Hunger Games Book Club

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble
Our book this month, for Book Club, was the Hunger Games! What a great discussion we had. I think this was the most we have ever discussed a book before. Usually we talk about the book for about 5 minutes and then 2 hours about life in general. I LOVE BOOK CLUB!!...and you already know how much I love Halloween, so I EXTRA loved this girls night!

On the menu:
Worms
Mummy Stomboli
Spider Web Cookies
Carrot Finger Stubs w/ dip
Apple Fangs
Candy Corn Bark
Witches Brew



Jello Worms

First pull the bendy part of 100 straws then place a rubber band around them to keep together. Put in a tall container. Pour your prepared jello over the straws. Let the jello set. Squeeze the jello out of each straw. It's pretty time consuming and I'd probably never do it again... it was a lot of work and my fingers are still a little red. Oh! You can add cool whip, or sour cream, or sweetened condensed milk to give the jello a more pasty color. I used cool whip and it all settled to the top.

Candy Corn Bark

Melt a bag of white chocolate chips, spread on to wax paper. Squeeze a few drops of yellow food coloring around and swirl with a butter knife. Sprinkle with candy corn.

Spider Web Cookies and Apple Fangs

You can top any cookie or cupcake with these webs made from white chocolate. Melt the chocolate, fill a ziploc baggie and clip the end. I piped the webs on to wax paper and put them in the fridge.
Core and slice your favorite apple, dab a little peanut butter in between two slices. I used string cheese for the fangs.

My 2 Most Exciting Halloween Treats!

I'm as happy as a witch on Halloween after she's found her final ingredient for her witch's brew! My gravestones turned out perfect! I LOVE THEM!!!

The Beach's are related to Lydia Gilbert. She was tried and convicted for witchcraft and sentenced to death by hanging. She disappeared shortly after her trial. So there is no record of her death. Her husband moved away also. It is thought that Lydia met up with him later but nobody knows for sure.





I have broken a Halloween commandment. I coveted my neighbor's halloween decoration. Last week I was driving past the Dimond's house and this fantastic chomping skeleton was illuminated and actually moving (chomping) in their front window. I was intrigued and thought, I'll have to ask them about that later. As luck would have it, I was helping out another friend and needed to pick up something from the Dimond's, so I asked and complimented them on their awesome decor! (They has gravestones too!) They told me they found this skeleton at Disney the last time they were there. It's a necklace and people were wearing them around their necks. COOL! So I went on my merry way, thinking I would never have one of my very own. The next day I dropped off my sister, Erin, and niece, Annika, at the airport. They were going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios... only in Orlando Florida. Erin and Annika say that the frozen butter beer is the best thing they have ever tasted. The Wizarding World was totally awesome!

I called Erin when she was in Florida to see how it was going, she said that her husband, Nat, was still in his conference so she and Annika were going to go to Disney World by themselves first. Still not thinking, I wished her well and ended the phone call. HOLY COW!!! Disney = Super Cool Halloween Decoration... so THEN I texted her and asked if she happened to see one, please bring me home one of the super cool decorations. Erin didn't mention anything about it the rest of the trip and Monday night I went to pick them up from the airport. On the way home, she started unwrapping something and guess what it was!?? My Halloween is complete!! The pictures don't do it justice, but the skeleton "chomps" his jaw up and down.

Look at those spooky glowing green eyes in the bottom of the window... NOT a halloween decoration, just Buddy wondering what the heck is going on outside.

My Favorite Holiday... HALLOWEEN!!!

Todd n' Erin (from a local radio station here in UT) made one of my Halloween dreams come true when I saw that Todd had posted a Gravestones 101 FB photo album.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=2066698&id=1210836853
Here is my version.
For years, I've been wanting to make some gravestones of my own to add to our Halloween decor. I knew this was the year when I happened upon a lot of styrofoam off the side of the freeway - FREE!
I cut out my stones and started to paint them. I used the Gripper Gray Primer from Home Depot ($10)We had a 2 x 4 and some plywood in the garage, so I (yes, me) used our circular saw and cut out 5" blocks from the 2 x 4 and large enough plywood to back the gravestones. I screwed the blocks to the plywood like so. Then I drilled a hole in the middle of each block for the 8" nail to anchor the gravestone in the lawn.

I also found some liquid nails in the garage and slathered up the back of the gravestones using the "gun". Thankfully, I knew from previous experience that you do not want to get the liquid nail goop anywhere except the places you need.

8" nails at Home Depot are 45 cents. Here is what the back would look like if we had a see through lawn.

Painted Gravestones. Now I just need to let them dry, write on them and add some more shading.

If you stop by our house you will see some of the following decor...

... and be greeted by our 6 Foot Vampire!

We have 3 trees in front of our house with these skeleton apparitions floating in front of them.... ooooooh!

Spooky Stormy Cloudy Full Moon tonight! I love it!