Category Archives: Halloween

Halloween Wrap-Up

Yesterday was so much fun! I dressed up all day and Sym wore her costume to school. I spent my break (the daycare kids’ naptime) putting up decorations outside because I figured I wouldn’t have time after work, and I was right! The first trick-or-treaters came at around 5:20 and it built steadily all evening- we ran out of candy by 7:30 and I spoke to a woman up the block who had over five hundred kids come by before 8:30! This is really the neighborhood to be in Vancouver’s West End on Halloween night!

Anyway. Pictures!

Sym as an Evil Doll

Sym as an Evil Doll.

Happy Halloween!
Strawberry Me and Secret Princess

Me as a strawberry with a little Sleeping Beauty (this is the only full length I got of my costume).

The dogs were not exempt from dressing up.

Ghost Dog
Ghost Dog

Georgie wore her ghost shirt and was miserable about it. Kichou wire his Aloha shirt and I made him a tiny Detroit Tigers hat so he could be Dognum, P.I.

Dognum, P.I.
Dogtroit Tigers
Eggplant Taylor and Dognum, P.I.

Taylor was an eggplant and was very gracious about wearing a purple track suit and silly hat. I’m actually wearing the purple pants right now and they are really comfortable so I guess it wasn’t all bad. This was taken when we were outside giving out candy, I didn’t want to have to keep opening the door every time kids came down the stairs and have the dogs freak out and try to escape so I set out a little outdoor area for use to sit in, with lots of decorations and my iPod stereo blasting my ultimate Halloween party playlist.

Strawberry Me & Ghost Dog

I had my coat on because it was cold and people kept asking if I was a pumpkin. PUMPKINS ARE ORANGE MY COAT IS YELLOW. To my left is this great decoration I made by stuffing some green twinkle lights in a cracked jar (it was the one from my terrarium, which I killed by forgetting to water it, OOPS) and hiding it in the ferns and ivy.

Because the trick-or-treaters started coming so early I didn’t have time to take pictures of all my decorations last night. Most of them are still up so I went out and got some this morning instead. First is the stairs outside my apartment.

Outside Decorations Cobwebs

I wrapped this whole hedge in cobwebs and foil spiders.

Outside Decorations Glitter Skeletons

Some glittery skeletons on the fence.

Outside Decorations Left of Front Door
Outside Decorations Front Door

Most of these decorations were up in the house all week- Sym’s flying pumpkins, my Trick or Treat glitter banner, and the hanging foil decorations. I also put some of those in the trees in the backyard but they are hard to see.

Outside Decorations Backyard

A few years ago it was wet on Halloween night and the whole backyard was churned into a muddy mess. The grass still hasn’t fully recovered so every year I put a fence of bamboo sticks and caution tape around the lawn to keep people off of it.

Outside Decorations Beware
Outside Decorations Just Leave

I made the “Beware” and “Just Leave” signs using the wire frames from some election signs I found vandalized on the side of the road, garbage bags and Sharpie markers. I traced Sym’s and my hands for the bloody handprints on the “Beware” sign, and the “Just Leave” was inspired by the classic Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace

Since all the pumpkins from my carving party had turned to mush already, I quickly carved this toothsome jack-o-lantern and some more little vampires in the afternoon.

Outside Decorations Skeleton & Pumpkins

Of course, now I have to take it all down so I can start decorating for Sym’s birthday party on Friday, and then next week, for CHRISTMAS!!! Just kidding. Sort of.

Manicure Monday: Halloween Costume Nails

s11manicuremondayheader

Strawberry Nails

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Red Said Red, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow
I was going to put leafy tops on these nails but by the time I was done the dots it was 10pm and I was OVER. IT.

Sorry for the photobooth pic but I have too much important stuff to do and no time for real pictures! Stuff like carving a new pumpkin, putting up decorations outside, and sewing a tiny little Detroit Tigers cap so I can dress my husband’s dog as Magnum, P.I. for Halloween!

Berry Ready

Berry Ready for Halloween

Ready when you are, Halloween!

Hocus Pumpkins

Hocus Pumpkins

Friday night was my Second Annual Pumpkin Carving, Hocus Pocus Watching Party.

Pumpkin Gutting

In the morning Sym and Taylor helped me scoop the goop out of all the pumpkins. I was really dreading this part because I haaaaaaaaaate pumpkin guts but it was quite easy.

Pumpkin Gutting

Fun fact: the pumpkin guts peeled all the dead/dry skin off Sym’s hands.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

I’d been putting up decorations all week. I used my Halloween glitter banners, some store-bought things and some crafts by Sym and myself.

Halloween Decorations (Door)
Pumpkin Carving Party 2011
Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

Sym made these craft foam jack-o’-lanterns last year, we added wings and feet to make the bat-o’-lanterns!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011
Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

This skull chandelier is hanging over the kids’ table. Kids love skulls.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

This treat bag made a great impromptu light shade!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

I’ve turned into the sort of person who makes gift bags for all my guests.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

It’s really Taylor’s fault; when he went to the liquor store for beer he also came back with a mini-bottle of Crystal Head Vodka. OBVIOUSLY I had to go out and get more to share with everybody! I also included a cute mini-pumpkin and a cellophane bag of candy corn and Halloween chocolates.

