Stuff We Like: This Is Halloween!

I used to be somewhat indifferent to Halloween as a grown up. As a kid, I thought Halloween was both the most magical and the biggest let down.

Magical, because I go door to door and get free candy?! One house on my street growing up in Pittsburgh used to give out individual Hug drinks – did you have those? They came in a plastic jug that looked like a barrel, and had a little foil cap?

Forget full-size bars; I wanted the Hug drink because discovering how difficult it is to be the postal carrier is thirsty work!

Halloween was also a let down because, again, growing up in Pittsburgh by the end of October is was COLD and I’d often have to wear a winter coat over my costume. Which I did NOT like to do.

As an adult, at our old house, we lived on a busy road with no sidewalk, so we didn’t get many trick or treaters. Now that we’ve moved, I LOVE Halloween. Most of my neighbors and I have a lot of steps up to the front door of their houses, and some of us have dogs who do not like Halloween all that much. So to solve the “too many steps” and “upsetting the dogs” problem, we started sitting outside with a firepit and handing out candy from that location.

Then we added wine, and snacks, and now the whole street comes to chill by the fire, drink wine and eat (some of) the candy we’ve brought. It’s one of my favorite nights of the year, and it’s inspired me to do CRAFTS and DECORATE.

So I thought I’d share some of my favorite decorations and crafts in this edition of Stuff We Like, and include some decorative nightmare-fuel that I’m considering adding to my collection this year.

First, I made these the first year we lived here, and I love them:

The instructions I used are from Ashbee Design.com but I’ve spotted similar ghosts and crafting instructions on TikTok, Instagram, etc. You soak cheese cloth in some plaster of paris and drape the wet cheesecloth over a structure to shape it until it dries. It’s messy but very fun. (This tutorial uses liquid starch, which I’ve also seen as a good option for ghost making!)

I built the structure to hang the cheesecloth (which I have a LOT of because I use it to make latkes) out of toys and things we had around, so the most I had to buy was plaster of Paris, and the flickering tea lights, which I use all over the place now:

Orange Battery Operated Tea light candles, 12 for $10

I use the tea lights in a big menorah on my mantel at Hanukkah, and on the table for holidays – they’re very small and useful and the batteries are really strong.

The wee ghosts I put on the porch because it might rain (it did last year, darn it). I also got really freaking crafty and bought myself a HOT KNIFE.

Why? Because I dislike carving real pumpkins, but making permanently carved ones? Oh, yes please!

I bought a few foam craft pumpkins like these when they were on sale and using the HOT KNIFE:

Hot Knife! $22

I carved the foam pumpkins! I have a standard jack o’lantern, and a silhouette of Toothless  the dragon, both of which look great after 5+ years.

Here are the pumpkins on the porch during the day:

And here they are at night:

The HOT KNIFE is probably one of my favorite purchases, because it’s been very useful, and because carving foam pumpkin poop emoji is exceedingly satisfying.

If you need a Halloween gift, or a gift at any time for your favorite spooky, witchy person, I got these for Amanda and she really likes them:

Skulls of my Enemies lotion bars, $18

My neighbor got all the members of the Halloween Candy Coven of Driveway Drinking wine glasses two years ago, and they look exactly like this one, except ours have orange stems:

Drink up Witches wineglass, $8

I also love this one now that the Etsy algorithm is onto me:

Sheetfaced wineglass, $10

Oh, no, I like this one, too.

Here for the BOOS wineglass, $6-12

Our neighbors tend to do all kinds of nifty things for Halloween. One house down the street has a yard full of props, but my favorite thing they have is a plastic skeleton peeking out their basement window. It’s there all year, but you don’t see it until the summer ferns have all died off, and then it’s really funny. The skeleton has this big giant head and looks like its grinning at you.

We’ve got witches flying into trees two doors down…

Crashing Witch Decoration, $20

(I thought it was a decorative broom the first time they hung it on their tree, I won’t lie.)

Another house on my block has these LED lanterns and they really do look like flames. The ambiance is top notch:

LED Flickering Lanterns, 2 for $35

One of the reviews for the lanterns is from a teacher who uses them in her classroom for Halloween, and when there are units on The Crucible and Frankenstein. So clever!

Here are some decorations I’m looking at this year, and no, I haven’t shown anyone in my house any of these. I think it’s more fun if the random decorations just show up, right?

If I bought this and put it on a surface in my home, my younger child would abscond with it immediately because it’s adorable and hilarious:

Self Care Skeleton Candle, $24

But these guys would also disappear because of how cute they are:

Wee Ghost Candles, set of 10 for $20

I like how wicked these ghosts look, and they’d match the giant spiderweb my neighbor has on their front yard:

Glowing ghost witches, 3 for $16

But speaking of spiderweb…I should get this 6.6 foot giant spider, right?

Large Fake Spider, $21

I mean, it’s not even a question, really. I should absolutely park a six foot spider on my lawn. I love spiders.

No, really! I LOVE spiders. They’re so cool and good at crafting and they eat all the bugs I’m allergic to. I’m 100% Team Spider. So I think I need a SIX POINT SIX FOOT SPIDER, don’t you?

(Gosh, what would I name it.)

This isn’t an actual skeleton, but it is a door cover of a skeleton on the toilet:

Skeleton Bathroom Door Cover, $8

I should get that, right?

Or should I get…THIS

BONING SKELETONS Inflatable yard decoration, $53

THE SKELETONS BONE, Y’ALL.

I’m not sure where I saw this first, probably on social media, but my gosh do I want to toss that on my lawn. The problem is, I have a LOT of little kids in my neighborhood, and I’m not sure I want to inflict upon my neighbors the awkwardness of their kids asking, “But what are they doing??”

Parenting is awkward enough with a neighbor who gets mail addressed to “BITCHES.” I probably shouldn’t make it worse.

As for costumes, I’m either wearing sweats and am My Fine and Excellent Self at Halloween, or I’m dressed up as Louise from Bob’s Burgers. It’s been my go-to easy costume since 2015.

Start with a pink hat with bunny ears.

You can make one (here’s a Ravelry pattern!) or buy from Etsy:

Pink Bunny Ears Hat, $33

Pair with a green t-shirt dress and, if it’s chilly, leggings and a long sleeve top underneath, and done! The ear flaps on the hat that cover my ears are my favorite thing about that costume.

While putting this post together I made the mistake of looking at my Pinterest boards and found this recipe I’d saved about six years ago:  crescent roll mummy hot dogs per this recipe from Pillsbury.

The last time we sat outside drinking, it was Labor Day, and I made a spice cake from the Snacking Cakes book. I feel bad for thinking about inflicting boning bone inflatables on the neighbors, so I might bring snacks for the Candy Coven of Driveway Drinking.

What about you? Do you or your pets have a fave costume? Do you have Halloween food recipes you recommend for sharing? What decorations do you love?

Happy almost-Halloween!