Are You Ready To Get Your Halloween On?

The Halloween decor has been out in stores around here since August. 
I just got my summer decor out. 
Where has the time gone?

(This is an edited re-post from back in 2010.  It has some tried and true Halloween party and decor ideas so I'm re-posting it.)
To see my 2011 Halloween post go here.

In the past my house is decorated for Halloween by the second week of September. 
I can't help the compulsion to pull out my skulls and skeletons as soon as I start seeing the stuff in the stores. 
The last couple of years I have only put out about a third of my Halloween decorations. 
We used to have a huge Halloween party and I still have a lot of creepy decor stored away in boxes from those party days.
We always included kids at our party, so I didn't ever go over the top with scary or gory decor.

Here are some cost saving tips that have helped me get my Halloween on.

1) Use what you have in new ways. 

I added costume jewelry that I already had to Halloween skulls.
 

I like to embellish my skulls with costume jewelry, feather boas, and snakes.
The cloche keeps the snakes from slithering off.
Cloche and pedestal- already had
Ceramic skull- Big Lots
Rubber snake- Big Lots
Costume Jewelry- I already had from Grandma

2)   There is no reason to spend a ton of money.
Most of my decor was picked up on sale at places like Marshall's, Big Lots, the dollar store, and Target.
This candle holder is a cheap foam skull with a hole cut out in the top for a candle. I embellished it with some costume jewelry and dripped red candle wax down the sides.  The eye sockets are embellished with post earrings just pushed into the foam.  The right eye looks like it's crying jewels.
Foam skull- Big Lots

 

My pumpkins gets a dose of glam with grandma's costume jewelry, ribbon, and feathers from the dollar store.

 

 

 

     3)  Think multiples for a bigger impact.
   Sometimes it's better to buy 20 of the same thing than 3 of this and 2 of that.
I usually buy 2-3 crows each year to add to the flock. 

I like the impact of a hole flock of crows instead of one or two.

The flock gives visitors the evil eye when they enter the house.

They are all facing the front door. 

It gives the illusion they are all eyeballing the same thing.

 

4)  If you are having a Halloween party, think BIG.
Decor doesn't show up outside at night unless it's slightly "gaudy" by day. 

This is a picture of our bar table for our 2006 party.
The chandelier is dolled up with orange and black tulle, zebra stripe ribbon bows, and purple and orange painted light bulbs.  The ceiling is draped in more tulle and old curtains. 
Totally tacky, but it really worked at night to create a festive mood.



5) Lighting can make or break the party atmosphere.
It's one of the most important elements of a nighttime party.

Make sure you try out all your plugged in electrical lighting, your landscape lighting, and any other outdoor electrical devices that will be used on the night of the party way in advance of the real thing. Do a dry run to make sure you don't blow any fuses.
You might need to get a generator or try different outlets to avoid having a "dark" party.
Duct tape any extension cords down that go across walkways to prevent tripping.
Your guest might already be sight impaired due to elaborate costumes. 
Make sure pathways are well lit for walking, but not so bright and glaring that the creepy mood is ruined.
I used dollar store white plastic pumpkins and drilled holes all over them to create lanterns. I added paper lanterns to light this dark pathway down the side of the house.




I used battery operated candles for safety.



My cheese cloth ghost light up too. 
I bought inexpensive white paper lanterns and covered them in cheese cloth.
 The heads illuminate at night with battery operated tea lights.
I made the faces with glued on felt. 




   6) Embellish your existing lighting.

My chandeliers get blinged out with skeletons.
To see how to make these go here.



More magnetic skulls for a quick change to my metal hanging light.

This light fixture gets a twig, spider web, and crow makeover.
Twigs are free and spider webs are cheap.



Hanging skulls add to the creepy effect.
I picked this one up at Big Lots.





7)  Get creative with elements you can't move out of your yard for your party.

 What do you do when you've got an unattractive basketball hoop smack dab in the middle of your patio?  You make it part of the decor.  I took a metal curtain rod and duct tapped it to the top of the hoop to make the curve of the ghost head.  I slip covered the hoop in two white sheets sewn together.  I spray painted a happy face on the sheets.  The hoop is covered with ghost arms made from another sheet and stuffed with plastic grocery bags.  I set a large pumpkin on top of the basketball hoop to make it appear as if the ghost is carrying the pumpkin.   Then I hung a chandelier on the hoop for an added light source for the table below.  Sorry I don't have any good night shots, but he was the hit of  the party.  This is obviously a daytime shoot. 
Remember your guest will not see all the imperfections at night.
The basketball hoop was completely disguised at night.

    8)  Create an entrance to set the mood.
There is little doubt you are entering a Halloween themed party when you come to our front door.
One year I glued spiders on the door to spell out "Boo."
I used the wrong kind of glue because it took the paint off when I removed the spiders.
Oh well, the front door needed to be re-painted anyway.
This is not my idea, I think I saw it on Martha Stewart?

I used an inexpensive plastic skull from Big Lots and some spray painted branches to great the guest.
"Good Evening"

 

    9)   Don't forget the garden and landscaping.

My garden becomes a graveyard. 

I re-purposed my urns and columns for a make shift graveyard. 

Again, I'm using what I already have in a new way. 

I must admit I stole this idea from the Haunted House at Disneyland.

All the pumpkins light up at night to enhance the party atmosphere.

The columns and cross are from Target when they used to have a garden center.

I covered this garden arch with purple lights and orange tulle.
Again, gaudy and tacky by day, but totally cool at night.



