• Dark Chocolate Martini via Cook & Eat

• Flayed Skin Cheeseball via Dabbled

• Eyeball Caprese via Evil Mad Scientist

• Nobody does cocktails like Martha. Check out her Ghosts in the Graveyard (and other drinks). Black vodka–does it taste like licorice? If not, I’m in.

Don’t forget! The Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival will be taking over my blog next week! You can join the fun over at Bloggy Giveaways!

The Wicked Witch of the West and her Flying Monkey. Max is 9 months in this picture and had just started walking that very week. I had to carry him, though, because we’d already made the monkey suit and the feet were not conducive to walking. We attended the Boo-Ha-Ha parade that year. As we were looking for a place to stand, we ended up walking in the street a little so we could get past part of the crowd. There was a lull in the parade and apparently people thought we were the parade because we got applause. At the time I was completely mortified because I share some of HolyMama’s anxiety issues. I quickly got us to the sidewalk and tried to blend in. (BTW, you should never trust a witch with a floppy hat.)

Max and Wild Thing as Max and Wild Thing. Max is two and Wild Thing is 5 months. Again we are at the Boo-Ha-Ha
parade. This time there was no applause and I was much more comfortable.

Max as Max. The week before the above pictures I took the kids to my hometown for a small-town Halloween celebration at our favorite children’s museum. Max was beside himself! He wiggled and jiggled the whole way there. When I finally let him out of the car, he carefully climbed out leapt out of his seat, raised his fork (remember the fork from the book?), and yelled to everyone there, "I’m going to fork you up!"

Ah, good times.

Now for this 2006′s photos. I am using the glasses in these, but you’ll still get the idea. Man, are my kids adorable! They each designed their own costume (a pirate and an alien, respectively) and my mom and I made them. My mom made those fantastic candy bags.

The candy bags deserve their very own picture. The alien’s mouth opens up so you have to put your hand in to put candy in the bag. Very cool. Wild Thing’s pirate booty bag is blinged to within an inch of it’s life. Right up her alley.

Last year we had Charlotte’s and Anne’s families over for pizza, then the men folk took the chilluns Trick-or-Treating while us women had wine and laughed. Here are all the kids in their Halloween glory:

The problem is that these collectibles are sometimes very pricey. I have a hard time splurging on just anything so it has to be really special to me. As a result, I only have a handful of items so far. I do not usually buy paper goods because those really should be taken care of in a special way. I could tell you what that special way is, but I don’t know it. And I think paper decorations are harder to display. And they tear. And it’s too much to worry about. So I stay with games and noisemakers for the most part. Here’s my small, but loved, collection:

My favorite piece is the skull. It’s made of metal and plastic and is circa 1940s or so. It is a decoration for your car. You screw it on to where your license plate would be. How cool is that? I’ve never seen another one. I asked a noted collector what he thought of it and he replied that he couldn’t put a value on it (insurance and legal reasons), but he highly recommended I keep it because it was rare. LOVE THAT! I didn’t even buy it for value. I bought it because I loved it.

Let that be your Halloween Lesson of the Day: Buy what you love, not what you think will bring the most money later.

I also love my box:

If you’re interested in more collectibles and how to gauge their worth, you should check out Vintage Halloween Collectibles: Identification & Price Guide by Mark Ledenbach. Everything featured in his book is owned by him! It’s truly an amazing collection to behold.

Want to find some collectibles to buy? Ebay, Baby.

Originally published on October 12, 2006.

Second grade was the year I dressed up as Princess Leia and my brother was Luke Skywalker. That year we were the only ones dressed as the bun-eared and light-sabered ones. The next year? Everyone dressed up with Star Wars on their minds. We were trendsetters, you betcha.

That was also the year I discovered Jack Prelutsky. I loved his book of Halloween poems, It’s Halloween. Of course, the book I loved had a different cover than the one published these days. That cover was what drew me to the book. The cartoon drawn by Marylin Hafner of the ghosts and the goblins and the haunted house and the trick-or-treaters contemplating their approach spoke to my seven-year-old self.

That year Scholastic was offering not only the book, but a poster with the book’s illustrations. Thirty-one faces of goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and trick-or-treaters were covered with a golden oval. Each day of October I scratched off an oval to reveal a new face and knew that I was one day closer to Halloween. I loved that poster almost as much as I loved the book.

Last year my mother brought a piece of paper to me. "Here," she said. "I thought you might like this for your Halloween collection. If not, you can throw it away. I think I got it from Scholastic in the 70s. It’s old."

