Say hello to my little friends!

This is Darrel and my other brother Darrel.

Heehee - they're so dorky looking, but I'm sure they'll fit into the Maple Grove Cemetery just fine.

I was seriously considering getting one of those $30 WalGreen skellys, but I'd ordered these guys thru a group buy on the HF back in July.  There has been some issues with the guy who arranged it & I thought I wouldn't get them, but when people started posting that they received their bluckies, I opted to wait and see.  Sure enough - there was a big ol' box waiting for me today!

Speaking of the cemetery, Angel & I got the stones put out last night.  I don't have any pics yet, since it got dark while we were out there & it was starting to rain when I got home tonight. 

Only one minor injury.  I was hammering a wood stake in the lawn to slide a stone over and missed it and hit my wrist of the hand I was holding the stake with.  You know, that nice tender area of thin skin right above the palm?  Yeah.  Another nice bruise for me!  But I did not cuss! 

Before we got started, we stood in the driveway and surveyed the yard.  Then I noticed a leaf floating above the flowerbed.  I looked closer and saw it was caught in this guy's web! 

Just do NOT come into my house!!!

Happy Autumn !!

Autumn technically began at 5:05 am this morning.  I think it's been here for a while, tho!  It's been quite a while since it even got over 70 degrees.  Not complaining!  I like the coolness, but I'm not thrilled with the rain that we started getting last night.

OMG, I can't believe I didn't post this!  The hubster & I had wandered into the local Salvation Army recently and I found a shiatsu massager for $4.99 and got it for half off that!   I was a dork and haven't taken a pic yet, but it's very similar to this.....

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to create with this......I haven't had a chance to search thru the threads on HF yet, since I know there will be 1000 different ideas posted there. 

I don't have any props that move - they're all static.  Which is probably why I felt compelled to pick this up!

The girl's birthday party / sleepover  is tomorrow and then we're going to the orchard with the family unit, so I probably won't get much done this weekend, unless....I recruit all these extra kids to help me set up!!!!   Hmmmmmm.

I got reaped!!

I mentioned here about my Reapee, well, it was my turn!!

I had just stopped home after work this afternoon to change shoes before going grocery shopping - but there was a package on the front step!  Needless to say....shopping got postponed.

Hmmm, I wonder who it's from???

 

Ooooo, a burnt box??

 

It was cute that everything was covered in this tablecloth.

 

I just kept pulling more & more out!!

Here's a closer look.

Velvety spiders & a glittery sign,

Snakes!  

Oh, the fun I can have with these!!

Grow critters!

I actually like the skeleton how it is. 

Lotion & cupcake mix!

There was also a piece of pumpkin spice bark (like fudge) but I ate it. 

It was yummy.

The broken glass gel things are awesome!  

I'm thinking bathroom mirrors.

And OMG, a blowmold!!! 

Too awesome for words. 

I've been collecting JOLs to add to the cemetery this year!

And seriously - I wonder who it's from!!  There was no return address at all.  I checked the tracking # on USPS & it said it originated in Tacoma, WA.  Didn't help a whole lot, since the Secret Reaper Exchange had somewheres like 150+ people involved!!

I'm sure sooner or later I'll find out who it is, so I can thank them properly.   They did really good!

Eeek! More bottles!!

In my defense - these were in a container in the garage!   I was rooting around looking for some supplies for a project that I was going to do last year, but didn't. Then I found these instead. 

1. I found at Halloween City (I think).

2. Was an old bottle I found while out Geocaching and I added the label that I got from last year's card exchange.

3.  The selection of store-bught bottles.  I had these in the bathroom.

4.  2 packages of Halloween sprinkles.  These were at WalMart on clearance for like $.50.  I really liked the test-tubes.

oh - and I only found 1 of the 2 items I was looking for.   But all of my H'ween totes have been moved to the front of the garage for easy access!

Secret Reaper

Last year was the first time I'd done a Secret Reaper on the H'ween Forum.  It's a lot of fun but can be difficult to decide on a gift for a total stranger!  The plus side?  A different total stranger sends you one!

I just sent the package off to my "reapee" this afternoon.  I really hope she likes it!!!

I took one of those Christmas kissing balls from Michael's and spray painted it black (duh, obviously!)  The red velvet ribbon got replaced.  Also from the Christmas section, I found lime green & purple glitter stick thingys.  The skeletons & small ornaments also came from Michael's.

