For some reason I just can't seem to keep pictures on this blog so I'm not even gonna try. I have a few pics of this years yard haunt at my other blog. You can check 'em out over there if you'd like. http://www.spookysmind.blogspot.com

I didn't do too much this year. Unfortunately I have too much going on around here to put my whole focus on Halloween. But I'm doing what I can when I can.

And in case I don't make it back to this blog on the big day....

HAPPY

HALLOWEEN!!

I made this ghoul today. I don't have any supplies left to make the things I have planned so I gotta do what I can with what I can find around the house. This close-up pic makes it look kinda dorky, like a little big head doll. But it actually looks pretty cool when it's in a dimly lit room.

I met some new friends online, Ruby, Kestrel, Raven, and Three-toed Sloth. They came over to meet in person at the end of last week. Kestrel had been out of State on vacation to visit her mom. While she was there her mom pulls this Halloween decoration out of the closet and asks her if she had a use for it. She said she knew exactly who could use it and when they came over to visit she brought it along to give to me. It is the cutest thing, I call it Ladder Guys, I don't know if it has a different name or not. It's four stuffed Halloween characters climbing up a ladder, a ghost, witch, scarecrow and Frankenstein's Monster. I have it hanging in my living room and I absolutely love it!

Today I had just stepped out the door and a friend was driving down the alley. He pulled over quick and asked me if I'd like to buy a box of Halloween stuff from him. He had a small thrift-shop/liquidator type store here in town but went out of business because we are just too small of a town to have a store like that. He's been trying to get rid of all his stuff he had in the store and when he saw me he thought he'd stop to see if I'd like it. As soon as I saw it I asked how much he wanted for it. It didn't have much in it but the stuff was cool. There was a plastic pumpkin bucket and it was filled with those small plastic pumpkin treat containers, there were also more of the treat containers scattered in the box. There ended up being 22 treat containers total. There was also a couple Halloween potholders, a small black cape, two battery operated wall hanging things that make scary noise and say Happy Halloween- one is a pumpkin and the other is a scary lion-looking thing with big fangs, and three sonic controlled mobiles, a bat, a ghost, and a witch. The bat has smaller bats hanging down, the ghost has smaller ghosts

and the witch has black cats. They shake, make noise and the eyes light  up. The store price tag from where he got them was still on the boxes and the price was $10.00 for each mobile. He sold me the whole box full for $3.00

WOOHOO!! It's really starting to look alot like HALLOWEEN around here! 

Halloween to me

Is the best time of the year.

With ghosts in graveyards

And all the creepy creatures you fear.

You decorate the house,

Both inside and out.

It's OK to start in August,

Who cares if the neighbors shout?

The air gets crisp,

With the smell of Fall in the breeze.

It's such a short time,

To enjoy the colorful trees.

You get to carve your pumpkins,

Giving them Jack-o-Lantern grins.

Enter them in a carving contest,

And hope that one of them wins.

You decide on this years costume,

Will it be cute or scary?

How about a werewolf,

With sharp fangs and all hairy?

The day finally comes

And you get to go trick-or-treating.

When done, you fly back home

So you can start eating.

Telling scary ghost stories,

Staying up all night with friends.

You know how sad you'll be

When this night finally ends.

Halloween is over,

Another special night is done.

It's worth a whole year of planning

For a night that is this fun!

My Halloween World,

Decorated in orange and black.

Monsters and ghouls in the shadows,

Waiting to strike their attack.

Every doorstep is lit,

With Jack-o-Lanterns shining bright.

It's the perfect way to light up,

A dark and gloomy night.

Walking past the graveyard

Fills your heart with fear.

You know there's a ghost,

Your tingling skin tells you it's near.

At the end of every street,

A haunted house sits dark and alone.

Everyone walks by quickly,

Trying to ignore the scary groan.

The Season's never change,

Every day is a cool, crisp Fall.

No one has to wait a year,

For the next Halloween Ball.

The children are always in costumes,

And they trick-or-treat every night.

Little witches, goblins and monsters,

Oh, what a wonderful sight!

Every day is spent,

Making a scary Halloween prop.

Everything made is fantastic,

Nothing ends up a big flop.

Ah, my Halloween World,

I know it's only a dream.

Don't you dare wake me up,

Or you'll have a good reason to scream!

Here is a poem I wrote last year. It's about taking a test run through a haunted house to make sure it's ready for the vict... er... customers to walk through.

Getting ready for Halloween,

Building props and touching up a scary scene.

You take a moment to gather your crew,

"Let's make a test run to see how you do!"

Monsters and witches, goblins and ghosts,

Out jumps the Grim Reaper to act as your host.

Scary tombstones layered with chilled fog,

Along comes a rotting corpse popping out of the bog.

Jack-o-Lanterns glowing with a grinning orange light,

Shine the way through the scariest night.

You watch a Flying Crank Ghost's ethereal float,

While up ahead a creature awaits,

For you to pass over the moat.

You enter the castle with walls made of foam,

BANG! the door slams,

"You're ours forever! There's no going home!"

You walk down the hallway,

It's long and dark to the next door.

A flash of light reveals,

A scary monster under the floor!

The door slowly opens

With a long eerie creak.

You think you'll faint-

Your knees are getting weak!

Go down the ramp, there's a light up ahead.

