Mmmmmm.... beeeeeer....

As I was walking some opened food merchandise to claims, I passed the "great wall o' beer" in the back room, and something caught my eye: a pumpkin. I had to back up and do a double take. Sure enough, there was a case of beer there that had pumpkins on the box! I decided I must have it. So yesterday, I picked up a 6 pack of Blue Moon's Seasonal "Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale".

I saved it all day, waiting patiently for prop-building time, when it would be most needed and useful. Now, it's been a while since I've had a beer, so I was really looking forward to this. I LOVED it. It's a good brew, with a hint of pumpkin and spices. Went down really easy and didn't leave a bad aftertaste. I've never even tried any of the fall seasonal beers before, so I have definitely been missing out. It's a good companion to the other tools in my propmaking arsenal. :)

More info on Blue Moon's fine beers: Blue Moon Brewing Co.

Mmmm... chocolate

So, I'd like to start off with saying "THANKS" to PumpkinRot, for posting his blog on the fall editions of Hershey's Kisses and making me want - no, NEED them. I finally bought some today after work, and just had a little taste testing.


The Candy Corn Kisses are pretty good. They taste like a mixture of white chocolate and an almost "butterscotch-y" flavor. I like them, but not as much as I love regular Kisses. They're a nice change though from the usual fare and I hope they stick around for many future fall seasons.


The Caramel Apple Kisses are another story. The chocolate just doesn't really "go" with the fake apple flavor that is somewhat reminiscent of Jolly Rancher's "Green Apple" flavor, mixed with a runny caramel. I didn't care for them at all. I'll probably put them in a candy dish and let the kids eat them all.

I also picked up a bag of Peanut M&Ms in the Halloween colors.... ALWAYS a good thang to have on hand!!!

Hellraiser, and some other stuff...

If you can believe this, I never saw the movie, "Hellraiser". So when I had nothing better to do this past weekend since I was off work, I stopped on the Encore channel that it was playing on and gave it a watch. Interesting movie. Sadistic, dark, strange. I liked it. I missed the first 15 minutes of it, but I got the main idea of the movie as it wore on. I also found it a good source of inspiration for some new props. I really liked the winged demon at the end of the film. I can see one of these gracing my haunt (on a smaller scale for storage, of course).

Photo source: http://www.cenobite.com/index.shtml

I also watched "Mommie Dearest" again. I LOVE that movie. It's sad that it is a true story based on Joan Crawford's daughter, Christine's memoirs, but it is a GREAT movie. I can't tell you how many times I've watched it, and it kind of creeps my kids out that I like it so much and that I recite phrases from it often. On a Halloween-related note, I really sort of thought the scene where she goes nuts over the wire hangers and dirty bathroom was a good spot for some prop ideas. Joan's (Faye Dunaway) face with the night cream on it and her hair pulled back was just frightening and would make a great prop for a hag. :)

"I told you... NO WIRE HANGERS..... EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

image source: http://www.tvgasm.com

As for the rest of life right now, I'm just sort of drifting with the ebb and flow of sleep and work. I love my job. I don't care for the cattiness of some of my coworkers, but I really don't have to WORK WITH them, so it's all good. I'm training with an intelligent and wonderful woman and she is a lot like me in her work ethic, so she and I will make a good team. My sister also works there on the 3rd shift in a different department, so we get time to catch up on breaks.

I still have no interest in Halloween or doing anything for it, and now the time crunch is here. I'm giving myself until next Monday, and if I have not gotten the itch to get something done, I will just go ahead and start decorating and setting up inside the house. Usually it's all done by now. It will be interesting to see how long it takes me to get it set up from start to finish (the interior) under time constraints.

I'm also struggling with keeping up with emails, forums, and blogging... so if anyone has sent me comments or messages, bear with me. It's taking me a while to get back to everyone. I'm not ignoring people, just have a lot to adjust to and it's gonna take a while.

I think that's about it. Catch y'all later!

Child's view of a cemetery

I recently took my 11-year-old daughter, Taylor, to one of my favorite cemeteries with me to take some pictures. I was going to go alone, but she actually asked me to go, so I figured I'd hand her a digital camera and see what she thinks is photo-worthy. We've done this before with cheap film cameras, but I still haven't gotten those developed. Anyway, we headed to Old Hickory Grove Cemetery in Green Cove Springs. This is what she saw through the lens.




















And this is what I saw... She really got into it. She learned to discard the ones she didn't like or that turned out blurry. She learned to get close-ups and different angles. She basically mimicked me and is a quick learner. Now she wants to go into wildlife photography when she gets older. She did spend a large amount of time taking pictures of flowers, insects and dead rabbit carcasses... :)

Halloween Decorating and Party Planning

I have collected a few books over the years that I pull off the shelf and peruse quite often throughout the year to get some inspiration. I love looking at the pictures and descriptions on each page, drinking in each one and letting it swirl around in my mind for a while.

