The simplest and most effective homemade Halloween masks are often built on previously made mask forms.  Whether you want an eye mask that covers only your eyes and the bridge of your nose, a half mask covering your face from the hairline to just short of the tip of the nose, or a full face mask covering your face from hair to chin, the forms can be found at craft stores and event stores.  If you fail to find mask forms in your neighborhood they can be purchased online from such sources as Amazon.com, as well as through a range of specialty houses.

Using the previously made forms as a basis to work up from, you must then decide what you would like to create.  Do you want to be a cat?  A bird?  A tattooed pirate?  Your imagination and your skill are the only limits to what you can make.  By gluing a thin line of glitter around the eye holes of a mask, then carefully gluing fancy feathers to the mask starting in the center and working your way out, you can make a peacock, an owl, a canary.  Feathers are again a common item at craft stores and in the craft section of many department stores.  

Buy fake white fur.  Cut it to match the form of the mask, then use a fabric ink pen to mark the fur with cat patterns.  Or, if you like, purchase a base paint and a good grade of high gloss art enamels, and create a painted mask marked like a leopard or a tiger.

Base paint and high gloss enamel are also superb for fantasy masks.  Painting the mask with spirals, stars, ribbons of color, gluing on sprinkles of glitter and tiny ribbon bows, you can make a delightful mask for a princess, an enchantress, or your favorite little fairy.

The same methods can be turned to more dramatic use if your fairy prefers to be a pirate.  A black patch, a bandana (glued firmly at the forehead to prevent it from escaping during trick-or-treat fun) and a big black handlebar moustache painted on over the lip can give a girl or boy a great pirate face.

For zombies, ghouls, ghosts, and vampires it may be best to let the kids free to play with their own ideas.  For their protection use safe tempera paints rather than enamels, and be sure to have plenty of red and green…they go fast when you’re designing your own monster!

Provide good “nasties”  and a secure glue, too: frizzled yard for hair (and for unknown mutilations), fake bugs, worms — you would be amazed what creepy crawly things and bits of scrap fabric can be used for when the child is going for a serious case of “ICK!”

Another form of mask entirely can be based on a simple ski mask.  These don’t take glue well, or paint, but they do take fabric ink pens and they are great to sew onto.  A ragdoll mop of yarn hair, a couple chain stitch red circles for shiny doll cheeks, and you have a ragdoll in very little time.  Again, the ski mask can make a very good base for sewn on monster ingredients.  You can add dropping fleece jowls, flopping fleece ears, and soft fleece wrinkles to make a perfectly huggable basset hound pup.  A set of tidy embroidered whiskers and pink felt ears can present you with a kitten in less than half an hour.

For more ideas check online and in the crafts section of your library.  Yes, it can be fun to buy masks already designed and crafted, but it is much more fun to make you own at home!

There are so many ways of making Halloween treats that no one article can cover them all.  The first resource you should find is a good cookbook or online site that specializes in party activities, foods and decorations.  However there are some classic treats that can be made without so much fuss.

Many treats are not made so much as gathered together and packaged.  The modern preference for trick-or-treats or for party favors tends to be based on packaged, wrapped candies in any case.  Many parents feel comforted and safe knowing that the treats their children receive when trick-or-treating or even at parties with trusted friends and associates will be presented in unbroken packaging.

For this sort of treat all that is necessary is to purchase several bags of pre-wrapped mini candies, sort them into groups containing one or two packages of each sort, and then wrap them in bright fabric or wrapping paper, or put them in decorated favor bags.  Favor bags can be made at home by decorating small paper sandwich bags, or they can often be purchased previously decorated at events stores.

If you want to actually make a treat from scratch consider making a cake or cupcakes that can use standard recipes and mixes, standard baking pans, but which are made special through themed Halloween decorations.  A cake iced with orange icing, with an arching cat and flying bat silhouetted against the orange cake moon makes an impressive Halloween treat for a party.  Cupcakes decorated as spiders, with black icing, red cinnamon eyes, and black pipe cleaner legs arching out to tickle the table are classic Halloween treats.

Many people make candy apples and caramel corn.  These are made by melting cinnamon candies and candy caramels down.  Apples are spiked on popsicle sticks and dipped in both cinnamon and caramel candy, and popcorn in a bowl is drizzled with melted caramel, then rolled into balls glued together by all the sticky candy.  Both are set on no-stick cookie sheets to cool and firm, and then wrapped in clear cellophane and tied with black and orange ribbons.  Precise recipes are available in cookbooks, online, and often on the backs of cinnamon candy and caramel packages.

