get your spook on: 80's toy

So this has nothing to do with parties but it is Halloween related and I love it.  Really, who wouldn't want a haunted house full of Weebles?

The more I think about it you could turn this into a party.  How about an 80's themed Halloween party - the fashions and hair-do's were pretty scary.  Everyone can dress in their favorite 80's finery.  Play some Atari and pull out the Rubik's Cube.  Get some vintage MTV videos gong on a big screen.  This could be a lot of fun.

Just a note...I realize that Weebles are really more of a 70's toys but remember those of us that were 80's teenagers were 70's kids and we played with our fair share of Weebles.

get your spook on: DIY candles

Here is an inexpensive & safe way to add some great drama to your Halloween party.  I love these DIY candles from Dave Lowe.

Nothing more than a cheap battery operated pumpkin votive, toilet paper tube, paint, match sticks, an old candle stick (hit up Goodwill) and a glue gun.  You can find directions here.

get your spook on: a ghoulish giveaway

It’s time to haunt your home with this Ghoulish giveaway from Tim Turner, owner of The Goulish Gallery.  One lucky Little Ant reader will win a haunted masterpiece - a 16x20 changing portrait of their choice.

I have spoken of Tim and his artwork before.  These changing portraits are not the cheap imitations that you see in stores - these are the real deal, expertly designed by a special effects artist with over 24 years of experience making monsters for film.  Tim’s work has won many haunt industry awards and has been featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Discovery Channel, CSI:Las Vegas, as well as on CBS and Fox Nightly News.  Take a look here to see what many of Tim’s customers have to say - ladies, can you find the dreadfully nice comments left by Mr. Brad Pitt?

The Ghoulish Gallery offers a spooktacular selection of over 50 creepy characters that are designed to help you have the kind of haunted event or personal ghost gallery that will long be remembered.  

The Ghoulish Gallery exhibit booth (above) - many a phantom family member hanging on these walls.  My favorite is the dearly departed Isabella.  This is the portrait that will be haunting my staircase this Halloween.

Are you dying to win?  Simply visit the gallery page and take a look at all the deliciously evil changing portraits that The Ghoulish Gallery has to offer.  Come back here and leave a comment letting us know which ghoul or guy you want hanging in your haunted mansion.  Next Wednesday we’ll randomly dig up a winner and if it’s you you’ll be well on your way to having the spookiest house on the street.  

Do you want to increase your chances of winning?  Post a link on your blog or website about this ghoulish giveaway and leave a second comment here letting me know that the information is on your site - resting in peace.

Make no bones about it...this is one Halloween giveaway that’s to die for.

get your spook on: love manor

My original "get your spook on post" today was going to be about Halloween labels.  I think adding labels to misc. jars adds a great spook factor to your Halloween decor.  While researching Halloween labels I cam across these from Love Manor and as the name of the Manor implies - I fell in love.  These labels are amazing.  I ended up liking much more over at the Love Manor sites that I decided to forgo the labels post and post instead of the Halloween love going on at the Manor.  

No worries...label post to come.  For now enjoy Johnny Love's labels..

If you head over to Flickr you can download these labels and more for your own use.

A few more pictures of the haunted happenings at the manor.  Be sure to check out their website and blog for more pictures and ideas for throwing your own dreadfully delightful Halloween bash.

get your spook on: metal for monsters

I saw these great necklaces over at Blend Creations today.  These creations are from the Metal for Monsters series and a portion of each limited edition necklace goes to UNICEF.

I'm partial to these little guys...

demon

a monster heart

bathead

More from this company can be found by visiting their blog.

get your spook on: creepy curtains

I have loved this simple Halloween idea from Martha since it was first printed years ago.  Who knew a few trash bags could add so much creepiness to your porch, doorways or windows?!?!

get your spook on: oh what a tangled web we weave

I can picture these spider web goodies sitting out on a table similar to the visual candy delights that Amy Atlas creates.  What a fun way to decorate a carmel apple.  These are definitely on my list of must do for Halloween. Instructions can be found over at Martha's.

get your spook on - with a book

I couldn't decided if these bookplates from Manifesto Letterpress were "get your spook on" worthy or just plain cool.  I'm so in love with them but do they really scream Halloween? In the end I decided that it just didn't matter because I dig them so much.

You could use them for a unique hostess gift for all the Halloween parties you attend this season. Give the bookplates themselves or spend a bit more time picking out some Halloween themed books that the hostess might like and add these bookplates to the inside front of the book - I know I would love a gift like this.

get your spook on - seven deadly sins

I came across these great mingling plates while checking out Z Galleries new Halloween products.  When I saw them I instantly thought of a great theme and table idea that I saw at The Special Events Show in Los Angeles in 2007.

