Witch Shoe Challenge

                                                                      I'm a little late

in joining Celia's

 altered witch shoe challenge.

 

Well, I'm jumping back on my broom and headed back to the bayou now...

Hope you'll join me!

See you later.

Haunted Humpday #8

Hello ghoulies and ghosties!

Welcome back to our eighth 

before I forget, I'd like to announce

the winner of last week's giveaway

Lucky #13

Christi Conley

You've won a ghost ball ornament!

speaking of giveaways...

I won a skeleton wand last week from the 

amazing Kim at Tabitha Lenox

It's fantastic!

her artwork is just incredible

as is her imagination and generosity.

Look at this!!!!

As if that wasn't enough, she sent ALL this too.

Stickers and napkins and ribbon, oh my!

Thank you Kim:)

Last week I had a couple of book recommendations..

This week I have another

but it's a different kind of book.

 

It's full of delicious, creepy cupcakes.

including:

marzipan beetles

undead gingerbread

and mutant ears!

There's even a recipe for

shattered glass!

We just made these.

Don't feel like getting the book?

you can also find the recipe online.

I used regular white cake mix

 and white frosting.

Then I heated raspberry preserves

for 'blood'

Let's make a little Halloween art!

you'll need a 6x4 inch canvas,

empty box or piece of cardboard.

some spooky scrap book paper

Halloween tree stickers

A small frozen Charlotte from Lisa Kettell's artfire shop

white tissue paper

white glue

glitter (of course)

cover the canvas in the scrapbook paper

using white glue.

add the stickers

rub white glue on the frozen Charlotte

cover her with tissue paper

glue her to the canvas

drip several drops of glue over her

smooth it out

sprinkle glitter on her.

I had just finished this

but it fell off of my desk

and Magnus promptly stepped on it.

I used a little box, so it dented in the corner.

Here he is trying to look cute and apologetic.

okay....

gather round again...

This story isn't about our house or a neighbor.

It's about a friend of my aunt.

This woman was happily married

until one day her husband passed away.

She lost her job very soon after

 and had to start over at a new place.

things seemed to be getting worse everyday.

she was miserable and lonely.

Books became her only companions

since she began to loathe the company

of strangers.

after finding a certain book at a yard sale

she became very interested in the occult.

believing she had finally found the right lifestyle

for herself

she began practicing

depraved and abusive rituals.

this went on for about a year.

a new place to live 

new 'friends'

and a better job convinced her that she was

on the right path.

Her sister would call her from Coloroado

and beg her to stop with all the evil deeds.

But a conscience wasn't

something she had anymore. 

one night after returning to her

home, she heard a strange noise

outside.

someone breathing heavily at the window...

not seeing anything outside

she continued getting ready for bed.

suddenly she heard a loud slam against the ceiling.

she thought maybe someone was in the attic....

as she turned to go have a look

something caught her attention.

At the high windows in her living room

she saw a face!

those windows were at least ten feet off the ground,

intended to bring in light with out the need for curtains.

It was a face..the face of a goat.

She recognized the odd pupils immediately.

She ran to the bedroom to hide

but when she got in there it was trying to peer

in at her through the curtains.

It was on it hind legs..and it appeared to be

around nine feet tall. 

It circled the house, slamming against it

occasionally

and unbelievably...calling her name.

She  began praying

and she didn't stop

until she saw the sunrise and the creature disappeared.

Getting rid of all her books and tools

was not a problem

for her after that.

The giveaway for this week is this shot glass.

Let me know if you are playing along in Magaly's 

All Hallow's Grim

So Good So Dark blog party 

and you will double your chances

at winning.

Don't forget that this weekend is the full moon

and we're taking a trip to the bayou!!

Lot's of spooky fun

food and prizes!!!

Have a haunting humpday!

Take A Word Challenge

Creepy

 is this week's theme for

Take A Word Challenge

(deviant scrap elements used)

I couldn't resist!!

See you Wednesday:)

Haunted dolls - Jade

Are you ready?

The Haunted Halloween Doll Challenge is upon us!

I tell you...the time is just 

slipping by!

This was a lot of fun...

Maybe Frankenstein's monsters

were put together

in a laboratory,

but this little one

was created with love...love and creepiness.

In my version

The bride of Frankenstein falls

madly in love with Frankenstein's monster.

  (Google image)

they head off into the mountains

to a cozy little cottage

away from any nasty pitchfork wielding villagers.

after living in seclusion

for more than a year

they venture into town to show off

the newest addition (Jade) to their

incredible family. 

everyone is so awestruck by this beauty

they forget they ever chased poor old

Frankie around with sticks.

The family is lovingly welcomed.

And they lived happily ever after.

Thank you Kim for hosting this challenge!!

I had this baby doll rolling around outside for about four years.

Bought her at a yard sale..had big plans for it, lol

I never really had a chance to do anything with her,

other than throw her in the washing machine every few months.