A final traditional Halloween treat is for drinking, not eating.  Hot spiced cider is standard fare in regions with cool nights in fall.  Cider is poured into a large soup pot or a large slow cooker.  One teaspoon cinnamon, one quarter teaspoon of clove, and a quarter teaspoon of ginger are added per gallon of cider, and the entire recipe is brought to a low but steaming temperature.  Served in mugs or heat proof Styrofoam cups there are few things more pleasant as party fare on a cold Halloween evening.

The original traditions that Halloween grew from were intensely religious and meaningful.  Modern Halloween for most people is less so: many of us enjoy Halloween as a little holiday with hardly any religious significance.  Nothing more than a secular event, without even the powerful significance of the Fourth of July, or Thanksgiving.  Then why do we celebrate this day with so much delight and enthusiasm?

For some it remains a day of religious significance of course.  Both Christian and neo-pagans find holiness and meaning in a day that marks the recognition of the dead, and of supernatural forces.  Many Latinos and Latinas celebrate Halloween as part of the lead-up to Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, celebrated after All Saint’s and All Soul’s, on November 2.  For those who group the holidays in this block Halloween can be a light, joyful punctuation in the midst of more somber religious themes.  

Most of us however can’t claim to be celebrating for such serious reasons.  The truth is Halloween may be the one holiday we celebrate for the pure joy of the event.  Our culture can be very tiresome.  Even children are expected to give up much of imaginative play at a very young age, and adults often feel obliged to behave as though they never played at all.

In a life of early-to-bed and early-to-rise, when good sensible people stay home at night and maybe do a bit of accounting or bring home some work from the office, Halloween is a glorious excuse to play.  Children and adults alike race into Halloween with a whoop and a grin.

Like Mardi Gras, Halloween is seen as a holiday when normal life is set aside.  Unlike Mardi Gras the rule breaking is expected to be mild, child-safe, and centered around home, family and friends.  Costumes, magic, a bit of mystery and imaginary horror, a touch of night shadow and autumn frost: it all comes together in a cascade of shimmering jack-o-lanterns, masquerade parties, and giggling mobs of kids out collecting a year’s worth of candy.  We celebrate Halloween because it mixes just enough fear, just enough rebellion, just enough enchantment, with more than enough party, laughter, and play.

There are many sober holidays and many profoundly meaningful religious celebrates.  For those whose faith and tradition see Halloween as part of a great cycle of faith based celebrations the day can remain a holy event.  But for the thousands of more secular celebrants the night of Halloween is celebrated because it is good, sweet, joyful fun.

It is something remembered from childhood, and passed on to new generations.  It is a bat flying across a harvest moon, the scent of bonfires, a cat arching on a fence, and maybe a ghost story told at midnight…with candy and costumes and jack-o-lanterns thrown in.  For most of us that is more than enough reason to celebrate Halloween.

Halloween is a complicated holiday, with several different possible meanings, depending on the background of the person celebrating.  The holiday as we know it comes from three primary roots: old Celtic pagan ritual, Catholic traditions, and American secular celebration.  With three such different sources it is no wonder that Halloween has no one meaning.

For Catholics the holiday is tied to All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day.  Halloween night falls between the two celebrations, one of the saints in heaven, one of the dead not yet in heaven and not of the status of saints.  Halloween was originally Hallowed Evening for those who celebrated the event: the Holy Evening between the two holy days, when the spirits of the departed saints and those of other people were close in heart and mind, and the spirits of evil lurked nearby in reaction to all the holiness.  For these olden days Catholics the “meaning”  of Halloween was a meaning of respect for the saints and the dead and protection against the lurking threat of evil, Satan, and the dead who had found no peace.

For older pagan tradition the connection with the dead also was present.  Samhain, as Halloween was called in Celtic culture, was a time when the livestock was slaughtered for the coming winter, the fodder for the beasts reckoned up, and the last of the grain and produce was harvested.  At the same time the sweet time of the year ended and the “dark” of the year began.  As Catholic Christians also did, the pagans saw the time as a magical transitional point, when spirits lurked close and death needed to be remembered.

The Celts put out the fires of their homes, lit “bonefires” that burned the bones of slaughtered stock, and relit all the fires of the community from the main bonefire.  It marked the beginning of the year, and the start of great events.  In this tradition Halloween meant both joy and fear, beginnings and endings: it was one of the “gates” of the year when powers came through and acted on the common world.  A dangerous time, yet also a necessary and joyful time, filled with bounty and hope.