Damn it, she better like it!!  The burn I got Saturday night on the end of my finger still isn't healed!!!  I really feared gangrene today.  OK, I may be exaggerating, but it started out OK at work, but then it got really hot & sore.  My entire finger was hot.  Even now it is noticeably warmer than my other fingers.  It's been tough typing all week at work, since I've been keeping it covered with Neosporin & a bandaid (which causes me to multiple keys on the keyboard instead of the one I want!)  Can burns get infected??

It sure looks better than it feels!

I was chatting with Ghoul Friday today about making candles from PVC pipes & I'm wondering if I dare......more hot glue is required!!!!

NHR project

Not-Halloween-Related (much, anyway!) project.

I found these awesome frames at a salvage / antique store over the summer.  I love them because of the curved glass.  The oval frame itself is really damaged, so I am going to cheat & go to Michael's to get one the same size & shape custom made.  The other one has a few very minor chips in the plaster frame.  I'm not thrilled with the color, so it will be repainted.

Anyway...I'm not sure what I'm going to put in the one on the right (non-oval), but the idea is to get a shot of Miss Angela blown up to fit the oval.

I had her dress up in the blouse I found for Jane (the prop formerly known as Marilyn) and one of my black skirts with lots of safety pins.  Now came the problem.  Miss Angela loves the camera and had a very hard time looking serious.

 A snort happened soon after I took this one.

I did finally get a couple good ones.   The second one to follow is my absolute favorite.  I think I'm going to have it done in a sepia tone to make it look old.

 A.

B.

 A. in sepia

 B. in black & white

B. in sepia.

I'm just happy that the different tones covers up the neon pink & orange tank top she had on, the bright pink nail polish & the writing on the back of her hand.

One project down!!!

I finished up Chris & Jimmy today.  I'm pretty happy with their goofiness.   

 Chris

No, he's not getting a rocking chair! 

Jimmy

Ow, Dammit !!!

I was putting together the gift for my secret reaper on the Halloween Forum and received the bane of all crafters.....the hot glue burn.

Yeah, its on my right ring finger.  I never really paid attention to how often I used this finger (especially when typing) until I developed a large blister on the end of it. It doesn't hurt now, but it sure did for at least 20 minutes after I got it.

I'm not going to post a pic of said gift yet, because I'm not entirely happy with it.  I knew what I was seeing in my mind, but once I saw it for real - it's missing something.  I must think on it.

So I will leave you with Chester.

What I need is......

a sign for my cemetery.  This is the first year that it's had a name so it seems an occasion for a christening (but I'm not breaking any bottles of champagne!)

**disclaimer** This is going to be rambling, since I like to talk ideas out in my head & sketch.  Or in this case - images & a blogpost!

Now the question is.....what kind of sign?  I Googled wooden sign images for quick ideas and found these.....

I like the first 2 in that they can be out in the yard, closer to the road so it can be seen.  And they'd be really easy to make.  The third one could be hung on the fence, but I'm pretty sure I have stuff that goes there.  So neh.

 



I really like this idea.  I could conceivably put it between the 2 maples in the middle of the front yard.  Or there are 2 locations spanning the driveway.  And if I choose the driveway (and it doesn't get nixed by the non-Halloweeny husband) I have to make sure it's high enough for each of our cars with mulitple ham radio antennas to fit under.

So I'm leaning toward the yard.  I don't want to encicle the entire yard with a fence, so just a short length on each side of the "gate" maybe to reach the trees.  And since no one should be actually going under it, it can be low enough to see well.  And easier to light it up.

I think that would be more elegant.  But the smaller signs have their charm, too.   Maybe I'll just start small this year. 

Yeah.

Last day of vacation!

Sent the hubby back to work today & the girl off to school (9th grade - EEEK!) and how did I spend my day alone?  Shopping!!!  I don't usually get to go just wander stores at random without someone nagging me, so I enjoyed myself muchly.

I had my lonely breakfast at Tim Horton's with an apple cinnamon donut.  I didn't ask if they had pumpkin flavoring for the coffee yet.  I didn't want to confuse little old Ossanna, the cashier who is always there & knows how I like my coffee!  It's kind of nice to be considered a "regular"!

Went to JoAnn Fabrics & picked up some orange tights for the girl (her school colors are black, white & orange!!), some really nice plushy H'ween hand towels & some silk fall flowers. All their H'ween stuff was 30% off.

