Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Guilty Pleasure of Making Gruesome Foods

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A body cavity cake with ribs made from white chocolate and every organ is made with a different flavor cake and filling. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow. All Rights Reserved.

A body cavity cake with ribs made from white chocolate and each organ made of a different flavor cake and filling. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow. All Rights Reserved.

Confessions of a Party Planner

I must confess: it is a highlight for me to get an emotional response from guests before they even taste a morsel at my Halloween parties. But beyond their visual appeal (or gruesome effect), it has to be undoubtedly tasty.

Luckily, it usually only takes a few brave souls to initiate the tasting of horrifying foods and giving them the thumbs up. Word-of-mouth is very powerful and thanks to those who initiated the food fest, a chain-reaction will occur of good conversations, laughs, and most importantly, everyone else digging in.

Below you’ll find awe-inspiring Halloween recipes that have been tested by my own party attendees or are on my “must try” list from my peer’s tried and true recipes. Continue reading →

DIY Witch Shoes and Broom Outdoor Decoration

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This failed cabbage pot was the perfect place to set my DIY witch shoes and props. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

This failed cabbage pot was the perfect place to set my DIY witch shoes and props. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

Looking for a quick and easy Halloween decoration? These ordinary granny boots can be transformed into a great prop in less than an hour(depending upon drying time if paint is needed).

You’ll Need:

One Pair of Lace-Up, Spiked Boots (an easy secondhand store find)
Black Spray or Waterproof Acrylic Paint (If boots are not black, purple, or burgundy)
Seasonal Ribbon and/or Halloween Shoe Strings
2 Pieces of Styrofoam (to fit from inside heel to top edge of boot ankle)
Moss
6 Small Halloween Floral Bunches (Dollar Tree item)
A Low Heat Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
A Broom (pictured is one from Dollar Tree, but Kidspot has a video on how make your own)
*Optional: Witch Sign, Skull, Extra Brooms of varying sizes/styles, and lights.

Directions: Continue reading →

When Can a Haunt Go Too Far?

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How far should a haunter go to terrify people? Image courtesy of Dr. Theda's Crypt on Blogspot.

How far should a haunter go to terrify people? Image courtesy of Dr. Theda’s Crypt on Blogspot.

With CNN highlighting a story about a macabre yard haunt that had some people bent out of shape, the question is: When does a haunt go too far and become more offensive rather than just an awesome display of artistic darkness?

After watching the video of how people reacted, I had to think to myself: If they feel that way with that yard haunt, they would surely freak over mine – especially my Zombie Babies.

In no way do I wish to be offensive. For me and many other fellow haunters, we’ve grown up watching the weekend Double Creature Features, Kolchak:The Night Stalker, and other spooky tales. Continue reading →

A New Samara’s Well from the Movie “The Ring”

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From left to right: Original stone-casted well weighing over 40 pounds The same well after about 10 years of elements and lawn mower hits. The newest well on right taking 3 days to make and only 5 pounds. Images courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

From left to right: Original casted well weighing over 40 pounds. The same well after about 10 years of elements and lawn mower hits. The newest well on right taking 3 days to make and only 5 pounds. Images courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

Desperate Times Calls for Desperate Measures

Many times I can work better under pressure. This is one of them. When my Ring Girl Well was destroyed between lawn mower hits and age, I was at a loss for a few days. Since I’m still recovering from back surgery I couldn’t think of any possible way to achieve the rock casting and the bending needed to either repair or make another well as in my older Ring girl well tutorial.

Light Bulb Moment

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A Survival Guide to The Walking Dead

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Since the American Movie Classic (AMC) series The Walking Dead will begin in just a month and two days, here are a few ideas for throwing a zombie party or even actually surviving a zombie apocalypse.

The Party: Props, Food and Make Up

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Zombie Survival Tips:

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DIY Halloween Invitations You’d Die For

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With just over two months before Halloween, party planners have already started contemplating invitations, decorations, and more. Here are a few over-the-top invite ideas that can kick-start enthusiasm in any invitee.

Many of the sites listed have tutorials and it would be interesting to know which one is your favorite.

If you have an idea to add to the gallery, shoot me a message so I can share your creativity. Happy Halloween Planning!

Ramping up: Prop Ideas for Halloween 2014

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An interactive exhibit of a Paper Craft Guillotine by Mandy Smith. Image Courtesy of Make.

An interactive exhibit of a Paper Craft Guillotine by Mandy Smith. Image courtesy of Make.

