Halloween Parties!

Last week I had two Halloween parties; one that I hosted for the girls at work and the annual costume party hosted by my boss. The "ghoul's" party was a cocktail happy hour at my house with drinks and nibbles. I served pumpkin martinis, Zombies and wine. The pumpkin martinis were something I just made up. Here's the recipe:

2 oz pumpkin infused vodka*
1 oz pumpkin pie spiced simple syrup**
1 oz half and half

Pour vodka, syrup and half & half in a martini shaker with ice. Shake and serve in beakers.
*The pumpkin vodka is 1/4 cup pumpkin puree mixed into a bottle of vanilla vodka.
**The simple syrup is made with 1 cup sugar, 2 cups water and 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice. Heat in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved.

Zombies are cocktail from the 1930's and are very strong, so I served them in test tubes. Here's the recipe I used:

1 part Dark Rum
1 part White Rum
1 part Spiced Rum
1/2 part Apricot Brandy
1 Dash Sugar Syrup
1/2 part Lime Juice
1/2 part Pineapple Juice

Finally, I served a red wine and a white wine with the bottle decorated with Martha Stewart labels.
Here's the drink table.








On Saturday, my boss hosted a costume party at his house. I went as Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren's character) from The Birds. I was coming down with a cold, so my nose is pretty red in this picture.



David went as a goth/emo. He's wearing my purple hair extensions and lost of black makeup.



Party shots:







I'm still trying to kick this cold before Halloween, so I'm off to take another nap.
© 2008 Haunted Yard

New Props-A Mummy and Coffin

For years I've wanted a coffin with a corpse in it to tuck away into a corner of my yard. Every year, it seems like the project gets pushed back and I say to myself, "I'll do it next year."

Well, this year, I finally did it!

I started the project by corpsing a "Blucky" (cheap plastic skeleton found at most retailers).



There are numerous tutorials on how to make a corpse with a Blucky, so I browsed a couple of sites and decided to just wing it.

I started by cutting some of the plastic away from the ribs and limbs to make the skeleton look a little more realistic. I also swapped out his head with a Styrofoam skull. I thought the scale was better and it looked more realistic.



I wanted to make my Blucky look a little mummified, with just the skin left attached to his body, so for this corpse, I decided to use the following supplies:
latex floor adhesive
paper towels torn into small irregular pieces
Mod Podge
Minwax wood stain-Walnut

Working in a well ventilated area (the basement since it was raining outside) I applied a thin layer of latex followed by a few pieces of paper towel and another layer of latex. Here's a tip: when working with tacky substances such as latex floor adhesive, have a small pile of baby powder near by. I dipped my sticky fingers into the powder to keep them from sticking to everything else and each other.




After the latex was dry and no longer tacky to the touch, I aplied a generous layer of Mod Podge (matte finish). This gave the skin a much needed stiffness.



Once the Mod Podge was dry, I brushed on the wood stain and then wiped off any excess.



Once he was dry, I wrapped him in some torn pieces of coffee-dyed cheese cloth. He's now ready to find a home in his coffin!




The coffin is a basic toe-pincher shaped coffin. I found plans to make the coffin with a single 4X8 sheet of plywood here. Instead of using a sheet of plywood, I decided to use a sheet of Styrofoam bead board insulation. I wanted to be able to move and carry the coffin with ease!

Using a marker and straight edge, I drew my coffin pieces according to the plans. I used my jig saw to cut the pieces out. It's a little messy, but very quick! Once all the pieces were cut out, I used Duct tape to affix the sides to the base.




A quick coat of latex paint later, I secured the mummy into the coffin with zip ties. My porch just got a little spookier!


© 2008 Haunted Yard

Eerie Elegance Book Review

I received my copy of Eerie Elegancea few weeks ago, and I've been meaning to write a review. Things have been busy, but I finally have a moment to write about it.

First, I am so happy that Britta had the opportunity to write a book. She has generously shared her Halloween ideas on her website and has always kindly answered the few emails I've sent her in the past. Now, her knowledge and creativity are right at my fingertips. I adore this book. There are ideas for everyone, from the novice to experienced haunter. There were many time while reading the book that I thought to myself, "What a great idea. I would have never thought to do it like that!" Her descriptions and instructions are well written and easy to follow. I've been inspired by many of her Halloween decorations and recipes over the years, and now that I have to book, I see many more years of inspiration to come. Thanks, Britta!

© 2008 Haunted Yard

Zombies

I am a huge Penn & Teller fan. Naturally, I was very excited to find these two short films starring Teller that tell the story of survival after a zombie epidemic breaks out in Las Vegas. They are wonderfully done.

From Crackle: & Teller

From Crackle: & Teller 2

© 2008 Haunted Yard

Awesome Halloween Books

I stumbled upon this Halloween book how-to from Dave Lowe Designs. He also has some other pretty cool Halloween goodies, like this lab prop, but I needed some new books for my witch.

