Tag - Spooky Ride

where old science fair projects go to die

I am not a pack rat. In fact, in recent years, I have become absolutely ruthless about disposing of the things I no longer want or need and carefully organizing the things I do. Most of them. Occasionally, however, there are objects that are placed in the "undecided" pile. That dark dustball-infested corner of the basement closet that serves as a "temporary" home for said objects while I make up my mind. And there, for the past several years, have resided . . . the science fair projects.

Both my children were required to produce science fair projects at some point during their junior high school years. And when such a project was exceptionally well-done or award-winning, it earned a special place in our hearts. They, and I, wanted to keep it, to treasure it, to preserve the memory of science fair excellence. But the projects were a little on the large side. They couldn't fit easily into a photo album or a scrapbook or a memory box. Yet I couldn't bear to part with them. So they found their way to the "undecided" pile. While I made up my mind.

But now, years later, I no longer regard the science fair projects with such unbridled affection. I now consider them junk. Cold and insensitive? Perhaps. But we have photographs and certificates to keep the memories alive. And if I had saved everything my children have produced throughout their school years, I would be buried alive under a mountain of mediocre spelling tests and crayon portraits of cats and aliens.

So where do old science fair projects go to die? To the city dump? To a recycling depot? Of course not. They are transformed. Reborn. They rise from the ashes of their former selves to find new life as one of this year's Halloween props.

I just don't know which one yet.

Cuddly Big Daddy

Yes, yes, yes!!! Big Daddy crochet pattern!!!

Nerdigurumi has made my week with this pattern, let me tell you.

You have played BioShock haven't you? Or BioShock 2? Let me tell you, I have never seen more beautiful concepts in game design. I would vacation in Rapture, even post societal breakdown. It's the most amazing underwater city, and Big Daddies are one of my favorite residents there.

Creepy crafting at its most cuddly. :-D

Beautiful, Free Cupcake Wrappers!

food art party has some amazing free printables for cupcake wrappers.

Try some today!

Dia De Los Wedding

The title of this post makes no damned sense. :)

Who cares? Look at these invites from Royal Steamline. They are so sleek and stylish and (my favorite part) black and white.

So beautiful!

And if you want some further Day of the Dead Hallowedding inspiration, do check out Marcy and Danny's Big Day. I don't know them, but anyone who gets married on Halloween to a skully theme is someone I want to be on a first name basis with.

Cheers, friends!

Halloween Checklist

Black Food Coloring

The black icecream post of yesterday prompted a question: how to make black food coloring.

Well, let's start with the ice cream: you can always mix liquid coloring until it's practically black. WonderHowTo has an article on some options, but essentially you would start by mixing in equal parts of the primary colors (blue, red, yellow) and add as needed... which could lead to a LOT of coloring if you start with a light-colored base.

If you started with a chocolate icecream base and add the liquids, on the other hand, you could achieve a very close black (mixing food colorings to make black too often results in a dark brown... yuck!)

The recipe for the black ice cream I linked to actually gets its color from black seasame paste, though! I love the taste of toasted sesame, and I love even more that it turned the foodstuffs black.

Here is a recipe I found to make that paste:

-1 part of white sesame seeds/beans (50 g)
- 2 parts of black sesame seeds/beans (100 g)
- toast until fragrant
- Grind until fine
- place in a pan with a little sugar (30-40 g) and milk (200 ml)
- cook with low heat until the mixture becomes dark in color
- let cool completely
- place in a blender to make the mixture smooth

(for a very smooth texture, press them in a sieve)

---

Finally, I don't know how far they deliver or if it's a good experience (don't order online much, myself) -- but baking supply places like Wilton's do have online ordering. You can always try that for black food coloring paste!

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3e30b2d9-475a-bac0-5d5c3db846dfd354

Best of luck and happy Half-a-Ween!!

Black and White Party: Bamboo Swiss Roll?

Why, never in my life have I seen something so adorable. I wonder how it tastes!