Lately, I've been feeling some burn out. Lots of things I want to do, things I plan to do, things I need to do... but I have NO motivation at all. I've started things, only to leave them collecting dust after only a few minutes of starting. I will walk out into the garage with the intention to work on something, only to just sit there staring at it and not DO anything at all. Normally by June or July, I have several new projects completed. This year I have nothing, except that one batch of tombstones that I gave away.

So, I decided it was time to pull the books out and hopefully give myself a little spark of "something" to get back into the swing of things. I scanned the covers of the books that I love to look at the most, and a few pages of each. If you like Halloween books, these are definitely worth buying. I got most of them from Amazon.com.



One of my absolute FAVORITES out of my collection, is "Halloween - A Grown-up's Guide to Creative Costumes, Devilish Decor & Fabulous Festivities", by Joanne O'Sullivan. This book has it all... really cool, beautiful costumes you can make yourself, simple and elegant decorating ideas, party theme ideas with matching invitations, stories, history, and recipes. The section I loved the most was for the New Orleans Voodoo Cocktail party.

The book is very well written and artfully laid out, making it an excellent choice for Halloween party planners. I highly recommend it.

















Another book that I look through MANY times during October while planning the party is "Halloween Treats - Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family" by Donata Maggipinto. There are so many delicious recipes in this book that I find it really difficult to decide which to try. GREAT photographs accompany the recipes and instructions and many of the crafts are perfect for children to help with.










"Halloween Parties: How to Throw Spook-Tacular Soirees & Frighteningly Festive Entertainments", by Lori Hellander, is an awesome source for some fresh and contemporary party ideas. There are several different themes included and it's loaded with recipes and ideas.














From cute and slightly country to spooky and cool to vintage and beautiful... "The Big Book of Halloween, Creative &Creepy Projects for Revellers of All Ages" has it all! I LOVE this book by Laura Dover Doran. There are lots of great ideas for Halloween decorations for both inside and outside the home. She mingles scary stories that would be perfect for sitting around a campfire with wonderful snippets of history, myths and quips. Loads of pictures grace this book with personal stories from other people, their traditions and festivities surrounding Halloween. Recipes, costume tips, and even some do-it-yourself prop instructions are all in there. This is definitely another must-have for Halloween lovers.





Jill Williams Grover's "Scary Scenes For Halloween" totally delivers some spooky goodness for Halloween. I've used MANY of the ideas from this book over the years. Ideas for children's AND adult food and decorations are included and the photos are just wonderful to look at. Some really neat and simple prop instructions are mixed in with some candy displays that will TOTALLY wow the kids and adults alike. This is the first Halloween book I ever bought for myself, and I am completely in love with it.









Below are some of the other books I have and look through often. Some of them are super, some are so-so, but all are great for ideas in some way or another.

Garage of Evil - Network!!!

Steve-O started up a network on Ning.com for the Garage of Evil members to join, post and get to know each other better. If you're not a part of it already, you MUST check it out. If you don't, Steve-O will come to your house in his underpants and sing Yankee Doodle Dandy while juggling bowling balls at your front door.

One note of warning, this network for the Garage is for PROP builders and haunters... not for sharing Jello-mold recipes and showing off your pets/soccer awards/goth/fetish stuff. The occasional mention of BOOBIES will occur!! It also is not to replace the GoE Yahoo Group which we lovingly call the "treehouse", but to supplement it.

Now join, or else!

http://garageofevil.ning.com/

How far I've come over the years

I was just going through some old photos, and I found it amazing how much progress I've made in my display over the past 9 years. I didn't really get into doing anything outside the house until 1999 other than an ape dummy and JoL's. I had a LOT of inside knick knacks and decorations all over the inside house though. Anyway, here's the before and after shots of the differences in 1999 and 2007.

The outdoor part, 1999:

And 2007:

First foam tombstones, 1999:



Much improved 2007:

First props that stood up - scraps of 8-foot long quarter-round and tree limbs hammered into the ground, masks, stuffed clothes and gloves, 1999:
And 2007's handmade heads and hands with PVC frames and duct tape double bodies:


My 1999 party decor in the nook:

And 2007's version of the nook:

Which leads me to my ultra-boring version of my dining room in 2000:

2007's less "bright" version:

The extent of my 1999 decor (aside from orange flowers and other crap) in what's now the office:
And how the office is done in 2007:


A look through the kitchen in 1999:

And what a difference a few years makes in 2007:


Imagine if you will, a lot of white wall... and no spooky ambiance above these two clowns in 1999:



Now the same wall in the family room in 2007:

Everything about my display and party has changed, and thankfully for the better. This just goes to show, for those of you who are still intimidated by doing your own thing, that you CAN do it. It only takes patience, lots of trial and error and being able to follow instructions. A tiny bit of artistic talent is a plus, but it's really not all that necessary to pull off a decent look. It's taken me a long time to get to where I'm at with the whole haunting thing and I've been working on it diligently for the past 10 years now -- and I STILL have a lot to learn!