Halloween Past and Present

  I always get way to distracted about Halloween. I love it. I spent most of last week decorating every nook and cranny of our home, then taking pictures and uploading them onto FB ( Facebook) for my friends to review. I think that it all transpired from when I was a little girl. When I was living with my dad we never did anything for the holidays or even my birthday… it made life very depressing for me as a little kid. Especially living in a neighborhood where kids were surprised with brand new cars and toys on Christmas and I woke up to  nothing. Not even a tree. Halloween however was the ONE holiday that I got to participate in no matter what. It was the one day that i got to pretend to be normal… for the most part…and i loved it.
FREE CANDY FOR EVERYONE!
Now, many years later I am still a child at heart and that hyper 8 year old still wants to go trick-or-treating…instead I dampen down those urges with impulsive little shopping sprees at the local dollar store for awesome Halloween finds. My partner, John, however isn’t as excited. He is really my opposite when it comes to these sorta things. He couldn’t care less if the house was decorated or not… and if he had his way we wouldn’t have any pets either… but that a whole ‘nother blog.
Last night I found a way to make a Halloween decoration at home that I have been eyeing on the internet and local Halloween stores. It’s a man covered in cobwebs like a cocoon, that hangs from the ceiling. HELLO PAPER MACHE! I can’t tell you how excited I was when i realized i had everything I needed to remake it. In stores I believe it’s about $50 for the thing retail.
All you do is find some “head” like item such as a balloon. Use paper mache to wrap it ( 2 parts water and 1 part flour, should have a thick but runny consistancy) Try and add a nose by standing the newspaper up when wet. Let dry. ( Apprx 24 hours) When dry you can add another layer to add stability or you can add in shoulders by draping more strips from the “head” down to an even surface like a table. This will make it appear to have "shoulders"

**Remember that it doesnt need to be perfect or even painted because your guy is going to be wrapped up in cobwebs.**

Once the head and shoulders are dry wrap with store bought cobwebs. Wrap them generously. Add spiders for effect. Hold upside down and hang.

So now I am off to finish my spider cocoon man and take in as much haunted cheer as I can for the next two weeks.