These two traditions mingled in Ireland, and eventually were brought to America during the Great Potato Famine.  Here we dropped most of the religious beliefs of either tradition and kept the meaning of magic, mystery, mischief and mild mayhem.  For most Americans Halloween means only games, costumes, trick-or-treat and a sort of innocent freedom for both children and adults: a time when we can play at ghosts and magic, set aside our dignity, run around in the dark and eat much too much candy.

Halloween–for many people the best holiday of all.  Slinky cats, flittery bats, kids on the loose in the dark in costumes that would do a Goth proud, ghosts and magic and just a hint of mayhem held at bay…for a lot of us any other holiday looks a bit drab in comparison.  But where did it all start?  Is there a beginning to Halloween?

Halloween is a holiday created by the blending of traditions.  A mix of old northern European pagan rites and celebrations, Christian beliefs, and modern imagination Halloween has many roots.

The pagan traditions are largely Irish, tied to celebrations of Samhain.  A celebration of the end of harvest it was also a time of recognizing the presence of the spirits of the dead. Some scholars think this connection has to do with the nature of the harvest, with the killing of livestock and the cutting of produce.  Some think it may indicate that Samhain was the start of the Celtic pagan year.

The ancient celebrations included the burning of the bones of slaughtered livestock in a “bone fire”  (now reduced to being a common, wood based bonfire).  The village would extinguish all household fires and relight them fresh from the bone fire, marking a new beginning in preparation for the coming winter.  As a time marking the presence of the dead and the power of the supernatural Samhain included many of the fortune telling rituals, ghostly themes, and spooky-shivery atmosphere we now associate with Halloween.

The holiday was tied to Christian All Saints’ and All Souls’ celebrations.  This created a stronger tie with the elements of the dead, and set up a still-present conflict between Christian theology, pagan rituals, and people’s ideas of good and evil. For many traditional Christians the pagan elements that remain in Halloween make it an unholy celebration.  For many neo-pagans structuring a faith on the old pagan traditions it is an especially holy time.  Both groups tend to get deeply distressed by the average American’s happy involvement with Halloween as a purely secular holiday: a time of fun, play, just a touch of imaginary horror, and lots of costume play.

The purely secular holiday grew out of the already playful Irish mingling of both All Saints/All Souls celebrations and the remaining elements of bonfires, magic, mischievous haunts (in costume, of course), jack-o-lanterns made of turnips rather than American pumpkins, and door to door begging.

On coming to the States during the Great Potato Famine the Irish immigrants kept their old customs, which quickly spread to communities beyond.  Who could resist the costumes, the trick-or-treats, the fun hiding behind the masks and shadows?  But the traditional celebration was adopted without the entire religious and cultural framework.  As a result American Halloween is, for most people, a joyful child’s holiday that adults are allowed to enjoy too…and nothing more.

Paul Venturella’s Halloween obsession began with a simple pumpkin on the porch about 15 years ago.
It’s been a downward slide ever since for the Provo resident.
He now spends much of the year preparing Halloween decorations and props for his yard with a 70-member Utah group called the Rocky Mountain Haunters (www.rockymountainhaunters.com).
Venturella’s obsession is so extreme that storing the tombstones, ghosts, ghouls and skeletons takes up his entire garage and much of his attic, a sore point with his wife.
“Cars have never seen the inside of the garage,” he said.

And his home on the west side of Provo (he asked that his exact address not be published because he can barely handle the crowds as it is) has become a major Halloween destination.
Last year, on Halloween night, he hosted about 1,300 kids. In the past, Venturella has spent almost $500 on full-size candy bars and hot chocolate for his trick-or-treaters. He’s thinking he might have to cut down a bit on the treats.
The Provo home features about 20 or 30 tombstones enhanced by fog machines to create atmosphere. There are a number of animated props, some operated with windshield-wiper motors, and more sophisticated ones using pneumatic air compressors that allow a skeleton to sit up in a coffin

Continue reading below!

For Rocky Mountain Haunters, Halloween is more than a hobby – Salt Lake Tribune

Ooooh,, Ghost Hunters is going to do another live ghost investigation this Halloween.  It’s going to be a 7 hour long investigation!

Brace yourself this Halloween when TAPS takes you on the ultimate ghost hunt. The team returns to the Fort Delaware scene of this season’s most jolting and revealing episode.

Orange and black are already popping up on store shelves, as are scary stories of monsters, ghouls and … bunnies?

That’s right, one of the cutest Halloween books this year is more hare-y than scary. Boo, Bunny! by Kathryn O. Galbraith and illustrated by Jeff Mack (Harcourt; 36 pages; $16; ages 3-7) follows two scared rabbits – one in bee costume, one in mask and superhero cape – as they trick-or-treat, “paws held tight.” It’s simple and spare as a haiku, but totally engaging, with vibrant art that conveys kiddie fear and friendship.

