making halloween

leif is absolutely obsessed with halloween decorations. it's nothing new. last year we had a frenzy of decorating, and there were plenty of times over the course of the year that making more halloween decorations was a requested activity. so needless to say, now that halloween is actually upon us, the requests are mounting. leif was home sick this morning, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to gather around the computer, look for some ideas and start a list. yes, this time we opted for a list because 1) i cannot possibly remember all the jillions of things these two come up with during a brainstorming session, 2) it helps to cross things off as we complete them, offering some evidence that yes, we are completing things even though they're not all getting done RIGHT NOW as some of us would like and 3)leif felt it was important to make little sketches of things we saw so we (i) could remember what they looked like. and so it began.

first up: vanessa's bottle cap spiders (finally a use for all these lids i've been saving)

materials needed: various lids (we used plastic ones and bottle caps), google eyes (or other bits from the "treasure" box), pipe cleaners (you'll have to pardon the fact that we're not sticking to the traditional halloween colors...gotta use what you got!), white glue, and hot glue.

sam enjoyed collecting, stacking, and playing with the lids.

probably shouldn't play with them until all that glue dries...very sad.

next up: coffee filter ghosts

materials needed: coffee filters, cotton balls, string, markers

a google search will result in many variations of the same theme, but we made ours by stuffing a cotton ball "head" into the center of a coffee filter, grasping around the "neck" firmly, and quickly securing with a tight knot of yarn. if you wanted to jazz things up a bit, you could add some black or orange ribbon there, too.

awaiting their fate...

in the afternoon, with eric at school, sam napping, and leif having a little down time, i was able to cut out some cardboard headstones (here we go again with the cemetery!). leif gave them a good first coat of gray paint, and by the time eric got home, we were ready to "engrave" them. stay tuned for the final result.

** edited to add a couple of shots from the front yard "cemetery" **

after a few days of lively ghost and spider play, they were all rounded up and made into orderly little decorations. boo!