Edgar Allan Poe October: A Halloween Toast

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."

Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"

I don't drink.  Yes, I may indulge in an occasional serving of tiramisu.  I may even use real marsala wine in my chicken marsala, but I've never actually helped myself to a glass of it.  

That isn't to say that I've never been tempted to take a sip.  Every time I make that chicken marsala, I hold the wine bottle under my nose and breathe deeply until its rich, dark aroma settles into my marrow.  Mmmmm.

I have no proof, but I'm pretty sure I must be French somewhere in my ancestral line.

In lieu of alcohol, we drink a lot of other tasty brews around here.  This is one of our favorites.  We also like "swamp juice," especially around Halloween.

If you, too, are a non-drinking, French-feeling, kid-friendly kind of gal, then this is the cocktail for you.  

Swamp juice tastes a lot like Hawaiian Punch (wink, wink).  But when you float an eyeball in it and drizzle it with slime, it turns into a perfectly creepy libation.

 
To make the eyeball: Cut a marshmallow in half and stuff it with a chocolate chip or raisin.

For the slime:  Put a drop of food coloring into 1/4 cup of corn syrup and drizzle it along the top of a chilled glass.  Then dip the rim of your glass into sugar.

Now, please join me in raising our glasses to Mr. Edgar Allan Poe and the month of October . . . 

Cheers!

Miriam and I will see you in November as we celebrate an Alcott Autumn!

Edgar Allan Poe October: Halloween Plate Silhouettes

"Dark draperies hung upon the walls. 

The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. 

Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. 

I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow."

~Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"

There is a strange phenomenon that occurs at our house somewhere near the middle of October.  I like to call it "poverty."  Maybe it is because I've been zealously trying to get my Christmas shopping done by Halloween.  Maybe it is because we are still recovering from summer vacation.  Or maybe it is because my grocery store had a sale on canned pumpkin and I panicked and bought two cases of the stuff.  

Seriously.

So, for whatever the reason, we're cinching our belts around here.

This means that when my heart saw these plate collections, I knew I couldn't go on a mad shopping spree to find a bunch just like them.  (And heaven knows we love silhouettes around here, like these and these and these.)

{via Tatertots and Jello}

{via Country Living}

So I did the next best thing.

I forayed into my creepy basement and found some scrap pieces of black felt and a stack of thrift store white plates that had yet to see the light of day.

Now here is the tricky part.  Pay close attention now because the intricacy of what is about to follow is mind-bending:

I cut some simple shapes and letters out of the felt and then used a washable glue stick to adhere them to the plate. 

And yes, I said "glue stick."

Minutes later I have my own collection of Halloween silhouette plates (that will easily convert back into plain white plates with just a little water).  

And not a cent spent.

That's what I call a scary-good deal.

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Edgar Allan Poe October: A Halloween Porch

"I looked upon the scene before me---upon the mere house, 

and the simple landscape features of the domain---

upon the bleak walls---

upon the vacant eye-like windows . . ."

Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"

I admit it.

I'm a wimp.  I'm a weak-kneed, yellow-bellied, lily-livered chicken.  I don't do scary.

 I avoid haunted houses, horror movies, ghost stories, and port-a-potties at all costs.

So while other people decorate their front porches with zombies, mummies, and ghouls, I choose to go the safer route.

Today, the safer route began with this.

I found this planter in a cluttered corner of the garage where it was hiding under a bag of potting soil.  With its cracked concrete exterior and chipped foot, I considered tossing it in the garbage.  But one can of black Krylon spray paint later, and it had a new lease on life---this time as the base for a pumpkin topiary (of sorts).

When I started stacking the pumpkins on top of each other to make a normal topiary, I couldn't help but see their "snowman-like" potential.  

After painting a face and some buttons on the pumpkins, I rustled up some sticks from the backyard and gave them a spritz of spray paint before using them as the pumpkin man's arms.

One trick-or-treat bag later, and our front-porch now feels just right---festive but not frightening, with nary a zombie in sight.

The irony is that it all started in corner of the garage---the scariest place in our house . . .

Boo!

