Deadly DIY - Faux Mercury Glass Pumpkins

Fall is really and truly here, and I celebrated today by doing one of my favorite fall activities: apple picking! We went out to an orchard and picked crisp fall apples, ate too much wild rice soup, drank too much apple cider (as if there is such a thing) and picked out some pumpkins.

We got a truly glorious pumpkin specimen from a local grower that would have cost us at least an arm, maybe a leg and a half, at our local grocery store. It made me appreciate how nice real pumpkins are and how crappy some of the local ones can be. Most of the time I go for fake punkins, just because they're shaped so much nicer. Still, faux orange plastic pumpkin doesn't exactly instill the chills of Halloween proper, does it? So here's a way to take your plastic pumpkins and make them shine... literally!



Get the full tute over on the DIY showoff (scroll down a bit), and give your pumpkins and elegant, spooky shine.

When Tim Burton does Fashion...

... the results are spectacular. Someone gave Tim Burton the full run of a fashion shoot, so lucky you gets to check out some Halloween Haute Couture from the pages of Harper's Bazaar. Deliciously wicked and wonderfully fashionable to boot. And OMG that skeleton. Never mind that these halloween costumes are a few grand a piece, the results are faabulous dahling...







See more over at Harper's Bazaar.

Vampire Martini

Looking for the perfect Halloween drink? Well if you're done with banishing fall chills with an apple cider martini, maybe you're all for adding some chills. How bout a ghoulishly good vampire kiss martini? First add the perfect garnish with HWTM's hard candy blood drip, and then mix as follows:

* 1 1/2 oz Finlandia Vodka
* 1 1/2 oz Korbel Champagne
* 3/4 oz Chambord

1. Pour vodka and half of the Chambord in a martini glass.
2. Top with Champagne.
3. Pour the remaining Chambord over the back of a spoon to make it float.

Can be enjoyed by Twilight and regular folks alike. Drink up :)

The Invitations...

Today is officially the first day of fall, and you know what that means... it's time to send out invitations! I've been working on mine a little bit each night. I designed the front and inside, printed it out on colored paper, and tore each out. I'm hand stamping the envelopes and sealing them with some fun Halloween metal stickers. They're not done of course, but what do you think?


If you want to make one of your own, just download this image and print it on some spooky colored paper. Enjoy!

Deadly DIY - Seance Party Table

I was recently informed of an oh so spooktacular site, How to Haunt Your House, whom, among many awesome Halloween goodies, has some really cool tutorials. Have a peek at their Seance Party Table tutorial, made out of a card table, some plywood, and a little ingenuity. It looks like you can get some really great professional effects! They also have a book out, which I'll be sure to add to my Halloween wishlist. I'm thinking I'm just going to start a library of Halloween decor books... anyone care to share their reading list?

A Nevermore Halloween...

Check out this cute "adults" party, an Edgar Allen Poe themed Halloween party! I love the bookish theme throughout, something about old books is just too perfect for Halloween. Combine it with Poe and a few ravens... magnifique!

Get more details and images over on Midwest Living.

Modern Midnight Madness

The Hostess with the Mostess has some truly fab Halloween themed parties, like this gem, a Modern Midnight Madness Halloween party. It's great for those of you looking to make the spooky night special without scaring off guests that aren't into the whole skeletons and rubber-rats "halloween" thing. Not that those people are coming to my party, but still...







Did I mention I love Jones soda? I so do. They have the best seasonal flavors.