The Elf Blog

Hershey at Halloween

Last week, I made my adorable dog, Hershey, a Halloween costume. I used sale fabric I picked up in a big box store for less than $5 (and I have tons left for other projects).  I downloaded a free stencil for the monogram and I made a pattern from newspaper.  All told, it cost less than a dollar and took about an hour and a half -- most of that trying to measure her while she squirmed.

Here are the results:

Pretty cute, eh?  And the cape is nice too.

Happy Samhain

To those who follow the Old Path, Happy Samhain.  May the turning of the seasons bring you light, prosperity, and peace.

Bright Blessings!

Last Minute Costumes

So, you're off to a Halloween party tomorrow night.  What are you wearing?  If you haven't decided yet, here are a few last-minute ideas that you can put together relatively quickly and inexpensively:

• The Professor from Gillgan's Island.  A white shirt and some khakis are all you need.  To accessorize, detach the receiver from an old phone and duct tape it to a coconut from the grocery store.  Invite people to test your island phone.
• Given the horrendous calls in this year's baseball post-season, wear a black jacket and pants over a black shirt.  Carry a white cane.
• In honor of Where the Wild Things Are, where kiddie clothes and go as your inner child.
• Wear a white lab coat, carry a stopwatch, and wrap yourself in red tape.  You're a doctor trapped by the health care system.
• Wear baggy old clothes and a battered hat.  Outline your facial features in triangles or other shapes using an eyeliner pencil.  Tape some straw (available at craft stores) at the openings of the clothes (between buttons, wrists, neck, ankles) and go as a scarecrow.

What will you be?

Halloween Hints

With Halloween less than 2 weeks away, here are some random thoughts to help you prepare.

If you are hosting a Halloween party, your invitations should have already gone out.  This week, you need to finalize your menu and decoration plans.  If you plan any games or contests, organize them as well.  By this weekend, you'll want to have developed your schedule for cleaning, decorating, cooking, etc.

Decide when your will power will allow you to buy the treats you'll hand out.  I already have mine in a plastic storage container in my living room.  I am incredibly proud that I haven't opened anything yet(though the peanut butter cups are calling my name). 

Personally, I hand out candy for Halloween.  I don't think an occasional treat for kids is all that bad.  I am not responsible for kids eating junk the other 364 days of the year or for eating their entire Halloween stash in a single day.  If you have kids, do feel free to lock up the treat bags and portion the treats out over a period of several days.  However, if you don't want to hand out candy, there are other options: low sodium pretzels, sugar-free gum, granola bars, fruit roll-ups (though they aren't necessarily that much better than candy), Halloween pencils, sheets of stickers, press-on tattoos.

I also hand out glowsticks.  I buy them at Michael's craft stor, 15 for $1.  Kids love them and they do a little bit to make them more visible as they walk door to door.

If your kids are going trick or treating, you need to decide costumes this week.  As you make the final decision, please keep safety in mind:

• If you live in a cold weather area, make sure the costume allows for layers.  Halloween is far less fun when you spend the next week sick.
• Make sure costumes aren't too long.  If they are, you don't have to sew.  It's a Halloween costume, not a wedding gown.  Turn up the hem and use duct tape or double-sided tape to hold it in place.  It'll last one night and that's all that counts.
• Consider face paint rather than a mask.  Face paint allows for better peripheral vision. 
• All costumes are beautifully accessorized with reflective tape.  (Get it at a home imprvement store.)  Put it on the back and front and down both legs.
• Everyone in the trick-or-treat group should carry a flashlight.  The adult chaperones should carry extra batteries.  If I planned the world, there would be more sidewalks and streetlights.  Since I don't, we need to carry our own light to watch out for uneven pavement, branches, and other hazards.

Halloween may be scary, but it shouldn't be dangerous.

Holiday Weekend

For some folks, this is a three day weekend.  (I'm making it a 5-day weeekend with a little voyage to New England.)  Use the time well:

• Decorate for Halloween.
• Make Halloween costumes or crafts.
• Get outside and enjoy the autumn air.
• Go apple or pumpkin picking.
• Hit Columbus Day sales to get a jump on your Christmas shopping.
• Bake an apple crisp or make a hearty stew.

Enjoy this fabulous fall weekend.  I'll see you again on Tuesday!

