Halloween November 7, 2009

This year we trick or treated in our new neighborhood.  It was a totally different Halloween for us.  In our old neighborhood, located on a very very steep hill, we got very few trick or treaters.  We could leave a bowl out with a sign reading, “take a couple” and it would still be there in the morning.  Ok, to jump to new neighborhood in different town.  We had truckloads of Trick or Treaters, they just kept coming.  We had some smoking teenagers (and that’s not a costume idea) daring us not to give them candy and a grown woman happily thrusting her big a** pillowcase at me (no child in sight)- o  k  a   y, but most were decked out kiddos thrilled to be lugging their humongous bags of candy up and down the street.

 

The “sparkly dancing shoes” of my little skeleton.

My wee one in a hand me down costume my husband and I freezer paper stenciled back when we had free time.

We ended up not waiting until nightfall.

Potentially my favorite image of the night, boo for blur.  Not about to ask this unknown fella for a second shot, in fact I was rather pleased that I summoned the guts to do it a first time.

High five from the netherworld.

These are from my school’s Halloween celebration.

Good old-fashioned balloon shaving fun.

Someone ate the D.

Something tells me that toothpaste might still have been hanging out in the prize bucket at the end of the festival.

And here is my old Alphabet Sunday friend (we have to start something up again Lauren!) showing us all how Halloween can be HEALTHY!!!  Orange Carrots for all my friends!

Now on to Thanksgiving, ever marching forward…

Laboratory October 10, 2009

Front  yard, spooky make-over.  Former owners dug out tree, makes for good loose soil to stick scary styrofoam in!

We made these specimen jars last year, remember?

We’re in a new house & there is no window to put them in so we’ve made the mantle our haunted lab.

Full view of mantle.  Still have not set up the haunted dollhouse.  Link here.

Thanks to Kate for helping me style the mantle.

Bird’s eye view of the bird.

Scary dude from last year, story here.

Still have not replaced keyboard.  Working too much!  Miss you madly.

Happy Halloween!

boo.

Halloween Round Up November 2, 2008

Phew.  Halloween is over and yet the sugar rush lingers on.  We will be doing the Switch Witch switcheroo tomorrow and then I anticipate calmer waters.  (Fool that I am.)

My youngest signed he wanted to be a dog for months when his big brother asked but a week before Halloween he decided he wanted to be a clown that juggled and threw pie in people’s faces.  All of which he conveyed without words.  I wish I had video of it. I found the clown suit at the thrift store.  It’s an adult size but luckily it’s a clown shorts suit so we just whipped up a belt that he decorated and we cinched that baby. We borrowed the neck ruffle from a friend (she made it a couple of years ago).  This year she made a lobster costume that is amazing.  If she gives me the okay, I’ll add a shot of her in full shellfish attire.  Wait for it.

Why so sad, clown?

And my big guy settled in on vampire early in the process.  We had this suit in dress up that I picked up at the thrift store.  It’s a Saks Fifth Avenue suit by Geoffrey Beene, thank you very much!  He will be wearing it to a barmitzvah in December ( Hi Reid!) minus the cape and makeup.

The Halloween party went well.  We had a few kids and parents from the neighborhood over and did a little gathering before heading out into the beautifully warm night for some trick or treating fun.   At our place the kids decorated  bats with self-adhesive stickers, I cut the bats out of black sheets of foam I had left over from another project.  This was one of my tasks on craft night (photos still to come…).  I don’t think I got a shot of them.  My kids also hid glow in the dark skull rings all over the playroom for the kids to find but I think my oldest forgot to announce this so I will be vacuuming up these little plastic dudes for months to come! I made trick or treat bags for the kids and darn it, I hot glued these babies.  Yup.  Hot glue.  What?!!!

I put glow sticks in each bag.  SAFETY FIRST!

We chowed on a delicious jello brain made by my friend Lauren whose little guy had a fever so they missed the festivities but she was a trooper and made the jello for us anyhow. Missed you! Note the chunks of flesh and digits embedded in the brain!

This friend was NOT convinced.

