Skull Book Giveaway by Grimvisions

If you are looking for a new piece to add to your Halloween collection or everyday dark arts or skull fetish motif look no further, Grimvisions has you set... and he is going one step further by offering a contest for a FREE Skull Book... .visit Grimvisions for more details about the contest. Good luck and if you win... I want to borrow it on the 24th of October for our bash! Photo borrowed from Grimvisions site.

Halloween Punkin'head & Ghostie Votive Cups

These adorable little Halloween votive cups were featured on Skip To My Lou, a neat little craft blog I ran across some time ago. Now my search for glass bottles and jars has landed me on an all out search for baby food jars... since of course, I have no babies around myself.... I am actually thinking of making a slew of the little ghosts to place all over the house... maybe even add a wire hanger and dangle them from my trees....the endless possibilities.... All you need is a few supplies: baby food jar, modge podge, orange or white crepe paper or tissue paper, black construction paper. Great tutorial on the site to help you along if you are crafty challenged....

Haunted Houses

The Road to the Proper Invitation

My grandmother taught me that when you are giving a present that the presentation is just as important as what is inside. I remember being a young preschooler and watching as she wrapped up presents with amazement. It was like magic unfolding, the way she creased the paper, lined up the pattern, folded and smoothed the edges. It was fascinating to watch. The best part was the finishing touches when she would choose the proper ribbon, tags, and any accents to create whimsical packages almost too pretty to open.

For my 5th birthday she bought me a pair of red shoes. She had no intention on buying them for me, but I begged and pleaded with her at the store for them. Like all grandmother's she caved in with the line "you will have to wait for your birthday". I quickly agreed and she followed up with "and don't forget you must act surprised when you open them". A few months later I had forgotten all about the red shoes, until she pulled the package out of the lower kitchen cupboard cabinet. She had wrapped the package in crinkled red parchment paper and had the most magnificent red velvet bow. To this day I can't remember any other present I was more excited to get. I knew exactly what was inside but I remember squealing with excitement at the beautiful wonder in front of me. Unlike most children I did not tear into the package and quickly discard the wrapping, instead I carefully unwrapped it in the same manner to which I had watched my grandmother wrap so many presents before. As promised I remembered to squeal in excitement over my new red shoes.

I believe that was the very moment that I fell in love with the art of presentation. I have followed in her footsteps when wrapping packages but it also has extended into creating custom invitations for our parties and events... I truly believe that from the moment your guests open their invite you are setting the tone for the entire event.

Last year I paired fake blood, a little bit of water, and a gelled eyeball into a clear square zip style industrial bag and topped them with custom "donor labels" that I designed and printed myself on shipping sized address labels. I tucked each one inside a padded envelope marked "non machinable" and mailed them off. If you decide to try these yourself, know that you want to mail them off the following morning because the water and blood begin to erode the sugar of the eyeball immediately and by the time your guests get them in 2 or 3 days they look fantastic. The invite itself only cost me $10 total to make and the postage was $1.12 each. The reaction from my guests... priceless

Shrimp on the Brain

Last years haunt featured a new serving piece a wicked skull candy dish. I lined it with clear plastic wrap stuffed it to the brim with ice and then layered on the shrimp.....overall it was a fantastic crowd discussion piece. It even looked pretty nifty as the shrimp started eroding off the top. Not sure how I am going to use this piece this year yet.....

Bucket full of Possiblilities

I was tickled to death last night when I got the call from Todd that he had a 5 gallon bucket filled with vintage colored glass bottles that he racked out of an old burn pile in the back of his property. I bolted out of the house when he pulled into the driveway. Already full of dirt and grime these are going to be just absolutely perfect this year on display.... I can't wait to tinker with them.

Double double, Toil & Trouble

Ok, so the Trouble part I get hands down... I always seem to find some sort of trouble somewhere, somehow....

I mentioned before about the potion bottles, I am having a blast with these, I have a slew of them started already and have managed to get a good template together for the labels.... with only 58 days to go until our big event, I feel so behind this year....

Into the Cauldron

So, for years I have had friends and family tell me I should start a blog... I have been tempted by the idea but just never seemed to find a few moments of time to actually jump right in with both feet...today is day 2 of the spoglets off to school so I figured there is no time like the present so here goes....

I am Amy, a 36 year old stay at home mom of two fantastic children that I affectionately refer to as my sproglets or Punkin'head and Peanut. My son Devan aka the Punkin'head just started his senior year in high school this year and is driving and dating, if that isn't enough to throw one over the edge of the cauldron I don't know what is. My daughter Elaina Mae. aka Peanut just began life as a second grader this year. She is on the Autistic Spectrum, is high functioning and comes with a side of ADHD. Elaina operates on two speeds... sleeping and full throttle, there is never a dull moment with her, she is my very own personal super hero. JT and I have collectively been together almost 20 years.... now folks that is a LONG time that seems like just the blink of an eye.

When Devan was just a wee bean we threw our first Halloween Haunt, in the beginning it was a way for family and friends to gather at our house after Trick or Treat with their very own costume clad off spring for good food, good conversation and the ever so important inventory of the loot that the lads and lasses brought back....after a couple of years, JT and I moved the party outdoors, threw in a bonfire and invited just the adults. It became quite apparent that we had NO clue how to really host a full out bash, when friends of ours showed up in costumes so great that we didn't even have a clue who they were for almost an hour... that was the beginning of what would come.....the "inspiration".

So, over a decade later, we have graduated from the crepe paper, mini trash bag tree ghosts, and fake spider webs to totally trying to transform our home indoor and out weather permitting (we live in Ohio... can be full sun and 75 one moment and freezing rain the next) into a total Halloween theme event.

Last year our theme was the movie "The Bird's". Hence, the photo up above take from one of the corners of my living room.

This year, I came across a blogger AranaMuerta.com aka the Dead Spider, and her Witch's Kitchen has set the tone....I live in a small community and everyone thinks I am just plain mad at this point I cannot stop raiding the yard sales for any type of vessel that can be used to make some awesome home made potion bottles....every time I even say the word Halloween I get crazy glances and stares, but hey I look at it this way, as soon as the back to school supplies come down, the stores are going to catch on so I must not be that insane.

So that is me in a cauldron bubble... thank you for stopping bye, can't wait to get to know you all much better......