Happy Halloween 2011

We had a busy weekend preparing for today's festivities. There was pumpkin carvings, costume final touches, and treat making. Yesterday we were up to our elbows in eyeballs for E's class.

I used Bakerella's recipe for red velvet cake balls.  Her eyeball cake pop instructions are here.  They turned out gorier than I had expected because our edible markers wouldn't work on the candy coating.  I ended up using gel coloring which gave the eyeballs a more grotesque appearance.  Of course, the boys thought this was terrific.

This is E and his friend before heading to school this morning.  E was an Angry Bird Pig and his friend borrowed his M & M costume. They looked great.

 

I decided, last minute, that I'd dress up as one of the Time Warp dancers from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Perhaps I'll post a photo on Instagram (you can see my latest pictures on the sidebar of this blog ----->  or Flickr (also on sidebar) later this evening.

I hope you have fun Halloween!  I'd love to hear about your hauntings!

Handmade Halloween Costume Giveaway for the kiddies

GIVEAWAY CLOSED
Congratulations, Crystal!

You all know we are approaching my favorite holiday - Halloween.  I've posted a lot about our decorations, costumes, ghosting, and other festivities in the past.  We lost many of our decorations in the move West but I have a few new ideas "brewing."

I'm itching to make a cute costume.  My boys are older now and either don't go trick or treating or chose to carry bloody hatchets with torn clothes.  Gone are the days of cute, home made costumes.  There was a glimmer of hope this year when Ethan said he wanted to dress up as the grapes from the Fruit of the Looms.  Alas, the light has faded back into something zombie-like.  My nieces and nephews have their costumes all ready, so I'm going to make a costume to give away.  I'll also create a DIY tutorial from the process.

The scoop:
One M & M costume (red - boy; green - girl).  The costume will be similar to the one I made for Ethan a few years ago, however, this time it will come more to the knees.  I will even throw in a new pair of white gloves.

Entry details:  Leave a comment below (or on my Facebook fan page) about your favorite Halloween costume or decoration. (1 entry)

4 Additional entries when you:
1) Tweet about this giveaway. Be sure to include @alamodestuff in your tweet so I can keep track. (1 entry)

2) Blog about this giveaway with a link to the post. (1 entry)

3) Follow this blog (via email, RSS, Google Reader).  If you already follow, let me know. That counts, too. (1 entry)

4) Sign up for my mailing list (1 entry)

**5 possible entries per person.
Please let me know if you've done any of these to ensure you get your extra entries.

One (1) winner will be randomly chosen (through Random.org). Contest ends Wednesday, October 12, at midnight EST.  Winner will be notified by Friday, October 14.  Sorry, but this giveaway is restricted to US and Canada only.

Hump Day Humor: 5 easy last minute Halloween Costumes

 

This would be super easy to make and wear. T-shirt, fabric paint (free hand or stencil) and chef's hat.

Black eyed peas [source]

Loved this characters on Sesame Street. Great couples costume! Maybe not so "last minute" but could be easy to do.  Think towels, Styrofoam balls, hangers, and pipe cleaners.[source]

 Who can resist a garden gnome?! [source] 

 

Someone in our house should be this! Box, can of spray paint (any color) and bowls.[source]

Easy diy Lady Gaga steak head piece for Halloween

I almost always dress up for Halloween, but each year it seems that I have less time to decorate or make costumes.  As the kids get older, they want more control over their costumes.  Gone are the days of M&Ms, cute mummies and butterfly costumes.  They no longer want me to make their costumes but rather buy them piece by piece at the Halloween shop that pops up each year. This year, I haven't even begun to decorate my house as I've done in years past.  So, an ultra easy costume had to be the way to go!

As I strolled the aisles of my local Target a few weeks ago, I couldn't help but wander through the Halloween section.  I had intended to simply wear my devil horns again this year until I saw an inexpensive blond wig ($4.99).  I have never been a blond before.  Eager to see if I'd indeed have more fun, I purchased the wig not knowing what I'd be.  Then, it came to me...if I slap a piece of meat on my head, I could be Lady Gaga.

Since I wasn't about to wear a real piece of meat on my head, I decided to make a faux meat fascinator.  This cost me all of 90 cents for the three pieces of felt and was extremely easy to make.  If you are naturally blond and on a budget, you can't get an easier costume than this!

What you need:

3 pieces of felt (2 white, 1 red)
glue
scissors
pins
pattern (printable pdf here)
bobby pins

1.  Place your printed pattern onto a piece of white felt, pin, and cut on the outermost line #1.

2.  Remove pins and place the pattern onto the red piece of felt, pin, and cut on line #2.

3.  Remove pins and place the pattern onto the last piece of white felt, pin, and cut on line #3, the t-bone.l

4.  Glue the red felt onto the white felt and the t-bone on top of the red felt.

5.  Punch or poke holes where you'd like to place your bobby pins and secure to your hair or wig.

I added a funky pair of work goggles (from my local hardware store - $2.99) which can be bedazzled, .  You can make this out of any fabric or craft foam.  You can also secure the steak to a headband or clear elastic.   Think bigger and make a giant steak to wear over your clothes or make many and pin them to your entire body.

Now the fun will be in seeing who recognizes the costume right away and who stares at me while scratching their heads.  Are you dressing up for Halloween this weekend?

Printable pdf pattern:  Lady Gaga t-bone stake head piece

Happy Halloween!

Mortimer waving to the neighbors
Sigh...since the boys have moved beyond homemade costumes now, I thought that I share a few favorites from the past.
2006 - E as mummy and M (sneaking up behind) as Ninja. E's costume was simply muslin tacked on to grey sweatpants and jacket. To this day, there are still little knots of thread on that jacket.2007 - E as an M & M. This is one of my favorites! I used puffy paint for the face and felt for the body. His only complaint was that people kept trying to take a bite out of him.

2007 - M as a crusader from Monty Python (the killer rabbit scene - notice it on his neck). People either recognized this costume right away or didn't get it all.

2008 - M as Angus Young from AC/DC.

Distracted by Halloween festivities!

Happy Halloween! Today I must finish decorating the house for the festivities. I have to pull Mortimer, our skeleton, out of the closet. Mildred, his headless bride, needs to be dressed. The other 364 days of the year she's a working dress form. I have to dust the cobwebs off my talking crystal ball.


In the past 3 or 4 years, I've set up a lounge in our driveway. We've served spiced apple cider and enjoyed hanging with the neighbors. Apparently, it's become a neighborhood attraction. As such, I've always been the one sitting at home passing out the candy. This year, I'm taking my little one out and my husband will man the fort.

Sadly, it may be my oldest son's last year trick or treating. He's almost 12, going on 16, and already saying he's not sure if he'll go out for long. He is dressing as Angus Young from AC/DC:

My youngest, who is 7, wanted to be something scary and gory. Conceding to his desire without going overboard for his age, I allowed him to buy a Jason mask and a bloody dagger. The dagger cinched the deal even though he has no idea who Jason is. Gone are the days of cute cow costumes.

I am simply wearing horns this year. No comments from the peanut gallery!

I did receive an email yesterday from my cousin warning about candy coins. I'm cautious to pass information along without researching its validity. Every now and then, these emails are true and apparently there was a recall on these candies. Here is the link to Snopes (the first place I typically look) with regard to this warning.