Finger Food

The rain just doesn't want to stop, and when it does it stays misty.  Sooo I have turned to other Halloween projects.  Last year I made fingers from white chocolate covered pretzel sticks.  Once everyone got over the shock of seeing fingers lying on the plate they were a big hit.  The youngest reminded me last week that it was getting time to make fingers for this year, so I have been in the kitchen making fingers.  I think the first batch roughly 5 dozen "fingers" but only about 2 dozen made it to the carving and powdering stage.  The youngest has been snatching them quicker than I can carve the features into them.  Last night I got another 2 dozen carved and powdered.  I have all of them hidden.  I think that I am also going to try to make eyeballs this year.  I figure white chocolate covered peanut butter will be a good base.  We'll see. (pun intended)

Yeah! I Got to Work On The Yard

It stopped raining Friday night so Saturday I took advantage!!! Began by getting the yard mowed then enlisted the help of the youngest. He always sets up the cemetery fence for me. He has it all down to a science, he knows exactly how far apart to space the stakes. If his feet get any bigger I am in trouble. I don't know if I can find anymore of the chain (another project on my forever long list is PROPER cemetery fencing.). After he got the fence put up I couldn't wait to start filling it. I began pulling out tombstones when I realized that one of the things I really wanted to do this year was make tombstones. Oh well, it looks like another year of store bought tombstones. Bleh! It is a good thing the cemetery isn't all that big. While I was placing the tombstones my neighbor came over to give me this really cook apron she had embroidered and to tell me about the Haunted Corn Maze that she was working in this year. (Yes the big green monster reared its ugly head. I got jealous. Big Time.) She gave me a flyer and asked me to come. She also wanted me to give them some pointers on things that they needed to fix/change. Like she said being in the middle of it you don't see what the customer sees. She came over today while I was putting some accent pieces in the cemetery to discuss my thoughts on the maze. Of course me and my big mouth had to go volunteer to help out next weekend. But at least I have the cemetery mostly done. I have to adjust the placement of some of the tombstones and play with the lights a little more, but over all it is done. Now for the rest of the yard and quite a few prayers, chants, spells and sacrifices that it doesn't rain anymore. Hey what ever it takes.

Casting Call

It is raining. It has been raining for the past several days. I had pulled out a few projects and started working on them again in hopes of being able to put them right out into the yard when I finished them but it started raining. The one time I quit procrastinating I can't do much because of the rain. At least the campfire is done and two of the ghosts are almost done. I just need to sew their arms into place, maybe even look for some wire to give their arms a better look (maybe not this year, need to leave a little room to improve). Norville has his stand and arms now. I really didn't realize how big he was gonna turn out to be. Now I just need to distress his jacket and make his corn field. Tim still needs his hands. That one is one project that I am a little uneasy about trying to accomplish this year, but I have to do something since I threw out the old hands.

I really wanted to get to work on the lighting this year. I have read from so many different sites that I have major concerns about the amount of light fixtures that I have. This year I am going to mount some of the lights on the side of the house for a more moonlit effect (or at least that is what it is supposed to do). I am hoping that I don't have to buy to many bulbs this year. My Halloween budget is spent and I really don't want to have to ask Pappa Bear for anymore money. To think last year I was bugging over fog machines. I haven't even thought about those this year. OH CRAP!!! I haven't thought about fog machines! I have to make new fog chillers this year. The ones I made last year didn't chill the fog enough, it still floated up, up, and away. I guess I will have to forget fog this year. Not that I used it that much last year anyway. Oh well, I told myself at the beginning of the year I was not going to let things get me frazzled. So what if I don't have fog. I live on a hill and trying to keep fog on the side of a hill is fruitless anyways. Now were are those darn ravens I put in the box!?!

