Crafty Titles for Halloween

I know it was Thanksgiving this past weekend, but my mind wasn't really on turkey- all I could think of was Halloween!

Maybe it was because of the full moon, but I know that my obsession started in the checkout line at the grocery story when I spotted a Pillsbury Halloween special publication ($5.50 CDN on newsstands). On the cover was the most adorable appetizer EVER- Halloweenies (cocktail wieners wrapped in Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls so that they resemble mummies, then served with a mustard dip). They are called Crescent Mummy Dogs on the Pillsbury website, but I much prefer the name Halloweenies-it must be the kid in my surfacing, but I can't say 'Halloweenies' without giggling! I decided I had to have a Halloween party, just so I could serve these.

I also turned to two other books for further inspiration for the party. Both are packed with ideas for food, crafts, and decorations: so many you’ll want to add this to your collection (personal or library collection) as you’re bound to want to refer to it for years to come. A Ghostly Good Time: The Family Halloween Handbook by Women’s Day Special Interest Publications is a paperback which is a very economical $11.99. It has decorating ideas and projects for both outdoors and indoors. There are also instructions on making costumes for both adults and kids, including a few children's costumes that can be re purposed next year using a few tweaks to create a brand new costume. This book also includes recipes for snacks both sweet and savory, instructions for crafts party favours and fun games you can play, like 'Pin the Spider on the Web'.
Matthew Mead is Style Editor-at-Large for Country Home Magazine. His book, Matthew Mead’s Halloween Tricks and Treats is a hardcover which will stand up to repeat borrowing. This book contains sections on treats (both home-made and time saving ways to ‘personalize’ store-bought items) for parties for kids or grown-ups, decorations (a nice mix of simple projects and more complicated ones). The patterns for the crafts are included in a separate section at the end.

The photography in both books is great and you are bound to find lots of ideas in each!