween I printed out Poe's "The Raven" on Kraft cardstock, threw some brushes all over it (I used winter branches), printed it and roughed up the edges (my favourite tool for edges is this one from Making Memories)
And yet another frame (are you sick of me and my frame this, frame that, frame, frame, FRAME!!! ? And if you are, would it help if I reminded you it was a sickness?)
(products: Making Memories)
And here is our friend, Steve, who you caught a glimpse of the other day.
As you can see Steve is bleeding from his eyeballs (or what once were his eyeballs).
Whatever could have happened to Steve?!
Did someone touch his Lego?
Was he subjected to listening to the nine year old who lives in this house practicing drums?
Was the drummer's eleven year old brother standing next to Steve while he was trying to blog singing the four lines that he knows from the song "Barbie Girl" over and over?
Stay tuned in and find out after the photo!
What, in fact, happened is that someone took Crystal Lacquer (or any other thickish glue that kind of drools down when you pour it out) and filled Steve's eyes with it. Then, that someone took American Crafts Opaque embossing powder (in rouge, naturally) and liberally applied it to the glue.
Set aside to dry.
Tried not to touch.
Failed miserably, washed glue from hands and physically removed self from situation until glue was somewhat dry.
Then use a heat gun to melt embossing powder, the glue will melt a bit, but that's okay, it just kind of adds to the bubbly icky effect which you are looking for anyway.
Finally, throw Steve's head and assorted bones into plastic cauldron with a bit of cheesecloth, ahem, I mean shroud cloth that you've distressed a bit with ink (perhaps a nice tea stain, by Tim Holtz), and display for all to admire.
Or what about this guy?
A pickle jar, specimen from dollar store,interesting facts about said specimen printed on some cardstock, water and a bit of green food colouring. Doesn't get much cheaper or easier than that.
Or does it?
Check out these amazing labels from Love Manor's flickr that you can download for free and mark any bottles of vampire blood and poison you might have laying around.
So that is what I have for Halloween so far this year.
And to cleanse your palate of all this gruesomeness here are a couple of Christmas decor items I made last year, I know it's early for Christmas stuff, but they would make nice little gifts and it's never bad to have a few things hidden in the closet (other than blank frames) to be able to grab as a hostess give on the way over to a friends house.
And just a quick aside, through the magic of autopost, I am posting these while being camping three hours away and computerless, so if anyone has any questions please post away and I am not ignoring you, I am probably shivering in the trailer or treed by a foraging bear and I will do my best to get to the comments when we are home!