Moving in the Right Direction

Who would have thought that making a fake fire was so frustrating. My original design failed major big time. Then the youngest comes out of his hole, turns out all the lights then starts making suggestions. Cut here. Move the lights there. Separate the silk a little more there. Now there, it looks more like a fire, just need to add the logs around it. Brat. I guess I was to close to the project to see. But now the fire is done. Two of the ghosts have been started by the oldest and his girlfriend. That just leaves 3 more to do. Norville is starting to get ready. I finally figured out his pose for the year. Just have to find the proper height corn stalks. Don't want him to be totally hidden. We have discussed hanging Grim up on his usual line but we are afraid the he will Diva on us like the last time we let him play (the oldest girlfriend looked at us like we had lost our minds when we discussed this aspect of Grim). He always had to be the center of the cemetery.



I think that I am going to name the yard this year. Ravenhill Manor sounds pretty good. It also helps that I have about a dozen black birds for the haunt this year and the yard is so steep. I want to place signs out on some of the main streets directing people back to our area. This year the ToTs will be getting full sized candy bars. Now watch I will be over ran with people this year. Of course I do plan on having some treats for family and friends. Fingers anyone?

Busy, Busy, Busy, but Nothing Done

To say that I have been busy lately is an understatement. That wonderful man that I married took me to see Wicked. If you haven't been go. If you haven't read the book, for goodness sakes read the book. I really enjoyed every second of it (both of them). I never thought that I would ever feel sorry for the Wicked Witch of the West. She was the major subject of many childhood nightmares. Who would have thought that she was really just an Animal Rights activist. The Wicked Witch of the East, well not so much. She kind of deserved the whole falling house thing.

It is also preseason for hockey. My other passion. My youngest son and I have been to 2 preseason games so far. I think that we have run out of free tickets for right now. This is okay though. House work needs to be done. These props are not going to finish themselves. Besides he has college to worry with. But oh, is it so wonderful to hear the swishing of blades on the ice, the smacking of the opponents faces against the plexiglass, the blood on the ice, and the crowd going wild. Funny how you can get away with yelling at the top of your lungs that the other team sucks at a hockey game. It is almost kind of expected in fact other people join in. Try that at any other sports game and you get thrown out.

I have been wanting to do a test run of all the props in the back yard this past week to what all needs to be tweeked but the weather hasn't been agreeable. Doesn't look go for next week either. I am really excited about the new light plan that I have for this year. Hopefully it will bring that added spookiness that I need. Not that there will be a lot of TOTs this year. Austin Peay is having Homecoming that night, the Predators have a game that night also. Not to mention more and more TOTs are going to the mall to trick or treat. Oh well, for us die hard old school people, see you as the crank ghosts float.

Not Enough Time In The Day

I feel awful. Down right horrible. There are so many things that I have neglected and posting to this is one of them. You would think that being a "Stay at home mom" would give me the time to do all of the things that seems to make it to my daily list of things to do. As you can see from when I did my last post this is sooooooooo not the case. Now all of the things that no one else can seem to get around to becomes such HIGH PRIORITY that Mom has to do it.

At least this week hasn't been the normal bust. I went to Alabama for 3 days to take my mother to a doctor's appointment. She has such an amazing brain sometimes. As I have stated before I have had MAJOR blockage in the idea department lately. (Not helped by the lack of available Halloween merchandise in our area.) Mom helped me come up with some ideas of things to use to either complete or start more projects. But of course, I was without my trusty notebook. Somehow I had managed to leave it here. Thankfully most of the ideas are about some of the projects in Martha Stewart's Halloween Special Issue, so I am sort of saved there.

The boys and I are still trying to come up with a name for out yard this year. Because the turnout was so terrible last year I decided that this year we were going to make signs pointing the way. Hopefully with that and the new neighbors we will have a better turnout. I think that next week I will actually start pulling out all of the boxes and start putting things together for sort of a dry run. Seeing ShellHawks post reminded me that I have some items that might need a little sprucing up. I also want to start trying to figure out better lighting for the yard. This year we are going to put the display up a week before Halloween this time. We had tried to in the past but we had a few kids in the neighborhood that thought it would be fun to steal the tombstones. For the most part they are no longer living in the neighborhood now. So we are going to give it another try.