Another tale of Halloween night is found in Trick or Treat on Monster Street by Danny Schnitzlein and illustrated by Alameda’s Matt Faulkner (Peachtree; 32 pages; $16.95; ages 4-8). This story in verse centers on a boy, the narrator, whose brothers mock him for being a scaredy cat and spook him in the night with monster shadows, then make fun of him on Halloween when he wears a bunny costume instead of something scary. When the siblings get separated, our narrator turns onto Monster Street and ends up losing his fear by becoming friends with the creepy creatures he encounters. “We joked and laughed and sang some songs./ And finally I began to see … /That though we came from different worlds,/Those monster kids were just like me.”

Later, his monster friends settle the score with his brothers by scaring them in the night. It’s a good story with skillful rhymes, exuberant art and lots to look at on every page.

If you’ve got a taste for Halloween poetry, you can get a heaping helping in Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex (Harcourt; 40 pages; $16; ages 5-10). This follow-up to “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich” takes the same approach, featuring funny poems and a lively diversity of illustration styles.

In a mini-graphic novel, the bride of Frankenstein has to deal with her complaining mother as she plans the nuptials. Says Mom, “I’m an open-minded person. I’m not trying to be mean, but I never thought my little girl would marry someone green.”

The book also includes posts from the official blog of the Headless Horseman, intergalactic communications called E.T-Mail,” a Peanuts parody with Charlie Brown as a Dracula Jr., who wants “a big-boy coffin,” and a running gag with Edgar Allen Poe. Rex really outdid himself with this one. It’s a real treat.

Find more books by reading the entire article below!

Kids’ books for Halloween.

Popular Halloween costumes tend to come from characters in popular movies. And the most successful films right now are action hero movies.

“The Dark Knight” has been the biggest blockbuster movie in years, grossing more than $522 million so far. So it’s no surprise that characters in “The Dark Knight” dominates the top 10 most popular Halloween costumes this year.

Whitney Wisdahl, manager of Dottie Mae’s costume store in Kansas City, said The Joker and Batman characters are two of the top picks this year.

“Anything that hits big in the movie theaters usually does great on Halloween,” Wisdahl said.

After consulting with several Halloween stores around the area and several Web sites, here is The Examiner’s Top 10 most popular costumes for the coming season.

10 Uncle Sam – or one of the candidates running for office, such as Sarah Palin, Barack Obama or John McCain

Perhaps one of the most important elections will take place Nov. 4, making this costume more popular than previous years.

9 Sexy dirty cop

Adult costume parties are rising in popularity and the sexy dirty cop costume should be a huge hit and turn heads. Don’t think you’ll have to worry about impersonating a cop here.

8 The red devil

This is a popular costume for women who want to be bad for at least one day a year.

7 Incredible Hulk

You can buy green foam muscles, unless of course you’re a professional bodybuilder. Then all you need is green paint and shredded jeans

6 Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Wishdahl said the Aqua Teen characters are popular and the store gets inquires about characters on the force. The teen force is a cartoon about three anthropomorphic fast food items, along with their next-door neighbor, and their life together in South Jersey.

5 Pirates

“Pirates area always a good seller each year,” Wishdahl said. They can range from costumes from Capt. Jack Sparrow to more elegant pirate outfits.

4 Indiana Jones

You don’t need much to dress up like Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr. All you really need is a hat and brown jacket. Probably the most important is a whip, which makes you stand out from an average guy wearing a brown jacket to Indy himself. Again, the return of Indy in May makes this a top-5 costume.

3 Hannah Montana

The Barbie idea has always been a hit with girls and Hannah Montana is this year’s Barbie costume. Finding an adult sized Hannah costume could be a challenge. All you need is a blond wig, a microphone and tacky clothing and you got it.

2 Batman

The Dark Knight himself, played by Christian Bale, will be popular because of the movie. Clearly, however, good is not as popular as evil when it comes to Halloween. Any version of the numerous Batman characters are popular, Wisdahl said.

1 The Joker

The villain for “The Dark Knight” was creepy and disturbing. It’s popular because Heath Ledger, who played the character, died before the movie was released. His death adds mystery and intrigue to The Joker. “That is 100 percent for sure No. 1,” Wisdahl said. “We have been getting asked about it all summer long. It’s just been nonstop being asked for it.”

Joker, Batman big Halloween hits – Independence, MO 64050 – The Examiner.