 

 

I know…it’s still summer. But this is the time I like to think about what I’d like to make for Halloween. Whether I can actually accomplish the things I dream of making…well – that’s another story. I’ve just had back surgery (all those hours of prop making can do a lot of wear and tear after so many years). But don’t count me out just yet.

Planning Ahead Saves Money

By making your plans and item lists early, you can save a bundle. Especially in garage sale season because you can pick up a plethora of items for pennies on the dollar. You can also find priceless stuff on the curb.

The Newest Prop to Love

While in my Reader, I found an awesome prop idea from Make. It is a paper craft guillotine that was used in an exhibit. I’d love to make one for the kids to try out. You’ll find it at Vimeo:

Unsure of what this season holds for me, I’d appreciate all my creative counterparts to start posting their ideas and if you accomplish your dream prop, shoot me a pic and a quick note so I can highlight you on my blog. Thanks!

Quick Food and Drink Ideas for the Fourth of July

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Skewers of food can make party planning easy and visually appealing. Image courtesy of Pinterest via Martha McCall.

Skewers of food can make party planning easy and visually appealing. Image courtesy of Pinterest via Martha McCall.

In order for party planners to have enough energy to stay awake for the fireworks, the execution of creating great foods should be simple, visually appealing, and of course, crowd-pleasing.

Here are a few quick and easy energy-saving recipe ideas:

Love the Skewers:

This can be skewers of meat and veggies for the grill, appetizers of fruit and cheese, or anything else that can be jabbed with a stick.They can be laid upon a tray, poked into a cabbage head that has been leveled by slicing a piece off the bottom, Styrofoam, or in tumblers or glasses. For more info on skewer recipes see 50 skewer recipes by The Food Network.

Arrangement of Foods

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Inexpensive Balloon or Decoration Party Weights

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Make your own table decoration weights. Image courtesy of http://www.awesomeevent.com/blog/category/cheap-balloon-weight-centerpieces/

Make your own table decoration weights. Image courtesy of http://www.awesomeevent.com/blog/category/cheap-balloon-weight-centerpieces/

With every party, aesthetics is important.Yet, paramount to most party planning – is cost. Each table should be decorated with a theme of colors and/or genre.Whether it is a Hawaiian Luau or a graduation party – an overall theme should exist.

Part of each table decoration often includes balloons or other lightweight decorations that need some kind of weight to keep them in place. Sure, you can purchase those balloon weights at your dollar store. But as the table count goes up, so does the cost.

Being the frugal gal, I thought of several ways to hold down the graduation caps for an upcoming graduation party. With 10+ tables to dress, I needed to consider what would travel easy and look good – even if the caps were lifted by curious guests.

Light Bulb Moment

For previous parties I’ve made my own weights using Plaster of Paris in a variety of containers: decorative Chinese food boxes, decorator cups, mini flower pots, etc. For this event, having to deal with the mess of preparing the mix along with the added drying time, just didn’t appeal to me.

This is when it struck – why not fill balloons with play sand or better yet – the more inexpensive counterpart – salt? It worked like a charm. It cost only $1.50 per 11 weights and it took less than an hour of working the salt into the balloons.

Since these were not going to be seen in generally, it was the easiest and most inexpensive solution.

Three items are needed to make balloon or table decoration weights. The cost for 11 weights: $1.50. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, all rights reserved.

Three items are needed to make balloon or table decoration weights. The cost for 11 weights: $1.50. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, all rights reserved.

Here’s what you’ll need: Continue reading →

Great Father’s Day DIY Ideas for under $10

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Hand print tree image courtesy of The CraftyChicks.com.

Hand print tree image courtesy of The CraftyChicks.com.

Priceless Endeavors

Although some may believe their dad would prefer a store bought item, it will be the gifts made from the heart that will be cherished – especially when they’ve moved out and gone to college.

Every project selected can be made for under $10 dollars, but may need a few days to a week to dry and complete. Many of the items needed can be purchased at your area dollar store.

The Tree of Life

You’ll Need:
A picture frame
A sheet of heavy weight paper (ex. card stock, constructions, etc)
Paint – in any color desired but be sure to use non-toxic for young children (I’ve seen all green hands and multicolored leaf hands used in projects)
A free tree template of a tree such as the Crafty Chick’s version, Kid’s Blogspot version, and Coloring Shape’s version, or if crafty, draw and paint your own.
A pencil/pen
Optional: matte board for framing picture inside picture frame

1) Before printing template, reformat it to the correct year or reword it in a MS Word or Open Office software program.
2) Pour a small pool (big enough for a hand print) of paint in a paper plate and call the kids in for the printing.
3) Once tree is stamped and dried, place in the optional matte frame and place in a picture frame.

Love in a Jar

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