We had such a great time with the other parents.  A lot of laughter and maybe a little Baileys laced hot chocolate!

The glow sticks were a big hit.

And just in case you can’t get enough of Halloween here are a few shots from the Halloween party at my son’s school.

This is the famous woodshop teacher and a fellow craft nighter.  Doesn’t this rock?

Here is my little guy and the adorable little sister of a classmate of my eldest.  They were being hand fed skittles.  (let the record show that is not my hand)

And lastly here’s a kid waiting at the infamous candy slide.

It’s a simple concept but a total winner!

Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween.  I look forward to reading up on your blogs!

P.S. – on a totally unrelated note, what is the name of the blog where sisters in laws post the coolest kids clothes they make?  I can’t remember the name and it’s driving me nuts.  Thanks.

Edit – A big thank you to Lexi and NWMomma (and I welcome you to delurk ANY TIME) for pointing me in the right direction.  Sugar City Journal is exactly what I was thinking about.  They are crazy talented, check them out!

Sick of Halloween Yet? October 29, 2008

Looking for last minute costume ideas?

This was my son’s first costume and it was super easy to make.  I repurposed a thrifted sweater by adding some white fuzzy fabric to the front and attaching a felt tail which I sewed and then stuffed with packing peanuts so it would hold it’s shape but not be too heavy.  I took my husband’s hat and attached little felt ears and my favorite part is the little claw feet.  I just cut pieces of felt, sewed on  claws and tied them over his sneakers.

Trick or Treating at Fenway Park!

I got this costume idea from MARTHA and I tweaked it a little, take that Ms M!  It’s made of foil cups folded and then layered to look like armor, little aluminum loaf pans are tied over the shoes and round pie pans are used for the shoulder protectors.  I painted some coffee holder thingies grey for the arm armor.   And we turned the old milk jug space helmet into a knight’s helmet complete with a duct tape face plate.  Oh, And I used the collar from a hideous shirt given to me as the neck guard and the back of the shirt for the chain mail skirt.

Last year my big guy was a skeleton.  We freezer paper stenciled (best craft in the WORLD) the bones on an old sweatsuit and then painted the toe bones on thrifted dance shoes (shoes that were totally spied by my son who had the vision for them as part of the costume.  So proud!).  Since my little guy was too young to pick a costume we made him the pulmonary system – I  sewed the body bits on a red tee shirt using fabric scraps and then unraveled an old baby sweater to make the veins.

This year we will have a vampire and a clown.  I don’t know which will be scarier. Stay tuned!

The Good Old Days… October 28, 2008

Here are my cousins with those blow up contraptions on their heads!  Send to me by my Aunt Donna who is so crafty it’s busting outta her britches!  You may know her as Kindred Spirit from my comments.   Hi to my cousins M & J, thanks for sharing the sweet shot!

There is one floating around the family of my brother in one of these costumes with green face makeup on, if anyone has it please send it my way!

Only 3 more days!  Don’t delay, get those surgical gloves filled with juice into the freezer and start on your brain jello mold NOW!

And WP spellcheck is wonked at the moment so Happy Halloween to all my dyslexic brothers and sisters!

My Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Yard… October 27, 2008

A little vintage Halloween for you:

Can you find me?  Hint – I’m not the sassy kid winking in the front row.

I got nothing else since I’m working hard to make our place look effortlessly messy for our neighborhood Halloween party on Friday.

But I did find this on Youtube.  I chuckled and cringed, maybe you will too.  Click on it even though it looks boring as all get out.  It’s free, it’s funny, why not?

Halloween Party, WELCOME! October 18, 2008

Today is the day thought up by the lovely and twisted mind over at A Fanciful Twist.  There are tons of folks playing along, check out her blog to see the complete list!

Welcome, creeeeeeking the door open . My butler will take your coat (and he might give it back to you at the end of your visit!)

Not surprisingly, my house is not yet ready for the party so this will be a partial open house.  A less than grand opening!  I have more silhouettes to cut, wallpaper to hang and we have wooden people to paint but I wanted to participate in the party so come on in, we’ve been waiting for you!

