Oct. 31 - Day 31: Nancy Drew Halloween Party

Nancy Drew & The Hidden Staircase
Halloween Party

No one got lost in the secret passageway or tumbled down the hidden staircase, but they did spot a rat or two and an old Sleuth member who wandered down into the depths of Haunted Twin Elms never to be spotted again until now...

A window silhouette of Nancy climbing the stairs and a ghostly creature lurking behind her...

The porch became the hidden passageway with the faux stairs I created with boxes and spray "stone" paint. The walls were covered with a faux stone room roll.

Cobwebs greeted guests as well as a spooky Nancy Drew silhouette lantern--these were hung on either side of the porch. A sign at the top of the stairs warned, "Enter if you dare."

A skeleton wearing one of our Nancy Drew convention tees from the PA/Witch Tree Convention reads a Nancy Drew book...

A haunting portrait...

Mostly black/white decor greeted guests in the parlor of Twin Elms. Paintings were haunted by covers made from vintage Nancy Drew book pages and silhouettes. Nancy Drew silhouette buckets were filled with candy.

Spooky ghostly images great guests in the hall as well as a Nancy Drew Halloween tree with black/white silhouette paper decorations. Goody Bags with the Nancy Drew silhouette were filled with candy and goodies.

Spanish moss and skulls fill this container and black roses fill a flask vase

A reverse silhouette effect in the parlor as the sun is starting to set. A creepy skull adorns a black cake stand.

Some of my vintage noisemakers and Johanna Parker's Tin Horns adorn this old desk

Nancy Drew haunts this painting made with old book pages...

Rice Krispy Treats and ghoulish glow in the dark witch fingers beckoned guests as did the Toile style Nancy Drew decoupaged pumpkin I crafted. Eyeball chocolates were yummy. Miss Flora's Brown Owl watched suspiciously...

A lantern glows from the vellum Nancy Drew silhouettes I created for the sides of it

Nancy Drew Silhouette Goody Bags

Reese's Cookie Cups garnished with edible bones and skulls adorn this silver 3-tiered stand topped with a couple of small skulls.

These were delicious--the recipe came from the bag of Halloween Reese's miniature cups. Martha Stewart's Everyday Food had a similar recipe in the October 2011 issue.

We had a gift exchange and I created a treat cone using a papier mache witch hat, painted it black and decoupaged onto it images I had copied from the endpapers of vintage Nancy Drew books--little black and white scenes of Nancy Drew. I embellished it with fun fringe and ribbon and added treats and toys plus a wire handle.

This year's party was lots of fun! Now to entertain all the spooksters arriving tonight! Happy Halloween to everyone! Make it a spooky one :)

Jenn:)

Oct. 30 - Day 30: Halloween Party Sneak Peek

Halloween 2011 Party

Had my annual Nancy Drew Halloween party last night. The theme was The Hidden Staircase and so the house was a "haunted house." I went with a mostly black and white theme and here's a few images from the party--will post more tomorrow.

A great way to cover up your existing paintings is to "haunt" them with covers like these I created using white poster board and black construction paper for the ghostly faces.

The overturned vase was perfect for some dried Spanish moss and skulls.

Some of my noisemakers graced an old desk covered with filmy white material.

Outside sat some faux stone steps and a lantern I made using vellum I printed with silhouettes.

Jenn:)

Oct. 29 - Day 29: Vintage Bats at eBay

Vintage Bats at eBay

Here are some bat items I've spotted at eBay--not as much with bats that are the main focal point of the decorations and items as other themes like withes and jack o' lanterns, but you'll find a nice variety.

Dennison Diecut

Bat Postcard

Bat Postcard

Bat/Moon German Diecut

Jenn:)

Halloween Blog Party Week 4 Prize Winner

Week 4 Blog Party Winner...

Lorelei - Congrats! Contact me at webmaster@vintagehalloween.com with your address to mail the bag to :)

Prize: Halloween Raven Clutch Bag

Jenn:)

Oct. 28 - Day 28: Vintage Postcard Edibles

Wicked & Delightful Goodies

The SF Appeal online news website posted an article on edible spooky treats and edible vintage postcard images for cookies was one of them. I loved the look of these! So wanted to share with you. You can read more about this project and other goodies by clicking here.

And you can purchase the edible postcard wafers at Fancy Flours. Fancy Flours also has lots of other cute Halloween products!

Jenn:)

Spendy Halloween Results at eBay #10

Vintage Halloween Collectibles at eBay

Check out these 3 pieces that have ended at eBay recently! The pumpkin man above sold for $795.00

This scarce Beistle piece sold for $978.60.

Last but not least, is this Beistle diecut that sold for $699.95!

Jenn:)

Oct. 27 - Day 27: Vintage Halloween Postcards

Vintage Halloween Postcards at eBay

I love checking out the vintage Halloween postcards at eBay--there are so many listed! Some for less than $10 and some go into the hundreds. This is one area of collecting that you can pick up some of these pretty inexpensively which is nice. One thing I like about these mini works of art is the scenes they depict--so many are representative of the various parties and the merriment that goes on--and some of the games with apple bobbing, mirror/fortune/fate type scenarios and then also the mischief that went on.

