halloween

This Is Halloween!

Everyday Adventures

Oh, folks, it is my most favoritest time of the year: Labor Day is done, summer is effectively over, and now we can get to the good stuff: fall and Halloween!

While we’ll wait a little bit to start decorating (our decorating scheme may have to change a bit to be Duncan-proof, but that’s a conversation for another day), I think it’s the perfect time to start watching some of my favorite seasonal movies. Usually I just start in October, but I think this year I’ll start right now (well, last night) with the various Halloween and Halloween-adjacent movies that I love.

Last night’s flick? Practical Magic. As much as Love Actually inaugurates the Christmas movie season, Practical Magic is my go-to witch movie of choice. Not that I restrict viewing of these or any other movies to only one time of year, mind you, but it’s more special this time of year.

And what will I watch for the next 54 days? In no particular order…

  1. Halloweentown
  2. Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
  3. Halloweentown High
  4. Return to Halloweentown
  5. Hocus Pocus
  6. The Nightmare Before Christmas (we consider this a dual-holiday movie)
  7. Scream
  8. Scream 2
  9. Scream 3
  10. Scream 4
  11. The Craft
  12. Ghostbusters
  13. Ghostbusters 2
  14. House on Haunted Hill, 1959
  15. House on Haunted Hill, 1999 (I’m usually not fond of remakes, but both versions stand pretty well on their own for different reasons)
  16. Little Shop of Horrors
  17. 13 Ghosts
  18. The Haunting, 1963
  19. The Haunting, 1999 (again, another stand-along remake that I can get behind)
  20. The  Birds
  21. The Addams Family
  22. Addams Family Values
  23. Manhunter
  24. Silence of the Lambs
  25. Hannibal
  26. Sleepy Hollow
  27. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
  28. The Others
  29. The Sixth Sense
  30. The Corpse Bride
  31. Devil’s Advocate
  32. It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
  33. Edward Scissorhands
  34. Rocky Horror Picture Show
  35. Beetlejuice
  36. Monsters Inc
  37. The Faculty
  38. I Know What You Did Last Summer
  39. Skeleton Key
  40. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  41. Idle Hands (a friend of mine’s brother is in this one)
  42. Teen Witch
  43. Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the Movie
  44. The Worst Witch
  45. Clue
  46. The Lost Boys
  47. The Haunted Mansion
  48. The Good Witch
  49. Once Bitten
  50. What Lies Beneath
  51. The Woman in Black
  52. Flatliners
  53. The Witches
  54. The Village

I’m sure you can tell I’m not big on the gory side of the horror movie genre. You won’t find me watching slasher flicks or movies intended to give you full-on nightmares. I’d never sleep again! But I like suspense and some tamer horror, along with a lot of fun. Last year I watched several of the Goosebumps movies that were on Netflix, and I’m sure I’ll tumble down some b-movie holes a few times over the next few months.

What are your favorite movies for this time of year? Any must-sees that I’ve left off my list, above?

Not So Spooky Bathroom Mini-Makeover

Just for Fun

There’s one more room we decorated for Halloween that I haven’t shown you, yet!

If you watched my Boots, Boots, Boots Shopping Haul video, you saw the cute Halloween bathroom textiles I ordered from Kohl’s.

With such a small space to work with, adding decorations didn’t sound like a great idea. Instead, I replaced the items that would otherwise be there with seasonally appropriate awesomeness.

Yes, the shower curtain really does glow in the dark!

Slipping on a new shower curtain might be a tiny bit tedious, but I think it’s worth it to liven up the space a bit. And can I just give some kudos to my new DSLR that allowed me to actually get a picture of the glow in the dark shower curtain details?!

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That cute little spider soap dispenser sits so prettily on our narrow sink ledge and also glows in the dark. Unfortunately it’s slightly more pretty than functional–more soap comes out of the neck of the bottle than the dispenser tip! Next year it’ll probably be relegated to a pretty shelf decoration (unless I figure out a way to fix the seal on the cap!).

jvanderbeek_halloween_homedecor_bathroom_textiles_bathmats_towels

As much as I’m not a fan of spiders in real life, they seem to be a natural fit for Halloween–same with the bats. We already had the bat hand towels from a previous year (and some are carrying little spiders through the air), but I think they go pretty well with the new curtain and mats.

This was such a simple way to dress up a small room for the holiday, I’m tempted to keep doing it. I’m not sure there’s a lot of call for Thanksgiving shower curtains, but I’m sure I can find some for Christmas!

