Halloween Decor

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CREATIVE RESOURCES

• free BAT template found here
• FLYING BATS clipart found here
• free RAVEN template found here
• free WITCH template found here
• free PORTRAIT MASK templates found here

I just love this vintage photograph!

The Haunted House

I came across this article and thought a few of you may be inspired by the unique way doors were opened to share the gospel. :)  Read if you dare!
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click photo for link to photo credit

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The Haunted House, by Kristine Stones Keele, New Era, October 1983

 

Near my home in the north woods of upper Michigan, there once stood an old turn-of-the-century home. For years it had been abandoned, its black, weather-beaten frame cracking with age and crawling with snaky tendrils of ancient vines that wrapped and coiled themselves across the windows and around the doors. Various out-buildings were scattered here and there, but they were barely distinguishable beneath the creeping tangle of brush and brier. The house towered three stories high and cast a forbidding shadow on the bleached and withered ground. This shadow had spread throughout the community and entered the fearful heart of every child around.

 

When I entered the ninth grade, however, I decided it was time to get over being frightened of the old place. I wondered if perhaps I couldn’t use it for a party. Now, being the only Latter-day Saint in my high school, I had heard and tolerated some pretty cruel things. I figured I could stand up to jokes and criticism for not smoking and drinking, but what I couldn’t take was hearing over and over again about how Mormons just didn’t know how to really have fun at parties. Because of that, my bishop (who was also my dad and a biology professor at the nearby university) came up with an idea to prove my friends wrong. On Halloween night he would temporarily move into the local neighborhood haunted house. But by then—thanks to the efforts of my dad, brother, and missionaries—it would be transformed into a terrifying realm of horror and fright. According to plan I invited about 20 of my closest nonmember friends. Since all of them lived in town, about six miles away, I assumed none of them had ever heard of the old Sutinen home. I assumed correctly.

 

At 7:00 the party began at my house; and after about an hour of games, pizza, and root beer, I suggested we visit a poor old man named Toivo. I explained he lived alone but always had treats ready for any trick-or-treater who dared venture down the lonely, overgrown trail that led to his home. My suggestion was enthusiastically received until they saw Mr. Sutinen’s home. Even I, who knew my dad waited within, felt a shiver of fear creep along my spine, like a spider on a web of nerves. We approached cautiously toward where the house loomed up, outlined starkly against the moonlit sky. To add to the eerie effect, a single light flickered from behind the drawn curtains. Ghostly wisps of fog clawed at our legs, and branches whipped wickedly against our faces. We were considering bravely marching on, when shrill laughter split the tomblike quiet. Some of the group turned, running wildly for home, while the rest huddled near and bombarded me with questions. “Are you sure this is the right house?” “How long have you known this man?” “Are you positive he’s harmless?” and finally, “If this is a joke, you’re gonna be sorry!”

 

Reassuring them that everything was fine, I boldly knocked upon the blistered door. Like something out of a horror movie, the door slowly creaked open, and I gazed into the red-rimmed eyes of a madman. With a start I realized this white-haired maniac was my father!

 

“Trick-or-treat,” my friends whispered as Toivo Sutinen ushered us into his parlor. This room was dimly lit by two flickering candles perched on large polished skulls. Nice touch, Dad, I thought as I gazed at the skulls, the cobwebs, and the coffin set back in a corner.

 

“Wall now, ain’t dis a surprise. Ten purdy gerls cum ta visit ol’ me,” muttered Mr. Sutinen in a slurred drawl. “Ah was jist gunna eat ma supper. Join me, hey?”

 

Carol, the Good Samaritan of our group, slapped “old” Toivo on the shoulder and heartily agreed. The rest warily glanced around. And Mary, still hovering near the door, asked the question on everyone’s mind. “Uh, Mr. Sutinen, what were you planning to eat?”

 

“Why, ma favorite,” happily responded Mr. Sutinen, “barbecued bat wings!”

 

Too late we noticed the dozens of murky specimen bottles crowding the counters and shelves of the kitchen.

 

“Unless, of course,” finished Mr. Sutinen, whacking something near him, “you want ta wait until Mabel here thaws out.”

 

Looking up, we saw a row of frozen cats hanging stiffly from the rafters!

