Halloween Dreams Begin

So its that wonderfully glorious time of year again when us creatives who are wild about Halloween start to emerge out of our underground stupor. Halloween is coming and this year it falls on a Saturday!!! Hooray!! For the last six years my husband and I have thrown a murder mystery dinner party that we go all out for - though I haven't thought (silly me) to share any of that here on my blog - but now I will - so get ready for some Halloween Inspired posts!!

Some old murder mystery dinner invites - a la Martha Stewart Style Martha Stewart Living Halloween Issue Out Now!!

Even though I wasn't too big a fan of Martha Stewart and her aesthetic in the past, I have been wholeheartedly won over for the last six years by her annual Halloween issue (of the magazine), which is outstanding, classy and vital if you're a Halloween freak like me! Martha Stewart's team is the first and really only group I have seen treat halloween with a high concept driven and sophisticated quality.

Another great Halloween reference tool (specifically for DIY costumes) is Threadbanger.

Personally I love to make large sculptural wearable costumes and I often find that Threadbanger has wonderful DIY tips on how to make countless halloween appendages like wings, steampunk and various other goulish treats.

This year I'm particularly interested (as I'm sure many others now are) in Martha Stewart's white out contact lenses (the ones featured on the cover of her MSL halloween issue.

So stay posted for LOTS of great ideas for your 2009 halloween, great halloween costume, decorating and murder mystery tips!

Witches Fingers Halloween Madness Tip#2

Witch Finger made out of marzipan, pistachios and melted red chocolate

Another great halloween tip is making spooky witch fingers out of marzipan. As an artist I have always enjoyed making candies for parties out of marzipan and I have been known to make some pretty 'risque' ones for birthdays and bridal showers! By tinting the marzipan with food coloring, I was able to make a variety of flesh tones, my favorite being green! You should be able to do this easily by mixing or kneading the food coloring into the marzipan. I used a small thin knife (like an Xacto) to get some of the flesh creases and I simply balled up some marzipan to make the finger warts. Pistachios make excellent finger nails!

The hardest part is melting some candied red chocolate which I bought at a craft store like A.C. Moore or Michael's (the colored chocolate is usually in the baking/cake decorating section next to the chocolate molds.) As you can see some of the chocolate was over-cooked to get that textured crunchy look and thats exactly how you want it for a bloody cut off finger. Its just that easy! Try it!

If you're interested in a custom order contact me as I may begin to sell boxes of these treats on Etsy!

Before They Were All Eaten

Halloween Madness Begins!! Pumpkin Scars Decorating Tip!

I am a Halloween freak and since I have most certainly lost readership on my blog due to an overwhelming amount of 'to-do-by-yesterday-stress' and 'good-ol'-blog-neglect', I'm hoping to reinvigorate some new blog loyalty via one of the most creative, expressive and mystique filled days - All Hallow's Eve!

Wickedest Witch by marisol diaz

I illustrate a new halloween card every year (and soon those illustrations will be available for sale at my etsy store!) Along with making wearable art sculptural costumes, I also host an annual Murder Mystery Party and this year is our FIFTH one!


So Halloween Decorating tip number one: If you have a garden- grow pumpkins! If you can grow pumpkins scratch family member names in your pumpkin like this:The newest member of my family, Chica! The Pumpkin Must Still Be on The Vine

After allowing the pumpkin some time to heal while still on the vine, the results should look like this as the scratch marks scar:

Awesome Scarification!