The crappy thing is that the edible Bamboo Charcoal needed for this roll is not widely (if at all) available here in the states, but the recipe is posted online anyway.

But it's pretty... And would look freaking awesome at a Halloween buffet.

I wonder if black food coloring paste could help you achieve this amazing color?

Black and White Party: Black Ice Cream

This is a little more achievable than yesterday's post. Black ice cream made with seasame seed paste.

This + Orange Sherbet = pretty Halloween ice cream party.

What's that you say? You don't live in the south, where it can still be insufferably hot and ice cream worthy outside even on the 31st of October?

I think you owe yourself a Halloween in July party, then.

Tag - The Blackbird

I'm officially starting up the "A Nostalgic Collage" blog for 2010.  Just a little over 6 months to Halloween!

into the woods cake

Somehow this Black Forest cake just screams 'wedding' to me. It's so basic, so easy, so... like little gothic scribbles.

Mmm.

The kind of cake is less important than the white icing and the decorative chocolate trees. The trees are just scribbly little things -- you should read this article (the section on "chocolate shapes") for ideas on how to make such a thing. Just make sure some of your trees will stand taller than your cake layer.

Oh yeah. And HI. :)

eighteen halloweens

I have discovered a rift in the space-time continuum. There is no other explanation. Because I cannot possibly have an eighteen year-old daughter when I am barely past eighteen myself.

Apparently, however, she will be turning eighteen within mere days. And that has me feeling nostalgic and sentimental. And old. I am filled with an odd mixture of pride and amazement that I was actually instrumental in helping another human being navigate eighteen years of life and reach the cusp of adulthood. Much like the feeling I experienced on her first birthday when it occurred to me that I had successfully kept a helpless individual alive for an entire year.

While I am inclined to reflect upon the past eighteen years through meandering reminiscences and anecdotes and well-worn platitudes, I thought it might be preferable to simply condense those years into a series of photographs. Halloween photographs. As I pored over old photographs and made my selections, I was overcome with memories. And with immense relief that my daughter does not read this blog.

So in honour of her eighteenth birthday, here are Eighteen Halloweens:

1992 - Year Of The Baby As An Excuse For Dressing Up Even Though We Weren't Going Out And Had No Trick-or-Treaters Because We Lived In An Apartment

1993 - Year Of The Felt Bats

1994 - Year Of Insisting Upon Dressing Up As Favourite TV Character

1995 - Year Of The Super-Hero

1996 - Year Of Allowing A Small Amount Of Make-Up To Be Applied To Face (For The Last Time Ever)

1997 - Year Of The Winter Jacket Under Costume

1998 - Year Of Insisting Upon Store-Bought "Cute" Costume

1999 - Year Of The Homemade Ghost

2000 - Year Of Refusing to Wear Mask Or Make-Up

2001 - Year Of The Cardboard Masterpiece (But Still No Mask Or Make-Up)

2002 - Year Of The First Repeat Costume (And Still No Mask Or Make-Up)

2003 - Year Of The Pizza

2004 - Year Of The Cat/Raccoon/Random Animal (And Finally A Mask!)

2005 - Year Of Dressing As A Vampire Using Own Teeth (Braces Went On The Next Day)

2006 - Year Of The Werewolf

2007 - Year Of Insisting On Wearing Beloved Werewolf Mask Again Despite Parent's Alternative Suggestions

2008 - Year Of The Werewolf - Part Three (Parent Has Now Given Up)

2009 - Year Of The Salem Trip (Because I Couldn't Bring Myself To Include Another Werewolf Photo)

Spring into action

Started this piece well over a year ago.
I'm happy to say that Large Lolli Lou is
finally complete and ready for his close up.

An Owl's Kingdom

I created this 5" x 7" collage' piece for an invitation front for a Halloween fundraiser in Tarrytown, New York for their local YMCA.  The event is to be held in The Castle on the Hudson.  Oh, how I wish I could go but New York is a long way from Colorado.