I wanted to make two books; one for spells and one for potions. I looked through a box of books intended for the thrift store and found two I thought would work.


I decided the book of potions would have a skull on it, so I sketched out a simplified skull on to a piece of cardboard and cut it out with my craft knife.



For the book of spells, I rummaged around in my scrapbook supplies and found a wooden bat and some tag holders to use for the labels.



Then, with some Mod Podge, I decoupaged some white paper towels over the shapes. Mod Podge is water proof, and that's good since I plan on having these on the porch.
After they were dry, I painted them and added these little scrapbook embellishments. Now, mine aren't nearly as cool as Dave Lowe's, but he's an artist and I'm a geologist, but I'm please with how they turned out!





© 2008 Haunted Yard

Eerie Elegance

Several years ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for witch's finger cookies at Britta Peterson's website. I became a fan of her website, and loved reading about her Halloween and other themed parties.

So, I was thrilled to find an announcement in my inbox this evening for Britta's first Halloween book, Eerie Elegance.



I've already placed my order, of course. The book is for sale here and will also be available through Amazon soon. Be sure to check out the website for more information. Oh, I love the blinking eyes on the "Beware the Brocade" background!

I've found tons of inspiration from Britta, so I wish her the best of luck with her book.

As for my progress this weekend, I began corpsing (I like to verb nouns!) a blow mold plastic skeleton (also known as a Blucky). I'll have pictures soon!
© 2008 Haunted Yard

Halloween is in the air!

Labor Day weekend is always the opening of the Halloween season for me. Granted, I've been devouring any and all fall catalogs that land in my mailbox and I've been shopping online (which I'll be writing about later) and jotting down ideas all summer, but I don't actually start any project until Labor Day weekend. Except this Labor Day weekend, that it. The weather was cool and rainy, which I love, but didn't allow me to work on projects outside like I had hoped.

Since I was stuck in the house, I ventured downstairs (where there are real-life spiders! EEK!) and began sorting boxes of indoor decorations. I took inventory and set aside those items that needed some repair or re-working. Of course, the cats had to inspect what I was doing.






I also decided to make some Halloween jewelry for myself this year. I've been having too much fun shopping on Etsy for supplies. Recently, I bought some amazing lampwork beads from Glasstastic Treasures. Not only is the craftsmanship amazing, but the artist, Jamie, is very sweet and personable.
I love these beads so much. I must have taken them out a dozen times only to put them away because I wasn't sure what to do with them. I finally decided that simple is better since I really wanted to showcase the beads. This is what I made with her amazing beads:

"Boil, boil, toil & trouble..."
Witch's cauldron bead on sterling silver chain accented with peridot and black glass beads.


"Eye See You"
Eyeball beads with red glass briolettes and blue Swarovski crystals.


"Like my manicure?"
Monster fingers on hand-formed ear wires.


I also made this cute little pendant from a witchy pin-up image on Shrinky-Dinks. Remember those? I've been having so much fun with them lately!

"If the broom fits..."
Shrinky-Dink pendant with citrine drop and black glass.


And finally, I made this pendant, which prompted my husband to call me a "spider hypocrite."

"Caught in a Web"
Fire agate and pewter spider charm.


The weeks ahead will be busy getting ready for October. I don't have many big projects planned, but I have many small ideas swimming around in my head. I just hope I have time for it all!

Happy haunting!




© 2008 Haunted Yard

Another Halloween Come and Gone

I just turned out the porch light on another Halloween. I had great plans to update the blog more often, but with the big move to a new office building this month, work seemed to take up much of my time. The move also meant there was no time for a company Halloween party. That didn't stop me from making Britta's witch's finger cookies.

I served them on my severed finger platter from etsy seller, foldedpigs.




These cookies are always a hit at work, and this year was no different. The cookies were all devoured by the end of the day.

After work, I rushed home to get the final touches on my decorations. I made sure \ all the lights were dimmed and the candles lit. I filled the potion bottles with "potions" made from hightlighter- tinted water and turned on the black lights. I think the witch's kitchen looks pretty good!








The rest of the dining room and living room were also decorated, candles were lit and lights were dimmed.











My Lemax Spooky Town got downsized this year since the only space available wouldn't accommodate a larger table. I think next year, I may try to rearrange some furniture so I can display everything.






The pumpkins were put out and I took some final pictures outside before the trick-or-treaters arrived.













We didn't have many kids this year. In fact, I was afraid we would only have family since we didn't have any kids until well after 7. In total, we had 33 neighborhood kids plus 8 nieces, nephews and friends.








Happy Halloween, everyone!

Hauntingly yours,
Amy
© 2007 Haunted Yard