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Edgar Allan Poe October: A Frugal Table Runner for Fall

“Deep into the darkness peering,
long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal
ever dared to dream before.” 

Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

Attention Ideal, Patient, and Go-with-the-Flow Parents:  

You may want to avert your eyes from what is about to follow.  

In a moment of exasperation with my toddler, I started calculating what he cost me in repairs this week.  Between broken vases, stained carpets, markered walls, and ruined toilets, I figured that my little man packs at least a $20 daily repair punch.

Most parents wouldn't stoop to actually crunching numbers, but they've never raised "the destroying angel" (as we affectionately call him around here).

So when fall dawned at my house and I started to dress the table, I knew I couldn't invest a lot of money or effort on a seasonal table runner.  Chances were my little man would have the runner off the table and in a light socket within five minutes anyway.

 

So here is what I did.

 

1.  I purchased an inexpensive length (like 2 dollarsish) of felt fabric to span the width of my table.  

2.  I cut notches in the edges of the fabric to give it a squared-scalloped look.

3.  I then scoured my random button collection for all of the orange and orangy-red buttons I could find.

4.  Finally, I hot glued the buttons onto the notched edges of the runner.

Two dollars and ten minutes later I have a frugal runner for fall which may or may not last through Halloween, depending on when my little guy gets a hankering for chewing buttons.

Even if he does, I figure I'm only out two dollars.  

And at the end of the day, I'll just add it to his tab.

It's a good thing he's worth it.

{photo by Samantha Mitchell}

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Fall Poetry: An Autumn Home Tour

Autumn Offering

I shall be Autumn

this Halloween,

with leaf draped skirt,

and folds of

boysenberry velvet wine

flowing to the ground.

Brown stained face,

eyes rimmed in gold,

nails dripping sunset,

a crown of twigs

to cover my head.

You may gather from me

the spring of my youth,

my summer of maturity,

and hold onto with me,

the solace of these days

of remembering

before the frost. 

~ Judith A. Lawrence

I have no proof, but I am certain my home was born in autumn.  When autumn comes, it is like the walls take a deep breath and settle into their happiest and loveliest rhythm.  

Even my kids can tell the difference.  

Not one, but SEVERAL of my children pleaded with me this week to decorate for fall.  

(And this is coming from boys who have no qualms with wearing soiled socks on their feet or food on their face.)  

So I did.  I decked the walls and the windows and the cupboards and the counters with flourishes of fall.

But I couldn't stop there.  I decided that while I was hauling leaves and pumpkins and ribbon up from the basement, I might as well haul up the owls and spiders and skeletons, too.

Now our home is a full-fledged autumn showcase with just a hint of the haunted.

And I know it sounds a bit crazy, but when I stood back to look at the finished product, I could swear I felt the corners of the house raise a bit---like the contented smirk of a jack-o-lantern on Halloween night.  

Here is a brief tour of my Autumn/Halloween home . . .

After passing through our front door, you'll find banisters draped with harvest fruits . . .

and counters spilling over with gourds and berries.

Pumpkins fill baskets and urns in every room . . .

and some even line the wooden mantle.

Witches hold their brooms close . . .

while spiders dangle from the windows and chandeliers.

Wreaths adorn the mirrors and doors.  They may even host a creature or two.

As you leave our Halloween/Autumn home, a little owl will you wish you well, and a smiling skeleton may just give you a parting wink.

Happy fall decorating to you all!

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Spooky Printable

Here's a more spooky option than the last. This prints as an 8X10.

Halloween Books for Little Goblins

Before I had children, I sanctimoniously vowed that I would not lower my prim standards by reveling in pagan Halloween.  And then I had kids.  We have become that house that I always mocked---the one with the spider webs and orange lights and the door mat that makes scary sounds.  I do it for my little goblins, and they love me for it.  But I draw the line at blood, gore, zombies, scythes, and Necco wafers.  Some things just ruin the fun.  I have applied the same "no creeps" criteria to our Halloween book collection.  We like books that hint at mischief but don't go anywhere close.  For those of you on the same page as our lily-livered family, here are some Halloween favorites that you might enjoy: