Cast members outfits at new Memento Mori Shop

Love the Madame Leota pin! More images of the interior of the new shop here.

Happy Halloween!

1973 Sears Catalog tiger costumes. City Halloween parade. My sister is the little tiger.

Paper Plate Decorations

Beistle Paper plates from The Vintage Halloween Store. A roll of crepe paper from my stash, also from Beistle.

Gather edge of crepe using needle and thread. You can glue and gather on to the plate at the same time. Even coverage is easier if you pre-gather the crepe paper.

Plates can be glued back to back to make a hanging room decoration.

50% off sales before Halloween

Halloween at World Market is %50 off. New trend this year of marking Halloween 50% off up to a week before Halloween. Two brick and mortar stores in town marked Halloween half off a week ago and merchandise was moving fast. Christmas had moved in to the seasonal section so all the Halloween was moved to a clearance area. Its nice to be able to pick some things up before the big day on sale. The selection left over the day after Halloween though is going to be slim.

Jack-O-Lantern

My husband, Mr. Old Fashion Halloween, carving the big pumpkin. Seeds saved for roasting.

Finished!

Miss Ivy inspects and gives her approval. More photos on flckr.

Carving

Tonight we carve pumpkins. That was the plan until we both got a stomach bug! Scaling back plans to get at least one done tonight!

My prized carving tool set from the old Martha By Mail company. It came with wax paper in different colors to back the carved areas and a carving booklet.

Dreamy Porch

The wispy black spider web caught my attention. The black matte pumpkins in between their orange siblings is great. Found here.

Airlie Hills Farm and Pumpkin Patch

Saturday we drove out to Airlie Hills Pumpkin Patch. My husband needed a big pumpkin for a mini Segaki or feeding of the Hungry Ghosts festival. All those who have passed in the last year will have their names written on paper. Paper goes in the pumpkin to be burned.

Met a pumpkin carver, Roger Pope, who was showing me how to carve a Hubbard squash. Going to try this since the squash holds up much longer than a pumpkin. Very hard surface after its carved. It reminded me of the scarred surface of a pumpkin if you carve in to it while it is still growing.

The Teal Pumpkin Project

To learn more click here. I have been a type 1 Diabetic since the age of 9. Trick or treated with my sister every year but she always got the candy. Neighbors made up for it with little toys and mom made sugar free cheese cake some years for me.

My first home we made up treat bags with a little candy bar and other non food treats. Gives the food allergy and Diabetic kids the option to toss the candy and still have a treat. Got a huge thank you from a family at my last house. Their little goblin had a food allergy so the bag of toys made her night! Halloween theme stickers, pencils, plastic rings, and tattoos all make a nice addition to the candy bowl.

Fern wants her photo with the great pumpkin

Miss Fern wanted her spin in the pumpkin. Both cats love to play in piles of black and orange tissue paper.

Andie's Edible Candy Fall Leaves

In the Martha Stewart email this morning was a link to this amazing candy. I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks?

The great pumpkin

Ivy inspecting the large pumpkin.

Ivy approved!

Candy Box

Cute candy box for treats. Click on image for link. We sit back off the road and get very few trick or treaters. For the ones that find us they are rewarded with little boxes of treats and toys.

The Baxter Skeletons

A different scene with skeletons every day! The story here. Very ambitious project but so much fun to watch.

Death Becomes Her A Century of Mourning Attire

If you are in New York, or visiting between now and February, there is an amazing collection of mourning gowns at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibit opened this week featuring Gowns from 1815 to 1915. Slideshow of gallery images and more information available here. I know there is some cross over with readers here who enjoy Victorian Mourning attire. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a catalogue for the exhibit to order on the web site.

Pumpkin Painting

Planning to pick up a white boo pumpkin. Like the simple clean black and white design. Source. Painting keeps the pumpkins around post Halloween but not as much fun as carving. The last 3 years we haven't carved and went for the natural look. Keeping the pumpkins, squash, straw, and corn stalks out through Thanksgiving.

