Halloween Party 2014 - Crafts, Jack O' Lanterns, and a few thoughts ...

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!