How to Be A Tenenbaum

This is such a ridiculous picture, I just had to share. In keeping with our now two year tradition, Adam and I dressed up as a Wes Anderson movie couple for a Halloween party over the weekend.  Last year we went as The Fantastic Mr. and Mrs. Fox, this year, Margot and Richie Tenenbaum. The possibilities are vast with this theme.  Moonrise Kingdom, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to name a few, and most of what goes into being these characters can be found at a thrift store. Ironically the same night of our costume party, SNL did a pretty funny skit about said films.  Here for your enjoyment:

Luxe Pumpkin Luminarias

I've had a couple of craft store pumpkins sitting in my work space (aka my dining room table) for several weeks just collecting dust while I worked on other things. I finally got to them, now that you've been totally inundated with Halloween decor ideas, so just know that I'm planning on rocking them on the Thanksgiving table as well. These are "transitional" pumpkins. That's right, I said transitional. Also, they light up, so they are magic. I'm planning on making several more, because we are hosting this year and if the weather cooperates we'll be eating at an extra-long table extending out into our backyard. This project is easy enough for a mid-sized kid to work on, so I'm enlisting an enthusiastic Jasper to help me poke all the holes. I love my sweet artsy boy. Here's the tutorial and materials list...

Pumpkin Luminarias

Materials: papier-mache pumpkins, bamboo skewer, chopstick, small box cutter or cutting blade, black metallic spray paint, battery operated tea light.

1. Poke holes into the seam lines of the pumpkin, spaced about 1/2".
Start by poking the holes with a skewer, then go back through and widen and round using a chopstick.

2.  Use a blade to cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin wide enough to insert a battery operated tea light.

3.  Spray with 2 light coats of metallic black paint (Rustoleum) and allow to dry for several minutes.  Pop a light in and you're all set!

Skinny Legs and All

Call me a traditionalist, but I like my Halloween to be spooky. Every year I look forward to opening the bin that holds our faux black crows, furry bats and creepy guaze fabrics.  October is the best. The other day I made a few new pieces to add to the mix, including these long legged black widow spiders (using navy tights, orangey-red nail polish). They are currently spooking up our piano keys.  See more pictures below, including a tutorial in case you want to make some of your own. Have a happy weekend!  Follow me on Instagram and Twitter this week- I'll be on a fun blogging adventure over the weekend, heading down the California coast testing out Ford's new C-Max Hybrid. I'll let you know all about it when I get back!

Materials: 

1" and 2.5" syrofoam balls
Skewers or toothpicks
A pair of tights (navy or black)
Black pipe cleaners
Red nail polish
Gold pins 

As you can see, you want to attach the two balls together with a pick, then cut a rectangle piece of the stockings.  I just cut a 4" piece starting at the ankle and cut it open to make the rectangle.  The styrofoam will stick to the tights, which make wrapping and tying off easy. Start with the head, tie off, then pull taut against the body, wrapping the ends around the neck and back, tying off to finish. Trim excess fabric.  To make the legs, cut pipe cleaners in half. Each spider uses 4 pipe cleaners total. Bend them at the knee and foot.  Use gold pins for eyes and paint a few coats of red nail polish on their backs. 

Panthera

I was intrigued when he told me when he told me he wanted to be a black panther for Halloween.  It turns out, he meant the big cat.  I will be cleaning up black fur from my workspace until the end of time.

 

DIY Friday: Crepe Paper Tassels

I've adopted a black and white look for Halloween this year.  I was inspired by all the black and white pumpkin painting I've been seeing around Pinterest. A few years back I had quite the Halloween party and acquired a lot of oddities like crows, spiders, and candelabras. It was before I had kids, and the look was pretty moody; more Hitchcock than Charlie Brown.  This year I added to the mix with a black tassel garland made from crepe paper, an idea that's everywhere right now. Easy to make, I think it would be beautiful in mixed metallics for the winter holidays.  You can also vary tassel sizes for more dimension. The tutorial's pictured below, enjoy your weekend!  

 

Talk Soup

Last Halloweentime we hosted a little pumpkin carving party at our house and made a pumpkin soup that knocked everyone's sock off (perhaps it was the truffle oil floated on each serving).  We're reprising the soup this year for our new school friends and their families, which might have me chopping up 25 pumpkins to feed everyone. That's a lot of pumpkins. Here's the the recipe...

Curried Pumpkin Soup
serves 4 generous portions

1 medium sugar pumpkin
1 yellow onion
3 tbsp olive oil
8 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp sliced ginger
3 tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp curry 
1 tsp white pepper
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop pumpkin into 3 inch pieces, chop yellow onion into wedges, and drizzle with olive oil on a sheet pan.  Roast until soft, about 25 minutes.

While the pumpkin is roasting, bring stock and ginger to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover.

Once cool enough to touch, scoop pumpkin flesh from rind into the stock, add roasted onions, allow to simmer until very soft, about 10 minutes.  Using a immersion blender, puree until fairly smooth (I prefer it to have a little grit).  Add nutmeg, curry, pepper, and salt, simmer for another 20 minutes to build flavor.

I serve the soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt or when being extra decadent, a teaspoon float of truffle oil, and lots of crusty bread.

DIY Friday: Flora & Fauna

When we were at Acre Coffee the other day enjoying our steamed soy milk and latte, respectively, Wylie and I sat and admired their beautiful table displays.  They were glass jars with what I thought looked like succulents, some dry moss and little figurines, so cool, we thought we needed to make one (or many) of our own.  I took a trip to our gardening center and found out that what I was looking for was actually called Tillandsias.  They are commonly known as Air Plants, because they don't root in soil, you simply submerge them in water once or twice a week, shake them and put them back.  I can do that.  To give it an apothecary, spooky feel I decided to make our terrarium with brown dry moss and small feathered crows which I found at the craft store, twiggy branches from our yard, and a couple of my new air plants. I like the idea of switching out the birds and twigs for a new look during the holidays, and then again in Spring. Happy Weekend!

Haunted Haus

We decorated for Halloween on the last day of September.  It's too exciting to wait.  I held a very old fashioned Halloween party years ago and invested in some great pieces that I still use every year. Creepy black widow spiders, crows, haunted tree candelabra, a flying bat and a hairy spider that drops down on you when you walk beneath it.  You know, the usual.  Last year my son and I collaborated on the ghost garland pictured above.  

This year we're making bats...lots of bats. 

It'll function as his seasonal art installment in what has become his kitchen gallery. This project requires the use of printer paper, black markers, fishing line and those useless pennies you keep on top of your dresser. We chose not to use black construction paper, because it looked more "artistic" to color them in.  Simply fold a piece of paper in half, trace the profile of a bat, cut it out, color, attach a penny and fishing line to the top of the bat and hang, hang many to get to really get the effect. To make the ghosts, we used pieces of gauze (you could use cheese cloth) stuffed with cotton, tied around the neck with fishing line. We colored their faces with marker and using a sewing needle, I strung them together with more fishing line.