Happy Halloween!

I found this on one of my favorite art/photography sites called mymodernmet.com. It is a cool site and has lots of great art finds on a daily basis.
If you are still in need of a costume idea for a Halloween event tonight and have the artistic ability to pull one of these off, I promise that people will be impressed.

Pop Art

Lucy

Jack the Pumpkin King

Van Gogh

Roy Lichtenstein

There are a few more here.  I am most impressed by the Pop Art one since it took me several seconds to actually be convinced it was a real person wearing make up.  

I do not have the ability to come up with a unique costume like these and ended up going to a party as Paul Bunyan.  Which means I just wanted an excuse to carry my axe, Jedidiah, around town and dress in pretty much my go to outfit....flannel and boots.  Happy Halloween!

-Brian

The Revenge of Tricky Treats!

This past weekend we hosted our Fifth Annual Halloween Horrorfest so I decided to throw down on the tricky treats spread again, but this time actually TAKE PHOTOS of the gross-looking/good-tasting food we made before our guests completely decimated the blood-curdling buffet. I used the original line-up from a couple of years ago as my guide, but added a few new gruesome characters to liven things up a bit. I left the naming rights to Micky this year, and some of the place cards definitely got a chuckle out of our friends. Feast your eyeballs!

Braaaaains!

(cheese ball "brain" with Triscuits and Wheat Thins)

[Cheese ball was made from a combination of this recipe and this recipe from Martha.]

Chips & Barf

(little jack-o-lantern spewing forth guacamole with tortilla chips)

Human Vegetables

(the usual suspects: carrots, celery, broccoli, ranch dip and hummus)

Disembodied Mouths 

(apple slices, caramel spread, and mini marshmallow "teeth") 

Kitty Litter Cake

(yellow cake, chocolate frosting, crumbled Golden Oreos and Tootsie Roll "cat turds") 

[Inspired by this recipe.]

Baby Fingers

(Lit'l Smokies wrapped up in crescent roll dough with sliced almond "fingernails" plus ketchup and mustard)

Crapple Sin-amon Muffins

(Apple Cinnamon Muffins whipped up by our gracious co-host Neal Block) 

Breaky Bones

(expertly decorated skeleton cookies made by the beautiful and talented Shannon McKeon) 

Wishing you all a devilishly delicious Halloween this year! 

- Cathleen 

The Witch

Halloween is less than a week away and although I could do without the candy (except the 100 Grand which is the best candy bar ever created) I do love a good excuse to dress up. I've got a Halloween party this weekend and since I'll be flying solo, I was thinking something along these lines:

Angelica Huston as the Grand High Witch from the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches.

She is simultaneously terrifying and fascinating. I first saw The Witches when I was ten years old and it scared the pants off me. But I was totally captivated by Angelica Huston's character. Or maybe it was just Angelica Huston herself. 

So much glamour wrapped up in one person.

And glamour is what Halloween is all about, my friends. Plus, you can't get more Halloween-y than a good witch. 

Or the Grand High Witch, as it happens.

Happy Weekend, Friends!

-Alissa

Artwork of the Week: Shrunken Heads!

Vincent Price's Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture Kit by Milton Bradley 1975

Yes, you know that if it's endorsed by the pretty mug of Vincent Price, this shrunken head kit MUST have been amazing! Milton Bradley put these out in the 70s, five years before my time, but I discovered this vintage set while searching for Halloween-y things to post this week. There are a few available on Ebay and one from LovesAllThingsYou on Etsy, so pick one up if you're looking for the perfect finishing touch to your mad-voodoo-science-lab party. You never know, you may just have an artiste's touch when it comes to sculpting disfigured shrunken heads. [Or you could just try the old-fashioned method.]

Included in the kit: 

1. The Shrinker

2. Face Templates

3. Plastic Sculpting Tool

4. Synthetic Hair (white and orange)

5. Little White Beads (teeth)

6. Large Black Beeds (eyes)

7. Watercolor

8. Jar of Gloss Finish

9. 3 Pieces of Aluminum Wire 

10. Cord

11. Instructions

12. Apple Hanger

13. Wing-nuts and various pieces for hanging the apple and attaching it to a lamp

Happy Halloween!!

- Cathleen 

(last photo via drgangrene)

Mask Parade!

In horror of All Hallows Eve, I bring you a coven of some of the ghoul-est masks I’ve found from around the spider’s web. Happy Halloween, everybody!

Red Fox Felt Mask, $12, from Opposite of Far on Etsy

Snowflake Leather Mask, $39, from Tom Banwell on Etsy

Day of the Dead Leather Mask, $68, from beadmask on Etsy

Crocheted Beard Beanie, $35, from Kylie’s Crochet Corner on Etsy

Deer Mask and Tail Set, $30, from Seven Feathers Tribe on Etsy

Luchador Wresting Mask, $35, from RomeroAP on Etsy

Vintage Halloween Masks, $6.95 each, from Niftic Vintage on Etsy

Make Your Own Parrot Mask with this Martha Stewart How-To

Make Your Own Owl Mask with this Martha Stewart How-To

- Cathleen 

Tricky Treats!

As the Halloween season approaches, my thoughts often turn not to clever costume ideas that involve me wearing facial hair in some capacity, but to the creepy treats I can serve to costumed party-goers. Let’s face it. Nobody’s REALLY fooled into thinking they’re about to eat a handful of curiously pretzel-shaped “skeleton bones” when you put out a bowl of white chocolate Flipz, but just go with it, ok?

This year I’ve decided to up my game, plan ahead, and make sure I cover all of the major Halloween party food groups:

Fingers in a Bandage = Franks in Blanks w/ Slivered Almond “Fingernails”
*with Blood (Ketchup) and Puss (Mustard) for dipping!

Goblin Eyeballs = Deviled Eggs
* green food coloring will make those eyeballs really ghoulish!

BRAINS!! = Brain-Shaped Cheese Ball
*add a little pink food coloring for optimum effect and serve with Tris-CUTS, of course!

Dead Roaches = Dates Stuffed w/ Goat Cheese & Pecans

Jack-o-Vomit = Guacamole Spewed Forth from a Carved Pumpkin
*with a side or TORTURE-tilla chips, obviously!

Mush Mouths = Apple Slices w/ Caramel Cheesecake Spread & Marshmallow Teeth
*hmm…red lips or green? Which are Halloween-ier?

And if I get REALLY ambitious:
A Giant Pumpkin-Shaped Carrot and Veggie Dip Platter
*probably requires the least amount of effort, is the most festive, but is definitely not trick-y enough.

This one is for when Micky and I throw our future children one of those totally awesome Halloween parties that I remember from my youth, where kids bobbed for apples and blind-folded-ly felt their way through big bowls of cold spaghetti “worms” and peeled grape “eyeballs.” Ahhh. Those really were the days:  

Kitty Litter Cake !!

Made with regular chocolate cake mix, ground up Golden Oreos, and Tootsie Rolls for the most authentic litter look, I'm not sure anyone could actually overcome the visual and have a scoop, but it would definitely be the ultimate gross-out treat for such an occasion. Bon Appétit!


- Cathleen