Then to top it all off I just remembered what today was. Thank you to all those who gave some much to help so many just a few short years ago. Of course there are not words to say for the loss of so many lives.

Where Did The Day Go????

For the past few days I have been busy running around town taking care of this, that, and the other only to find myself just futher behind than ever. I have finally got the youngest set for college. He really should have done it all for himself, BUT, he decided sort of last minute to join the marching band. As a parent I have mixed emotions about this, but what parent doesn't. I have managed to brainstorm an idea with the oldest on the delimma with Tim's hands. I also managed to take 10 minutes while cooking dinner to string orange lights inside Norville. I put a flasher bulb on the string (which I think is slightly defective) so now he flashes his wonderful smirk. You know you have done good when the young ones have to stop because it caught them off guard!!!! I also took an hour to myself today to wander around HobbyLobby today. Found some great vines for Norville's arms and they were 1/2 off to boot! Yet for all of the running around I have yet had the chance to work on any of the brainstorming ideas that we came up with. Of course we didn't write them all down and I can only remember a quarter of them.








We are planning another trip to Adams, TN though. In between football games, band competitions, work and what ever else comes up we are GOING to take the time to go. This time we are going in force. Girlfriends, neighbors, best friends, family members, we are going to bring them all. The three of us are not going to be the only ones to be a little jumpy right now. We have been finding faces in almost half the pictures that I took that were not there when I took them. Like the one to the right...when I took that picture the rock wall in the upper right did not look like that.

Finding that Feeling

Well I was only able to recruit the youngest and his girlfriend to go to Adams, TN with me. She had been to Adams before but not to the Bell Witch Cave. If you haven't been it is well worth the trip. It is very easily missed since it is a tiny town that looks as if it is going the way of the ghosts that haunt the area. The story itself will give the hair on the back of your neck a good work out (if you get the right book) and has been the basis of several movies. We only did the cave portion of the tour, which was fine enough for the kids. I have always found caves to be creepy, but then add a legend like the Bell Witch and the creep meter just about pegs out. Though the tour wasn't very long, by the time we got to the turn around point several people were not unhappy to be heading back. It was at the turn around point, of course, that things got interesting. Our guide was pointing out a few rock formations to us when several of us started hearing voices. About half way through her speech one of the people in our group asked if there was another group in the cave. She told us that she was the only one giving tours today so no one else was in the cave. Boy did this get the goose bumps bumping. She then started pointing out a formation that with the naked eye you can't see.

Of course I had my camera with me and nearly jumped off the rock I was standing on when this face appeared in my view screen. I tried several times to capture the image, but was unable to do it. It wasn't until after I turned the flash off that I finally got it. By the way we kept hearing the voices until we began to leave the area. I doubt if you can make out the face in the picture but boy does it pop out at you when you look at the view screen!!! Honest I didn't move the camera to a different area!

Trying to Find Inspiration

It has been a week since I got back from my mother's and I am still looking for that spark. Tim has been standing oh so patiently next to my "desk", Norville has taken his spot on the printer and I have managed to find some odd bits and pieces to add to the atmosphere. But it just hasn't hit. I will admit Dollar Tree has a wonderful supply of small crows and barbed wire for this year but, like I said nothing that has really sparked it for me. I am down to driving around looking for inspiration. I guess that is why I have decided to take a small jaunt to Adams, Tennessee, home of the Bell Witch. Also supposedly who the movie American Haunting is based on. (Not to get on a soapbox but, Obviously someone didn't read all of the books about her.) Luckly I only live a few miles from Adams so it won't take long to get there. I have managed to convince the youngest and his girlfriend to go along with me. Hopefully I can convince a few other friends to go. The more to scare the better. Maybe this might get me more in the mood to haunt. I think part of my problem might also be seeing more Christmas decorations in the store than anything else.