Follow up to Dryer Vent Pumpkins

Walked in to the wood fire pizza place and found dryer vent pumpkins! Made from metal dryer vent pipe with twigs for handles. Now I must try this for next year. The original entry about making dryer vent pumpkins is here.

Halloween Black Roses and Wreath

The wreath doesn't appeal to me but making duct tape or Gorilla tape roses sounds like fun. You can find a materials list and How To video at Lowe's.

Ping Pong Ball Ghost Lights

This light string is so cute I must try it for next years decor. Instructions and more images can be found here.

Easy Vintage Style Halloween Candles

Instructions are here.

Glow in the Dark Garlands

Great way to get the kids involved with paper punches to make these garlands.

Free Vintage Halloween Banner Printable

Time for decorating is running out. Great way to make a quick and cute vintage style banner. Found here.

Broom Corn

Found the prettiest corn stalks this year. This might be broom corn? The purple "brooms" are really heavy. This was the first year Vince Woods Farms carried these shorter stalks of corn. Edit: We have a positive ID thanks to Mr. Macabre. Thanks!

Ouija Board Invites

Invites found here to go with the cake!

Living Room

Vince Woods Farms

Farm with the standard pumpkin patch and corn maze. The specialty item here is the "gently" haunted caboose. You pay a dollar to walk through the Pumpkin Walk that leads to a real train caboose. To my surprise there was something much better than a haunted caboose.

Vintage blow mold lights! Along one side of the wall flashing on and off were all these beauties.

Vince wears a train conductors outfit around the property. He knows the name of every pumpkin and offered to carry corn stalks to my car. Delightful multi generation family run farm. Vince's granddaughter pointed me to my parking space. I hope this gem is around for many more years.

Reusable Witch Hat Piñata

A reusable piñata is such a clever idea. Making 2 or 3 in different sizes would look great hanging from the ceiling. Tutorial is here.

Rucus Studio Shop

I was pleased to see that Rucus Studio now has a shop that sells merchandise with images of Scott's work. You can buy everything from coffee mugs to duvet covers.

Experiments in lighting

Top of the fireplace mantel this year testing out the camera on the new iPhone. Low light levels are not its strong point. More photos to come of the mantel and this years Halloween tree. Need to find the camera.

Stuffed Pizza Skulls

This is the kind of recipe I love for Halloween night. We must own at least 3 versions of skull cupcake pans. Whole wheat pizza dough bought at the store, with a 3 cheese blend, and a little basil sounds good to me.

More Dollar Store Crafting with Glitter Skulls

In a bin at Dollar Tree I found glitter pumpkins and skulls. Small color changing LED inside. Found this great tutorial for turning glitter skulls in to great display pieces by making little paper costumes. The skulls come in black, silver, orange, and green. The LED inside is bright so I plan to use some black gauze in the eye sockets to soften the light.

Ouija Board Cake

Ouija Board artwork and how to upload the design and have it printed as an edible sheet here.

Daum's Orchard and Pumpkin Patch

Amazing weather in the 80's this weekend. Drove out to an old family farm we have been supporting since 2008. Not sure how much longer they can hang on. Older couple in a Victorian farm house. They have been scaling things back each year. We would drive out to buy cider on the weekend but they stopped making it this year. Bought pumpkins, gourds, and squash. No corn stalks or straw bales. Hope to hit another small family farm for corn stalks this week. More photos of Sunday's farm adventure in my Halloween 2014 album here.

Memento Mori Haunted Mansion Shop Now Open at Disney World

More info here. Some of the merchandise like The Haunted Mansion Tombstone Ornament Set is also available on line here.

Printable Halloween Place Cards

More print and assemble goodies. Found here.

Halloween Nut Cup you can Print

A free Download of this nut cup can be found here. Great work available for a small fee at her etsy shop here.

Disney© Vile Villains Collection

You can get cases of 24 if you order from Jelly Belly. A little pricey to give out at the door but I love things like this for the nephews. I make Halloween treat baskets for family. My nephews are now 18 and 21 but they still love getting Halloween goody baskets.

Tank-O-Lantern

Amazing recycled materials lanterns. This one is sold but you can find more of his work here.