friday fixations: weird and wonderful stuff for halloween

{31 days of halloween} I've been so fascinated by these strange and spooky tales. Comprised of true stories, it's kind of like a macabre learning session.

{mica angela hendricks} This illustrator drew pictures of people's heads then let her 4-year-old daughter draw the bodies. What results is creepy but in a cute way.

{the richard balzer collection} Some crazy zoetrope gifs just cuz.

{harry potter butter beer} Get it at Starbucks or make it yourself (you know, take a rest from all that pumpkin you've been ingesting lately).

{halloween music} My Paper Crane provides a mix of vintage songs (she does one every year. It might be worth it to look through past mixes, too), while Hello Emma's got some newer spooky tunes, and Design Sponge went with some "lesser-known, low-key tunes" to inspire your halloween festivities.

{pumpkin templates} Still haven't carved one yet? Maybe these can help.

{skull decor} Everyone needs a stylish skull somewhere in their home, right?

{easy halloween-y recipes} Zombie boogers, mummy hot dogs, monster guts (although I would do these with pistachio pudding cuz I don't really like the idea of eating plain Cool Whip and food colouring -- good as it may be), bloody used bandaids, healthy boo bananas and orange pumpkins, and pretzel bones.

{stick figure costume} I'm very rarely entertained by baby costumes, but this one really made me chuckle.

diys i didn't: modern and simple halloween

First, since we're in the process of getting rid of (hopefully almost) everything we own, I don't want to get too carried away with Halloween; and second, I'm pretty obsessed with simple and modern Halloween decor this year anyway. Maybe my design mindset is already starting to turn Nordic.

Here're some DIYs that I thought would be simple and modern for an understated Halloween:

{1} Wired pumpkins: I like the casual yet graphic feel of these pumpkins. There's something about their imperfection that really interests me. The fact that they're black doesn't hurt either. Black and white and grey are my yes words right now.

{2} Printable cat decals: Not exactly spooky cat, but I think it's entirely all right if Halloween went cute for just one year (you'd be doing something really different from the normal which makes you... interesting!). Besides, you can't really go wrong with cats during Halloween, can you? (Final thought: you don't necessarily need to download the template. They're pretty easy to freehand.)

{3} Accordion paper folding: You're probably wondering what this even has to do with Halloween decor, but do you see the round folded object? Imagine that in a pale orange or black. Get it now? Don't add a stem (you don't have to get all literal with it), add a flameless candle instead.

{4} Paper spiderwebs: You know what's great about paper crafts and moving? When you're done with them, you can just chuck 'em in the recycling bin. That's what I like about these. Plus they'd look pretty spiffy in a window with the lights on at night.

{5} Printable halloween paper: I love these papers, but I wouldn't use them as wrapping paper (unless you give Halloween presents -- is that starting to become a thing? I don't like it). I'm thinking placemats, invitations (for that Halloween party you might have), diy foldable treat bags, boxes or origami characters, or a quick replacement for a modern art piece in your home (stick it right to the glass of the frame for a simple switch out). Here's another skull option and some cute ghosties if you need them.

{6} Black paper cats: Cut out three of these in varying sizes and set on a mantle or table top. Slightly Halloween-y but also extra modern and understated (looks like you fussed but you didn't).

{7} Office supply pumpkins: I love how easy these are and how stylish. Not everything about Halloween has to be gory. Pretty coloured or brass polka dots totally win me over (plus it's something I can accomplish in about 10 minutes without getting my hands dirty. And if you wanted to get real thrifty about it, just buy brass tacks and paint some random ones with nail polish. I haven't tried it, but I can't really see it not working. Even more thrifty, you could abandon the tacks and paint dots directly onto pumpkins. It won't give that neat 3D effect that tacks have, but it would do the job. In fact, I've decided I just want a few pumpkins on the steps this year and, even though I love this idea most, I'll probably just paint the dots on mine in the same colour paint as our front door. That way I won't feel guilty about having just purchased a bunch of tacks only to have to get rid of them in another month anyway).

{8} Wire Halloween sign: How about you pop one of these boo signs up in the spirit of this Christmas door idea that I've been dreaming about doing since last year (and please use little strips of pink washi tape to hold it up, too, cuz I super love that. OH! This plus cute cat decals? Hello, cute Halloween! Add some pink pumpkins with multi-coloured tacks and you're all set).

If understated and simple isn't your thing, head over to my fall and Halloween Pinterest board for more ideas!

halloween desktop calendar (and how to use Photoshop brushes)

I'm feeling little ghosties this year. Admittedly, I sort of cheated with this wallpaper. It was extremely easy to put together because of this great little ghosties brush pack for Photoshop. I love Photoshop brushes, but I rarely get a chance to use them. This was one of those times when it seemed kind of necessary (my first ghosts were upside-down tulips and did not look good). Click here if you want some ghosties haunting your brushes, too. 

