It's Alive!

Two words, so many different translations.

Infamously tied to one of the best creature flicks of all time Frankenstein. "It's Alive!" but for today, it is simply the coming out of dormancy of me and the All Together Dead Blog. Appreciation to non other than the Frog Queen herself.

Self admittedly I lurk, a lot. It seems like most days that is all I can manage to do is squeeze in some lurking. Between advocating for the Autistic community, my very own 11 year old, leading an international Scentsy Sales Team,  prop building, social media, 3 boxers, and a son that just entered the Air Force the blog was well for lack of anything better getting decrepit. Under any other circumstance a good thing. Unless you are a fan or reader, and in that case no excuse is acceptable and  I apologize form my leave of absence. 

So today, The Frog Queen protested her love of all things pumpkin... to which of course I know I am a HUGE fan as well, and she graced my website and selected a couple of  new Scentsy warmer additions for her collection and then was even kinder to tell the world about it.  

Today the little 3 piece Mid Size Pumpkin warmer is available 

 

or if you prefer while supplies last the cute little retired warmer "JACK" plug in  from last season

or maybe "Whoot" the Owl that glows when lit.

or perhaps "Tilia" that showcases the stark beauty of a tree in winter.

Or maybe, just maybe  you would like something a little more on the "frightful side" in that case beginning Saturday September 15th, check back to the website to purchase this years new additions to the collection -Our Tribute to Frankenstein himself with It's Alive,the "All Hallows" Jack o Lantern" Sillhouette warmer, The adorable little "Fright Night" bat themed plug in or the brand new "Ghouls & Ghosts" warmer. 

 

Scentsy warmers are a safe alternative to traditional candles, they are safe enough to leave on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The operate on a low watt bulb system and without wax they are the equivalent of a nightlight in your home. Pair them with one of our 80+ Scentsy Wax fragrances and they will sent your home magnificently.

Scentsy warmers also have a lifetime warranty on the mechanics. The wax is FDA approved and you do not need to worry about poison control or late night trips to the ER if little ones or pets get into the wax. Scentsy is a buy, host,join company and you can learn more at https://houseofmorrison.scentsy.us

 

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.

Meet Aldwyn

Isn't he handsome... he has taken up residence on top of the china cabinet next to a Magic Book. A fine wise edition he is to my collection.

The entire shelf put together....

An absolutely adorable cute felt bat.

Trick or Treat anyone?

Publish Post

Too Much Pink....

How about it if was PinkOWeen?

Not that I myself enjoy the color pink either, but I felt inspired after my dear friend Chris aka the Frog Queen's comments about our pink candy buffet to come up with some delectable Halloween fan fare in yes.. the color pink of course...

Miss Courtney over at Pizzazzerie made excellent use of the color pink to help fight the cure and benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation for the cure. They fell short of their goal last October to raise $1000 maybe we can help them out a bit still... by clicking HERE. These are just a few photos of her excellent interpretation of our beloved holiday using traditional black and yes... my dear friends PINK...




I think I am going to "borrow" this large lolly and rock candy idea for my party favors this year. And i really like the popcorn container idea too,
but I think I would go with Monster Crunch.

MONSTER CRUNCH

1 box crispex or chex cereal
1 stick butter
1 cup peanut butter
2 oz chocolate chips
1 bag powdered sugar
orange powdered food coloring (optional)
nuts, raisins, mini pretzels, m&m's etc (all optional add ins of your choice)

color the powdered sugar with the food coloring.

In a saucepan melt the butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips stirring frequently over low heat to prevent burning.

Place cereal and any optional add ins of your choice in a large bowl. Pour Peanut butter mixture over and toss to coat.

Place into a large ziplock bag and add in powdered sugar and toss to coat evenly. Adding more sugar to coat evenly.









even the glitter is edible... NICE it's called disco glitter

Hoping I haven't thrown you all over the edge with the crazy amount of pink, sequins and glitter.

Images borrowed from Pizzazzerie

At last....

I have finally scored a single box of Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts.. yes just a single box was all I could find at my Target. The spot on the shelf labeled was empty, but I was fortunate to find my box mixed in with the Capri Suns.... lucky for me I was in the market for those too for the 9 year olds lunch... Notice by the photo I didn't wait to get home, I popped a package open on the drive home... YUMMY.

Can't wait until morning to try the warm too.....