Have you ever (or would you ever) swapped the everyday bathroom bits for seasonal ones?

The Abyss Has Been All Topsy-Turvy This Month!

In The Studio

And it’ll probably stay that way for a little while longer–there’s just so much going on!

At the beginning of the month, the first of my two Helmar projects went up: a trio of fabric-covered tombstones.

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And then today, book-ending the month, my second Halloween project is live on Helmar, this time a quick pedestal project.

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Also at the beginning of the month, the FACES exhibit for the local Artist Collective opened at Grassroots Coffee here in Thomasville. We attended the opening night reception on First Friday and then went out to supper with friends who came up from Tallahassee. It may seem like a little thing, but it felt pretty big as it was the first Collective show I’ve had a piece in.

jvanderbeek_theclockhasmanyfaces2015_10x10

The Clock Has Many Faces by Jennifer “Scraps” Vanderbeek | mixed media on canvas 10″x10″

The exhibit runs through the beginning of January. The next theme is still life… not sure how I’ll approach that one, but it’ll be a fun challenge.

Of course there was the whole process of getting the house ready for Halloween, but I’ve also been a bit preoccupied getting the new Creative Mischief Kits ready to go. We had a slight delay from one of the paper manufacturers, but everything’s in and the two card kits are now ready to ship!

CPR Holidays Winter Whimsy Kit

CPR Holidays Winter Whimsy Kit

CPR Holidays Classic Christmas Kit

CPR Holidays Classic Christmas Kit

The CPR in the titles stands for “Cards Prepared & Ready,” an idea I had many years ago about simplifying the process of sending handmade cards by batching them up together. These are holiday kits, of course, with enough supplies to make 20 cards in each. You can find more about them and place your order at TheCraftyBranch.com

Finally, I’ve been working on my Halloween costume for this year. I can’t remember if I mentioned it before or not, but we decided to go as Wreck It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz this year.

Finding a pullover with both pocket and hood (when I would otherwise want neither) in the right color and size was a bit like searching for a teal unicorn. But I think my semi-DIY will do nicely!

I had to convert a long-sleeved hooded t-shirt into Vanellope’s hoodie by trimming off the bottom 6″ or so, adding elastic along the new hem to get it into shape, and then using the cut-off area to create the kangaroo pocket in the front. I finished it off with some hot-pink paracord to match the details on her hoodie.

Just needs the small "double stripe" on the one leg and I can call these done.

Just needs the small “double stripe” on the one leg and I can call these done.

I’ve almost finished painting the white tights I purchased to match the character design–I took a tip from a costume Instructable about cutting out leg-ish shapes from cardboard to act as forms for the tights while they’re being painted. So far it seems to be working just fine.

The one thing I haven’t started on, yet, is the candy scatter for my hair. I have everything I need for it, I just haven’t had a chance to put them together. I’ll definitely have it done by Halloween, but the scatter might be a bit sparse for the party tomorrow night–depends on how much I get done on my lunch break today!

Those slippers are super creepy to me. Anyone else?

Those slippers are super creepy to me. Anyone else?

For Todd’s part he’s been letting his hair get shaggy and even extending his sideburns to look more like Ralph. He bought a pair of brown overalls, a red v-neck tee, and a pair of really creepy barefoot “slippers” since Ralph doesn’t wear shoes. For the larger-than-life hands, he found a pair of Hulk hands on eBay for a good price and painted them a flesh tone. He’s planning to wrap his forearms with ace bandages over some sort of padding to bulk up a bit. We also have a heart-shaped cookie medal in the works for him.

I’ll be sure to have someone take our picture tomorrow night to show you how it all turned out!

What to Feed Your Halloween Party

Nibbles

In addition to my regular menu planning this weekend, I had to finalize our party menu, too! Saturday was our bi-monthly Sam’s shopping trip–excellent timing on that one–so we took advantage of already being in the warehouse store to stock up on the usual goods plus anything else we’d need for party food.

We also stopped by Trader Joe's on the way home. (This doesn't include the cooler full of meat or the case of beer.)

We also stopped by Trader Joe’s on the way home. (This doesn’t include the cooler full of meat or the case of beer we also purchased at Sam’s.)

Todd’s trunk was so weighed down it made alarming noises when we stopped at red lights! And there was no way everything was fitting in the pantry, so party prep items are still hanging out at the end of the dining room table until needed. I’d estimate we spend $200-$300 extra in groceries when prepping for a big party like this, and it always feels like money well spent. Our guests have plenty of options and the leftovers feed us (and sometimes our offices) in the days after the party so we don’t have to worry about cooking after the fun. It all evens out.

