Eerie Elegance – How to Host a Haunt and Other Fabulous Frights is Britta’s Peterson’s first book after over a decade of self-publishing her website Britta Blvd, where she is known as the “Webmistress of the Dark.” Britta has been artistic and crafty since she was very young, and over the years she has turned holidays into opportunities for elaborate parties as performance art, transforming her home into an entirely new environment, especially for Halloween.

Many fans share Britta’s love of Halloween since she started her website in 1996. Her Halloween recipes and decorations are appreciated all over the world by the many Halloween enthusiasts who link to her website. Not only are her Halloween recipes within these pages, but for the first time, she reveals how she creates her decorations and displays with step-by-step instructions and full-color photos that show you how to transform your own home into a Halloween haunt.  Want to have creepy candlelight?  How about peeping portraits?  Or maybe you’ve always wanted to experiment with mad scientist potions!  The ideas in this book range from the simple and budget-conscious to elaborate environments and everything in between, so there is a project for everyone inside Eerie Elegance – How to Host a Haunt and Other Fabulous Frights!

Ewwwwww! It’s slimy!  Transform ordinary materials into a slimy recipe for fun!

Materials:

• Two mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Blue
• Borax
• Green Food Coloring
• Water

Directions:

1. Mix together 3/4 cup warm water, 1 cup glue and several drops of green food coloring in the first bowl.

2. In the second bowl, mix together 4 teaspoons borax and 1 1/3 cups warm water.

3. Pour the contents of the first bowl into the second, but don’t stir. Let it sit for 1 minute, then lift the now-congealed slime out of the bowl.

4. Divide slime so that each child has a piece to play with. The glue in slime can make it stick to certain fabrics. To minimize accidents, give each little monster a zip-top bag to store it in.

Tips:
SAFETY NOTE: Since borax is toxic in large doses, be sure to keep the slime away from kids younger than age three.

Kids of all ages are looking forward to Halloween – it’s hard to say who has more fun with it – little kids or older ones (or the adults!). It’s the time when they can play tricks on other kids and  older people and they also get a chance to ask for candies and other treats from the different houses they visit while dressed up as their favorite character du jour.  DuringHalloween Season, you will often see lawns decorated with pumpkins and spooky props including monsters, vampires and coffins. Some people even use lighting and sound effects to help make their yards extra scary.

If you would like to put pumpkins on your lawn, you might be looking for designs for pumpkin painting.  Decorating pumpkins with paint is not that hard (I think it’s easier than carving!). When the Halloween season is near, you can start looking for excellent decorating ideas. You can decorate the pumpkins together with your family and closest friends.

First and foremost, you have to shop for a pumpkin that preferably has a relatively flat bottom surface. It doesn’t have to be really flat; even only a slightly flat surface on one side will do, depending on the decoration you want to paint on it. You will need to keep this in mind especially if you have smaller kids joining the painting session, but if everyone is a little bit older, usually most any pumpkin will do.

Once you’ve purchased the pumpkins, drop by your local discount or craft store. Acrylic paints are more suitable for pumpkin painting. You should get several different colors especially if you have kids helping out so that they can create their own crazy designs and color mixes.

Before you start the painting session, you first must determine the design. You can create scary designs or even funny designs. You can find a lot of designs on the Web even if you log on for just several minutes. You just have to type the words ‘pumpkin painting’ and many results will be displayed on the screen.

You can even paint silly or famous celebrity faces your pumpkins. While this is more difficult because you have to concentrate a little more on the details – give it a go and see what you come up with.  Sometimes, the goofier, the better!  Then you can put wigs and ties on that the pumpkins to accentuate the face.  (Hair is a great way to cover up any “boo boos”).  To make a good celebrity face design on the pumpkins, you simply have to put the distinguishing feature of the celebrity and exaggerate it a bit.

You can also make other designs besides faces – you can make monster designs, animal designs and many others. Pick something that you’re interested in so that it will be a lot easier to paint on the pumpkin (your creativity will come to you easier if it’s something you like).

Aside from the acrylic paints, you will need to have several different sizes of paint brushes and small containers where you can mix different colors. Sit someplace comfortable and be sure to spread lots of newspapers around. Put the paints, brushes, and other materials over the newspaper where everyone can reach them easily. Give each family member a pumpkin and then have some fun!