Waiting For the Light Buld

I just returned from visiting my mother in Alabama. Tank (the dog) and Boo (the cat) were both mad at me for leaving them alone with Pappa Bear and the boys for that long. You would have sworn I was gone for a month not 4 days. Everyone says that if I hadn't come home when I did Boo might have done something to Norville. Pappa Bear said that he would come into the kitchen and catch her looking at Norville with a certain look on her face. He just knew she was plotting the different was to make Norville suffer for making Momma leave. She sure yelled at me once I got back. In fact she still yells at me whenever she comes into the kitchen and thinks I am leaving. Tank has just attached himself to by backside. They both finally calmed down once they seen me fire up the laptop.

So now I am looking around for what project to complete now. Tim's hands are going to have to wait for the brainstorm to hit. I just haven't been inspired with a solution to his hand problem. I need them to be strong enough to hold the lantern and the staff, but they need to be flexable so that when I pack up for the year he is not still holding onto both items. I have thought about working on my outfit, but that means getting up in the attic and trying to find all of my sewing stuff. (The attic isn't the most friendly place right now.) I have been looking at some of the sites that I go to the most but inspiration/despiration/infatuation just hasn't taken hold just yet. For once it isn't because of procratination!!!! I have not been inspired by most of the hands that I have seen because of the fact that once they are dry, they are in that position only. Tim might not be holding onto the staff next year if I can figure out how to make his arm move like I want to. Then he would look really stupid with a hand clutching nothing.

Finally Done!!!

Well his head is complete! And his name is Norville. I am really pleased with the way he turned out, Pappa Bear was even impressed. Thank you so much SpookyBlue and Pumpkinrot! The hard part is over, now it is just trying to figure out exactly where I want to put him then figure out the best lighting. Next project...revamp Tim. His hands need to be made this year, he need a little stuffing around the middle and I still have to figure out the best way to make him stand without so many ropes and stakes. I think that I am going to try my hand at LED eyes for him after this season. Maybe that way it will be done by next season. That and I think Norville needs a mate. We do have a small bird problem here. At least I got him done before I go to my Mom's.

Procrastinating

It is amazing how little work I have gotten done on my paper mache pumpkin that I started last year. So I have told myself that I can't start a new project until it is done. I think I took myself seriously this time. I am actually at the painting stage. This amazes me because I am the queen of procrastination. Up until 2 weeks ago this pumpkin was just a barely covered blob. Now it has eyes, a nose, a pretty wicked smile, a black base paint and one layer of pumpkin orange paint. I think all I need is one, maybe two more layers of orange, then maybe a good dry brushing of apricot then paint the vine and then find the perfect mount. Only 82 more days, easy.

I have gotten several comments about my latest creation already. My younger son's girlfriend said that it sort of creeped her out to walk by it a few days ago. My older son had the best comment though. Coming in at 3:00 in the morning and seeing it will definitely make you think twice before continuing into the house. I have to figure out what kind of lighting there was at that time and try to duplicate it. Of course, I have decided to have my haunt up for the entire week this time which is a first for me. This will give me plenty of time to tweak the lights and fog machine for the best possible performance.

At least Tank and Boo are sharing in my creative endeavors.

The Frantic Rush is ON

Around the house signs of fall are starting to show. Several trees in the neighborhood have already changed color. Strips of paper and bowls of watered down glue are found on the table, freezer, butcher block, floor and anywhere else it can end up. The computer has been running nonstop back and forth to my favorite Halloween sites for inspiration, frustration, and sheer jealousy. I have a wealth of ideas and no knowledge of how to make them take shape. Plus my secret Halloween change fund is tapped out. At least my JOL is starting to take some shape. Hopefully the vine will not give me as much trouble as the rest of it has. I think I have started to come to grips with how not to do some projects.