1920 x1080

1680 x 1050

ipad

iphone/ipod

{note} A quick Google search for Halloween brushes will find you some really great sets that you can use for invitations, treat bags, and all sorts of things. Sometimes a person's first search for these types of crafts is for clip art but it can be a long hard search finding exactly what you need. Brushes offer a lot of options and are definitely way easier to use. If you're confused on how they work, I have Photoshop Elements, and all I have to do is click on the brush icon, then click on the style of brush at the top. There're some little white arrows to the side of the brushes available, and if you click on that, it takes you to a list of all the brushes you can use. Just click on Load Brushes... and go to the file where you've saved your ghostie brush set. Then you'll be able to choose from all the ghosts available in that set. There's probably a way to save it permanently in Photoshop, but it never works for me so I just load them as I need them. Brushes work as simply as choosing the one you want and stamping it. That's all! Brushes came into my life when I came across some really great sets like arrows, washi tape, and artistic inky brushes. They've proven really helpful for blog posts! I rarely go looking for clip art anymore.

fresh pumpkin puree

Remember my pink pumpkins? Well, in a moment of zeal the other week, I found myself cutting up the smallest one so I could try cooking it up.

I don't know what came over me. It was already around 3 in the afternoon. I had begun the process of making a new bread recipe (three loaves of oatmeal raisin bread), finished another batch of tzatizki, and had cleaned all the bathrooms earlier in the day.

I think I thought that since the oven was going to be on anyway I might as well do a pumpkin and see how it goes. And then I figured I had to do the seeds at the same time (oven efficiency etc.) and it wasn't too long before I found myself without any counter-space or time left.

Slicing a pumpkin open is fairly dangerous and scary and is really the hardest part of this whole task. This one seemed to crack so once I got a line sliced, I hit it on the counter to separate the halves. I read that a serrated bread knife does a safer job, but I tried that on another pumpkin and I thought it was more difficult and messy.

As I scraped out all the seeds and stringy membrane, I realized that I've never seen such beautiful pumpkin seeds before. These were plump, white, and perfect.

The seeds became a drain on time, though. And definitely, if I've ever thought it about anything, a job for children. Standing in the kitchen, picking seeds from pumpkin membrane is so tedious and tiring. If I didn't have pumpkin bits strewn everywhere and slimy orange hands, I would have taken the bowl into the living room to work on it so I could sit comfortably with the tv on (I think I'm getting old). Also, my next house is going to have so much natural light in the kitchen, it's going to make visitors ooh and aww (and all my prep pictures won't look like they were taken inside a gas station bathroom).

So back to the pumpkin cooking (which is the point to this anyhow). Initially, I was going to use the oven because it had to be on for my bread, but after one singular google search, I found that steaming pumpkin is faster, so out came my steamer pot (really just a big pasta pot) and my stove was commissioned for steaming.

I ended up cutting the pumpkin into quarters so they'd fit in the pot better. Depending on the size of the quarter, they took around 45-60 minutes to cook. So this is not a job you should start at the end of your day.

Once done, I removed the segment with a ladle and a slotted spoon (cuz I didn't really have a better plan for getting the pumpkin out of the pot) and let it cool in a bowl until I could safely handle it.

The pumpkin meat scrapes out fairly easily, but the rind will also come off easily so just be sure not to get bits of skin in your pulp. All that's left is to puree it and, like magic and unicorns, you've made your own pumpkin puree! Wasn't that so much better than buying a can at the store?! Except now it's 7 and you've only got one more segment left to cook, and your back is aching and your feet are tired (because you really should've left the seeds for a separate project) and usually you're falling asleep in front of the tv around this time, so don't worry about that damn last pumpkin slice until tomorrow.

{pumpkin puree}

1 sugar pumpkin (jack-o-lantern pumpkins have barely any pulp inside -- you know, so you can cut a face out of them easily. Note the inside difference on mine -- and are apparently very watery so don't bother with them)

Carefully, slice the pumpkin in half and use a spoon (or ice cream scoop) to scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Cut the halves in half again (in quarters) so they can easily fit into a steamer pot. Add one quarter to the pot (or two if you can fit it) and fill the pot with enough water so it's about a quarter to half way up the side of the pumpkin slice and there's enough so the pot doesn't boil dry, then turn your heat to high. Once boiling, lower the heat to about medium low or just so the water continues steaming but isn't at a rolling boil.