 

This, of course, made sense when one remembered my dad was a professor of biology and used such things in his labs. But to my friends it was a ghastly spectacle and required a hasty exit by the nearest door—which was locked! Mary promptly began to cry, and several others looked like they wanted to. I begged my friends to stay and humor this crazy old man a little while longer, and they agreed.

 

“Wall, ah kin see yer not hungry,” cheerfully said the old man, picking up one of the candle skulls. “Why don’t ah take you on a tour of ma home?”

 

Happily accepting any excuse to leave the kitchen and its occupants, we followed Toivo Sutinen up the rickety, wooden steps and into a narrow hall.

 

“First room on the left here was ma dear Mildred’s” explained Toivo opening the door wide and allowing us to enter.

 

Except for a dusty end table on which lay a bloodstained knife, everything in this room was covered with enormous sheets. Avoiding eye contact with the knife, we halfheartedly listened to Mr. Sutinen reminisce about his dear departed wife. Uncomfortably we began to realize he was talking about Mildred as if she were still alive.

 

“Yep, ma heart was near broke, couldn’t stand it no more. So went out late one night and brought ma Mildred back home.”

 

With a flourish, Mr. Sutinen pulled back the bed sheet. And there, in all her skeletal beauty, lay the former “Mrs. Sutinen”!

 

That was too much; my dad had gone too far! Screaming frantically we ran from the bedroom and down the stairs. We must have triggered something because as we ran ghosts in Victorian dress swooped past, bats squeaked, and howls echoed through the empty corridors. The door was now wide open, but as we bounded down the steep steps, something huge and hairy jumped out from behind a nearby tree.

 

I don’t remember much after that except a lot of screaming and running. Within minutes we were safely back in the security of my home, breathlessly reliving each terrifying moment. My mother insisted I tell my friends the truth, but it took some doing to convince them crazy Toivo was not only my father but the “minister” of my church.

 

Later, when my dad, brother, and the missionaries returned, everyone wanted to ask them questions. I’m not sure that much gospel doctrine got discussed that night, but all in all the experience had a positive effect on my friends. Two of them later joined the Church and four others seriously considered it. The greatest result, however, was that from then on there wasn’t a single Church activity that wasn’t attended by as many nonmembers as members.

 

A couple of years ago, the old house burned to the ground. I’ll never forget that day. Standing with a crowd of interested bystanders and frustrated firemen, I remember thinking that no one would be sorry to see this place go. It had stood too long, frightening children, and reminding others of ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. With a crash the house collapsed, showering sparks and ashes on everyone. For a brief moment I felt a twinge of regret. And then it was all over. The firemen doused the glowing coals with buckets of water, and the crowd broke up.

 

As I wandered back down the path that led to my home, I thought once more of that terrifying, yet zany, Halloween party. It was ironic, but comforting to know, that a place of such indescribable horror had served as a site where good opinions of the Church had been formed and, I hoped, would be nurtured for many years to come.

A Treat To Serve

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Each year before Halloween, Kathy's ward goes trick-or-treating for their local Deseret Industries.  The young men and young women visit their neighborhoods to collect donations. I have yet to hear all the details - I just saw this on Kathy's FACEBOOK page - she is the cute Waldo below! It sounds like it could be a great tradition to start. :)

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What Makes You Beautiful

I am sure you have seen at least one of these videos made by a few young men groups across the nation, in response to President Thomas S. Monson saying that "every woman deserves to be told she's beautiful."

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I would love to see a music video like this made by an Elder's Quorm or High Priest Group.  President Monson did say "every woman"... he did not specify age, right?  ;)

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Original inspiration: Citrus Heights Young Men

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The same group of young men made this video, as commissioned, for girls camp. :)

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Colorado Spring North Young Men
I love the arrow being shot into a YW Value Target!

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Alta Mesa Boyz

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Hayden Lake Stake Young Men

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One of these would be fun to watch during this activity: The Beauty I See In Them

Robbie's "Lego Star Wars" Party

My son has been planning on a "Super Hero Squad" birthday party for a few months now.  As we were putting the finishing touches on his invitations, he told me he changed his mind.  He wanted to have a "Star Wars" birthday party. I could have said "tough luck mister", but he is just too dang adorable! This is what we threw together:

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INVITATION

Here are the invitations the two of us designed. He helped choose the characters and colors. :) I thought they turned out pretty cute. 

