Windy Sydney

Today I have more time to devote to a proper Halloween/Autumn decorations post.  Hope you like the ideas from the world wide web.  I can't wait to try some of these out for myself!

Mary Caldwell and Country Living Magazine have put a book together titled "Pumpkin Chic." Here are a couple screencaps of the book.  If you want to order it, go here. $18.95

ProFlowers.com had a couple nice ideas for displaying flowers in your home on Halloween.  First, use a pumpkin as a vase for the fall-inspired flowers.  It's a really good idea, but you have to make sure you have something level.  You wouldn't want your flowers rolling off the table.

Another idea was to put flowers in a vase with water.  Then, set that vase in a larger vase with gaps on the sides.  You could put whatever you want in between the gaps... they suggested candy corn, but you could also use Oreo crumbs to give a darker, dirt-like appearance.  If the flowers were dried and dead, it would be somewhat spooky.

These place card holders were made with clay and wire.  They have a nice Tim Burton-like feeling to them.  I am sure you could just buy those baby pumpkins and stick them with the curled wire, but they might decay faster than you would like.  Please go here for instructions on how to make these....

Having a Halloween party at your home?  Imagine the guests reaction to walking into your bathroom and seeing this!  I love it.  This sells for $7.99, but it currently out of stock at BuyCostumes.com.  I am sure you could get creative and make your own... all you would need is a shower curtain liner and some paint.

A city morgue body bag sells for $12.99, but you could make this yourself as well.  I am not handy with a sewing machine, but some of you might be.  Just get some black fabric, stencils, a zipper, and for an added touch, throw some old clothes or heavy objects in the back to make it more life-like.

Making a pumpkin candy dish seems pretty simple... why didn't I think of that?  Just scoop out the seeds, make it level, and plop a real bowl inside the pumpkin.  Dress it up, paint it, do whatever you want.  I like it!

These baby pumpkins were made with a ribbon around the edge.  It can't get more simple than that, can it?  These would be great as a centerpiece on a table, or lined up on a fireplace.

I love this idea for a fireplace.  You can spray paint designs on pumpkins (tip: make sure the pumpkins are super-clean before you paint them) and then display them like this!  The bold designs and use of black and white against the orange is fantastic!

These look difficult, but they are not!  All you need is white frosting, black frosting, candy spider, and a toothpick!  Ice the cookie with white, and then pipe on black frosting in circles.  Pick up a toothpick and alternate dragging from the center of the cookie to the outside, and from the outside of the cookie inside.  Add spider.  These are cute as hell.  You could also use this technique on cupcakes or one giant cake... it would be cool to make the cake itself red or orange.

If you are a huge fan of making faces with your jack-o-lanterns, making a mask for them is a nice touch... These are cute.

Mummy cupcakes are cute... you could use coconut or white frosting for the wrapping, and to make the eyes, simply make a dot of white icing, and after that dries, go in with black.

This one takes a little work, but you have to throw some healthy food in somehow, right?  You could have the kids (if you have 'em) help you decide where to put the vegetables... this one is pretty cool, even though it's "healthy."

These are pretty easy to do.  Just get some Halloween colored pipe cleaners and wind them around your stemware, or even buy the cheap plastic ones that you can use paint or magic markers on.  The little curl at the end of these is a perfect touch.  

I will have more to add later in the week!

Andee