Halloween "SOUL" Party

Welcome to my Soul Journal Halloween Blog Party!
My Soul Journal Sisters are having a Halloween party today!
Be sure to visit all of my soul journal sisters and friends by click on the link below that will take you to the host site...Kathryn the Collage Diva. There you will find the LIST of other blogs. Fill free to scroll and stroll down everyone's blogs to see all the wonderful Soul Journal pages shared over the last few months.

Soul Journal Blog Party (CLICK HERE)



Halloween is fun. It's a 'throw away all your cares and be a kid again type of holiday'. People really need that, what with the stock market and scary economy. It's a big make-believe holiday where it is ok to dress up and play along with the kids.
Decorating is enchanting, treats are yummy and who doesn't just love to be someone else for an evening???







Feel free to use any of the pictures above...my TREAT!

Blog Candy Giveaway..... "EYE"let Candy
Okay, this is one giveaway you will DEFINITELY want to enter -visit Kristin Hubick at Reto Cafe'!!

Blog PARTY Giveaway

Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist (CLICK HERE) is the Hostess of FUN parties and this one is no exception! Looks like over 200 blogs so far have joined in, many with great giveaway Trick or Treats!
Don't miss out...visit her site to get the list and go blog hopping...oops
I mean, Trick or Treating!!

This 7 inch squared glitzy box is BIG and will hold alot of goodies for your lil'door-knockers.

All you have to do to win this, is to leave a comment after this post. I'd love to see where all the visitors are from, so add your town, state or country.
I will draw a winner on the evening of the 22nd leaving plenty of time for you to visit and in plenty of time to send it to you for Halloween!

Trick or Treatin'

Halloween....what a wonderful time of fun, costumes, masks, and scarey things that go bump in the night....oh and of course CANDY. I have always loved Halloween since I can remember. I grew up in Orange County, Calif where it was Very easy to fill a bag in just a few blocks. For my Grandsons, things are a little different. Growing up in the country where there aren't many people means your Great Grandparents had better live in TOWN in a pretty cool neighborhood for Trick or Treatin'.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.
What I didn't know was....
The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called 'souling'. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven. Kinda a twist to the Day of the Dead traditions of our southern countries, don't you think??







Sorry...just had to share.

Potions and Spells

A Potion is any medicinal drink. Witches, as the wise people of the villages, were very knowledgeale about the use of herbs and brewed potions to administer better health....kinda sounds like all the bottled health/sports drinks, don't it?
I found a great tutorial on making real looking Potion Bottles to display around your home at Witches Kitchen by DeadSpider.


A cool picture of Witch Hazel. I never knew what it looked like, so I surprised.

This book cover is eerie,eicky and easy. Wouldn't it make a neat guest book for your Halloween party or a place for all the Trick or Treat pictures?
Here's the link to the easy instructions at...
spell book how-to at Shadow Manor

Rock Witches

Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks

Yep...that's what happened. So Fall is officially here and I decided to make rock witches to put in my flower beds...maybe these gals will bring humor to the sad state of things. Where did the Summer go???

Onto Halloween!!

I'm diving in full bore!
I have a few red/wht&blue projects to do during July for a swap and a mingle, but other than that...I am all Halloween.
I'm going to start doing Halloween year-round because I like it so much...it's just Fun! Besides, by the time the 4th is past, there's so little time left to get ready for Fall things....that's my plan anyway. Alot of gals do Halloween year round on eBay and etsy with great success...I watch the EHAG group daily and there are many new groups giving it a go too. There's a new Gallery/Selling Site soon to open on the 13th called SpookyTimeJingles that will feature Halloween and Christmas art.(STJ for short)

Below are some photos I was cleaning out of my files of past projects and decided to do a photobucket show instead of taking up blog space.

My new favorite halloween sites...

Laurie Hardins Accents

The Holiday Queen

Halloween Altered Bag Book

If you need a Halloween Album to put this years or past years party or costume photos in....let me know. The first $24 by paypal, gets it...free ship. Email to alteredrouteathughesdotnet. Thanks!

Trends in Halloween

...today's Hallmark-approved, TV special-packed, sanitized and ready-to-go Horror Lite is missing something. Like the rest of the major holidays (and quite a few of the minor ones), Halloween today seems to be a slicked-up, white bread, Disneyfied version of its former self.
-James Lileks, in his editorial column, "Backfence," for the Minneapolis Star Tribune

What's Next: Trends in Halloween
"http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~bannatyn/articles.html#trends"

The Grandaddy of all themed Halloween Art Festivals.....someday I will treck the 1700 miles just for this!! Prepared to be Amazed by clicking on the list of exhibitors!
"http://www.halloweenandvine.com/"

WITCHEY WOMAN

I have 2 days to get this blog decorated for the Halloween Party. I can't add a black background to get things all SPOOKY because it will mess up my settings,so I am looking for other ways to get my WITCH on....I just love witches!!

Halloween Charms

My entries to the Halloween Charm Swap at Trends...these were sure fun and easy to make. Just white sculpy clay, a little carving for that 'Day of the Dead' look, antiqued in black and they are good to go! Boo!!

Virtual Halloween Pumpkin (Share with the kids!)
Click on the website, use the blue knife and
carve out your own pumpkin. Click finished when you're done.
Have fun. This could become addictive.
"http://www.coasttocoastam.com/timages/page/pumpkin_sim.html"

Halloween Doodads

Had some fun time this Labor Day week-end! Everyone had their own plans and went different directions, so I stayed close to home and made some necklace pieces that later will be on Etsy or eBay...not sure yet. I had some sample boards of cool cork linoleum and I popped off the different color chips that are just a little bigger than inches. I thought they would be quick..not...and just the right size for some fun necklaces to be hung by chain, leather or cord. Here's what some of them look like...oh, and I will add a pic of the charms I made for the Halloween charm bracelet swap that I need to get busy on...lol!