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DECOR

Continuing to keep things simple this year... I covered the entry way with black butcher paper and used a silver Sharpie to draw stars - creating a galaxy.  ;)

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Afterwards (into the following day) I let my boys and their friends use chalk to draw aliens, more stars, spaceships and U.F.O.s.

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GAMES AND ACTIVITIES

"I am an Alien!" - They created silly aliens, just like the ones found in Star Wars, from outlines of their own bodies. We had a bucket of white butcher paper, cut into 4 foot long sheets, and rolled up.  We began by having the children lye down on a piece of white butcher paper to have their bodies outlined. They were encouraged to be silly. Then they took their paper into the kitchen where they found crayons. This is where imaginations went wild!

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Galaxy Play Dough - I made up a couple batches of play dough and tinted the dough black. I made 1/2 cup balls and placed them into Zip lock bags. The children got to add the glitter themselves, if they wanted to.

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Jedi Training - My understanding was that we had to have a little Jedi Training. Each child received his/her own light saber for this activity. Of course Darth Vader was near. :)

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Pinata - Robbie really wanted one. I found a Darth Vader pinata, he was so excited when he saw it! This one is a pull pinata, which means the children take turns pulling the ribbons. There is only one ribbon that opens the pinata, allowing the goodies to fall. Honestly, I think they would have liked to wack Vader in the head instead. :)

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TAKE-A-WAY/GIFT

I found these 11 oz. Design Your Own Mug, from Dollar Tree. Below is the insert I designed.

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Halloween 2012

I had to show you what my sister, Kathy, just made. She said she found the idea on Pinterest. So cute!

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Battleship! {in full color}

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This past week, my daughter celebrated her 14th birthday. Pretty exciting... moving up to the Mia Maid class, but mostly because she can go to the dances now.  :)

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This is how she celebrated with her friends: Battleship {in full color}. She gets all the credit for creating this fun game!  I am sharing it here for those of you looking for a fun and colorful group activity.

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OUR INSPIRATION

Of course the board game Battleship was the source of our inspiration. Maddy has been wanting to play human Battleship for awhile now with her friends.

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We changed the game plan after my daughters and I ran (walked) the Color Me Rad 5K this past weekend. Afterwards, Maddy decided to play Battleship {in full color}!

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I found this on YOU tube.  It is the closest thing I could find, to what we would love to have happen. Wish we had a crane!  :)  But, we have no access to a crane, so we created our own version.

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GETTIN' READY

I could not find a recipe for the color chalk bombs, so I had to create my own. I tried a few different concoctions. This was my first attempt.  The colors were great!

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INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup corn starch

1 Tbsp water

10 drops food coloring (I used neon)

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DIRECTIONS

I put all the ingredients into a Ziploc bag and sealed it tight.

Next I worked it with my fingers, until it was blended completely.

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My initial test run showed that the powder alone didn't stick. I added the powder to a spray bottle full of water, shook it up and it worked good. It was simply colored water, and a bit washed out though.

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This next concoction is the one that worked best. Vivid colors, more paint like. We filled small water balloons with the color.

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INGREDIENTS

2 cups cold water

3/4 cup corn starch

10 drops food coloring (I used neon)

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DIRECTIONS

 In a saucepan, combine cold water, cornstarch, and food coloring.

Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, ONLY until you feel it thickening.

It should take less than 2 minutes.

Remove from heat immediately.

Continue to stir, adding cold water as needed, until desired consistency.

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To fill the water balloons, I poured the paint into spray bottles. It was easy to fill the water balloons directly from the spray bottle. Then we filled the balloons and tied them up - carefully, very carefully. It was a messy process, because a few of the balloons popped.  Oops!  I made a few extra batches of color to refill the spray bottles. I figured the kids would have fun spraying each other too. I was right! Maddy requested a bunch of water filled balloons too.  :)

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THE ARRIVAL

As her guests arrived, they were given either a hot pink or neon green wristband. This was an easy way to create teams. Plus wristbands are cool!  ;)

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BATTLESHIP {in full color}

Set-Up:  The game was played on a volleyball court. If you decide to play "blind", like the real game of Battleship - spray paint the lines (grid) directly onto the grass with letters and numbers. And use clothes pins and sheets to create a barrier between the two teams. We played with full vision. No barrier. No coordinates.