Speaking of those options, this is what the menu is currently set at:

Spanish Pulled Pork with Kings Hawaiian Rolls
Vegan Corn Chowder*
Roast Beef and Swiss Pinwheels
Smoked Gouda Pimento Cheese Pinwheels

Bacon-Wrapped Artichoke Hearts*
Stacked Spuds*
Spinach Puffs*
Spicy Black Bean Dip* with assorted crackers and chips

Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread
Chocolate Chip Brownies*

Paladin Punch* (non-alcholic)
Mulled Apple Cider
Frank-n-Brew (tequila)
Black Juleps (whiskey)
Beer: Yuengling Oktoberfest and Not Your Father’s Root Beer
Assorted wine, sodas, full bar, and mixers are always available

(Menu items marked with an * are from my cookbook, What to Feed Your Raiding Party.)

It’s very similar to last year’s menu with a lot of “fan favorites” like the bacon-wrapped artichoke hearts and the pinwheels. I had multiple dips on last year’s menu, but with so much food they got overlooked, so I slimmed it down to only one (and one that is always a hit at out parties). I also had a couple more desserts on the menu for last year, but I know that at least one guest is bringing a couple of sweet items for the table, so I lessened my to-do list knowing that we’ll have plenty.

We had all of this, plus 3 more items on the table in the kitchen that we just couldn't make room for!

In the end we had all of this, plus 3 more items on the table in the kitchen that we just couldn’t make room for!

And last year’s table was so jammed full that I thought it would be nice to have a little more room to maneuver this year!

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This picture is from last year, too–I like to plan what is going where on the table and what serving dishes I’ll need before I start filling platters and dressing up the table. It looks like we only had 2 of the 3 leaves in place–I guess we only added the third leaf for Thanksgiving, though we’ve left it in place since. Good! That means we’ll have even more room to work with!

Okay, now back to work on my costume!

MxMo CII: Spooky Sips | The Black Julep

Sips

You know what we haven’t had a lot of around here, lately? Cocktails! And while I had something else in mind for today’s post, I was happily reminded that today is Mixology Monday and I have the perfect cocktail inspiration. So today we’re joining up with other mixologists around the web and our host for this round, Rated R Cocktails, to bring you my version of the Black Julep cocktail.

Black Julep

At Northside Pies a couple weeks ago I ordered a Black Julep from their cocktail menu and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I’m not usually a big bourbon fan, though I’ve acquired a taste for the smoother ones over the years. One of my favorites is Tennessee Honey by Jack Daniels–I don’t generally sip spirits neat, but this one I will. The other component of a Black Julep is blackberry something–that’s where my memory got a little fuzzy (but I swear I only had one!).

For my version of the Black Julep I decided to make a syrup from blackberry wine in addition to muddling some blackberries in the bottom of the glass, like you’d do with mint in a normal julep. A semi-local winery in Defuniak Springs, Florida, Chautauqua Winery, makes a fabulous blackberry wine that we’ve been known to plan a weekend road trip around just to restock. It’s that good. If you don’t have a local favorite, Arbor Mist’s Blackberry Merlot would probably do in a pinch.

The blackberry syrup is 2 parts wine and 1 part sugar, boiled until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Now, when I say coats the back of a spoon, I mean you can run the back of your fingernail through it (or the tip of a knife, if you have short nails and don’t want to burn yourself) and the furrow doesn’t immediately fill. Let cool a bit, just so it won’t immediately melt the glass of ice. You can, of course, make this ahead of time and store it.

Black Julep

Fresh Blackberries
Sugar
Ice
2 oz Tennessee Honey Whiskey
Club Soda
Blackberry Syrup

Muddle 2-3 blackberries in the bottom of a rocks or low-ball glass with a dash of sugar. Fill the glass with ice and pour in the Tennessee Honey. Top with club soda until almost full and swirl the glass to combine things a bit. Pour some of the blackberry syrup over the back of a spoon into the drink. Garnish with another blackberry on a cocktail pick and enjoy.

While I think the color of the drink is a little on the macabre side, the theme of this month’s MxMo is Spooky Sips. Frankly, the scariest thing about this cocktail is how sweet it is. That was my intention, of course.

mxmo-halloween

If you’d like more spooky cocktail inspiration, head over to the host’s blog and check out the comments for more of this month’s participants.