Custome Witch Potion Labels

Are available for your Halloween decorating.
Check out ebay seller auctions*by*amy

or my All Together Dead Etsy Shop

Look what I found today.....

If you haven't already tried this product RUN to your local Dollar Tree and buy a box.. yes, that is right I said the Dollar Tree... only a buck for a box of 5... sometimes you can find the boxes of 10 in your local grocery store too. I was perusing yesterday to see what new Halloween goodies they will be stocking this year and when I rounded the corner there they were... Alpine Spiced Apple Cider drink mixes.

I bought a ton of these last year and made up a large beverage pot of it and kept it warm by candlelight. You just simply add one mix to 1 cup of hot water. I used the recipe on the back of the box to make the Warm Carmel Apple Drink and had bottles of Caramel Sundae Topping, Whipped Cream and Butterscotch Schnapps to add to the drink. I also had large cinnamon sticks to use for stirring. YUMMO.

Making PVC Candles

While browsing through the local post this am I came across a Lowe's store advert. Something on the front cover caught my eye. Instantly I thought to myself... I bet I could make that for Halloween for less than half the retail cost... so I quickly reverted to my office to start rummaging through my saved tutorials until I found this one. Quite a gem from JimmyZDC also known as Phantom Hollow over at a Halloween Forum I haunt. It is for making faux candles from PVC. Keep in mind this doesn't cover the making of the actual base and or support to hang it and for those of you with less enthusiasm that I.. you can always just go to Lowe's and buy a finished product!

According to JimmyZDC You will need the following:

Parts List:

~ 1 1/2" PVC Pipe - Full length 8-10 ft pipes
~ Great Stuff Insulation Filler - Link
~ LED Tea Lights - Pic
~ Hot Glue
~ Hot Glue Gun - Pic
~ 1 1/2" Forstner Drill Bit (or whats the size of your tea lights are) - Link - Pic
~ Rustoleum Painters Touch Spray Paint (Heirloom White - Satin) - Link

Steps:

1. Cut your long PVC pipe to your desired lengths. I used a chop saw (Pic) but if you don't have that then you can use a hacksaw. I went in 2 inch increments (12", 10", 8"...etc.). I also tried to cut them a little taller or shorter than each one of the those increments so each candle looked to be a unique size.

2. Place the pipes upright on a hard surface. Make sure you cover the surface with some type of material since the foam insulation will come in contact with it. I just put down some painter's paper on my garage floor and set the pipe on top of that.

3. Fill the pipes with Great Stuff Insulation Foam. I usually filled mine about 1/2" from the top since it expands.



4. Let the foam dry completely. I filled mine up at night and then worked on them the next day.

5. Cut off the foam so it is even with the pipe. I came back with chop saw to trim it off or I found you can just slice it off with a hacksaw as well.




6. Use you forstner bit to trim down the foam inside the pipe to the desired height you want the tealight to sit. I found that putting the drill in high speed mode rather than high torque works best. Drill slowly so the bit cleanly slices away the foam. If you go to fast the bit just rips out chunks.


7. Once you have the pipes drilled out it's time to apply the hot glue. I found that using a high temp hot glue gun works the best. Since the gun is high temp the glue becomes very runny and creates nice drips. Just work around the pipe and going in multiple layers seems to give a nice effect. Another thing I found out through the whole process is try to make a nice long drip right over the printing on the pipe. When you paint it it will help in covering up the printing.

8. After the glue is dry you are ready for paint. If the printing on the pipe is showing you can try to remove it by sanding it off or using nail polish remover to take it off. Spray the candles in nice smooth strokes making sure you get all the nooks and crannies around the drips. It took me 2-3 coats to get the printing on the pipe to not show through.

I am doing a Giveaway.....

over on my facebook page. It has been running since the 16th of August. I thought I would open it up to my blog followers and then some. Simply add me to your list of friends on facebook and then follow the rules of the contest listed below....

For those following ALLTOGETHERDEAD you can earn an extra chance or two if you blog about this contest on your page and then leave a comment here with the link to your blog post. (Can you tell I would really like someone from here to win?) GASP did I actually just type that?

Good luck and if you are like me you are just DYING to see who will win this one!

It's a Amy SCENTSY Giveaway!

up for grabs a FREE SCENTSY PLUG IN warmer of your choice.

