Shivers of Delight

I have always wanted to make a paper costume. They're the perfect solution to the I-have-more-time-than-money issue. Unfortunately, I haven't found the time, but I keep a Pinterest board going just in case. I always cringe when throwing away  recycling a big cardboard box or sheets of packing paper. I feel like I'm throwing away possibilities. I'm going to share some of my pins with you today. While, some of the photos aren't necessarily Halloween costumes, they're great for inspiration. Several of the links have other examples. For sheer beauty you must click on the paper costumes by Isabella de Borchgrave. They're amazing. source: Fashion and Art Trend source: I believe this is from Jennifer Perkins I can't find the original link source: Trash Fashion source: Small for Big source: Small for Big source: Cardboarders source: Isabelle de Borchgrave source: The Curious Kiwi source: Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss ...

Masks are an important part of my Halloween costume. Although I love it when I see special effects makeup done, I never have the time to put it on. I'm usually in the last minute panic of party details and the best I can do is throw on a mask as guests arrive. My makeup attempts have just ended up in some white face paint and a few crooked lines of black eyeliner. We're back to the time vs. money rule of Halloween. I tend to prefer a half-mask that allows me to speak and most importantly drink without using a straw. It may not stay on the entire night, but it looks smashing when I do put it on. Full face masks are handsome, though. I'm not talking about party store masks. To impress, and that's what we strive for, try to purchase an artist-made or designed mask. Yes, they are more expensive, but the best part is even if you don't wear it again, it can be hung on a wall or put on a skull or pumpkin next year. A mask made by an artist is worthy of display. We st...

Five weeks till Halloween! Now is the time to start planning our costumes. Hopefully this will prevent me from having that last minute panic because I didn't start working on it earlier. ( Sigh , it's the same story every year.) Planning the perfect disguise always come down to two things: time and money. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, you're going to need plenty of time. It's as simple as that. To start us off on the right foot, I'm going to post photos of vintage Halloween costumes. I know you've probably seen them all before, but look closely. These costumes are scary. Why? You don't see blood and gore. The scary thing about these costumes are the homemade masks. They're crude and completely disguise the wearer. Even when the masks are smiling they look sinister. That brings us to another important Halloween rule for me. The costume should be dark; by dark I mean evil, macabre, and a bit menacing. That's because I believe...

This week has flown and there are so many other ideas for adorning the Halloween interior that I want to share. I guess I'll just have to throw them in a pile for you to sort through. First off, please visit a few of my projects from previous years. I think you'll find some fun ideas including a Ouija Board tablecloth  and giant Crow Gentleman . Now for some projects I'm thinking about doing. I'd love to recreate this.  The image is credited to artist Maria Abramovic  (not sure that is correct, but definitely influenced by her) source: Rogers Garden source: Disfunctional Designs Every year I say I'm going to do this for the party source: Better Homes and Gardens I'm more interested in the newsprint window treatment than the wreaths source: Midwest Living Because this makes me laugh source: this isn't happiness

As you may have noticed, I like to get back to the basics with my Halloween decorations. Cheesecloth should be in all of our Halloween cupboards. I have to admit, I could use more of it. Sometimes I substitute fabric interfacing for cheesecloth because it holds it's shape better. Another nice thing about using interfacing is that it doesn't fray at the edges. It's more expensive than cheesecloth so you would use it on things that you'll use again for years.  For example, I cut out some ghosts that I've been using around the house from interfacing. I was inspired by Martha Stewart, but took it to my own conclusion. (If you're wondering how I attached them to the ceiling, well, we actually have a grid of fishing line that we put on our ceiling so that I can hang things from it all year long. You don't notice it unless you look hard.) I also cut some small ghosts out so that we could have spirits among the spirits. Last year our party theme...