Mini Crystal Skull vodka.
Gift Bag Contents

Sym really wanted me to make the cursed donuts from last year, although I managed to avoid any major baking mishaps. These are just made using brownie mix and black food colouring.

The Donut Decorator

I put Sym in charge of decorating them with white, green, and orange glaze, and white bone & skull, black spider & skull, and green spider sprinkles.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

The fruits of everyone’s carving labours:

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

top row, l-r: a small Totoro + some susuwatari by Sym and her dad; a cemetery by Sym’s stepmom
bottom row l-r: Sailor Moon & a little vampire by me; a toothy grinning face by Taylor, a fangy grinning face by Katrina, and a hammer & sickle by Varia. My friend Bonnie & her son also carved one but they left early.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

This was my attempt at one of the Martha Stewart fanged pumpkins that are all over tumblr/pinterest this year. Mine came out looking mentally subnormal. I think it’s the jewelled picks I used for the eyes.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

Taylor spent HOURS carving the teeth on his pumpkin, trying to get them thin enough to let light through. Clearly it was worth it though!

I only had half a dozen people over, but last year there were only two, so I basically tripled my turnout. Next year: EIGHTEEN.

Not particularly Halloween-related, but before people arrived I had all three dogs sitting in the beanbag chairs, even Dougal.

Pumpkin Carving Party 2011

AMAZING.

Very Strawberry

Strawberry Hat 2

My dress hasn’t arrived yet but I made the hat for my Halloween costume and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out.

Training Days

I’ve been a bad, lazy blogger :( idk why I was in such a funk last week. OH actually I do know, it’s because someone who I thought I was friendly with said personal blogs mine in particular, were embarrassing. For the record I’m not embarrassed that I have a blog, but I was pretty irritated about the unnecessary bitchiness.

… but instead of focusing on that, let’s talk about something else: Family Fun Friday Nights! Every week I try to come up with something Taylor, Sym and I can all do together, and the last two weeks were peculiarly train-themed.

Two weeks ago we had a board game night and played Ticket To Ride, a game that I think is from Taylor’s childhood?

Ticket To Ride

idk, I’d never played it before but he had been practicing on his iPad. That’s didn’t stop me from KICKING EVERYONE’S ASS THOUGH.

Winning at Ticket to Ride

Check out my amazing cross-continental railway (I was red)! It was really fun, although I’m not going to say how intense and stressed out I got about the whole thing.

This past weekend I had planned on a simple night at home, but on Friday morning one of my clients gave me a free pass for the Halloween Ghost Train in Stanley Park, so OBVIOUSLY we had to do that!

Halloween Ghost Train

Before we even got to the train we had a nice creepy little adventure- I had planned out our walking route to get there so we wouldn’t end up wandering through the woods at night, but unfortunately there was some filming going on at the Malkin Bowl so we had to go all the way around. THROUGH THE WOODS AT NIGHT D: Luckily we made it without getting lost or eaten by Sasquatches or anything.

Halloween Ghost Train

The theme for this year’s train is Circus of Disaster, and if you can think of anything worse than weird clowns in the dark woods at night then WOW you have a sick mind.

Halloween Ghost Train
Halloween Ghost Train

Being chased by zombies from the ring toss.

Halloween Ghost Train
Halloween Ghost Train
Halloween Ghost Train

Not pictured: Bird Boy’s nest of mutilated clown parts. I wish I could have gotten better pictures of everything, but it was dark and we were on a moving train. It was just the right amount of creepiness that it was good for kids but still fun for adults, and if you are in the Vancouver area I HIGHLY recommend checking it out before the 31st!

Halloween Ghost Train

Sym posed for a picture with me on the grounds that I bought her one of those obnoxious, seizure-inducing light-up swords, the brat.

We also went through the haunted maze (twice), visited the colouring tent and had hot chocolate/cider and churros (although Taylor was only able to smell the food & drinks). It was a great start to getting me in the Halloween mood, which is perfect for this week’s Family Fun Friday: my second annual pumpkin carving, Hocus Pocus watching party (see the results of last year’s here)! Sym and I went to Party Packagers’ Halloween Superstore on Saturday and bought a bunch of decorations and carving tools, and I’ve already started stocking up on pumpkins!

Hocus Pumpkins

Georgie’s getting into the spirit already in her glow-in-the-dark ghost shirt!

Pouty Halloween Dog

Halloweenin’

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was planning on making some Halloween glitter banners, and here they are!

I’ve never had orange glitter before and it is a pain & a half so it’s available in VERY limited quantities!

The purple bats have acid green paper on the reverse.

I think these little ghosts are so cute!

This black glitter banner has bright red paper on the reverse.

You can find these all in my etsy shop; click on the pictures to go directly to each listing. Also don’t forget to “like” the Unicorn Parade Shop on facebook!

Any Minute Now

I swear these dogs are thisclose to becoming best friends.