Critical Path

Only 6 weeks remain until the house is crawling
with miniature rapscallions clamoring for attention.
Six weeks until summer distractions become
priority number one and business plans, schedules
and soon to be fleshed out sketches collect dust
in the corner. It's time to get crackin!

Cliffhanger

Finding myself on the precipice of a precarious
path. Not exactly a difficult dilemma but a
situation where difficult decisions must
be made in a very timely manor. My Crystal
Ball is foggy and my Magic 8 Ball is stuck
in a continuous loop of "cannot predict now."
Time to locate that internal compass and
head for that horizon.
• • • • •
Sneak peek of a new work in progress
slanted towards the macabre...hehe
• • • • •

ATC - I Do Believe in Ghosts...I Do Believe in Ghosts

I created this ATC for a "Wizard of Oz" swap that I'm hosting at VPI Yahoo.  I'm also posting this, with the other 3 ATCs in the series, on my main blog but thought this one needed to be on my Halloween blog as well.

jalapeno and pizza

Potato chips are not among my favourite snacks. I can live quite happily for months at a time without ever having a potato chip pass through my hands. Occasionally, however, there comes a time when a new potato chip appears on my radar. And I try it. And I become addicted.

This is the situation in which I currently find myself with regard to Jalapeno Kettle Chips. I'm sure that, in time, this addiction will pass. But that time is not now. And recently, while devouring the latest bag of crispy, spicy, greasy goodness, I paused for reflection. I reflected upon the times throughout my life in which I have become seriously enamoured with a specific flavour of potato chip.

It hasn't been as often as one might think. Frankly, the ordinary and ubiquitous flavours of Barbecue and Salt & Vinegar and their ilk hold no attraction for me. No. To truly captivate me, a potato chip flavour must be somewhat more unusual. Like jalapeno. Or pizza. Pizza . . .

My mind drifted back. Back to the days of my childhood. Back to the last time I was addicted to a potato chip (apart from a brief love affair with Miss Vickie's Original when they first appeared). Back to the 70's.



In the photo, I, along with my two younger cousins, appear ready to dash out the door and embark on an evening of trick-or-treating. The bags we are holding represent a clever marketing strategy by the Humpty-Dumpty chip people. These bags were intended to serve a dual purpose. When purchased, they were full of small bags of chips to be distributed to trick-or-treaters. Then, the bag itself was meant to be used as a trick-or-treating sack.

There was one flaw in the plan. The bag had to be emptied of its original contents before it could be used for trick-or-treating. And if one or two or ten of the little bags of chips went missing while being transferred from one container to another, who would know?

The Humpty-Dumpty organization had clearly reached a pinnacle of creativity in the 1970's. Because in addition to the standard flavours of Barbecue, Plain, and Salt & Vinegar, they introduced new, bold, never-before-seen flavours of chips. Like pizza. Ahhh . . . pizza chips. How I loved them. They were unlike any potato chips I had tasted before. And with so few chips in each bag, it became necessary to eat several of those little Halloween bags to feel satiated. Several little bags that were quietly gathered and eaten while my parents were downstairs, distracted by The Price Is Right. Looking back, it amazes me that any bags remained for the trick-or-treaters. My mother must have suspected something and hidden some away.

Sadly, it seems that I was the only child who adored pizza-flavoured potato chips. It seems that no one else shared my addiction. Because as suddenly as they had appeared that one Halloween, pizza chips were gone. Never to be seen again. Not at Halloween, nor at any other time of year. It would be a long time before I would find a potato chip to which I could feel such devotion. It would not be until many years later. Until the discovery of my beloved Jalapeno Kettle Chips.

Clowning Around

Corny Clown
I could almost hear him giggle as I panted
his belly.

pumpkin strategy

I've been cautiously optimistic. The unseasonably warm early April weather has persuaded me to turn my attention to the yard and garden. And although I'm still afraid that actually breaking ground might trigger a spring snowstorm, I have begun the process of raking and general garden clean-up.

And pumpkin planning.