I carefully opened it, not really expecting anything at all. My mom is always bringing me things from her classroom as she declutters. Besides, I’d never mentioned my love of the book or the poster to anyone. It was something I held for myself simply because it was part of me like my blue eyes and red hair. It never occurred to me that anyone would need or want to know.

What I saw made me gasp involuntarily. I looked up at my mother and said, "You have no idea what you’ve given me. This is the best gift I never knew I wanted. I never dreamed there was one left!"

It was, of course, the poster I had loved so many years ago in second grade. It was folded and creased and aged. Several of the golden ovals still sparkled. I was torn whether I should scrape them away and reveal the faces or leave them be. Eventually I decided I wanted to see the faces and removed the ovals. I am so glad I did. The poster is complete. I love it even more.

For Christmas Husband and the kids surprised me once more. They had my poster framed. I’ll hang it up and yes, visitors who are unaccustomed to my idiosyncrasies will wonder. I, though, will smile and be transported back to the warm Indian Summer day in 1977 when I ran out onto the playground after school in my white satin Princess Leia costume. It had been such a good day.

This was originally posted on January 18, 2008.

• 3 c all-purpose baking mix (like Bisquick)
• 1 lb ground hot pork sausage
• 1 (8 oz) block Muenster cheese, shredded (Ha! Muenster. Get it?)
• 1 (7 oz) jar pimento-stuffed Spanish olives

Instructions

1. Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Mix until blended (I don’t use a mixer, just a wooden spoon).
3. Shape mixture into 1 1/4 inch balls.
4. Place on lightly greased baking sheets.
5. Press one olive into the center of each ball.
6. Bake at 400° for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: About 4.5 dozen

This post was originally published on October 17, 2007.

• Cute CD Cupcake Stand
• Halloween Cup Labels
• Modern Take on Vintage Halloween Decor
• Spooktastic Halloween Pennants
• Vintage Black Cat Pendant

I have them in my dining room and living room. I think the reason people are so taken with them is that they are amazed I would go to so much trouble: the making them, the taking down my regular curtains, the hanging the Halloween ones, the switching back after the holiday.

Here’s a little secret: It’s no big deal. I’m telling you. Of all the stuff I do for Halloween? This is the least time consuming. I made the curtains in an afternoon before a party. It takes 10 minutes to take down the regular curtains and hang the Halloween ones. You can totally do this and it will transform your house.

1. Measure how long you want your drapes to be. (I wanted mine to double over the rod so I wouldn’t have to sew anything and I wanted them to puddle on the ground.)
2. Go to your local fabric or craft store and buy however much gauze you measured for.
3. Come home and cut into strips for each window.
4. Brew some very strong coffee. Put the coffee in a spray bottle.
5. Hang the gauze or lay it on a tarp in the garage or outside (I used a vinyl tablecloth in the garage).
6. Spray the gauze with the coffee. It doesn’t need to be uniform. You’re just making it look weathered.
7. Let it dry for a few hours. (I stuck mine in the dryer because I was in a hurry to get it done for a party that night. It worked fine.)
8. Hang the gauze by doubling it over your existing curtain rod. A twist would be to take down the curtain rod and replace it with a dowel or a board.
9. Take some scissors and stab and drag so you make a hole. You can cut the gauze, but I found the stab/drag method made them a little less uniform. Don’t drag too much, though, or you’ll rip down the curtains (and, no, that didn’t happen to me but it could have).

You, too, will have a haunted-looking house! How fun! The next thing I want to do for my living room is to coffee-stain (or tea-stain) some muslin my mom gave me and drape it over the furniture. I think that will really give it the atmosphere I’m going for.

1. Spooky Riddles by Marc Brown My children love to tell the jokes and riddles from this book. By the way, do you know why vampires drink blood? Because root beer makes them burp!
2. Halloween by Gail Gibbons This is an easy overview of how Halloween began and where our traditions come from.
3. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams We started reading this book when my children were just toddlers. Even though Max and Wild Thing are quite the big kids now at ages 8 & 6, they still love to act out this book as I read it.
4. Rattlebone Rock by Sylvia Andrews Who can resist the beat?
5. Shake Dem Halloween Bones by Mike Reed Just like a sock hop with all your favorite storybook characters. Very fun.
6. It’s Halloween by Jack Prelutsky I had this book when I was a little girl and it was my favorite. Sharing it with my own children has brought all the magic back and they love it too!
7. The Best Halloween Hunt Ever by John Speirs My kids have always enjoyed the I Spy series of books. This book is similar, but the pictures are cartoons. Some of the things are really hard to find! (Hint: The answers are in the back of the book.)
8. Meredith The Witch Who Wasn’t by Dorothea Lachner Sometimes you just aren’t what you’re "supposed" to be. And that’s OK. In fact, sometimes it’s better.
9. In the Haunted House Lots of fun rhymes and surprise ending.
10. Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting From Amazon: As the unnamed narrator looks on, a skeleton, a ghost, a vampire, a
    werewolf, witches, goblins, gremlins, a devil and a mummy pass by. The
    monsters are in fact children dressed up in Halloween costumes, but
    Brett’s pictures are deliciously scary.