The rain and the dogs got to it, 

the body literally fell apart.

I used an old coffee jar for her body...

giant pipe cleaners for her arms and legs...

acrylic paint, hot glue

& magic for the rest of her:)

She's about 14 inches tall.

I had SO much fun

do not be surprised if more of these

girls start showing up on my blog.

Head over to see the rest of the Haunted Halloween Dolls.

It's sure to be a scream.

goodnight!

Haunted Humpday 7

Hello and welcome

to Haunted Humpday #7

How was your week?

Mine got away from me!

I had planned on coming back 

and visiting with you again on saturday

but before I knew it, it was gone..

 I received an awesome gift
in the mail though!
I won a giveaway from
Ms. Lillypads
The prize consisted of
A gorgeous deck of goddess cards
lovely handmade magnets
and two beautiful stones.
Thank you!!

The winner of last week's
Haunted Humpday

giveaway

is Mexitali Rose

congratulations,

this will be flying over to you soon!

 How much reading are you getting during this

 super busy season?

I have a couple suggestions...

 both of these have a haunting aura,

perfect for windy October nights.

The first book is called

Year of Wonders,

This is wonderfully written.

Although it's about the plague

there's a lot of beautiful imagery,

and even a couple of witches

thrown in for good measure.

 There's a wistful quality to this.

This next one is the story of

the start of the Salem witch trials.
 it's a beautiful, hopeful tale .

a bit spooky at times.

I loved both of these

  

I get so excited when I find Halloween themed foods..
 Look what I found!

and this,

These caramel apple cupcakes turned out
amazing!

Lately I've been getting things ready
for our party!

Voodoo dolls will be an essential  part
of the festivities you know...
 But don't worry,
 it's all good magic we're brewing.

They are easy to make..
all you need are:
two twigs
 one slightly smaller than the other
Spanish moss or fibers
feathers
pins
twine & fabric (felt works great)
hot glue gun and glue sticks

place a stick in the middle of a piece of fabric
place moss/fibers along the length of the stick
leave a little bit hanging over the edge
add a feather to top
roll the fabric around the moss, stick and feather
hot glue fabric down one side 
To make the arms
poke a hole through doll about 3/4 of the way down
push the smaller stick though.
wrap twine tightly around it.
add a few pins.

you can add other details to it if you want
like buttons
or even a face.

speaking of parties
Celia from
Adventures of the striped stocking
is having a
little witch shoe challenge!
you can make
paper shoes
wooden shoes
take a pair of
real shoes and witch them up...
I'm definitely going to play along. 

Are you ready to sit around the fire?

You know how creepy it is here
in this old house...
banshees next door and graveyards underfoot.
My mom used to talk about her grandfather
quite a bit..
he was a very respectable man...
worked as a deputy sheriff in his town.
The thing is
he'd see things..
things that terrified  him..
scary little jet black creatures
with horns and tails
about  a foot tall.
They would follow him around
hissing  and clawing.
His attempts to kick at them
were pointless.
His wife called them duendes or goblins,
whenever she came around they'd run off.
She claimed it was because he wasn't baptized.

My great grandparents passed away long before I was born
but the story has stayed with me.
according to legend, goblins lived in the walls..
I always thought they lived in our chimney
because when I was a child I could hear them...
(or I thought i could)
rustling sounds..
muffled giggles..
strange little shadows..
small stones falling down through the grate.
 All could be explained away
I guess....

 

Something I've heard is that they like to play tricks...
almost like poltergeists ,
sometimes I think they're still around.

My daughter had a ceramic potato shaped bowl
  (I don't know why)
in her room on a shelf with some beads in it.
One early morning she awoke to a clink clink clinking sound,
when she'd raise her head
it would stop
as soon as she'd lie down again it would start.
She said it sounded like
someone was tapping something with their fingernail.
It went on for a short while
then a loud crash scared her out of bed.
The potato bowl lay shattered on the floor.
 It had been set far back on the shelf
with no way of slipping off.
My first though was
Duende!
another thing that happened is:
my older daughter and Helena
used to play this game.
Helena would howl
from her bed
Gabriella would howl back from her room...
weird? not for us, lol
one night Helena was howling
so Gabriella howled back
they did this for a while.
I got up to get a glass of water 
and asked her (Gabriella) why she was howling
at one a.m.
she said she was playing the game with
Helena...I told her Helena was asleep in MY bed
and had been for a few hours.

Okay...
I have a giveaway prize
but I don't have a photo
tonight
I'll post it tomorrow.
It's a ghost in a jar, sort of:)

have a great day
Hope to see you later!!

M

October Haunted Humpday!

It's the first Haunted Humpday of October!!!

It's a bit sad and exciting

don't you think?

You look forward to this time of year all year

and it's finally arrived...

and there's fun and parties and treats...

then it slips right by.

That's why I want to make the most 

of it

 & 

s-q-u-e-e-z-e 

the Spooky/Scary/Thrills

out of October.

