Web Sites to look at

I found a couple of cool web sites that should help in your planning as well as mine.  I don't know about you but I usually like to have a theme in mind and start working towards the party in August, and its getting closer!

Divine Dinner Party -has good themes

Yahoo Voices -neat theme ideas

eHow -a great checklist and info for beginners

These are a couple to start with.  Leave me a comment with your favorite party planning web sites.


-Liz

Back in Action

I know it's been a long time again..... I promised you projects through the year and we did not deliver.  I am SURE that this Halloween season you will get lots of projects, tutorials and posts.  Oh, you didn't know August was Halloween season?  Well it is in this house and apparently Michael's agrees with me because they had a whole display and two aisles dedicated to Halloween when I was there yesterday.

So I will update you about party stuff and put some tutorials in between.  Get ready!

-Liz

Brain Storm

My friend CZ had the coolest idea the other day and I wanted to record it so I don't forget it.  She said we should fill the fridge and freezer with body parts and props so that when people get ice or drinks out they will see them.  Awesome idea.

new year, new party

Soooo..... 2012 has arrived and that brings with it our 2012 Halloween party.  Yes, I am crazy and started thinking about it and making lists for it this weekend.  I am already thinking about it.  Expect some crafts to come your way this month as Full Of Great Ideas No Spend January inspires me to make things with what we already have on hand (which is a lot of stuff)  I could possibly decorate our party with whatever we currently have in the house.  Also... my Halloween thoughts of course led me to think about what theme we want for this year and you guys, I think I'm going to do something unprecedented.  NO THEME.  I was thinking we could just put up decorations we like and everyone can come as whatever they want to.  Its a crazy idea for me since I insist on picking a theme each year that everything must coordinate with, but I'm really considering it.  What if our theme was just Halloween?  Sounds like a stress relief to me but it is still to be seen if I will follow through with it.

Looking forward to October.

Dead? Or alive?

I bet you thought I had abandoned this blog since Halloween is over.  Well I haven't, Halloween is something we think about all year long we have just been crazy busy and super stressed.  Buuuuuuuuut....... I promise we will be back soon.

Another blogger suggested a No Spend Month in January, where you do not buy craft supplies, food, clothes or anything else that you do not absolutely need (you can buy fresh produce you just can't buy food until your pantry and freezer is cleaned out), and I am considering doing this and seeing what Halloween projects I can get done for next year with the mountains of things I have lying around the house. 

OOOHH!!! By the way... our Halloween decorations are still up, for any of you who are challenging our dedication ,)



liz

Paper Bats

I originally saw a great photo of felt bats pasted on to an exterior door on countryliving.com (via pinterest.com) and wanted to do it.  I decided that I had so much scrapbook paper however, that mine would be paper.  This also meant they had to move inside.  Then I found this, she was also inspired by Country Living but wanted to use paper.  Her bats look great flying through the dining room and I have a great dining room for it too so I started cutting bats.  You can use the template from her web site, she links to the Country Living Template, and print it out then re-size it on your scanner so you have a couple different sizes. 

I have tons of scrapbook paper so I just dug out some Halloween colors, patterns I thought would look like bats and things I liked.

I folded the paper in half with the back showing so I could trace my multiple templates.  

 I found it was easiest to draw several on the page and then cut them all out.

Once cut out, you can unfold them and you have easy bats.  You can do this freehand if you would prefer to give them more character.  Use the scraps you have for smaller templates and/or freehand small bats.  (I have to say that my freehand bats were pretty hilarious to everyone else while we were hanging them up)

Do this as many times as you want, unfold and admire your bats.  We used lots of graphic patterns instead of just black.  We also used shades of brown, maroon, grey, green and orange.

We let them swarm towards a vent in the dining room so they flap in the 'wind' a little.

We ended up with tons of them so they flew all around the room.

If you look at the top of the doorway here, you can see that my clever little brother put a couple hanging upside down like they hadn't flown off yet.

Some stragglers flew around the room and perched on the light switch....

the fan cord....

even on Justine's face!  lol

I love the way this project turned out.  =)

liz

Zombie Make Up

Our zombie costumes from last weekend were the most complete once we put the make up on to make ourselves look dead, bloody and bitten.  Here's how I did it.