Halloween costumes are what make Halloween a special scary night of horror and fun. Any child will wake up the next morning after Halloween night and the first question that will be on their mind, where’s my Halloween candy? And what kind of Halloween costume do I want to have next year? The ability to wear a Halloween mask and transform yourself into something or someone else is the excitement of dressing up on Halloween night. Changing yourself into a scarecrow, monster, vampire, or some other new Halloween costume idea this is the most exciting part of Halloween night that you can enjoy and the most outrageous type of Halloween costume is better.

Where did Halloween masks and Halloween costumes start?

The wearing of Halloween masks and costumes started a long time ago. The Celts believed Halloween night brought out the spirits of the dead that would roam free among the living on the earth. Some spirits were fun and good and humorous and then on the darker side there would be some resentful and hostile ghosts that did not enjoy seeing the living enjoying the bounty of life in the land that once belonged to them that have already past to the next world. The Celtics would wear masks and disguises to hide themselves from these dangerous spirits by painting the thier faces with soot from which later evolved into the more distinguishable Halloween masks and costumes ideas of today’s Halloween costumes. Not long after it also became custom that by imitating the spirits by dressing as skeletons or ghosts they would blend themselves in and not be seen by the bad spirits.

Halloween costume ideas and tips that can help

In this day and age there are hundreds of Halloween costumes to choose from there is a werewolf, vampire, Halloween witch, Halloween nurse or a mask and costume from the latest horror movie that is playing. Remember in the simplest form of all you need is a hockey mask and a knife or a scream mask to bring out the chills in anyone around. Remember how Michael Myers would make you wake up in the middle of the night with a sweat from the Halloween movie. Depending on who you want to be for Halloween might probably depend on two things firstly what character is your favorite and that you would like to portray and deciding how much are you willing to spend on your Halloween costume. If you research Halloween masks and costumes you will find simple inexpensive discount Halloween costumes, funny Halloween costumes or some very highly detailed costumes that you could spend hundreds of dollars on. If you’d like to keep it in the budget remember you can easily transform a regular discount Halloween costume with a little bit of Halloween makeup on your face with maybe some Halloween contact lenses to give that eerie appearance. If you’re a creative person you can easily transform yourself with materials that are around your house which wouldn’t take a lot of time and effort and cost you a lot less money. All you would need is a good Halloween costume idea some great effects can be caused with the everyday items are around you and some imaginative application of some Halloween makeup.

Advantages of using Halloween makeup for your Halloween costume

Depending on what you’re trying to accomplishment Halloween makeup may allow you to transform yourself into another Halloween character better than buying a Halloween mask. By using makeup it can be less expensive and a lot safer for kids when Halloween trick-or-treating and not impairing their vision with a Halloween mask, also with the variety of Halloween makeup that is available you can create some fantastic Halloween affects. You can try Halloween makeup tips with some theatrical grease paint kits that have great colors that are very easily applied and can be removed at the end of the night hassle free. By using regular everyday makeup like eyeliner pencils, blush, lip liners, and eye shadows you can keep the cost down on your Halloween costume. If you are like some people and the last minute to decide on your Halloween costume and still don’t know what you want to be for the Halloween evening here is a great tip, You can use some water-based paint with some cheap makeup application tools and some creative Halloween makeup ideas you will be able to paint your face that would be able to stand alone as a last-minute Halloween mask. You could paint your face green and goes the Incredible Hulk or maybe a Green goblin Halloween makeup idea that would work well even wearing your regular clothes.

Tips and ideas for Halloween masks

Makeup does not hold the magical power that a Halloween mask can. They have the ability that will transform you into another place and time whether you want to be a superhero or heroine. By starting with a Halloween costume idea you can be anybody or anything that you desire for one night of the year. From the beginning of time humans wore masks either to worship gods or spirits of the earth. With today’s technology of the Internet you can search and see the variety of Halloween masks and that are available for your Halloween ideas from the Halloween witch and vampire to the ability to transfer yourself into a Halloween ballerina. If you want to try something very unique here is a trick for a Halloween masquerade mask that would be wonderful, take a every day plain mask a hot glue gun and beautiful things that you may find in nature like leaves or ferns, flower petals or maybe finding some beads that you would be able to put on it would make a wonderful mask.

Another regular item for this type a mask would be using bird feathers and creating a beak that would create a haunting bird mask. The Celtics would wear bird feathers at their annual samhaim festival and also by the Venetians in Venice Italy, make sure you do some research for your Halloween costume idea so that you can create a Halloween costume that will stand out from everyone else.

Daryl Plaza is a regular contributor to Spookynight.com, a website that has Halloween resources and ideas to create the perfect Halloween night.

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