And Now Ladies & Gentlemen...

So while the decor sets the mood for Halloween in all honesty the main attraction is the costumes!

We made the costumes for the most part in my family.  Now, I am all too happy to supplement with store bought pieces but it just feels like cheating to buy the whole thing.

No, there is no soapbox sermon on the sanctity of the do-it-yourself spirit of Halloween...thats just the fun of Halloween for me.

This is one of the first Halloween costumes I made myself.  I was Lydia from the Beetle Juice cartoon.

To be honest most people don't trick or treat all that long, but I've never been able to quit!  My costumes have just gotten more involved, like a pearl studded ruff and a medieval double henin.

So please buy good candy this year...I'll be by.

The Porch

Halloween is the ultimate occasion for crafting.

The porch was my very own Macy's window to design for the month of October.  The walls were covered with black plastic.

Our blow-up skeleton was dressed as an old pirate and propped up on the porch swing.  He was granted an empty 2-liter that I labeled with the notorious Triple X poison insignia to swig on.  Mom handled the spider-webs due to my apparent height challenge.

My sister would be talked into blowing up a bulbous vinyl bat.  She does not share my affinity for Halloween....especially when it comes to skeletons...but even she gets into the spirit.

It wasn't professional and it wasn't perfect, but October has been ours to design.