Jenn:)

Halloween Cap'n Crunch

Halloween Cap'n Crunch

OK, it 's not vintage, but I had to share :) One of my favorite cereals as a kid was Cap'n Crunch! And I spotted their Halloween theme cereal at the grocery store this week--the ghosts turn the milk green!

Here's a recipe I found online for making bars with the Cap'n Crunch cereal instead of Rice Krispy Treats (though you could combine them!):

Ingredients:

Yield: 15 bars

Units: US | Metric

1 (18 ounce) box Cap'n Crunch cereal
6 tablespoons butter
1 (16 ounce) bag marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
salt, a pinch

Directions:

1 Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with softened butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2 Add the cereal to a bowl; set aside.

3 Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.

4 Add the marshmallows, vanilla, and salt; cook, stirring constantly, until the marshmallows are melted into the butter.

5 Immediately pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and stir with a large wooden spoon until all the cereal is coated with melted marshmallows.

6 Spoon the cereal mixture into prepared pan.

7 With buttered hands, gently but firmly press the cereal into the pan to compact the mixture.

8 Let the mixture cool completely.

9 When cool, cut into 15 large bars.

10 Serve right away, or wrap each bar separately with waxed paper or plastic wrap and store in covered container for up to 2 days.

Jenn:)

Oct. 26 - Day 26: Vintage Halloween Seals at eBay

Vintage Halloween Seals at eBay

Check out these lovely old vintage seals I've spotted at eBay! Nice and bright--these were gummed seals. Often you'll see them being sold as scraps but sometimes you can get a mint/full box too. Having the box is definitely a plus for collectors.

Jenn:)

Games for Halloween by Mary E. Blain

Vintage Halloween Games

I recently purchased this book at eBay for around $20.00. It's a small thin book around 4 1/2" x 6 3/4" in side and not quite 1/2" thick. Mine has a name inside and the date of 1916. The copyright is 1912 and it's a Barse & Hopkins publication.

In looking through it, it's definitely got some strange and interesting games in it! At this time, Halloween parties were mostly for adults. Here are some games in the book:

***

Flour Test:

A bowl is filled tightly with flour. During the process of filling, a wedding ring is inserted vertically in some part of it. The bowl, when full, is inverted upon a dish and withdrawn, leaving the mound of flour on the dish. Each guest cuts off with a knife a thin slice which crumbles into dust. The guest who cuts off the slice containing the ring will be married first.

Combing Hair Before Mirror:

Stand alone before mirror, and by light of candle comb your hair; face of your future partner will appear in glass, peering over your shoulder.

Jumping Lighted Candle:

Place a lighted candle in middle of floor, not too securely placed; each one jumps over it. Whoever succeeds in clearing candle is guaranteed a happy year, free of trouble or anxiety. He who knocks candle over will have a twelve-month of woe.

***

I have to wonder how many women stood alone before that mirror and no face ever appeared ;-)

Jenn:)

Oct. 25 - Day 25: Crafty Halloween Ideas #8

Crafty Halloween Ideas #8 -
Decoupage Pumpkins

I decided to do a crafty decoupage pumpkin for my Nancy Drew Halloween party. Part of my decor is black/white mostly so the multi pic endpapers from the Nancy Drew books worked perfectly. It's kind of got a Toile look to it. I think I'm going to paint the stem black tomorrow once it finishes drying overnight.

Materials:

I purchased all of these items at Michaels.

Faux pumpkins
Modge Podge
Foam Brush
Images

Instructions:

Set up your table with something the pumpkin (and you) won't stick to--I used plastic. Also, cut out your images first so you'll have them ready to go assembly line once you start. Tip: Take a bowl to set your pumpkin in to work on as this makes it easier to work with. I covered my bowl with some saran wrap to keep the modge podge off it. Another Tip: Have your images printed at the copy shop--so the ink won't bleed as it will on an ink jet printer. If you have some special spray then you can print your own and use the spray to keep the ink from running.

Begin placing your images on the pumpkin--I started out at the bottom and worked my way up. You can brush the pumpkin with modge podge and then place the image but I found it easier to paint it on the bottom of the paper and then apply. I also wore some painters gloves so I wouldn't have to spend half the night scraping modge podge off my hands.

As you work it will go quickly. Sometimes you have to trim things certain ways to make it fit better--I find smaller pieces work better on surfaces like this that aren't flat.

Do about half the pumpkin at one time and then let it dry and then do the other side. I printed images for the earlier version of these endpapers with the 22 little scenes like the blue multi pic endpapers but didn't get a chance to start the second pumpkin.

It was a pretty easy project to do--you can't really mess up this kind of project! I completed mine while watching Dancing with the Stars and Castle with wait times for drying so it wasn't too time consuming.

Jenn:)