I painted my plastic skeletons with glow in the dark paint for a creepy nighttime effect.
This is a cheap plastic skeleton, but at night he looks great floating next to the pond.

 

The gargoyles always show up at Halloween.
This one is from Target.
 

 

Annuals are removed from my urns and replaced with more ghoulish landscaping.

Here is another version of the birdbath next to the front door.
Succulents and a faux white pumpkin.

The kids liked the card playing skeletons that I put in the planter next to the front door.  They are flanked by foam grave stones.
  After one of our parties, our skeleton "grew" a mustache?
I think it was a parting gift from one of our guests.

I liked the mustache and let my skeleton wear him the following year.
The Fleur De Ly's are fence toppers that I attached to more faux pumpkins.

                        10) Decorate hallways and transitional spaces.

A small hallway is a great space to add hanging elements like this caged skeleton and spider webs.
Just make sure it's high enough so tall people don't get bonked in the head walking under it.

Here is the rotunda that leads from our family room into our Master Bedroom.
Spider webs and plastic spiders give a big impact for little money.
Although my house has been painted a different color since I took this picture back in 2006, I still like the Halloween decor I used back then.

   11)  Add stick on decals to existing mirrors and pictures.
Our family photos get stick on eye ball decals.

I added a removable vinyl sticker to the mirror behind the twigs.
My skeleton looks scared.

More glued on spiders. 
These pop right off the ironstone.

 Don't forget your costume.

This is my home made version of Medusa from a few years back.

It's sad when one of the better pictures I have taken involves having snakes in my hair.

Oh well.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Have you started decorating yet?
I haven't, but I'm getting excited about it.
I know yesterday was Labor Day, but it's never to early to start thinking about Halloween.

Thanks for checking it out.

 

Valentines Day

I hope you all have a fabulous Valentines Day. My family and I celebrated it at home a couple of days ago with some delicious cake that my daughter Casey made. It was delicious and she made it all by herself. My husband's Grandfather owned a German Bakery in New York City, so maybe she gets it from that side of the family?

Tonight I have a date with a group of twelve year old volleyball players. We have practice on Monday nights, so we celebrated early this year. My husband and I had a date in Coronado yesterday playing a little volleyball in front of the Hotel Del. We're weird, we enjoy workout dates. It was so beautiful and warm out at the beach and we left the kids at home. It doesn't matter what the day is I still like hanging out with him.

Hope you're spending your Valentines Day doing something you love!

The Perfect Valentine's Day Dessert

My friends know I'm not a big dessert maker or eater, but my family is. My husband in particular loves sweets and his favorites are anything that contain chocolate and orange. He has no problem finishing a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies in one sitting. He runs just about every day and still has six pack abs. so he can get away with it. I on the other hand can't and so I don't indulge in sugar very often.

My Sister-In-Law gave my a subscription of Bon Appetit Magazine for my birthday (Thanks Sandy!). I received my first issue this last week and decided to try a new recipe. I haven't tried any new recipes lately. It seems I've been going to my old favorites. Things are getting a little boring in the kitchen.



I love to cook and I make home cooked meals for my family about six out of seven days of the week. The main reason I don't make many desserts is because baking requires exact measurements. I rarely measure when I cook, thus baking is a challenge for me. I get distracted while I'm baking with laundry, the phone, TV, kids, the dog, etc., it doesn't take much. I sometimes think I have A.D.D. or maybe it's too much exposure to spray paint fumes? I forget if I'm on one teaspoon of sugar or two, two cups of flour or three? I have to really concentrate. When I saw this recipe containing orange and chocolate, I knew I wanted to try and make it for my family. This is what I tried,

Bitter Sweet Cocoa Souffle's with Orange Blossom Cream.

Click Here for the recipe.

OK I ate one and it was sooo good! Decadent warm gooey chocolate with cool orange whipped cream. Yum!

The only change I made was the substitution of Orange Extract instead of Orange-Flower Water. I couldn't find Orange-Flower Water at our grocery store.

Orange Extract


Blend the whipping cream, orange extract, sugar and orange peel.

Orange Whipped Cream

Pour this into a ramekin and refrigerate.

I had an extra one. Here it is uncooked and made two days ago.

Not only do they taste delicious, they can be made ahead of time and popped in the oven while you're clearing your Valentine's table of dishes.

Here is the same one pictured fresh out of the oven.

Make an indentation for the cream.

I added some orange peel on top, but I think the color is clashing with the pink plate, oh well.

They are worth the calories.

Bon Appetit!

Happy V Day!

Something We Do Every Year

Every year around Christmas time, our family gets together and visits the Hotel Del in Coronado. My husband and I were married there a little over fifteen years ago. We exchanged vows in the gazebo at the Del's garden. Every year we go back and take pictures in the gazebo and in front of the Christmas tree in the hotel lobby.

Here is our wedding.

It's a family event. My brother Mike, my sister-in-law Sandy, and their two boys, Jake and Sam come with us too.

I have a picture from our wedding day of my husband leaning on this light pole right before we got married. The kids like to re-enact the shot. Here they are from last year.

Here's Casey this year.

Cami and Casey

Jake, Cami, Casey, and Sam last year in front of the Del Christmas tree.

Here they are this year in front of the light pole.

My parents always come and take us all out for dinner.

We always take pictures in front of the tree.

Here we are in the gazebo. You might be wondering why my husband isn't facing the camera? It's a condition of his witness protection program.

Just kidding, he's a little camera shy and doesn't want to be on the blog.

Such great memories and a wonderful family tradition.

Wishing your family a wonderful Holiday.