I started off by smearing white grease make up all over my face.  I don't use a lot because I'm already fair and because too much looks too fake.  Be sure to blend everything really well at the edges of the make up and into your features.  Blend lightly onto your neck, ears and into the hairline so it looks even.  Then smear some red cream make up from mouth to chin working in light layers. 

In each layer go a little farther down.  I wanted to look like I had bitten people so I wanted the blood to run down my face.  Be sure to get above the top lip and out to the sides some.  Zombies don't eat delicately, they dive head first into their food and make a sloppy mess.

Each layer of red makes it look  little better, the time to do it little by little pays off because you get good depth in the make up.  My blood was going to run down my face and to a blood stain on my shirt where it pooled so I dragged the sponge all the way down my neck in long swipes.

A little black cream make up added on top of the last red layer makes it look old and dried.  This is what makes it start looking less like make up.

Because we were specifically zombie Longhorn fans we used a grease crayon to add words to my face.

I make sure to get make up on my lips so it looks like I was feeding but kept my mouth closed tightly.  I use only a tiny bit on my lips because its not really good to ingest.  Putting lip balm on top will keep you from licking it or using translucent powder to set it while it is still wet will also keep it in place.

I added some black and blue vein lines around the edges of my face and into my hairline and also smeared some red make up on my forehead for a little added gore.  The lines were easy with a paintbrush, you can buy the make up in crayon form and that is even easier.  The blood helped it look better and less like just white paint.  I smeared it down my nose and across my face too.  Make sure you rub it into hairlines, eyebrows and facial hair by pressing hard and moving your finger or sponge or applicator back and forth.  You can go over the hair lightly with a damp cloth or sponge if you don't want it on your hair, just on the skin.  Doing this is a great trick that makes it look more professional and gives it some realism.  If you don't care about that, cool don't worry about it then. ,)

Green make up completed my face by giving it that sickly look that zombies are known for.  I did it mostly around one eye and then used my fingers to trail it around the rest of my face lightly.  A touch up on the words was needed because you could no longer read them.

I pulled my hair into messy braids and the look was pretty much done.  All that was needed was some fake blood.  I flipped my hair upside down and sprayed it all lightly with hair spray then quickly braided it on either side into very messy braids.  I pulled some strands out, teased it up a little and ran my hands all over it so it stood up.  I sprayed it lightly again so it would stay.

For Thomas' face we went a little different direction.  He had not eaten anyone yet, we decided, so he had less blood and more dark make up.  We used the white grease make up to smear his face again and then used black cream make up around his eyes so it looked sunken and rotten.  A little blood on his forehead looked good and some green smeared around his face completed his easy look.

Now zombie bites!

Use a paintbrush or your finger to dab a round bite mark where you want to showcase your wound.  Using a dabbing motion instead of just making a circle gives the impression of teeth.

This step looks a little funny and seems fake until you put the other make up on top of it.

Add red to the center carefully so you don't smudge the black too much but make sure it is thick.  This is the source of your zombie state-make it look good!  Also rub red around the outside of the black make up and blend outward with your fingers or a sponge.

Use blue grease paint to add dabs of blue around the edges of the wound.  Mix with the red slightly and blend out so you make bruising.  Use your brush and light black paint to touch up the bite mark if it gets too smudged.

Subtlety is a key component with the wounds and bite marks because it will really make the difference.  Use yellow, the darker the better, to add around the edges to give it more bruising effect and to start the sickly look.

Add green paint around the edges and blend out to look like the infection is spreading.  Your bite looks great!

After you have created all of the wounds and bite marks that you want, use fake blood to drip off of wounds and anywhere else you think is appropriate.  I added mine directly to the center of the three bites I had and then let it drip down.  I also added it right below my lips where my blood stains were.  Rub green and red paint into the skin anywhere you think you want a little more gore and give yourself a disheveled look.  I coated my hands with red cream paint and ran them through my hair so I was coverd in blood.

Happy feeding fellow zombies!



liz