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Ammunition:  We used the mini color bombs, water balloons, and color filled spray bottles.

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Game Play:

• Blind - Have each team create 5 ships, by having team members lie on the ground in groups or individually.  Choose a commander who calls out coordinates. Keep track of hits and misses on a piece of paper.  When someone gets hit with a {full color} missile, call out "IT"S A HIT!"  When a full ship of people get hit, they all yell out "YOU SUNK OUR BATTLESHIP!"
• Full Vision - Everyone anchored themselves, sat down, on their own side. Once they chose a spot, they could not move - unless it was their turn. In turn, one team member would toss a playground ball over the net, trying to hit one of the other team's "ships".  If the ball hit, bumped, or rolled into someone, then that person gets bombed or sprayed with color, by the person who had tossed the ball. I honestly thought playing this way would make it way too easy to hit someone, but these kids kept missing! It made the actual hits exciting!

When I could tell they had had enough of the one hit at a time, I yelled out, "All Attack!" They all ran in and grabbed the remaining color bombs, water balloons, and color filled spray bottles. It was an all out battle!

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GROUP GAMES

The fun continued with the following games.

• Dragon Tails
• Trash Can
• Gorilla
• Sharks and Minnows
• Psychiatrist

The sun had gone down, it was dark, and they had to play in the light of a lamp post.  But they didn't care. They played Dragon Tails a couple times. When it came to Trash Can they played 3 times. I hadn't realized how competitive this group was!

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I heard afterwards that a number of them said it was the most fun they had had at a birthday party in a long time. I attribute that to the laughter, the cheers, being active, and their friendships! They didn't have their phones in their hands. There was no texting, no web browsing, nothing taking them away away from where they were. They were "all there"!

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LET THEM EAT CUPCAKES!

We went back to the house and let them hang out for a bit. Maddy requested FUNfetti! cupcakes. Easy peasy. We frosted them with our favorite homemade butter cream frosting, tinted bright ocean blue.

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I frosted enough for them all to have one, but I made plenty more. I left the extra cupcakes and frosting out for them to frost their own. They were not shy!

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MOVIE TIME

My husband suggested the movie, Battleship. It was on pay-per-view. I put it on for them to watch, as they waited for their parents.

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GAME: Dragon Tails

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Warning: this game can get a little rough. :)  There are two different ways to play this game:

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Two Dragons "Head-to-Head" Play - Divide into two even teams. Have each team line up into straight line. The person at the front of the line will be the head of the Dragon.  The person at the end of the line will be the tail of the Dragon - this person will place a bandana/scarf/ribbon into their back pocket.  Everyone in the line will grab hold of the shoulders of the person infront of them. Once this is done, each team should have created their own Dragon. The heads of the dragons face each other and connect - hold arms/shoulders. The goal is for your dragon to grab the bandana out of the pocket of the other dragon's tail.  Heads remain connected as the bodies of the dragon flail about, tails trying to grab the other dragon's tail.  If your team breaks your "dragon" you lose. There is a lot of pushing and pulling in this game!

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You could also play this way...

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Multiple Dragon Play - The players split in groups of equal sizes, each group should have at least 3 or 4 members. The game can be played with three groups or more.  Once the game starts, the dragon's heads try to steal the tails of other dragons. Winner of the game is the last remaining dragon.

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GAME: Evolution

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This is a fun, fast paced, group game.

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Explain that there are four characters (see details below).  The goal is to become a Super Hero! Once everyone is a Super Hero, the game is complete.

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The game begins with everyone walking around as an egg. When you approach each other, you play rock-paper-scissors. The winner advances to the next character: egg, chicken, dinosaur, super hero - in that order. The loser either remains an egg, or goes down a level (if you are a chicken or a dinosaur). Everyone continues to walk around, playing rock-paper-scissors. Once you become a super hero, you are invincible. You cannot lose your status, but you continue to play rock-paper-scissors until everyone becomes a super hero.

1. Eggs - hands held above head, cuffed into an egg shape.
2. Chickens - strut around, clucking, bobbing their heads, holding their hands up to their arm-pits, and flapping their arms.
3. Dinosaurs - take giant steps, leaning slightly forward at the hips, arms raised in a curled forward position, and roar.
4. Super Hero - fly around, arms stretched out.