Out jumps the executioner-

"You're entering the dungeon- we'll torture you dead!"

"It doesn't matter if you're rich or you're poor,

I will gladly give you the dungeon tour.

The Cats Claw, the Judas Cradle,

The Iron Maiden and The Rack,

Oh! Look over there!

We broke that guys back!"

"AWWW... you're ready to faint?

Can't take any more?

Your freedom awaits you,

Just go through that door."

You open the door slowly,

The room is black- can't see at all,

You think you'll be safe

If you follow along the wall.

You start walking,

Your arms stretched out to the side.

You can't feel your way-

The walls are too wide!

The floor is crunchy,

Something brushes across your face.

A scream out of no where-

"It's spiders and bugs!"

"Get out of this place!"

You want to run

But you can't see a thing.

"Look! There's another door"

"But what horrors will it bring?"

Soft music you hear,

When you enter the room.

Two caskets are filled

With the dead Bride and Groom.

The Groom in a black tux,

The Bride in satin and lace.

The wedding was beautiful,

Until the massacre took place.

Killed on their wedding night,

This castle is their home.

These halls their spirits haunt,

And will forever roam.

A secret passage opens,

You think you can escape,

Faux flame torches light the way,

But, Oh no! there's a man in a long cape!

He beckons you forward,

Tells you "Go to the right!"

He's staring at your neck,

Then tries to give you a bite!

Your neck is safe, you made it past.

Could this be... the way out at last?

This is the end, you made it through.

You start to leave,

but the Bride's jealous sister comes after you!!

Now you know the story is done.

You tell your crew "It was scary fun!!"

The victims are starting to line up at the gate,

All of them saying "Oh, I can't wait!"

Soon you'll see their scared faces,

And hear their horror filled screams,

The wonderful sights and sounds,

Of every haunters dreams!

I got my display set up last night. I think it turned out pretty good. It could use some more Fall leaves though. Here's the link if the pic doesn't show

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/halloween_magick1031/my_photos

ok, I've had an insane Halloween craving for about 2 months now. The countdown starts on Saturday and I was planning on setting up the display on Friday night. I couldn't wait any longer so I put up the part that is for the inside in the window. I was so mad that my big fake pumpkin wouldn't work, there's something wrong with the wire, so I'm going to use it in the outside display now without the wire in it. I used one of those pumpkin guys that look like a TOTer in a pumpkin costume. My mom gave him to me a few years ago and it was a bit too cutesie for me so I fixed him up by changing his face around a bit and adding a Freddy glove. And I also used another small pumpkin guy that I picked up at a yard sale this spring. Around the window I have a set of lights that have JOL's and ghosts on it. It turned out pretty cool. I'll try taking a pic of it tonight to see how it turns out. I have a crappy digital camera that doesn't take very good pics when it's dark.

This is a pic of all of us at the end of the night at my in-laws. Halloween 2003. 

I hope I do this right. Here is a pic of my hubby and me from Halloween 2003. Doesn't my hubby look yummy!!??! mmmmmm...... I think he does!  

My poor pumpkins are dying!!!  It's been weeks since we've had a good rain!

We've been trying to keep up with watering them but they're over at my father-in-law's farm so we can't just step outside and turn on the hose every day. The pumpkins on the vines are starting to get bigger but I'm afraid if we don't get a good rain soon I'm going to end up with all tiny pumpkins this year. or none at all!

My poor babies!!!!   

Here are some ideas to use with carbon paper and tag board. I wanted to share this in case anyone else finds themself in a similar situation and needs some kind of Halloween prop making fix.

Last year my Halloween fund was empty before Halloween so I had no money to buy any new supplies or any fun new stuff. I used up all the supplies I had around the house to make a few new props last year for the yard haunt. I usually work on props through the winter but I didn't have any supplies left for props for this year. I did have some carbon paper and tag board though. I decided to make cut-outs of future tombstones. I drew the designs on the tag board and cut them out. Now when I finally do get some styrofoam all I'll have to do is trace the tombstone on the foam. And then I can paint the tag board gray and use the cut-outs as indoor tombstone decorations.

For the epitaphs, I printed out letters of different sized and styles of fonts on the computer. I put carbon paper between the printouts and tag board and traced them onto the tag board. Then I cut out the letters with a razor knife. Now I have stencils to trace onto the tombstones when I get some made.

I made some Halloween countdown pictues for my computer Desktop. They're mostly "kid friendly" pictures, but if you like them feel free to use them to countdown the days. They're in the 100 days of Halloween folder, http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/halloween_magick1031/my_photos

Enjoy!!

Ghoulish greetings!!

Thought I'd get this thing going by introducing myself. Everyone just calls me Spooky because I LOVE Halloween so much. My hubby & kids love it too. We do a yard haunt outside and inside I have a huge collection that gets displayed. I leave alot of it set up all year inside.

It's getting close to the 100 days 'til Halloween countdown. Every year I have a new theme and put up a small display in my front yard counting down the days. The kids in town really enjoy it.  This years display is going to be a pumpkin & scarecrow theme. I'll take some pics when it's set up and post them.

I'm also working on a new sign for the yard haunt. It's a lighted sign made of styrofoam. I've been searching for the website with the how-to instructions but I can't find it. When I do I'll post the link to it.