The theme for the table was a Sinners Dinner focusing on the 7 deadly sins.  You can read more about the table here at the Special Events website.  While attending the show I was struck with inspiration and borrowed ideas from the Sinners Dinner to use at my own Halloween party last year.  I loved the idea of having mismatched old vintage silverware for the place settings like the "sins" table did so that's what I went with on our Halloween tables.

The vintage, unpolished silverware was one of my favorite elements on the table.  I was especially fond of the fork above - look at its shape.  Is it not beautiful?!?!  Do you think its unhealthy to be in love with a fork?

But back to the plates from Z Gallerie...

I can picture these plates being used for a great Halloween cocktail party.  You can add elements to your party that represent the 7 sins.  Your food table could be "gluttony".  How about setting up a lounge area for "sloth".  What other party ideas can you think of for the other sins?

get your spook on - scientifically

I found this idea over at MAKE magazine and love the possibilities.

All this is is petri dishes with jello, tapioca pudding and lemon pie filling and some additions to give the look of growing cultures - eeeek!  

My boys (ages 7 and 9) would totally dig this but I have to be honest and say that it makes my stomach feel a bit uneasy.  Why not tone it down for us queasy folks or kids that may not be into the gross factor.  Bright colored jello with gummy worms would work just as well.  You'd get a more appetizing looking dessert with a bit of the freak factor with the gummy worms. How about finding some cool candy to throw in.  

Lay these out on a table with some plastic tweezers and you have the start of a great Mad Scientist Halloween buffet.  Your kids would love it.  I also happen to know some adults that would go for some petri perfect dessert.

If you have a local school supply store in your neighborhood you might be able to find some petri dishes there.  If not you can always turn to our friend Google and do a search.

get your spook on - eat, drink and be scary

There is another great Halloween inspired giveaway going on over at Studio JK Vinyl.  The giveaway ends Monday with a random winner being drawn so head over there now before Monday sneaks up on you.

get your spook on - somebody set the table

I just finished setting our table for the holiday season (no, not Christmas - the other holiday season) and I think it is one of the easiest ways to add some fun to your decor.  

I must throw in this disclaimer...this is a much nicer idea when you have a dining room separate from your everyday eating area.  We do not have that luxury (cut me some slack, real estate is pricey in Orange County) This tablescape gets pushed around more than any bullied kid I know to make room for homework and dining.  

Yes, I said it - dining.  We move the beautifully set table so we can eat on our everyday, sturdy white Ikea plates. Crazy?  Probably, but my husband loves me in spite of it all so all is right with the world.

The "trees" down the middle of the table are from Ikea - seriously love that store!  I purchased them forever ago on sale for like 25 or 50 cents a piece.  I'm not sure why they were marked down so low since they still carry them (current price is just around $5) but I'm not arguing. I originally bought them thinking they would be cute with family pictures tied to them as a family reunion centerpiece.  When I needed something not too big for this table I decided that these would work as a modern take on spooky dead trees.

The place settings consist of orange wooden chargers bought on clearance at Z Gallerie.  Keep an eye on the clearance area of all your favorite stores - you can decorate an expensive looking table for little money if you just shop for bargains.  Want to mimic the look but can't find a good deal on chargers - cut some mdf board or wood from the local home improvement store into the size you want and paint it. Better yet find an orange stain and stain the wood allowing the wood grain to show through.

The silver boney hands also came from Z Gallerie (I think)  I believe I paid full price for these because "I just had to have them" - you know how that goes.  I think that these could be reproduced cheaper with plastic skull hands and silver metallic spray paint.  If anyone tries it let me know how it turns out.

The orange napkins can be found anywhere and then just add your own silverware.  A big pat on the back to anyone that can tell me what movie our silverware has been seen in.
The orange soda bottles I found at Cost Plus (another favorite party store).  I'm not sure of the brand.  You could use Jones or some other orange soda.  I chose this one because it had  plain orange cap with no writing.  The label I made on the computer using s clip art skull and Dead Secretary as my font.
I may add some candles at some point but for now it's good.  I love seeing the traditional orange and black table set up every day and the bonus...it helps with house cleaning since we can't pile bills, papers and other garbage on top of it.

Make some plans to decorate your dining room table for this Halloween.  I even give you permission to wait until it's a bit closer to the 31st so you don't have to push around the place settings you big bully.

get your spook on - eye candy

I can't get pictures to copy over to my blog for today's Halloween idea so drop what you are doing and click here and go to pages 11 thru 16.  This masterpiece of a Halloween table is fromAmy Atlas and it's fabulous.

I want to have a table like this set up in my front living room so that when trick or treaters look through the door this what they see - can you imagine how the kids eyes would light up?!?!  The problem I see is that we live in a world that most parents (myself included) wouldn't let our kids touch any unwrapped candy or goodies.  Maybe I can come up with something similar with packaged treats - it just wouldn't have the same impact as these gorgeous homemade morsels.

get your spook on - etsy

Looking for some Halloween inspiration?  Have you been invited to a Halloween party and want to take a unique hostess gift?  Need a fun little Halloween treat for your child's school teacher? My suggestion today is to head over to Etsy and check out their Halloween guide.  

countdown to halloween is now...

