It's Fall!! My absolute favorite time of year. The air is fresh and cool, the leaves are starting to put on their Fall show, football is in full swing and Halloween is just around the corner. September is already half over... where'd it go so fast?
Halloween has become the second biggest retail holiday of the year, second only to Christmas of course. Decorations, costumes, candy... it all adds up. But there are some clever ways to get in the spirit without spending a lot of money.
I wanted to list some of my favorite Halloween sites for inspiration and hope you'll share your favorites as well:
Martha Stewart Halloween
Much as the lady herself gets on my nerves with her smug attitude and condescending tone, I can't help but enjoy the projects her team comes up with. And Martha really rocks Halloween. Check out current and past season ideas at Martha Stewart Halloween.
I love the 6' cheesecloth-and-Christmas-lights ghosts she has this year and may have to try them. I have made the Kitty Litter Cake and Lady Finger cookies on many occasions and they are always a hit.
Instructables
This site was MADE for Halloween. Greatest site EVAR for project ideas. Instructables is a site where people upload videos, images and tutorials of how to make stuff, from a solar oven to a Darth Vader costume to Aunt Sophie's famous apple pie. You can lose hours going through the many types of projects available.
While I'm linking you to the Instructables Halloween Projects, be sure to check out all the other goodies that Instructables has to offer. The site can be a little overwhelming and hard to navigate but a good place to start is with their contest winners. Project marked with "Winner!" or "Finalist!" are top projects that are typically the better ones to start with. Or search for something you are interested in- there's soo many projects that going page by page will take some time.
I think I'm going to have to make Yip Yip monster costumes this year- they are so cute I can hardly stand it. Looking for something more challenging? Check out the Animatronic Gashleycrumb Tinies. The sweet little voice narrating terrible things in alphabetical order and set to an animated pumpkin just makes me laugh.
Not Martha
If you are looking for ghoulish recipes to totally gross out your family (while still being tasty) check out the Not Martha blog. I made the Meat Hand last year and it looked disgusting as promised and tasted great. Although it was hard to eat something so gross.
The Pumpkin Spider Pancakes are pretty awesome too- this site actually makes me want to go clean out my kitchen so that I can get to my stove and try some things out. For adult parties, check out the cocktails with eyeballs!
For more kitchen fun, check out these awesome Red and Black Candy Apples
Other Resources
Need some inspiration for the pumpkin carving this year? Check out Post Crescent's pumpkin face carving templates. With 3 pages full of ideas, you are bound to find one that's perfect for this year's pumpkin. Just click on the face you like to get a full size template for printing!
If you are looking for advice on a specific project, check out The Halloween Forum. The forum contains lots of Halloween information on just about everything you can think of that relates to Halloween. Find suggestions for movies, music, decorations, costumes and more.
For more fun, take a look at Hershey's Halloween Pages. Fun recipes, printables, classroom resources and party ideas are presented by the candy company as well as craft and costume ideas.
