Still here...

, a photo by beans + ink on Flickr.

Post Halloween crud has me down and I ran out of pre-scheduled entries for the blog. Found this adorable Day of the Dead pumpkin. Project for next year.

After

When The Light Fades..., a photo by Salfordlad1 on Flickr.

Sums it up for me. Porch pumpkins are disappearing now. Saying goodbye until next year.

Helping Hand

Posted the other day about using my funkin pumpkins as hat storage off season. Found out my funkins were taller than the hat storage space. I did mange to finally hang the skeletal hand set from Grand in Road purchased last year. One hand faces up and one down. The down hand has scarves on it. Pleased with how good it looks and its great for bracelets. Costumes are cleaned and stored for the season.

Spooky Lampshade

The spouse and I were walking through an antique mall looking for props for a theater production opening next week. He is a scenic designer but the props person had fallen behind so we picked up the slack. Walking in to a big room I see these 2 wonderful lampshades. Well, the big one now is just the frame. They looked like a spooky art piece. I couldn't stop thinking about the shades.

The smaller one was just so wonderful with old shattered silk and crusty tarnished gold bullion. The beading hanging off the edges is amazing. Hubby was cashing out up front and I made a last minute decision and asked the clerk to cut the smaller shade down! She asked what are you doing with it? I said spooky Halloween art piece. She smiled and was excited it was going home with me. More pics of it on flickr.

Halloween 2013

Sadly several of my Halloween photos turned out a bit blurry. Moving fast and a dirty lens. All the photos from this year are on my flickr group here. Several projects I wanted to craft also went by the wayside when I got behind on my Steamcon costumes. Still plan to make some things and post about it here. Trying to put the Halloween away. Its like an unfolded sewing pattern it never fits the same when you try to store it. My sewing room looks like a storm blew through and I dread getting it back in to shape.

My pumpkin crop

Started late and had some problems with the patch. 3 gourds in this shot are not mine. The rest plus 3 inside the house all came from my garden. The ornamental gourds were still going strong until the frost hit last week.

Halloween Sales

Good haul today. The soap dispensers and owl pillow were at Target. Grabbed the Halloween facial tissue, Ziploc bags, and paper towels. Always stock up on those necessities for half price and it helps extend the seasonal theme. The Skull in photo 3 has light up eyes from World Market. They still had a lot of Day of the Dead merchandise today. JoAnn fabric has Halloween fabric 50% off and decor and costumes at 70% off. Oh...and I am on the hunt for the battery operated light sets Phillips LED Bat set at Target. They were sold out before I could grab one.

Happy Halloween!

I hope you get more treats than tricks today. Will have video and photos to post. Tomorrow its the after Halloween sales. Sunday don't forget to set your clocks back!

What to wear?

Trying to decide what to wear tomorrow night. It turned cold and damp for Halloween. We had frost on the pumpkins last night. Decorations still need to go outside. My spouse is bringing home Thai food and we will wait for family to come trick or treat at the door. It will be a low key movie night with no big plans this year. So excited for my favorite day to be here...soon!

Pumpkin Chapeau

In the merchants room at Steamcon V one vendor was using funkins with color changing lights inside as hat stands. Pumpkins wearing pith helmets and bowler hats made for a clever display. I liked the idea so much I now know how to store some of the foam pumpkins. My closet has a top shelf that runs all the way around all 3 walls. I have foam wig heads, wooden stands, and hat boxes there now. Going to try the pumpkin idea at the end of the season.

Steamcon V

Got back form Steamcon V tonight and need to get back on track with Halloween. I give you our airship outing. Moi (on the left) and gal pal Laurie.

This would be perfect in my Kitchen

Larger image of text and product can be found here.

Scratch Art Pumpkins

I like this concept of painting a pumpkin black with tempera paint and then scratching the design on the pumpkin. More photos and information can be found here.

Costume Idea

Fun no sew cape to make for parents and kids. Tutorial is here.

Candy

Image found here.

No Sew Halloween Crafts from BHG

More information and the template for making this felt cat border can be found at BHG here.

Bats

I love these little guys! Tutorial can be found here.

Spooky Crystal Ball Candlesticks

Great project. This is how I made the Halloween ornaments we used to sell. I use the same technique with old family photos to make Christmas ornaments to give as gifts. Tutorial is here.

Pumpkin Village at Dallas Arboretum

Images from this amazing fall display are all over flickr so I had to find the source. Its a pumpkin village using 50,000 pumpkins and squash. Image and information can be found here.

Poe Pumpkins

Fond of text as decoration so this project from Country Living 2012 caught my eye. Information can be found here.

Pumpkin Diorama

Lovely diorama made with a funkin. The artist shares tips on how to make your own here. She has a wonderful wreath you might enjoy too.

People Send Me Things

Like this gorgeous image from a Yahoo article about an amazing make-up artist Goldie Starling.