 Noise maker for my desk at work!!!

Just walked thru Marshall's / HomeGoods and looked at all their goodies.  I wish I would have had my camera there.  They had a set of little skeleton & ghost waterglobes.  The globes were slightly bigger than a golfball and located in the belly region.  The ghost's globe had a JOL in it.  The skeleton was disturbing.  He was sitting cross-legged and inside the globe, was his spine.  However it did not reach all the way to the ribcage.  So it basically looked like a white penis, especially with his hands down in front of it.  It was funny and wrong on many levels!

Went to Hobby Lobby & finally got the cardstock and some stickers to make cards for the Card Exchange on the HalloweenForum. Guess I should get busy on those!  I also found these guys...

too stinkin' cute! 

At Michael's I got some self-adhesive craft foam that I'm going to use for Chris & Jimmy's masks (my hockey sentries) and a fuzzy brown spider with a 30" leg span.  I'm ticked that I still haven't gotten an coupons emailed to me!

Then a NHR (not H'ween related) stop at Avenue for a pair of leggings & some undies.

When I stopped for lunch, I realized that I was already in the parking lot to Garden Ridge, so I ~had~ to go in.  This is probably one of the best selections of outdoor stuff I've seen so far this year.  3 different styles of blowmolds - those things are scarce around here!  A whole bunch of inflatables and lifesize skeletons for $50! I was tempted to get one & just push it around in a cart for fun!  The 3' ones would fit in the baby seat, too!  They also had the lifesize hanging ghosts & goblins, most of them with light & sound.  Tons of Funkins & ceramic pumpkins / gourds.  These are what I picked up....

  He's about 18-20 inches tall.

WOOHOO!  I found the shelf for my potion bottles!  It's 7" deep x 14" wide and 41" tall. It's not really as tall as I'd like, but I can build a box of some sort to stand it on. I also plan to paint it and cover that top medallion with a lime green glitter maple leaf I found someplace today, too. And I'll HAVE to choose my bottles wisely, since they won't all fit!

Then I had to make one more NHR stop at Wal-Mart (darn laundry anyway) and found the Martha Halloween magazine, so I had to get it!  I've heard good things about this year's offering from Miss Martha.
I totally love that she used 2" foam sheets to make her headstones!

I so want this cake!!

Bottle Inventory

OMG.  I have too many.  I really want to make a witch's kitchen, but I think I need to A). find an appropriate shelving unit / bakers rack / something to put these on and B). weed some of them out. 

 

All of the candle holders / candelabra have gotten Skeeter's approval. 

 

The half-gallon sized bottles.

The bottom of the amber on has a bunch of Spanish writing, 

No idea what it says.  

Looks like an address & phone #. 

 

 

More jugs.  The pitcher is actually ceramic!  I love the wood look. 

 

1. is filled with some thick goo.  It looks cool / revolting.

6. I found at a salvage yard.  It's got a faint iridescent sheen to it. 

 

#1. is a wine bottle.  (btw - it was gross.  Had to dump it out.)

#2 says "McCormick & CO. Baltimore Md" in script.  

From what I've found online - this is probably from around 1900. Oh yeah - McCormick spices. 

4. Around the shoulder of the bottle says "This contains Mrs. Stewart's Bluing", which according to their website was put on the first of the non-human blown glass bottles in 1907. 

 

Various food jars.

1. Pineapple Salsa

2. Alfredo sauce

3. Bacon bits

4. Homemade applesauce

exciting.

 

These are the ones I'm not quite sure about.  They're pretty colorful.  

However, I'm 99.9% sure that #1. is a Skyy vodka bottle. That blue is just awesome. 

 

I'm thinking that white container needs something painted on it. 

 

The middle vase needs some black flowers.

The metal stuff. 

I bet that Peter & Elise who got married 4/23/77 would be thrilled that their wedding glasses (#3) 

are being used in a Halloween display!  

I didn't realize they were engraved until I went to take this pic!

 

2. is a leather covered flask!!  There is a picture of a bunch of grapes on the other side. 

3. shouldn't really be on this post - it's a finial or something that will going to grace the top of a tombstone eventually.

I found Mrs. Bones (from Partylite) at the Romeo Peach Festival this weekend.  You'll be seeing more of her when Mr. Bones comes out to visit.  And I'll be sure to dust before then!