Last year my son was Chucky from Child's Play! I made the entire costume for him and the last thing I did was construct his weapon. I actually tried finding an actual prop weapon small enough to look proportionate to his body but wasn't able to. I needed something small and soft enough that it couldn't hurt him either. I grabbed some thick craft foam I had and went to work!

Each year, I wait patiently for thrift stores to put out their Halloween stuff! I'm constantly checking all of my favorite spots. On this particular occasion, I was thrifting with my dad and son and we actually went to one of my favorite thrifts, Thrift Giant except to one of the locations we'd never been to! It was actually in Lewisville, TX. It was our first time at that particular location and to my surprise, they had just put out all of their Halloween stuff just that day! I had prime picks! 

The downside was the pricing. It was way more pricey than my normal Thrift Giant I frequent, but I made out with a few things! Is it just me or does anybody else look forward to this more than anything else during Halloween? It's the only place you can stumble upon amazing Halloween items from the past. I usually tend to look for anything from the 90's which is my favorite type of Halloween stuff! I also love finding pumpkins, props, and anything to decorate with. You can't get this stuff in regular stores these days! 

(Pics 9/4/2019)

I'm finally sorting through all of my old pictures now that I have a little more time and sharing some memories while I actually still remember them! Last year I went to have dinner with my dad and sister at our favorite place to eat in Mesquite, TX called Bubba's 33. Their wings and salads are my absolute fave! In fact, I'm craving Bubba's right now! 

What I also love about this shopping center that Bubba's is located is that there was a Spirit Halloween there! Next door is a Ross and nearby is an At Home! It was already almost 9 that night so these are the places I decided to hit up with my son that night.

It looks like Spirit Halloween was closed! It was closing in a few minutes but we managed to get in with no pics, unfortunately! We quickly went in and out. My son was a little scared and one of the workers was giving me ugly looks for showing my son some of the animatronics. We didn't stay long!

About 2-3 minutes away was the store At Home. It was definitely an eerie feeling to be one of the few customers there at night. I definitely liked their selection of Halloween items! They had way more than most stores but the catch is that they're pretty pricey. I'll definitely have to stop in to check out their selection this year if I'm able to! 

I love how my son is so little yet so interested!

For the last 2 years we have visited Yesterland Farm for the Fall Festival. We love the rides, food, activities, and the atmosphere. There is plenty to see and do and we have made it our new family tradition to go each year! 

This year would have been Robert's 3rd time visiting and we're not sure if we're going to be able to make it or not yet due to the pandemic. The only plus is the activities are all outdoors and there's plenty of space to social distance so we may still consider it but I can't say for certain.

Today's tip is inspired from our visits to the farm. On the haunted hayride we go on each year at the farm the trees are decorated with these half pumpkin heads. I had some foam pumpkins that were falling apart but rather than glue them back together, I left them split in half and cut out faces. To give the pumpkins an extra pop like at the farm I added a quick spray of fluorescent orange spray paint. Added some black lights and a spot light under the tree and it looks extra spooky at night.

A lot of people tend to overlook decorating trees for Halloween, including myself! When I saw this idea at the farm I knew I needed to recreate it in my yard. Cheap and easy! 

TIP

I'm going to be making more posts per day because I have so many Halloween memories I want to share and its on my 'to do list' to write out some of memories before I forget them! I also can't help myself when I look back on some of my old photos because they bring back good fall memories for me!

These pictures are from September 2018 on a trip to Lowe's with my husband and baby boy! It was one of his first Halloween shopping trips a few days shy of being 9 months old. He was a little too happy about everything he saw. I wondered if he would stay that way as he got older. He has to a certain degree!

My little ghoulster-in-training!

Here's another view of my little pumpkin! 

And finally, what else did we see at Lowe's that year? Here are a few pics! I took a couple pics of the tree because I felt like I could make it myself at some point and I also just liked the overall shape of it. Good for reference!

Earlier I posted my Halloween maze sign for 2019! I wanted to show the process I used to create my signs for anyone who may need ideas!

How I begin

I start by finding a font I like online that will suit my needs. For this sign I actually used two fonts and combined them to create this sign. I actually typed the text out twice in Illustrator, expanded the font and clipped and cropped letters to do a font mash-up. I've included the template for anyone who may want to use it!

Download the template above!

Cut the wood

Copy the template

An alternative to tracing is to print out the text and place it over the sign. Using a pencil trace the text on the paper pressing hard enough to leave an indentation in your sign. My signs are usually large so eyeballing it for me is always the way to go in those cases.

Paint the sign

Above you can see the gray base coat I gave the sign and the fluorescent paint I began adding. I wanted the letters to pop but also be legible. I painted two coats of black over the fluorescent colors to give it a nice glow under black light.

Add in the grit

Lastly, you're going to want to use a spray paint can and gently spray droplets over the finished painted sign to give it some texture and grit. I also added moss in the indentation of the sign and around it. I later took the moss off the edges but the remnants left behind actually achieved the look I wanted!

And that's it! Don't forget to check out the finished piece here!

I usually take pics of my indoor and outdoor decoration just to have as reference. I find that when I like the way something looks its easier for me to visually look at it again in an old photo and recreate it perhaps with different but similar items. I really like this version of my kitchen window! It screams Halloween party. The balloons and streamers give off 1990's Halloween party vibes and kick up the party a few notches!

Krew pic from 2018! I actually can't remember who all is under the masks. I believe from left to right its my friend Aaron, my two nephews Anthony and Chris, my lil cousin Gracie and my friend Rafa! I love my krew which varies from year to year but is always willing to lend a helping klaw to make the maze possible.

This photo never gets old! It's my cat Lil Ninja as Halloween Ninja! She also goes by "Baby girl" and "Baby ghoul." If looks could kill, I would be a goner.

Taken Aug 17, 2017