Oh Martha....

Today I'm revisiting my love/hate relationship with Martha Stewart. Today I love her...tomorrow could be different.

I've been hashing away at the to-do list for this year's Halloween party. The plan for The Hollow Cemetery mostly consists of tombstones, skeletons and ghosts. The problem with that is that I have no ghosts. What's a ghoul to do?!

I have a collection of inspiring ghost props ideas. These made with chicken wire:

picture source: The Modern Mourner

As are these - complete with how-to:

picture source: Wacky Archives

Alas, I had no chicken wire and needed to get busy. Enter Martha to save the day!

picture source: Martha Stewart

Her ghosts require items I already had on hand; cheesecloth, styrofoam heads and glue. My youngest and I whipped out a few of these in an afternoon watching the dreadfully bad Malibu Shark Attack. (Oh Peta, how far we have fallen from Nikita.)

These are simple-simple and fairly inexpensive. I recommend buying cheesecloth from a bolt rather than small packets if you can. Styrofoam heads can be found at Hobby Lobby (be sure to use your 40% off coupon as they are over-priced otherwise.)

Here's our take on Martha's Cheesecloth Spirits:

These are currently residing in my studio closet awaiting their debut. I think these will look great with a blue light cast upon them in our cemetery setting.

Haunt on.

Oh What A Gem Lies Buried Here

In less than one revolving year, 

She was a Maid a Bride a Corpse.

Adorned with every grace, 

& possessing every personal

Charm & mental excellence.

Read more of this amazing headstone on Flickr.

Haunt on!

Party Planning Part 2: Overview

Haunted Hotel Bones the Bellboy Costume (discontinued)

For those of you following along, this is where it begins. An overview of the master plan:

The Theme:

For this year's Halloween party we'll be working in a creepy, haunted mansion style theme. The idea is that the guests are being invited to The Manor on The Hollow, an old estate that's been converted to a hotel that sets on the grounds of a cemetery known as The Hollow.

In early October each guest will receive a packet from our fictitious attorney, Alfred E Beggley, ESQ. asking for their assistance in saving Master Smith's (the hubby's) youth. Included will be a letter from Beggley outlining the details, a The Manor on The Hollow visitor's brochure, their room key, The Grey Lady and Master Smith's calling cards and assorted clippings regarding the estate and the Fountain of Youth.

The Hunt:

We host a scavenger hunt with every Halloween party. In the past these have been pretty extensive (more on our hunts later) but I'm going to tone things down for this one. This year guests will have to do things like find where a specific prop is or figure out home many tombstones are in the cemetery. Once they've got the answers to all of those questions they will take those answers and use a key to locate the Fountain of Youth. One wrong answer from the hunt and they will fail to find the Fountain.

The Interior:

Since the scavenger hunt will be limited to just our property this year, our guests will be in nearly every room in our home. That means each room will need to be decked out to fit the theme. (What was I thinking?!)

The idea here is sheets over furniture and lots of webs, creepy cloth and gauze as a base and add props from there. We'll go room by room later.

The Exterior:

Not only is a cemetery theme my favorite, it's the easiest for me to accomplish. I have several (store bought) tombstones and skellies but there's plenty of things I want to add. The bulk of the construction list will be here so here's where you will see the most things that do not get finished. (Remember not everything will get done.)

And so it begins.

Dark Destiny

In this life both of us are the quintessential "soccer" mom (though neither of us have children that play soccer). We're married with the standard 2.5 children (Tracy has three, I have two - do the math). We work, taxi kids, cook meals, do laundry, etc., etc. Yet we're drawn to the darker side. Perhaps an escape from a routine that revolves around things mundane?

I love cemeteries - always have. What is morbid and eerie to some seems utterly peaceful to me. Wandering around a cemetery reading headstones curious as to how these souls lived and died probably would give some (cough *husband* cough) reason to have me committed. But I figure since I'll spend more time below ground than above it I might as well get familiar. As they say, memento mori.

Time does not always allow an on site cemetery excursion but there are plenty of resources online. Several months ago I stumbled upon Dark Destiny. I must warn you before you visit - if you love old cemeteries you can waste some serious time at this site.


Quote from the site:

...To the uninitiated a Cemetery conjures up images of almost identical headstones set out in symmetrical rows, for the modern day Cemetery this wouldn't be too far from the truth.

But step back through time to the Victorian age and you'll find vast gardens of the dead. Mausoleums, tombs and catacombs aplenty, still shelter thousands of ornate coffins with their Victorian inhabitance over a century into their eternal slumber...

(Gardens of the dead?! OMG - I think I just drooled on my keyboard!)

Loaded with photos of tombstones from over 20 cemeteries in England, including the Magnificent Seven, it's a visual delight. You can even download a photo slide show from most of the locations. In addition to the photos there is a history on each cemetery, stories on any myths associated with the location, notables buried at the cemetery and what bus to take if you're so fortunate to visit in person.

Whether your passion is cemeteries in general or if you need a little tombstone inspiration for your haunt this site can not be missed. But - don't blame us if you get lost and don't remerge for several hours.