Deck the Halls for Halloween...

So I have to admit that I'm not a real fan of Halloween itself. It's always kind of creeped me out a bit. But I do love decorating for Halloween! Every year I look forward to pulling out the skulls and potions and witch wear...the only thing I don't like is the fake spider web that must cover the whole thing! It's a pain in the neck to work with but in the end it makes all the difference!

Here's what you see when you walk in to our home:

Here's a few close ups:

And the Family Room:

There you have it! I'm happy with how it turned out and most importantly it makes me happy to look at each day. It's funny though how much I love my decorations now while knowing that I will be completely sick of them and just itching to move onto Christmas decorating by the time Halloween actually rolls around!

P.S. I joined this post up with Show and Share Day over at Just a Girl and the Halloween Mantle Linky Party over at A-Z Go check them out!



     

Making Ghosties...(a tutorial)

When I was in elementary school I remember making ghosts using cheesecloth and sugar water. I watched that little ghost yellow a little more each year until finally it found a new home in the city dump. This year I remembered my beloved ghostie and wanted to make one with my own kiddos. I found instructions for a version of them on the Family Fun website and was so excited! The other day we gathered everything we needed and went to town...

First we gathered aluminum foil, liquid starch, cheese cloth, various vases and bottles and a large bowl.

Next make balls of foil and attach them to the tops of the vases/bottles. They will form the heads and "hands" of the ghosts.

Cut cheesecloth into squares according to the size of ghosts you want...

Pour the starch into the bowl and soak the cheesecloth in the starch for a minute until fully saturated then wring out the cheesecloth...

then drape it over the foil topped containers in a ghostly shape...

Also, tuck some foil balls under the edges of the ghost to make it look "floaty" when it dries...

Take a break to play in starch and make funny faces...

Let ghosts dry for 4-5 hours (Family Fun said 24hrs. but we found that they were ready before that.)

And the big reveal (-drum roll please-)....

Ta-Da!

We still haven't decided whether to put faces on them or just leave them looking mysteriously faceless.

Well, there you have it! I love how they turned out and I hope that these ghosties will not yellow like my sugar water one did. If they do it's ok, this was easy enough to make every year!