Decoration Finds

Today I have been searching the net for easy, but nice handmade Halloween decorations. Here are my finds:

• Easy Halloween Felt Banner
• Humorous Epitaphs
• Free Halloween Screensavers
• Halloween Crafts
• Homemade Halloween Decorations Guide

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy!

Dancing Ghosts

There are so many options to decorating for Halloween, it’s hard to pick just a few to incorporate. Last year I saw a ghost circle online and knew I had to give it a try. There were no instructions, however, so I was on my own as to how to make it. Luckily, I have a handy husband.

We bought wooden dowels and Styrofoam balls (these are quite expensive so if you can think of something else, use it). I took a trip to the thrift store for white sheets. I took the balls and inserted the dowel into each one (I had 4). Then I stuck them into the ground in the yard in a circle.

*This doesn’t work well with just 4, I recommend using at least 6.

I had one sheet for each ghost. Draping the sheets over the balls was easy enough, what was hard was figuring out how to keep them there while still having the ghostly effect. I ended up using sewing pins to keep the sheet attached to the balls. I took the corners of the sheets and tied them together to make it appear like the ghosts were holding hands. Now, if you get a sheet in the right size, it should appear that the ghosts are floating, meaning you can’t see the dowel sticking in the ground. Even with the sheets pinned on, they still blew around and even took the ball off the dowel on several occasions. And they weren't very weather friendly.

Definitely a few lessons learned with this experience. I love the concept, implementing it successfully is rather difficult though.

I have come across instructions for something of this nature and they used white trash bags stuffed with newspaper or leaves (this sounds like a much better and more cost effective idea). They tied twine or something similar around the neck of each ghost to keep it attached to the dowel. Tie the ends of the trash bags together and you have floating ghosts dancing in a circle. This year I will be using the white trash bag idea with 6 ghosts and placing them around the trunk of a big tree in my front yard.

It's Great Pumpkin Day!

My plans for today are putting together my Halloween notebook (a very rough one right now) and researching some homemade decorations. I absolutely cannot wait for Halloween this year. I'm in a different house so decorating will be different. I have many front porch steps that will be lots of fun to decorate i'm sure. I'll be back later with ideas!

* Please leave a comment as to what you're doing today on Great Pumpkin Day. :)

31 Days of Halloween

This year I plan on doing the 31 Days of Halloween. One of my goals is to have a fabric or cookie sheet countdown calendar made by October 1st. Included in this 31 Days of Halloween so far will be:

• ABC Family's 13 Days of Halloween movies
• Visit a pumpkin patch/corn maze
• Carve, paint, or decorate pumpkins
• Read Halloween books
• Visits from The Great Pumpkin (with gifts)
• Test run of costumes
• Possibly a party
• Halloween decorations (crafts)
• Make treat bags for trick or treaters
• Try new Halloween recipes
• Watch Halloween favorites
• Attend Heritage Days
• Nature walk
• Drive to look at leaves
• Decorate
• Roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories

These are what I could come up with right now. I'm sure more will come to me later. Once I start finalizing these, i'll post more details about them.

Spider Web Dip and Spooky Tortilla Chips

What better way to excite your party guests than to serve yummy Spider Web Dip with Spooky Tortilla Chips? I have yet to try this recipe, but I might just do it this GPD, it sounds delicious and looks so easy.

Spider Web Dip

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 jar (8 ounces) prepared salsa
1/2 cup guacamole
2 tablespoons sour cream

*Place cream cheese and salsa in blender or food processor container; blend until almost smooth.

*Spread cream cheese mixture on round serving dish or pie plate; smooth guacamole over top, leaving 1/2 inch border. Place sour cream in small resealable plastic food storage bag; seal bag. Cut off tiny corner of bag; pipe sour cream in circles over guacamole. Run tip of knife through sour cream to make "spider web".

Spooky Tortilla Chips

3 packages (12 ounces each) 8-inch plain or flavored flour tortillas
Salt to taste

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet with olive oil nonstick cooking spray.

* Using 3-inch Halloween cookie cutters, cut tortillas, one at a time, into shapes. Discard scraps.

* Lightly spray tortilla shapes with cooking spray. Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.

* Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 90 chips.

Recipes from Frightfully Fun Halloween Crafts & Cooking

April GPD Plans

This month will really be my first GPD of the year. I haven't done any work as of yet and need to get busy.

• Start Halloween notebook
• Research homemade decoration ideas

GPD List for the Year

Like I said in another post, Halloween and Fall are my favorite. I usually go all out decorating and this year will be no exception. I'm in a different house so everything will be different. Here are some of the general things I want or need to get done throughout the year on Great Pumpkin Day.

• Research decoration ideas
• Supply list for decorations
• Decorating plan
• Decide on party or not?
• Costumes
• Treat bags
• Make a Halloween notebook
• Try new recipes for Halloween
• Pumpkin carving patterns
• Make a fabric Halloween countdown calendar

Each month I will pick things to put on my monthly list that I hope to accomplish and post it here. I will also share whatever craft ideas I plan to use and recipes I plan to try, as well as other things.

Halloween and Fall

Halloween is my favorite holiday and Fall is my favorite season. I have at least 5 totes of decorations for the two combined. I'm always looking for fun new ways to decorate or decorations to add to my ever-growing collection.

This year, I plan to get a ton of those little pie pumpkins, two for each step leading to my front door. I'm not going to carve them all, but I may draw or paint on faces or use props to make them appear to be dressed up. There are many more options for pumpkins than carving! Every year I have at least 2 pumpkins dressed up, usually one is a witch and the other a pirate. I use sewing pins to hold the props in place.

What do you like to do with your pumpkins?

Ideas for Great Pumpkin Day

Great Pumpkin Day is one day of the month, usually the 31st but some do it on the 13th, to prepare for the upcoming holiday of Halloween. Here's some ideas to get you started:

* Start a costume or just buy the needed supplies
* Research decorations you might like and begin making your list of needed supplies
* Try a new recipe that you might use at Halloween
* Are you having a party? Start planning the games or activities.

No matter what you decide to do, make sure you have fun!!

Great Pumpkin Day

I have started this blog to honor Great Pumpkin Day. I intend to share ideas, lists, plans, decorations, recipes, and anything else I can think of that has to do with Fall or Halloween. Great Pumpkin Day was originally started at Organized Christmas and then moved to Magical Holiday Home. Ginger from MHH plans to start a blog ring for Great Pumpkin Day blogs. Keep an eye on the sidebar for links to more excellent blogs devoted to Great Pumpkin Day!