Now, I have some neat Halloween things to share.

This ghostly guy

is actually a pencil sharpener

whenever I misplace him, I turn out the light

and there he is!

This is another gift I received

the other day..

I wanted to save it for today to show you.

It's a latex baby gargoyle.

I like how it looks like stone.

Found this at the thrift store for a quarter.

it just needs a little paint, 

It's about as big as a grapefruit.

I made this spider fascinator...

Helena was willing to model it for me.

(It will be available in my shop later today)

All of October last year

and most of this summer

I worked at a local haunted house making zombies.

LOL, putting makeup on people

so they look like zombies.

 It's at an old slaughterhouse

that is haunted by

 two children that were

murdered there.

(allegedly)

You can read the story 

here.

This is an example of what I do.

( this might look super gross,

but it's just latex and face paint)

Zombies aren't the only creatures

that roam the attraction..

there's many other 'undead' things there...

It's funny how scared

some of the people get..

Including me, lol

So, speaking of being scared and the undead.....

I got to thinking about all the creepy things that

happen...signs of mortality...

Do you know any?

 a week before my mom 

passed away

she mentioned that she wasn't getting  much sleep

because the owl outside her window

made too much noise..pecking and hooting.

The night she died, the candle I lit for her

sparked,  popped and turned green and blue

all night.

there's lot's of portents of death....

a clock that stops or chimes

between the hours,

large numbers of bees flying into houses.

ravens, owls, large black dogs...

a rooster that crows in the night.

eeek, so creepy...

let's lighten up with a sweet recipe shall we?

This Mexican hot chocolate is amazing!

I can't explain how

delicious this tastes!

The aroma takes me back to 

my childhood.

It's a little bit bitter

but there's cinnamon and sweetness

thrown in.

  Drinking it

immediately makes me feel

 five years old!

It comes in these disks

and you have to melt it in hot milk.

my mom used to put cinnamon sticks in the milk 

so it was especially tasty.

you can have cookies with this or pie..

which is what we made.

 The house smelled awesome 

with this baking and the chocolate simmering.

 This is the recipe we used:

2 pkg.  (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup  canned pumpkin

1/2 cup  sugar

1/2 tsp.  vanilla

1/2 tsp.  ground cinnamon

Dash  ground cloves

Dash  ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1

Graham cracker Pie Crust (6 oz.)

1 cup  thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.  Beat cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla
and spices in large bowl with electric mixer
on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.
POUR into crust.
BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set.
 Cool.
 Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
Top with whipped topping just before serving.

 We used to visit my aunt quite a bit when I was

a child...we'd all go over and sometimes stay the night.

she and her family lived in an old rambling ranch house

in the middle of about 60 acres

 of a pecan orchard and cotton fields.

Being out there was fun, during the day....

at night there was not a speck of light outside..

just hulking mountains of hay bales

and the dark forest of orchards.

weird things happened here all the time...

one of the most memorable was when

evening had arrived,
it being a Saturday, there was no rush to leave..

all the kids were in the TV room

the adults in the kitchen having coffee

all of a sudden there was a scream right at the kitchen window..

I still remember it and I have chills as I type.

It was long, nasty and filled us with horror,

we didn't know what had happened,

it was so close we thought it was coming

from the kitchen!

My dad ran outside...he thought someone was hurt or dying

(no one attempted to accompany him)

there wasn't anybody out there...

 the ride home through the deep trees

and the winding dirt road was torture for me!

I already had a deep seated fear of this house..

staying the night was not fun for me ever.

I'd spend the night with my head under the covers

knowing there was something right in front of me  just waiting

for the blanket to move, so it could pounce.

one of the main reasons i was so afraid

was because at night when everyone would 

go to bed, you could hear loud stomping footfalls

in the living room and hallway...

my aunt said it was the wood floors settling

and creaking..

but I knew, in all my childish knowledge

that it was the sound of an animal in there,

 an animal with hooves,

 up on it's hind legs.

 

okay, the winner of the tea house is Lynnie!

I have a little witch that wants to come stay with

someone...

you know the drill,

leave me a comment

and she could be yours!

hope you enjoyed this extra long welcome October Haunted Humpday!!!

see you!!

giveaway winner

Hi again everyone!

It's time to choose the winner of the

Halloween crown!

I've said before that I have a love hate relationship

with giveaways.

Love giving goodies away

but hate that not everyone gets something.

Anyhow, I used random number generator

and the winner is

comment #10.

Tilda from Tea with the Squirrels

Congratulations!

Don't forget to visit Haunted Humpday

 there's a giveaway every week.

and sometimes, 

everybody wins!

I quickly also wanted to

announce that

I've been published in 

The wondrous, magical, sparkly

publication from the 

incredible 

Lisa Kettell!

It's available for purchase

at Lulu.com

alright...

I'm off to my gypsy wagon to stir up some glitter & spookiness!

I'll see you soon:)