Our readers in the US will no doubt be gearing up to get projects started for Halloween, Thanksgiving and even Christmas.
Here in Australia we don’t really celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. There are those who do hold Halloween parties, after all any excuse for a get together with friends and family for a bite to eat and a few drinks is always welcome, but very few go out trick or treating. I always have a supply of candy on hand for trick or treater’s, but there are generally few visitors and I always end up with plenty of left overs.
A few years ago my grandaughter, Ishta wanted to hold a Halloween party for her school friends. So Ishta, Ayla and I had great fun decorating the house with cobwebs and fake spiders. As the guest arrived I jokingly apologised for the cobwebs to one mother and she was most gracious in saying “Oh, I understand, it’s so hard to keep on top the housework when you work full time.’ Really! And she wasn’t kidding. To put this in context, I’m pretty much a neat and tidy freak, and I did feel that seeing thick blankets of cobwebs with giant plastic spiders, may have given the game away that this wasn’t the usual state our of our home.
I wouldn’t mind if Halloween was celebrated more, here in OZ, as we had a really enjoyable time sorting out a selection of fun games and preparing ooky spooky food with disgusting names.
I had purchased a book a few years ago called Gruesome Grub and Disgusting Dishes and we used it as inspiration for the food we served on the night. The recipes in the book are always a hit with the youngsters, especially the Blood and Guts, and Axeman’s Snacks followed by the Maggot Cocktail.
There is no doubt about it, involving the family with making these easy dishes helps to get everyone into the halloween mood.
Ishta played the part of a fortune teller and kept her friends entertained by embellishing on things she already knew about them. All in all it was a fun night.
The Tradition of Halloween
I know that most people believe that Halloween is an American tradition but that’s not where it started.
Halloween began as the festival of Samhain that was celebrated as part of the ancient Celtic religion in Britain and other parts of Europe. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter and it was thought that at this time the barrier between this world and the ‘other’ world thinned and this allowed the spirits to crossover into this world.
Over time Christian influences took over and Halloween falls on the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows or All Saints day. The day has become commercialized over the years, although you can save lots of money by making your own decorations.
So what have you got planned for the upcoming celebrations? Don’t forget to let us know in the comments section on the website.
And here are some ideas to help you out. These are tutorials of our previous Halloween projects that may help you get into the creative mood for the spooky festivities.
And if you are looking for a large assortment of Brother ScanNCut Halloween cutting files, for cards or applique, we have 50 files available at our Alanda Online store.
So Happy Halloween from Paula and Wanda at Alanda Craft. We hope our projects inspire you to create something special for Halloween.
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