Fuzzy Frenemies
Fuzzy Kisses

Since it’s September 1st, I figured it was about time I got started on some Halloween crafts. I’m planning on some spooky glitter banners, but I need to get more black and white glitter sheets, and try to suss out some orange- for some reason it’s basically impossible for me to find orange glitter! I thought I found some but as it turned out it was orange glitter paint, and it’s not working the way I want. You have to do a billion coats and once you put down one, the glitter in the successive coats just gloms on to where there is already glitter, leaving some parts chunky and clumpy and others patchy and bare.

ANYWAY in the meantime I’ve whipped up some micro-bunting (remember micro bunting?) in Halloween colours. These are 12″ long and priced oh-so-reasonably at just $1.80, although if I’d thought ahead a bit more I’d have made them 13″ for even more spookiness.

Three Halloween Micro Buntings

In black, orange, white or any colour you want!

Speaking of crafts, my friend Rhiannon pointed out my space shirt tutorial was featured on craftzine.com today!

My Space Shirt on Craftzine.com

I swear, I never need to make another craft or write another blog post. I’ll just coast on that one shirt for the rest of my internet career.

Halloween Wrap Up

I’ve been living in this neighborhood for eight years now, and every year we have more and more trick-or-treaters. The first year there was only a couple, but soon parents clued into the fact that as the last intact block of actual houses downtown, there were more trick-or-treating opportunities here than in blocks full of apartment buildings and condos. Usually at least one person in every house is giving out candy, and some people go all out with the decorations. It’s really fun!

Taylor had to go to bed early since he was working last night, and Sym was going to be trick-or-treating with her dad and stepmom. I didn’t want to sit at home like a sad sally, giving out candy by myself, especially since the dogs bark their tiny faces off every time someone knocks on the door. I decided to give out candy at the front of the house and teamed up with my neighbor Matt, who was having a little get together. He and some of the neighborhood kids had put out some pumpkins and spiderwebs, but I want to up the ante a little and raided my holiday decoration cupboard.

Halloween at Mole Hill

I added the jack o’lanterns we carved on Friday night, more cobwebs, a cardboard skeleton and honeycomb-paper spider, some mini-Halloween wreaths and my favorite- long streamers of black crêpe paper that fluttered in the breeze like tattered shrouds. Matt’s friends Aaron and Darren provided the giant spiders and our house was Halloween night ready!

Matt, another neighbor named Katherine and I combined all our candy, and it was a good thing because this year there were HUNDREDS of kids! Altogether we had about 20 lbs of candy and by eight o’clock we were tapped out! It was crazy! Some of the kids had really great costumes- there were some amazing homemade cardboard Transformers, several little Lady Gagas, and one boy with a bloody rag tied around his had carrying a bloody cauliflower- a no-brainer. There was no contest for my favorites though!

Three Totoros
totoro-sprout

Colleen, Symphony and Clay as the three magical creatures from My Neighbor Totoro! Colleen made these from hoodies, which I can appreciate since sweatsuit costumes are my oeuvre. I like how Clay’s Totoro hoodie has the big teeth! Very cute.

Now that Halloween is over, I can finally focus on Sym’s birthday party, which is OH GEE this Friday! This happens almost every year- I spend all of October focusing on Halloween and suddenly it’s November and I have four days to throw together an awesome party.

A True Tale of Horror: The Clown

For Halloween, a story from the creepiest summer of my life, the summer of 1992.

One day in July, my parents went gone down to Victoria for the day leaving me in charge of my sister Zoe (14) and my brother Owen (11) at our house in the country. Zoe and I shared a bedroom upstairs. It was a huge room, about 25 feet wide and fifty feet long. The east wall had four big windows and the south wall had one, which was right by my bed. The door was also at this end of the room. The south window looked out over our driveway and the house next door, belonging to this fisherman named Tony. Being a fisherman Tony was often away for weeks at a time, and happened to be away then.

It was a Saturday and we were supposed to clean our rooms, so at around one o’clock I was lugging the vacuum cleaner up and when I went into the room I happened to glance out the window and that’s when I saw THE CLOWN. He was standing on Tony’s patio, a man in black boots, black pants, black turtleneck and black gloves, topped by a creepy clown mask- a big white rubber face with red tufty hair, red nose and a huge freaky grin. He looked like Pennywise and he was LOOKING RIGHT AT ME.

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I immediately dropped to the floor and called my sister over from her end of the room- I made her walk along the west wall (no windows) and drop next to me. We peeked around the edge of the curtain and there he was, THE CLOWN, LOOKING RIGHT AT US. We were like HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK. We ran downstairs and locked all the doors and grabbed my little brother, making him come back upstairs with us. I guess we should have called the police but instead we spent the rest of the afternoon up in the bedroom, staying away from the windows. We didn’t see the clown again and when my parents got home (before dark, thank god) and we told them what we’d seen, they went over to Tony’s house but didn’t find any signs of forced entry, and when he came home a few weeks later he never said anything about a break in. Our parents thought Zoe and I had imagined the whole thing but we know THE CLOWN was real.