Check on your pumpkin periodically with a fork (by that I mean to jab it). Once it's soft all the way through, remove the pumpkin from the pot and allow to cool to the touch. With a spoon, scoop the pulp from the skin, then puree the pulp with an immersion blender or regular blender (whichever works for you). The amount of puree you get varies with the pumpkin. Mine netted me the equivalent of 6 cans (and a bit) of pumpkin puree. You can use it for recipes right away or do what I did and measure it out (so you know how much to take out for future recipes) then freeze it in well-labeled freezer bags (I like using bags now because I can freeze things flat and it takes up a lot less space than jars or plastic tubs).

{note} All in all, it is more economical to make your own. I've since had the pleasure of figuring out if this whole venture was worth it and, had I bought the equivalent in cans, I would have spent around $16 (given the price at Superstore last week). So, minus the amount for the pumpkin itself, I saved $10. I've also been using pumpkin for just about everything lately. Recipes coming soon!

pixy stix

Earlier this year, Idle Husband alerted me to this super awesome site, Stop Zombie Mouth. There you can find some coupons for a free P.C. or Mac download of Plants vs Zombies to give out for Halloween. (Plants vs Zombies is one of my all time favourite games.) 

This started me thinking. I know the coupons are meant to be given instead of candy (you know, to stop "zombie mouth"), but it kinda feels wrong not to hand out candy on Halloween. At first I thought it might be fun to attach the coupon to those smaller-sized suckers, but then I discovered pixy stix at the dollar store.

I haven't officially tasted these (I'm not really keen on having a mouthful of sugar), but Idle Husband seemed to really enjoy them. He sampled one of each flavour and orange is his favourite.

I printed out one sheet of coupons (8) because I'm only going to give the coupons to kids who look old enough (I don't remember there being a lot of older kids -- and by older, I mean waist height -- at our door last year). Then I punched a hole in each side of the coupon and threaded a pixy stick through. Easy!

Download coupons here and test out the game online here.

DIY: crow door decor

We love birds around here (even when Hermes is being an angry little dictator), so I thought the most appropriate decoration for our house this year would be crows (last year, I made a monster and went crazy with spiders).

This whole plan almost fell through because I could not find a single acceptable black crow. I was about to default to the Pacman and ghosts idea, when I stumbled on the perfect little crows at Superstore. And just like that my original idea was back on!

For the birds, all you have to do is find some silhouettes of crows through a google image search. Print them out at various sizes (to give the appearance of distance) and cut them out for templates. I used black poster paper that I found at the dollar store for the finished bird.

 

I also didn't worry too much about detail. Some images have every feather and foot perfectly outlined, but I just wanted to cut out as many as I could in as little time as possible, so I rounded the wing and tail feathers and just used wavy cutting to simulate feathers. Occasionally, I put in a feather slice but only randomly.

I had to do some testing with how to stick them up because tape takes off the paint on my doors. I found that sticky tacky actually does hold in the cold weather (I tested it in my freezer) and I'm even more impressed with it because I put all of this stuff up (in what seemed like) the hour before we had the biggest wind storm of the fall. I was so worried that night cuz I thought I'd go out the next morning and find a door covered in blobs of sticky tack and all my crows blown away, but I only lost one (and that wasn't on the door, I've got some around the window, too). And to further prove it to you, I put these crows up last week and these are pictures I took today. Everything's still holding strong.

The fake crows that I found at Superstore were only $3 which I didn't think was too bad (considering the larger ones I'd found). They did need a little fixing as their legs easily pulled out (and that's the main attaching part), so I added a little dab lot of hot glue and pressed them back in again. They do have wires on their feet for attaching and that seemed pretty good, but I didn't want to chance it, so I used some floral wire to further attach them to the branches of our front tree.

I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out (and I'm a little smug to see that other houses along our block have also now added some black paper crow cut outs to their Halloween decor, too). I did the spider web thing last year and putting it up was kind of a hassle, but taking it down? Trying to get all the webbing off my house was more of a nightmare than Halloween itself (there were STILL small web remnants left on my tree even through summer). This will be so much easier (and my heart bleeds for the house down the street that covered their junipers with spider web this year. Good luck getting that off!).

DIY: easy halloween

{lighted ghost garland} I'm just going to get this out of the way now. I am completely over garlands. For a while there, I was really smitten with them until I started to think about how I'd use them. So. I really like this idea because it's not a pointless "garland" it's just a fun way to punch up some lights for Halloween. If I were doing ghosts this year, I'd use my Christmas lights and string these up along our porch.

{black paper cats} The only annoying thing with these is that you have to sign up to the website to get the free template. They're still cute enough to bother, though, and I think they'd be great as a cluster of three (vary the sizes) on a mantle or table.