Get your spook on!  Catchy, huh?

Here is an easy idea to give your ho-hum boring everyday house a little haunted style. Replace the pictures in your picture frames with Halloween images or other spooky feeling images. Granted, silhouettes aren't the spookiest of things but they did add to the over all feel we were going for last Halloween.  I found these Victorian silhouette dingbats (dingbat - name for a font that is pictures/images and not letters or numbers) at Font Space.  I also useDa Font.  Just type in Halloween in their search engine and see what comes up.  For the dingbats you might need to go specifically to that category before searching Halloween.

Can't find a dingbat you like?  Try spelling out words in your frames using a cool Halloween font.  I could use my four frames to spell help, boo!, eeek, fear - you get the idea.

My second idea for the day (yes, you get two ideas - what a bargain) is...Good Will and black spray paint are your friend.  Hit up your local Good Will or a similar store and find frames, candelabras, light fixtures, clocks, anything you like really and get some black spray paint on it - instant haunted house decor or in my case year round decor since the frames pictured below that were last years Halloween decorations are still up.  In case anyone is wondering I did take down the black plastic tile "marble" fireplace - I have to draw the line somewhere.

You would be amazed at what some spray paint can do.  I found a cheap plastic clock at Big Lots for $8 last week that I plan to hit with black spray paint and change the face to a 13 hour clock.  This will make a great haunted edition to my entryway.

countdown to halloween

Today's countdown to Halloween idea really is a countdown.  I saw this idea on Kristi's blogand I love it.

You can find the directions here.  This is a fun way for your kids to countdown to Halloween. If you are not in the crafty mood you can sometimes find Halloween advent calendars at Target or Cost Plus. Pottery Barn Kids has one this year that I am totally in love with but not enough to fork over the $100+ dollars it costs.

How cute is it?!?!  My kids would love this (who am I kidding - I would love this)  How fun to open up a door each day and find a little treat. Maybe I can pick this up after the holiday when it's on sale - I'll have to keep my eyes open.

countdown to halloween - ding dong ditch

Now that you have made your homemade peanut butter cups you need to share the goodness. Todays Halloween idea is "phantom-ing" or some people call it boo-ing.

Every year we go out, treats in hand for some good old fashioned ding dong ditching.  The purpose...to deliver treats and a poem to friends & neighbors without being caught. Those people then make treats and copies of the poem and deliver to more people.  The goal is to have everyone in the neighborhood or ward "phantom-ed" by the time Halloween rolls round.

This is one of our favorite family traditions.  If you haven't done it before you really should. You can google "halloween phantom" or "booing" and I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas for treats and poems.  Do you already have this tradition?  Is so, is it a favorite?

countdown to halloween - pb cup

Sorry for the lack of a Halloween Countdown post yesterday.  We have been getting hit with bad news for the last few days and feeling saddened by it all - I couldn't get myself to post yesterday.  I still can't shake the sadness but thought I would take a minute to post regardless.

So here is yesterdays Halloween idea...Who doesn't love a yummy Halloween treat?  Megan is a huge peanut butter cup fan so when I saw this recipe I knew it was a must try for our family.

Does anyone make homemade candy?  My mother in law makes the best homemade candies at Christmas.  I have made a few, very few, attempts at making candy but it never seems to turn out right.  This recipe seems simple so well see how they turn out.  If you have any easy candy recipe let me know.  I may try to bring some homemade goodness to Halloween.

countdown to halloween - changing portrait

So I didn't love Martha's Halloween idea so I'm sharing a Halloween product that I love.  I am amazed by the work over at Ghoulish Gallery.  I have purchased portraits from this company and they are unbelievable.  As you walk past the portrait it changes.  The one below (Isabella) is one of my favorites.

Lately I have seen very, very cheap knock offs of these portraits at stores and I have to tell you that they don't even compare to the work you get from Ghoulish Gallery.  In addition to getting a great product from Ghoulish Gallery you also get amazing service.  A few years back I needed to get a portrait asap for a friends October birthday and Tim the owner hooked me up.  He is local so he allowed me to come and leave my money in his home mailbox and pick up the portrait all wrapped and waiting for me on his porch.  He was helpful and kind and a pleasure to work with.

I think that these portraits are a necessary purchase for any true Halloween fanatic.  In fact, I think this is my year to purchase.  Believe it or not I have purchased 3 of these beauties and they have all been for other people.  I don't have one hanging in my home but should you come and visit this Halloween keep an eye out for Isabella - hopefully she will be haunting my walls.