One Month to Halloween

Halloween is one month away!  What you need to do depends on how you celebrate.

If you are hosting a party, invite your guests now and begin deciding on your menu.

If you decorate, get the decorations out and check them to make sure they are in good repair.  You'll want to decorate the weekend of the 10th and 11th. 

If you plan to make decorations or party favors, get your supplies this weeks o you can get started.

If you will be making costumes, decide what you will be and start gathering materials.  For children who will be trick-or-treating, make sure you stock up on flashlights, batteries, and reflective tape.

DON'T buy your candy yet unless you have amazing will power!

Two Months Out

Halloween is two months from today!  I can't recommend that you start stockpiling candy quite yet. (We both know it would never see the autumnal equinox, let alone Halloween.)  There are some things you can do, however.

• Start thinking about costumes.  If you plan to make costumes, you'll want to have patterns and materials in hand by late September, earlier if you need to make more than two.  The terror of Halloween should not be caused by needing to sew 5 cosumes in 2 hours.
• Decide if you will host a Halloween party.  Halloween is a Saturday this year, so more people may decide to entertain.  If you will host a party, it's not too soon to think about guest list, menu, and decor.  At least, you may want to do some web searching for ideas.
• If you decorate, use the time you put your summer things in storage to check on your decorations from past years.  See what's usable, what's trash, and what needs repairs.  If you'll be making things, decide on your projects and gather materials.  Use spare blocks of time to do what you can ahead of time.

Happy Halloween

Have a wonderful evening!  Trick-or-treat safely.  Celebrate joyously.

For those who follow the old path, Happy Samhain.  May the turning of the year bring you back to center.

Blessed be.

Halloween Safety

With only three days left until Halloween, it's time to make final safety preparations:

• If you have kids who will be trick or treating, check your weather forecast for Friday evening to make sure that they will be warm enough.  Consider putting a few layers of fleece or a turtle neck or long underwear underneath a costume.  If rain is expected, make sure you have plenty of umbrellas handy.
• Everyone who will be on the streets should have plenty of reflective tape on their costumes.  Buy a role at a home improvement store and stick it all over.  Glowsticks can add to a costume AND make you more visible.  Of course, several flashlights are a requirement.
• Make sure that a costume isn't so long or cumbersome that the wearer is likely to trip and fall.  Hospitals are not fun on Halloween.
• Makeup allows better vision than masks.
• Make sure that no parts of a costume flutter.  If they do, exercise exceptional care around candles or other flames.
• Limit use of candles in decorating.  If you do use them, make sure they are enclosed.
• Keep all pets inside after dark on Halloween.  Don't let a pet outside unless you are right there.
• Always trick or treat in neighborhoods you know and immediately toss any unwrapped candy.
• Enjoy the frights, but be careful of those who have a lower "scare threshhold."

Have a spooky, but safe, Hallloween.

Halloween Parties!

If you are having a Halloween party this weekend, you have already invited your guests.  Now it's time to finalize everything else.

Decorations are a first step.  You can go the autumn route or the scary route, depending on the folks who attend.  You'll certainly want pumpkins, gourds, and jack o'lanterns.  Consider using battery-operated lights in the jack o'lanterns for saftey.  Beware of purchasing hay bales from farms as decorative accents.   These hay bales often come with univited party guests -- mice.  On the other hand, old pots filled with water and dry ice look scary and clean themselves up!

As for food, there's a practice of trying to make it look scary.  I don't want my food to be frightening -- and I certainly don't want it to look like an insect.  I'm a big fan of keeping Halloween party food simple finger food with an emphasis on fall flavors.  For example, pumpkin cupcakes and apples with caramel dipping sauce, cocktail meatballs and hot dogs, suqash dip with toasted pitas, mixed toasted nuts spiced with chili powder.  Keep things simple, with an emphasis on preparing beforehand, especially if the party is Friday night.  Consider buying simple appetizers from a local restaurant or seasonal goodies from a bakery.  If you want to be eerie, make a nice red wine punch and toss in a few chunks of food grade dry ice.  It will make the punch smoke (and keep it cold), but it won't affect the flavor.

Whatever you do, the key is making sure that you are having a good time.  If you are stressed, your guests will be too!