This can be an exciting activity for the whole family and friends for the upcoming Halloween. You can even put lights inside the pumpkin heads if you’ve carved them out, to make the design more visible at night. Do your pumpkin painting a day or two before Halloween. This way, you’ll have time to prepare for your costumes, treats, candies, and other things that you will use for this very special occasion. Enjoy pumpkin painting with your family and friends.  This year’s Halloween will surely be extra memorable – and don’t forget to take pictures of your creations!

This book has received rave reviews for the tips and suggestions it offers not only for kids but adults as well.

Check it out here: Halloween Recipes & Crafts

Amazon.com Review:
Cocoa Cobweb Cupcakes, Black Cat Cookies, and Stained-Glass Spooks are just a few of the spirited tastes you’ll encounter in Donata Maggipinto’s delightful Halloween Treats.

But it’s not just recipes–you and your favorite little goblin will love creating spooky craft projects such as Candy Cauldrons, Leaf Lanterns, and Paper Bag Pumpkins together in anticipation of All Hallows’ Eve.

Maggipinto includes craft ideas for “Pixies” (children 4-8 years old) as well as older children, and nearly every recipe includes a safe task for younger helpers. (For example, while mom or dad should heat the milk for hot cocoa, kids can roll and stamp out marshmallow ghosts as accompaniment.)

A few of the craft ideas  (Click Here For More…)

So you’ve gone out and hand-selected the perfect pumpkin but you’re still undecided about how you’re going to decorate it?  A visit to ExtremePumpkins.com may give you some insight to some of the funniest, strangest and even goriest pumpkin carvings ever.   The artist behind these creations is not only very talented (he also writes books – see below), but apparently is a bit twisted too.    Visit ExtremePumpkins.com for some awesome ideas on what to do with your “perfect” pumpkin!  Have Fun!

You may think that Halloween is only about ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. However, there is much more behind this spooky holiday.

For Pagans the world over, Halloween is a time of magic and divination–a night for honoring ancestors, celebrating the harvest, and ringing in the New Year.

In A Witch’s Halloween, bestselling author and Wiccan High Priestess Gerina Dunwich dispels the myths of this holiest of Pagan holidays and its most famous celebrants.

A Witch’s Halloween tells you all that you need to know about this sacred holiday, from the history, folklore, myths, and spells to Sabbat rituals, recipes, divination,  Halloween superstitions–and much more.

This insightful book is a complete (Click Here For More…)

These Ghost Writers are so easy to make, you’ll want to make a cauldron full to pass out for Treats!

Materials:

• Disposable Ball Point Pen
• White Crayola Model Magic modeling material
• Toothpick
• Craft Glue
• Plastic Fingernails
• Nail Polish

1. For each one, cover a disposable ballpoint pen (cap removed) with a 1/4-inch layer of white Crayola Model Magic modeling material, leaving the tip of the pen exposed.

2. Sculpt the clay into a finger shape, forming thick bumps on one side for knuckles. Mark wrinkles and creases around the knuckles with a toothpick.

3. Next, use craft glue to attach a plastic fingernail near the pen’s tip, leaving room enough for the pen to write. (If you like, trim the nail with scissors beforehand for a jagged effect.) Use the toothpick to create lines around the cuticle area and coat the nail with nail polish in a frightful hue.

4. Allow the clay and the polish to dry completely before using the pen.

When I was a kid, if Mrs. Smith was passing out her Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies for Trick or Treat, we all raced to her door so we could be sure to get one before she ran out.  Not anymore.  We’ve all heard the horror stories about the terrible things that happen to kids who accept and eat homemade goodies, so this is a great alternative!  Give them something unique and special, something you made to help them celebrate the holiday!

If you’re planning on having the scariest Halloween bash on your block this year you might want to spruce up the old place a bit beforehand.  This book, written by Shawn Mitchell and Lynne Mitchell offers lots of ideas and spooky tips.  The projects in this book are not intended for children but for the creative adults who want to handcraft their very own Halloween home haunt and graveyard fun!

Order your paperback or Kindle version copy here.