And they are off......

Our Invitations are printed, boxed and ready for delivery/to be mailed. I didn't think this day would ever come. Even today I was hunting through the house like a mad woman, I had misplaced the silver bullets....

The table before the assembly.
page 1

page 2 & 3 of the booklet page 4 & 5 of the booklet page 6 & 7 of the booklet

(page 8 not pictured is directions and address) The finished box and the booklet

Of course, Oliver Twist had to inspect the box of boxes to make sure they were suitable for our invitations for the Dark Holiday before we had gotten started.

"Honey I am going out to plant the mums"

is what I heard....

What I found...

the beginnings of a graveyard....


Mums are still in the pots on the back deck

I love that man of mine!!!

Create a Scene BATS

I purchased a set of these Create a Scene Wall art Bats at Target on Friday.
The whole set is only $10.

I put them up last night in one of the bathrooms that will be transformed into the "Bat Motel" by the end of the week after I get the rest of the items in there... photos to follow.

These were a FANTASTIC find and excellent price, I didn't expect there to be as many as there were on the sheet and really wasn't expecting the vast difference in size from about 2 inches all the way up to about 10. They went on super easy and were easy to remove and reposition, the only downfall they will be disposable so I see myself buying a couple of more sets to put away for other years.

"I think I can... I think....."

I am still working on the inside, one surface at a time,
I feel like the"Little Engine That Could" from my childhood,
" I think I can, I think I can, I think...."
I am so far behind and at this rate I am never going to get done..
and I still have a 10 stall barn to finish decorating too....

The fairy series made it's way to this location this year along
with some eyeballs and a jar of Werewolf Urine....

Just tossed some creeepy cloth over the print on the wall, I don't have a big Halloween print to replace this one out, so I will print off something creepy to hide the palm tree, when I get a minute or two.



sidenote....
I did buy a new piece for the barn today at Target. $20.00. and he is 18 foot long..designed to hang from your downspouts on your house...
I am going to secure him inside the barn from the loft.....
Creepy good inexpensive find if the owls decide to attack.

Easy Hidden TP Pumpkin

OK, so every year I find the "stuff"... What is the "stuff" you ask? Well the "stuff" is a handful of crafty supplies that Elaina Mae was given at her 1st grade Halloween Party. The mom in charge pre-cut everything and then the kids were shown how to put it together and make them to take home. Every year, I pull out the "stuff" as Elaina calls it, she puts it together, it sits until the Dark Holiday has passed, she unwraps it, folds it neatly, we put it away and then pull it out and start all over again the next year.

I must also say this is the ONLY level of decorating that she participates in, but for her, it is not just tradition it is a "routine".

Step one gather all the necessary "Stuff" :Fabric of your choice, a stick, pipe cleaner, piece of green felt cut into the shape of a leaf, single roll of TP, and one of the cutest little kiddos you can possibly find...


"The Stuff"


Next smooth out the fabric of your choice... notice the big cheesy "you are going to put this photo up on your blog right??" smile.



begin tucking in the loose edges into the top of the roll as you wrap it up.


after you get it all tucked in, put the pipe cleaner in the opening and the little felt leaf and use the stick to push it down in and hold everything in place... you might have to tug the little leaf out a bit to get the "look" you want and wind up the pipe cleaner a bit.. so easy a 10 year old can do it!

This year our TP pumpkin is in the powder room that is still not painted... remember when I picked out paint... still picked out, just haven't had time to paint ... it is on the list to be completed before the party on the 22nd of next month... I am convinced it will get done...

This year our little satin pumpkin gains a couple of friends "Sir Thomas" the mouse and "Wanda" the witch.

A Wall of "Un-Family" Portraits

I wish I could find a way to make actual family portraits
into these types of photos but until then...
this will do.....

Can you see my boo boo???? I* will fix it as soon as I can find another one the same size.

Edible Vampire Slayer Kit

Looking for something unique to hand out to the kiddies for Trick or Treat this year? How about an edible Vampire Slayer kit? Well maybe not to all of the kiddies but to a select few of choice... $20 a piece available at CRYPTOCURIUM blog or their new website that just launched earlier this month. Cryptocurium is a New Jersey based custom chocolate and candy maker producing "handmade edible art" focusing on the strange and macabre with a Lovecraftian bent. Husband wants me to order out some of the absinthe skulls for our event...

