When it comes to Halloween there's so much I
could write about. I'd love to talk
about the origins of Halloween and how hypocritical it is that so many condemn
it as something evil due to its pagan origins.
I remember one girl at my high school telling me that if I really knew
how Halloween began I wouldn't celebrate it.
Well, as far as I know, Halloween was thought to be the easiest day for
fairies and the souls of the dead to cross over into the mortal world. And while it may seem a bit scary to think
that trick-or-treating came from the practice of bribing the otherworldly
beings with food so they would not harm the living, I think it's worth noting
that departed loved ones were thought to revisit their homes. A quick Wikipedia search reveals that people
would set a place at their dinner tables to welcome family members who had died. Keeping in mind that these are the customs of
a people from a very different time, place, culture, and lifestyle, I would
think October 31st was a day that reminded people to show their ancestors the
respect they deserve, but also a day that comforted the grieving, making them
feel as if their loved ones were not far away, and ultimately reminding them to
appreciate their loved ones who were still living.
I could go on and dissect individual
statements people have made denouncing Halloween, or examine the very false claim
made by my cabdriver just yesterday that Halloween is only celebrated in North
America. I could launch into a critique
of Halloween-related movies, or comment on why my city's newspaper always runs
an article around this time of year about the Halloween "slut rule" discussed
in the 2004 film Mean Girls - but I won't.
As I've said previously, Halloween for me is about creativity, so this
very late post will be about my projects from last Halloween:
The following are some Halloween Rose Magnets I
made using 2-sided scrapbooking paper, orange and black ribbon, refrigerator
magnets, and hot glue.
To make the roses I followed instructions
found on Pinterest. I hot glued them in
place, glued 2 strips of ribbon onto each magnet, and then hot-glued each rose
onto a magnet. I only managed to make 6
roses, and some of them I gave out with candy to trick-or-treaters.
I also made an assortment of Halloween Bookmarks
to give out with candy to trick-or-treaters.
Again, I used Halloween scrapbooking paper as well as some patterned orange scrapbooking paper and black cardstock. I used assorted ribbon, craft border scissors, a glue stick, and a pumpkin stamp.
The
last of my projects for the year was my Harvest Witch Jack O' Lantern, whose
witch hat I constructed out of potpourri and hot glue.
I
also used some potpourri pieces for the eyes and tongue. The following are some pictures of the
pumpkin in various stages.
As you can probably see, I hammered tiny nails into the pumpkin and then glued some potpourri pieces onto the nails.
It wasn't the safest or most secure method of
attaching parts to the pumpkin, but I've discovered in the past that
hot-gluing directly onto the pumpkin does not work well.
When undertaking any project it always helps
to have moral support and mine came from my constant helper - although I
suspect this photo captures her attempt to take credit for my work.
It's kind of hard to stay made at her though
...
Happy Halloween!