Undeterred by last year's crop failure, I am determined that this season will yield a successful pumpkin crop. I'm not asking much. I have a small yard. I'll be happy with just a few home-grown pumpkins this fall. Let's be honest. After last year, I'll be happy with even one home-grown pumpkin.

In my quest for pumpkin success, I have decided to alter my growing strategy. Gone is my attempt at vertical pumpkin glory. I've heard that pumpkins can be successfully grown on wire frames and trellises. But not by me. I've also decided to re-locate my pumpkin patch from the back and side of my house to the front. While these other areas of my yard receive significant amounts of sunshine, nothing compares to the full sun received by the front yard. All sun. All the time. Unless it's cloudy.

Last year, I was reluctant to plant pumpkins in the front yard. Partly because I felt they would obscure my flowering plants. And partly because I feared they would attract the attention of the street's pre-pubescent criminals and would never live to see October. However, given the complete failure of last year's pumpkin strategy, I've decided to take my chances with the hooligans. If all appears to be going well, I may even provide a few pumpkins as a peace offering. That being said, I'll likely plant a few seeds in back. Just in case.

The pumpkin adventure begins anew. Soon.

They're back...

Works in progress.
The Halloween Hooligans are finally getting
their day in the sun.... or a least moved up
to the front of the assembly line.

Calling all Angels

Producing an army of bald headed angels
was not on my to-do list for the week but
somehow managed to trump all plans of
painting my long neglected gang of ghoulies.
Sometimes sculpting is a chore, a necessary
part of business. Other times it is a joy,
bringing me comfort in uncertain times.
I am happy to have indulged in the detour
and released these little chubby cherubs
from the swirling confines of my imagination.
I can now move on to my original plan of
tending to the other restless characters that have
been residing on my desk for far too long.

toothless

I have come to the conclusion that unseasonably warm spring weather makes me lazy.

This past Easter weekend was the warmest in recent memory. In fact, it was the warmest in distant memory. Temperature records were broken. T-shirts and sandals emerged from isolation. Children rampaged through the neighbourhood with Supersoakers. All this on a holiday weekend which sometimes finds the grass still buried under snow.

I had fully intended to use the beautiful weather for productive purposes. While it lasted. I would rake the yard. I would clear up last year's garden detritus. I would clean the deck chairs. I would go for long walks in the sunshine. The warmth would energize me.

Sadly, it appeared to have the opposite effect. I spent most of the weekend lying around, feasting on ham and cabbage rolls, and eating chocolate. I did, however, manage to fit in a long walk in the sunshine.

During which I made a most disturbing discovery:




The melting of the last remaining snow has resulted in the exposure of more than just grass. It seems that at least one local vampire is missing his teeth. This is tragic. I'm hoping he had a back-up pair. Otherwise, it was likely a very long winter.

Easter Celebrations

A favorite Easter tradition in the VALERIOTE household
is the annual Confetti Egg Smash. An event where hallowed
out, confetti filled eggs are broken over the heads of family,
friends and at times innocent bystanders. There is always
excitement in the weeks leading up to Easter as we begin
to collect hallowed eggs during meal preparation. The
competition is fierce as we wait to see who will bring the
largest basket filled with eggs and who will end up being
covered in the most confetti as the final egg bursts.
Guaranteed to fill your home laughter and your yard with
more confetti than a ticker tape parade.

CONFETTI EGGS
Use the back end of a spoon to crack open the top of an egg.
• • • •
Drain egg into a bowl.
• • • •
Rinse out hallowed egg shell and air dry.
• • • •
Dye, paint or cover eggs with tissue paper with water diluted glue.
Throw in a Halloween patterned egg just for fun!
• • • •
Air dry eggs completely.
• • • •
Fill eggs with confetti, money, fortunes, small toys, etc.
• • • •
Cut a piece of tissue paper slightly larger in size than the
egg's hole. Run a glue stick around the edges of the hole
and over one side of the paper; seal the hole by pressing
the paper firmly over the opening. Air dry.
Let the fun begin!

Wishing you all a fun filled Easter and a smashing good time!