Black & White Halloween finds

Adorable "Everyone has a skeleton in their closet!" 11x14 pillow embroidered. $24.99 local boutique here.

$19.99 black wooden curled bundles at Target.

matching black wooded curled wreath. $39.99 Target

Tall, Dark & Handsome VAMPIRES Welcome 11x14 pillow local $24.99

we interupt your Halloween decorating....

One of my besties asked me to help her come up with a Birthday board for the September Birthday's at her son's grade school... She came up with the "A-Peeling" quote and I came up with the 3-D idea....I would have of course done it all in orange and black, but pumpkin's don't grow on trees or peel....

"...and so it is printed"

A sneak peek at page one of our Dark Holiday invites this year... I am so tickled at the way these turned out. I am feeling a lot better about the move last year now, and canceling our event with these invites because I spent the last few weeks coming back and tweaking things a bit. This little 8 page booklet will compliment some other items nicely... an idea I borrowed from another blogger friend and then tweaked it to make it All Together Dead worthy....until next time all my little Skelly Friends....

One Space at a Time

Concentrating hard on the inside this week....if I can manage to get it taken care of then I will find little relief as I begin to work on the bigger project on hand the outside and the barn......This display isn't as muted tones as I usually prefer but when I saw the wooden plank sign last week I couldn't resist and my wooden trio of "hoarder pumpkins" from the estate sale summer 2010 fit nicely here.

Wicked Wanda's Witch Shoppe

Fine Spells & Potions. Formerly known as the "catch all"
counter top in my mud room coming in off of the back deck.


Modeled slightly after the Evil Queen in Snow White, complete with Magic Mirror and Poison Apple. Everyone needs a little poison apple in their apothecary cabinet right?

Poison Apple label reads:
"Poison Apples are a specialty item use to assassinate.
Apples will kill any non-essential body with just one bite,
no matter what even if the target is immune to poison.
Once eaten there is no way to resist, cure or dispel it. "

And a Shrinking Experiment, Baby Frog, Some Blow Flies, Devitalized Energy
and a bottle of Glittering Essence of course.


You will notice that Wanda prefers only premium potion ingredients. Especially those in her cabinet from the 13 Raven's Collection of Deadspider. (Some of the first ever selected and hence a leading authority on all things for a witch's kitchen. Secondary, Black Cat Magic Company, and of course the house specialties of All Together Dead.



Hand dipped candle in a vintage holder
(great little thrift store find a couple of summers ago....with the mirror which was only $3 itself, and a few other treasures )Betrayal, Mouse Moths, & Enchantment.


Elixir of Life, Cadaver Parasites, Snail Eggs & Pixie Dust.




These little glazed poseable ceramic skellies are actually candle holders.. so they will have little battery operated flicker candles in them for the big event....

There is even a very large glow in the dark spider web with yet another very over sized giant black spider keeping watch over the place while Wanda is off shopping for a new hat.

The China is Finished

Well it only took 24 hours, but it is finished. Actually it looks finished but I am sure I will rearrange it several times, take out a piece, add a piece, move a piece or two several times before the big event.





Unpacking this year has been a little bitter sweet, fond memories, gentle suprises when I come across something I forgot about or something new bought after the season, and sad when I come across something that didn't move well or hold up well in the new attic storage space vs the basement at the old house...


This is an older cabinet, and it is not lit inside, so I am going to also work on figuring out a way to light it up on the inside the night of... maybe little led lights perhaps hidden between the bottles. Notice Aldwyn found a friend too, I came across the little black owl that was the center of attention on the kitchen chandelier at the old house 2 years ago, TOTALLY forgot about him. And I added a lovely fuzzy spider to compliment the plaque "... and along came a spider"....


A little Bucky has taken up shop on the top shelf.... next to the "Blood of the Undead".

Bottom Shelf close up center. Glitter Skulls were from Target last year, on clearance... must admit I don't even remember buying them. The little Wooden "Boo" matches the "Trick or Treat" on the top shelf, both new additions this year.