Contest now through 8/31/10
Winning Plug In will be ordered on September 1st, 2010

Rules:

1. Copy and Paste this contest on your facebook page.
2. Post a photo comment under the plug in of your choice under my PLUG IN Album on my facebook page.
3. Invite your facebook circle to add me and join in the contest. (make sure they mention you referred them)

I have finally....

found my inspiration for this years Halloween Invitation. No, it is not the absolutely beautiful display of initial pumpkins shown above it is instead from one of the least likely sources... too early to share with you just now but I will tell you it involves a mirror, matches and a whole lot of time... now doesn't that just spark your curiosity?

The venue is still up in the air this year. Prospects on the table are a lovely Tudor Century home, a park like picturesque setting in the Valley, or an old abandoned warehouse....

With a possible move during the Hollow month, it just isn't practical to have a shindig here... or at the new location... which has taken us in a different direction from the Mad Hatter event... little smaller scale with some intricate attention to detail.

stay tuned...

Did you miss me?

Ok, so this particular gal has been missing in action for quite a while. My apologies to my friends, followers, lurkers and minons. As usual the Morrison household just can't sit still long enough for me to devote the time and energy to provide a quality update....So.. here, now, today in the midst of 84 and sunny with a huge blanket of humidity I find myself hiding out in the office trying to catch up on as much as possible and I have finally made it down the "to do" list to cross off UPDATE YOUR BLOG NUMPTY!

OK, OK... I hear you all... the boring details of my life are not the reason you have scurried your busy little fingers over to my page, admit it, the photo above has you CAPTIVATED.....Trust me, meeeeee tooooo.... What is this little treasure you ask? It is the new HAUNTED TREE flameless scent warmer that is available for pre-orders now but will not be available to ship until after September 15th... just in time for your haunted bliss. There are over 80 different scents of food grade wax to choose from and the warmers run off of low watt bulbs melting at just above body temperature making them safe for small sproglets and pets. You can leave these little treasures on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the scent will eventually dissipate out of the wax, but it remains in the burner until you change it out.

Yes, for those of you scouring over the photo there is a pumpkin one in the background as well, JACK... a nice little carved punkin'head....and there will be a mini pumpkin plug in too.....Yes I said plug in, AKA nightlight, only bigger.... The best bonus your home will smell absolutely wondeful without adding heat to your home.


for more information on the current line you can visit my SCENTSY website... keep in mind you won't find the little holiday treasures on there yet...

My first official Halloween Gift

Ok, so technically I was blessed with my new treasure about 2 months ago but I am just getting around to telling you all about it formerly. We have a "Ghoul Gift" exchange every year at our annual haunt. Everyone brings a creatively wrapped Halloween inspired gift around a $10 value for the exchange. It is very neat to find out what is inside, but over the years, the "creatively wrapped" inspiration has taken over. This year we had a gift wrapped like a spider nest covered in lots of tiny black baby spiders,

another gift wrapped in the shape of a bat, another wrapped in an old rusty bucket... it never seems to amaze me the creativity that our friends have. Everyone gets a playing card and when their matching card is called they have the option of taking a gift from the pile or swiping a gift from someone else. Once they choose a gift they can leave it wrapped or unwrap it. Most of the veteran guests know to leave their gift wrapped until the end because we do have the option of swiping gifts. It can get quite exciting and quite hysterical.
This year, once everyone had a gift, and the game was over, it was time to unwrap the precious treasures that were still concealed in their creativity, and I squealed when Jimmy & Patricia
opened their item, a set of hand-painted martini glasses and ghoulish green martini mix...
photo is of Patricia choosing her gift-(actually JT said it was more like a pout)... Nikki did an excellent job and I will sing her talented praises over and over again.

Low n behold, about a week later, Miss Nikki showed up on my doorstep with this package...
I was tickled to death... and I squealed with excitement when I pulled out my very large spiderweb & witch stocking wine glasses and bottle of their wonderful deep red Oakcrest wine. What a fabulous gift and are the glasses just simply stunning! So, there you have it, my first official Halloween gift of the season, they have been used weekly since they took up residence in the wine hutch. I think of Nikki and her husband Jeff each time I use them. I told her I think she has a cottage business here... especially since she just did 2 dozen margarita glasses for me for our first monthly mom's night out Bunco party last week... I will have to get a photo of those and post for you later.