The following three books are our favorites. They are hilarious and fun to read. Drum roll, please!

1. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini Meet Gritch the Witch. Gritch has a PROBLEM! She wants to make Piggy Pie but doesn’t have the piggy. This book is the first of the Gritch books and it’s hilarious. Our absolute favorite Halloween book ever.
2. Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini Gritch is back and she needs a new broom. She hoofs it over to Foxy’s for the best deal in town. Or is it?
3. Broom Mates by Margie Palatini Gritch’s sister stays the night. Sibling rivalry at its best.

To view more hints and tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer the original Works-for-Me Wednesday tipster!

For those of you who are new to the Boo, please visit this site: Tricks and Treats and Hallowe’en History. (Scroll down to the bottom to find the bit about Boo. You’ll also find the poem that some people like to use.)

I was shopping at a boutique several weeks ago and came across a very adorable box for Halloween. It was perfect for Boo-ing. The price was $15. Now, I like a good Boo as much as the next gal, but I’m cheap too. Fifteen dollars is a little more than I like to do for an entire Boo box (treats and all), let alone just the box. So I looked it over, made some mental notes, and headed over to Hobby Lobby and Michael’s.

I bought several different sizes of paper mache boxes, black spray paint, Martha Stewart ribbon, and Martha Stewart Halloween stamps. The MS products are adorable and are sold at Michael’s. The ribbon and stamps may be a little pricey for some, but I splurged because I know I’ll use the stamps again and I just liked the ribbon. We all know how I love my Halloween. BTW, the MS ribbon is sticky on one side so it adheres to the boxes easily.

I simply put down a tarp in the backyard and sprayed painted the boxes (inside and out) black. After they were dry I stamped them with silver pigment dye. Then I put the ribbon around the top of the box. Very easy and very fun.

I filled my boxes with some fake black moss from the craft store, filled some cello bags with candy corn, truffles, dark chocolate kisses (Kisses of Death, I like to call them), and plastic vampire teeth. The key here is to remember you don’t have to go overboard. It’s the surprise of the Boo and the thoughtfulness that count.

If you want to skip the MS ribbon, you can make your own sticky ribbon. When I ran out of her ribbon, I found that a roll of scrapbooking tape worked just as well. The tape is doube-sided so it sticks to the ribbon and to the box. I happen to have a TON of Halloween ribbon so this is what I’ll be doing from now on.

I hope you’ll get into the Halloween spirit and Boo your friends and loved ones!

This post was originally published on October 10, 2007.
 

Whether you know about Boo-ing or not, I’m going to enlighten you, because I’m a giver. It’s what I do. I give. (You can pick yourself up off the floor now, I’m finished. Stop laughing.)

The Boo Rules

Boo-ing is generally done in neighborhoods, though we preferred to Boo friends whether they lived in our neighborhood or not. The rules are simple:

1. Make a small Boo gift for your friend. Include a sign that says Boo and the Boo poem that explains what’s happening (below).
2. Leave the gift on the porch to be found (you can call or ring the bell if you like, but the point is for the Boo to be secret).
3. Once you are Boo’d, place the BOO sign in a window so others know you’ve had your turn.
4. Once you are Boo’d you must Boo two more people who haven’t been Boo’d yet.
5. Watch the fun spread around the neighborhood!

The Boo Poem

The air is cool the season Fall
Soon Halloween will come to all
The spooks are after things to do
In fact, a spook brought this to you
“BOO” is a shield from witching hour
Just hang it up and watch its power
On your front door is where it works
It wards off spooks and scary jerks
The treats that came with crypted note
Are yours to keep, enjoy them both
The power comes when friends like you
Will copy this and make it TWO
Then others here among our friends
Will give warm fuzzies that do not end
We’ll all have smiles upon our faces
No one will know who “BOO”ed whose places
Just one short day to work your spell
Or a big ZAP will strike your tail
And don’t forget a nifty treat,
Like something cute or something sweet
Please join fun, let’s really hear it
And spread some “BOO”s and Halloween spirit.

Here is a PDF Boo that’s ready to print!

Boo-ing is a fun family tradition. I hope you’ll join in and make someone’s day.