Who doesn’t love a costume you can sleep in?
This year, Katie wanted us to win one of our town’s Holiday Spirit decorating awards. When the kids were little, my sister-in-law and I would go all out with the decorating. We always had a theme. I’m big into themes, but short on artistic talent, which is where Jeanne and Katie come in. One year we made our front porch into a circus. Another year we were a Used Pumpkin Lot–with ridiculous-looking pumpkins rigged out with signs like a used car lot. One year we were The Black Cat Cafe–and we dressed up as waitresses and had eerie menus posted on the porch columns. Another year we made the porch into a fortune-teller’s tent. Last year we had an infestation of ravens–including a scarecrow with crows all over him. This year I decided to make something big and basic that we could use over and over again, with embellishments added each year. We went with owls. Big–as in 8-foot-tall–plywood owls, posted on either side of the front porch columns. We found owl silhouettes on Martha Stewart’s website, and copied them freehand onto 4-by-8 sheets of plywood. We made their beaks from corner crown moulding pieces bought at Home Depot. Mr. Mary Kay and son-in-law Mark cut out their eyes, and we stapled yellow cheesecloth over the openings. We strung lights across the front of the house, and stapled eerie looking chiffon-type fabric so that it looked like vaguely ghostly draperies.
The Owl’s Nest
The Owl’s NestWe got Molly into the first of her two costumes for the night–the Yellow Jacket costume picked up for $8 at a junkshop in Alabama. Katie and Mark dressed up in rain gear so they were fishermen from The Deadliest Catch (Katie’s favorite tv show). Boomerang Boy tried on Elvis, but decided that last year’s crayon costume was better suited for a night of partying. And his friends Madeline and Zack dipped into my costume closet for a waitress and Southpark Chef’s outfits.
Boomerang Boy Tried Out His Elvis Mojo
Conductor Blaine wasn’t sure he was on the right track
Madeline and Chef Zack cooked up a Party Look
Katie and Mark with a sleepy Yellow Jacket
Boomerang Boy Tried Out His Elvis Mojo
Conductor Blaine wasn’t sure he was on the right track
Madeline and Chef Zack cooked up a Party Look
Katie and Mark with a sleepy Yellow JacketI put on my pirate wench rig left over from Pirate’s Fest. Mr. Mary Kay went as his favorite character–himself. We hooked up the fog machine, and waited. It didn’t take long. The first trick-or-treater rang our doorbell at 4:45pm. The last ones banged on our door at 10pm–nearly two hours past our town’s curfew, when we were out of candy. No telling how much we gave out–we filled a huge cauldron one and a half times. And this despite steady rain throughout the evening. A good time was had by all. Molly changed into her pumpkin sleeper halfway through the evening. We had chili and beer and tons of junk food. Although–considering the shellacking UGA took from the Gators, some of my personal fun was dampened. Mr. Mary Kay was happy, because Ga. Tech beat Vanderbilt. And also, there was a LOT of chocolate floating around. And by 10 am today, Mr. Mary Kay had taken down all the decorations. Next year I’ve assigned Mark, who is a mechanical engineer, the job of making the owl’s eyes blink. But in the meantime, we didn’t win an award this year, because we missed the judge’s deadline. Curses!
I've gotten some great ideas from this 4 next year!
MK next year call your friend the stylist:) I am happy to come down and style you up, much like you when my kids were little, we would decorate the heck out of the front porch…I'm a girl that loves a theme after all, great job!