We have comfortable spots for lounging…  This guest has been with us a while!!!

There are plenty of chances to mingle:

Not much in the way of nibbles, although there are plenty of creatures who would love a nibble of YOU!

You’re welcome to hang out some more but I am going to bust open the lovely box of wine you brought, and what a LOVELY hostess gift it was, and rest for a spell !!!!!!!!!!

A here is a link to the BEFORE shots of the thrifted dollhouse (this is a joint project between myself and my 6 year old son).

The Changling October 10, 2008

We, the parents, fought it.  But this year we, the parents, are giving up and giving in to the ghoulish side of Halloween that has so piqued the interest of my 6 year old (with a trickle down effect to the little guy – much like the blood from the corner of a vampire’s mouth.  Waaaaaahahahahaaaaaaaaa).

I try and celebrate holidays with homemade decorations but it’s getting a little harder each year.  As long as there is still some crafting and creating happening I’m okay with it.  To tell you the truth, I am not prepared to commit to the money or time it would take to craft some homemade headstones plus, I think I’d be a little squicked out with it.  So we now have store bought grave “stones” in our side yard.  Tip – I bought them the day AFTER Halloween, when they are practically giving them away, and then the “Switch Witch” traded them for the bulk of the candy collected.  Easy way to get rid of candies that may contain allergens and it’s healthier for the kiddos, not necessarily for the Switch Witch though.

My eldest mapped out the layout and excitedly arranged the spooky display.

The wind is not the friend of these Styrofoam markers!

And here is the most terrifying of all – we got a baby sleeper/skeleton costume at the thrift store last year in preparation for a true SCARE CROW or as I like to call it, a Scare Mom.  Every time I leave the house I jump.  I made it small as to not scare you. I changed my mind.

Edit – We added the bouncy eyeballs from Target into the eye sockets of the mask.  I didn’t think it could get any scarier.

We stuffed this guy with newspaper, slapped a dollar mask on him and shoved him into the bush in front of the house.  I remember being pissed at folks with this kind of decoration when my big guy was a little, easily scared, guy.  Sorry to all the moms who will walk by, clicking their tongues, skipping our house on Halloween night!  Your little darlings too will grow up and become interested in things like Zombies, swords, poo and the like.  Just wait.

My still a little guy added this touch to the display:

And lastly (for now) my youngest and I put together this Potato Head pumpkin from a kit my husband bought.  Homemade?  Nope.  Something my son excitedly taps every time he walks by it, yup.  (So am I a little defensive, maybe!)  Isn’t it funny how those who lean toward crafty feel like we have to go above and beyond and do it all with this kind of stuff?  I am not alone with this affliction, right?  I know it’s much more palatable to just present one’s stuff and not make excuses but I’m leaving in this little conversation with myself because maybe someone will relate!

We have yet to add the spider web, giant spider and bat my mom sent the boys.  Stay tuned, if you dare!

Be Afraid October 6, 2008

Things are on the mend here, I promise this will be a Negative Nellie-free post!

We dug out the Halloween box from the basement and are going to start making the “graveyard” this afternoon. The whole “graveyard” in the special project of my oldest, he has mapped the layout and is itching to set up up (and rearrange endlessly thereafter).  We have drawn up plans for the Haunted Dollhouse and are planning our attack, I have a feeling this will be my baby project of the holiday.

We made these laboratory specimen jars (please say with La-bore-a-toreeeee with a creepy voice, we always do).  I saw the idea right after Halloween last year and we’ve been collecting bits all year in anticipation.  I found the canning jars at Charlie and Pats (world’s best thrift store) and since I couldn’t can my own can if I had to, it’s a perfect use for them.  My son just mixed food coloring and water for the mad scientist colors and added bugs, rats, skulls, eyeballs and the like.  We had planned to try some jars filled with hair gel but we had the creamy kind not the gel. Suspended gross stuff!

What are you doing for Halloween if anything?  We’re always looking for spooky fun tips and tricks.

And treats, always treats!