{pacman and ghosts} Another garland, hey? Well, initially, I was going to use this idea and do something similar to the paper bats (see next photo) on my door, but then, as usual, I changed my mind back to my original thought (which I'll be blogging about soon!). Now I think they'd look really cute in a window in proper Pacman formation (the fact that there're two pacmen with the ghosts bothers me immensely).

{paper bats} Now that you know I'm totally over garlands, you should also know that I'm totally over wreathes. If I see one more wreath I think I'll gag. I was cleaning out our front closet and I found my old fabric wreath and was about thisclose to throwing it out. Don't worry. I kept it. Maybe I won't have this extreme distaste for wreathes next year. Anyway, I thought this idea was pretty clever for door decor. It's more interesting, it's got movement and life, and it's definitely more unique than a boring ol' wreath.

{misfortune cookies} This isn't a DIY link. You could have purchased these at some point in the past, but I figure they'd be really easy to make. Take a round piece of black paper, fold it in half, then bend it down into the appropriate shape. Vague, but you'll figure it out once you're in that position. I think these would be cute as invitations to a Halloween party or place cards for said party; therefore, I'll never use this idea (unless something mysterious happens in which I find myself throwing a Halloween party! haha right).

{spiral ghosts} Um, how easy are these? Not too spooky and more kid-friendly (Actually, browsing Halloween things with mom this year made me realize that not everyone likes a spooky ghost. Things I didn't even consider spooky were apparently "way too scary!" for mom).

{hole's scary plant ideas} There's this pretty famous greenhouse here called Hole's (and if you haven't been you should really go. It's got way more stuff -- an organic grocery?! -- than just plants) and this year they came out with this little online zine with Halloween ideas. It could've been longer and more plant inspired, but I did love the small amount of planting ideas on page 8. The most doable one is the hand in a pot, I think (hands, arms, feet are all available at the dollar store). Since the weather turns freezing by the second week of October, other plants (like the cute cabbage with eyeballs) would look shriveled and dead by the end of the month. Unless that's the look you're going for -- which is a pretty good look for Halloween.

If you need more inspiration, I've got a few more pins on my Halloween Pinterest board!

friday fixations: pink pumpkins

They kinda don't look pink right here, but I assure you. In person, they're pink, bordering on pink-orange in one case.

I wasn't only attracted to the pink, though. I love how bumpy and irregular they are. When compared with the usual pumpkins, they look more real and less commercial if you know what I mean.

I think these are the Porcelain Doll hybrid, and most sources I found said that we can eat them. So when I'm done lovingly staring at and caressing these, I plan on cooking them up.

I should cook and save a few seeds too, but I have this weird dilemma when it comes to pumpkin seeds. How on earth do you eat them? I always see them seasoned, in the shell, but have you tried cracking open that shell? Are we missing something? (you don't eat the shell, do you?!)

Anyway, I'd really love some blue and white pumpkins, too. Have you seen any of those kicking around Edmonton? (I found these at Save-On Foods but haven't seen them anywhere else yet.)

friday fixations: kristen wiig halloween costumes

We never do Halloween. I mean, sure, we hand out candy occasionally when we feel like it (and frankly, if we still have enough of what we bought for the kids and haven't eaten it all ourselves), but we never go to Halloween parties or bother to dress up (I don't really like dressing up. I'm too aware of how fake I'm being, and I suppose that's the point, but I don't like it. It's makes me feel super uncomfortable). Anyway, every year, I still like to look at Halloween costumes and admire all the creativity and work that goes into them!

These costume ideas just happen to be my favourite costume ideas that I would actually do if I had to. You know, cuz there were those three times in my past where I found myself suddenly having to dress up, so it's good to have ideas in your brain at all Octobers (and yeah, they just happen to all be Kristen Wiig characters. I like her a lot, okay?)

{garth and kat} Cuz Idle Husband and I would do this so well. We're always making up songs. Not quite this terribly, but we're still so funny and random that it could work. Plus matching sweater vests and turtle necks!!

{the target lady} I'm always drawn to costumes that are super easy and aren't really costume-y (plus I can't help but yell to myself, "approved!" every time I swipe the credit card). Idle Husband doesn't like dressing up either, so I think he'd be on board with this one cuz he could dress as the disgruntled customer which would just be his every day clothes (he's always a disgruntled customer).

{gilly} Have I ever mentioned how my secret wish is to have an afro? NO? Well, guess what? It is! At least being Gilly would give me the opportunity to act on that wish even if just for a night. (Idle Husband = annoyed teacher?)

{dooneese} This is (little) hands down my favourite costume idea. I've been thinking about it for.ev.er. It's probably the most difficult to do, but I already have (much of) the forehead (there's a reason I have bangs) so the rest should kind of fall into place. (Idle Husband would obviously dress as the announcer and carry bubbles around with him so I could pop them with my doll hands all night, right?)