Things I won't post include links back to adult content. This is a family friendly blog and try though you might spammers I will not post a link to your naughty nurse costumes. If I like a company or product I will link to your web site in a future entry but not in the comments. Getting heavily spammed right now and need to reject a bunch of comments every day. I love to hear about fabulous vintage or vintage inspired Halloween items and cheap easy tutorials for making Halloween decorations. Thank you for reading and sharing all the wonderful things that make this time of year magical.

Ghost House

This image started showing up coming from Tumblr as part of a gorgeous set. This blogger has some larger images and a link to the possible owner of the ghost house. The detail is incredibly beautiful on all the attractions.

In the Sky

Breaking the rules as I normally will not post an image without the original source and I don't think the costume site is the owner. Its just so cool. Image found here. If anyone knows the source I would love to give the owner proper credit.

Work in Progress

A bit behind on decorating this year. Still adding things to the mantel. In 2010 I used the paper lanterns on the floor with lights running through them. We adopted the kittens later that year in December and Ivy is a wire chewing machine. This year I moved the lanterns up to the mantel and still enjoy the effect. Ivy luckily is not a jumper!

Vince Woods Farm

Our favorite local family owned farm pumpkin patch is closed this year. They could not afford the increase in the liability insurance to keep the barn open. Very sad since it was a really nice family and excellent pumpkin patch. Today we drove out to an older family owned farm that was really charming. My favorite part was the old bathtub full of squash. There was a poll taking place about their haunted woods. The haunted woods would be shut down by the fire marshal unless they made improvements. Its a maze of tarps in trees. Close it or fix the problems and ask for a higher admission fee. Right now its 50 cents. I voted for pay more but we didn't have time to go through haunted fire trap...er...woods. Gorgeous pumpkins and gourds and great corn maze. They give out free baby pumpkins to every kid. It was a quick trip today but I think its worth exploring again next year.

Witch Hat Arbor

Need someone to pretty please build this for me. Image from here.

Costume Inspiration

This beauty and more amazing costume renderings were found here.

Dollar Store Doorway Decor

Love the dollar stores at this time of year for finding all kinds of Halloween goodies. This gal decorated her front porch with dollar store items. More on how she did it here.

Candy Corn Cake

Have no idea how it will taste but its pretty to look at. Recipe is here.

Halloween Mantel

One of 20 Halloween mantel decorating ideas found here.

Nightlight

This little gem is sold but I do like the concept. Found here.

Hocus Pocus Broom Co.

Lovely chalk wall design. Larger images and the artists description of the process is here.

Meow

Super cute kitty pumpkin instructions can be found here.

Silhouettes

Charming cat and pumpkin silhouettes. I am a sucker for glowing cat eyes. Instructions and patterns can be found here.

Spooky Treats

Found at Harry & David.

Day of the Dead Temporary Tattoos

Last year at Steamcon we played with all 3 versions of The Day of The Dead temporary tattoo styles. They are easier to apply on clean skin but with a little practice you can apply over make-up. Water is used on the back side of the paper to loosen and apply. You have to be careful not to get your make-up wet unless you set your make-up with a fixing spray. I like using a little baby oil to loosen the tattoo when removing. My friend applied one to her arm that lasted for days using care to blot it dry.

This year for Halloween several companies seem to be offering some nice designs and you can buy them at places like Walmart. The main company that produces the tattoos is Tattoo Manufacturing. They offer bulk pricing. Handy for group costumes and haunts. The best part is you can design your own tattoos and have them manufactured with this company.

Beautiful Work

One of the many lovely old fashioned pieces created by the artist Cali Lee. More information can be found here.

Happy October 1st!

The house is wonderful on its own and decorated its stunning. Image found on tumblr here.

Collecting and Thinning Collections

This beauty for sale on ebay is one of those items I wanted to buy years ago and for some reason never did. As time goes by the NEED to own one has been fading. It might actually be time to thin some of my vintage Halloween collection again. Looking at my flat files and boxes there are so many pieces there will have to be some thinning before another move. It will be hard to live in that little cottage in the woods some day if we have to sit on boxes full of Halloween treasures.

No kids and no one in the family who appreciates paper ephemera. We have friends who collect political memorabilia. Their kids have no interest in what is a massive museum worthy collection. It makes more sense to me to pass things on sooner than later to loving homes. Since many readers here have large and impressive collections what happens to your Halloween collection after celebrating your final Halloween?

Hocus Pocus Prop

The Book from one of my favorite movies. Found a lovely tutorial on how to make your own here.

Missed one

This was my favorite carved Jack-O-Lantern in the October issue of Martha Stewart Living. Forgot to add it to yesterdays entry.

Martha Stewart October Issue

The October issue of Martha Stewart has some beautiful articles. Making ink jet tattoos to wear has downloadable art to print. The cake was made with edible ink printed on fondant. Frosting sheets can be found here.