Halloween Express

Happy Halloween 2008! 

The spooky decorations are out, jack-o-lanterns are lit, costumes are bought and the candy is ready!  If your children are like mine, they couldn’t get out of bed fast enough this morning for school.  They’re having their class Halloween parties today giving them a little taste of the fun to be had tonight. 

In our neighborhood trick-or-treating is from 6:00 - 8:00pm so by the time they get home from school and eat dinner it will be time to put on their costumes.  I’m so glad Halloween is on a Friday this year.  That way the kids can stay up a little later giving them time to come down from their sugar high. 

I hope some of my ideas on costumes, decorating and party’s came in handy this year!  I love being able to show you everything that HalloweenExpress.com has to offer.  Believe me you can’t beat their selection of costumes anywhere!  Don’t forget even though Halloween will be over tomorrow, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are still to come and we have some amazing costumes for all of them!  I’m sure there are a few Pilgrams and Indians, Santa and Mrs. Claus and perhaps an elf or two out there that are looking for a one-of-a-kind costume just for them.  Look no further!  HalloweenExpress.com has all your holiday costume needs! 

Don’t forget all the safety tips I talked about in my blog Monday.  I want everyone to have a great time trick-or-treating but be safe too!  Happy Halloween everyone!

Yea, it’s finally October 1st and we’ve officially entered into the month of Halloween!  Only 30 more days until the trick-or-treaters will be ringing your doorbell.  Are you ready?  Have you stocked up on all your favorite candy to hand out?  Now remember, it has to be your favorite candy and not your children’s that way whatever is left over is all yours and you won’t have to fight for it! 

Wow can you believe this great weather we’re having in Kentucky?  The high’s are in the mid to low 70’s - perfect weather for fall.  Today we had our pool closed up for the year.  That’s probably the only thing about this time of year that I don’t like.  As soon as that cover is placed over the pool and all our lounge chairs and pool toys are put in the shed the backyard looks so deserted.  Next year I want to have a heater installed in our pool so that I can have the best of both worlds; cooler weather AND the pool still open into the fall months. 

So, have you thought any more about what you want to be this year for Halloween?  If you’re still not sure check out our Top 10 List of Best Costumes for the whole family or our Top 10 List of Best Sexy Costumes.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, then go to our homepage and simply click on a category that interests you.  The website is so easy to use and you’ll find everything you need in the click of a button.  Don’t forget to look at all our decorations for your home and yard too! 

Two of my favorite decorations that I just received yesterday are the 63 inch Hanging Pirate and Tombstone RIP Cross with Skull.  The hanging pirate is huge with a long red ripped cape and creepy skull face with eyepatch.  I’ve already got him hanging on my front porch.  His arms are movable so when I spread them out to his sides he looks even bigger.  The kids love it!  It really is a great decoration for your porch or even hanging from a tree in your front yard.  There are so many great tombstones to pick from at HalloweenExpress.com but I really like this one.  It’s really tall and looks like an old and worn tombstone.   It comes in two pieces and you just slide the cross into the base.  Both of these are going to make a great addition to our yard haunt!

I was taking my son to football practice the other day and couldn’t believe how many people already have their yards decorated for Halloween!  Every year it seems like homes are being decorated earlier and earlier and I love it!  After we got home the first thing I did was head downstairs to dig up some of our Halloween boxes filled with all of our decorations and brought them up.  The kids had a blast looking through everything with me and are biting at the bit to get outside and start decorating. 

I’ve always said that my favorite part of fall is when I see the big orange pumpkins all lined up out in front of the grocery store.  To me, the pumpkins mean fall is here and Halloween is right around the corner.  Well low and behold the pumpkins are finally here!!  The weather all this week is in the 70’s making it a perfect entrance into the fall season.  Many of the pumpkin patches are opening this weekend and I can’t wait to take the kids. 

At HalloweenExpress.com we have everything you need to turn your yard into the best Yard Haunt in the neighborhood.  You’ll be the envy of the neighborhood! Tombstones, skeletons, grim reapers, cemetery signs and fog machines are just a few of the haunting decorations and accessories you find at Halloween Express.   Now is as good time as any to start decorating for everyone’s favorite holiday - Halloween!

With a new school year beginning so is the headache for many parents that go along with it - spending money.  Our children need new school supplies, school books and of course, all new school clothes.  What is it with kids today, that for some unknown reason those jeans they wore all summer long are now not cool enough to wear at the beginning of the new school year.  Is it some unwritten teen and tween rule that you have to have a new wardrobe to start school?  And it’s not just a new pair of jeans or a couple new shirts, it’s jeans, shorts, skirts, shirts, backpack and shoes.  When I was young my “new” school wardrobe consisted of whatever my older sister didn’t wear anymore and it was handed down to me!

At HalloweenExpress.com they understand that and have a great selection of “Super Saver” discounted costumes, decorations and accessories at an unbelievable low cost.    You can pick from historical couple costumes such as Mark Antony and Cleopatra;

or more humorous couple costumes such as Doctor and Nurse Get Well;

or maybe you would prefer a more popular couple costume such as a Pirate and Buccaneer Beauty.

No matter what you decide whether it’s a couple costume theme or individual you’ll find it in our “Super Saver” section on the home page.  Everyone loves to have fun and save money and you can do both this Halloween at HalloweenExpress.com!  But hurry, at these prices the costumes won’t last long! 

Even though the Halloween season is still a couple months away, already the stores are displaying all their haunted decorations and accessories.  Labor Day will be here in a little over three weeks, school will once again be in session and Halloween will be at the top of everyones priority list. 

Now is a great time to start picking up little odds and ends for decorating your front yard.  Just like with costumes and parties, it’s easier to decorate your yard if you have a theme to go by.  You can use individual theme ideas such as;

• The Graveyard - the most important prop of this theme is definitely tombstones - all shapes and sizes.  Tilting a few of them will give the graveyard an old and delapidated look.  Let your grass grow a little higher than usual giving it an unkept effect. Skeletons are another great prop.  What would a eerie graveyard be without a few skeletons lying about?  Hang some from the trees or drape them over the tombstones. 
• The Haunted Woods - this theme works well if you have a lot of trees in your front yard.  Hang big spiders and bats from the tree limbs and spread cobwebs from the branches.  The grim reaper standing in the middle of the yard will add to the scare factor and give it a sinister look.  Place jack-o-lanterns with creepy faces cut out in different areas of the yard included the porch, insert a pumpkin strobe light into the jack-o-lantern.  

No matter what your decorating theme, every yard haunt needs two very important accessories to give it a truly haunted effect, a fog machine and scary music.  Every year we have both of these and I’m telling you it’s perfect!  Every one that walks by slows down just to make sure it’s safe to walk to the front door.   Darkness, fog and eerie music - what could be more perfect for Halloween night?!

Wow can you believe that we only have twelve more days left in the month of May?  June will be here before you know it bringing with it the much anticipated time of year that every school aged child loves - Summer! 

Memorial Day weekend is coming up in a few short days and in my mind that officially marks the beginning of summer for me.  I love throwing a big pool party for my friends and family and celebrating with a backyard barbeque.  The big city parade goes right down my sister’s street, so every year on Memorial Day we head over there with our lawn chairs and american flag decorations.  The kids decorate the front yard with dozens of plastic flags and streamers.  The younger children always wear patriotic costumes that have been handed down from the older ones.  It’s sort of a traditional right of passage in our family.  The girls go as USA cheerleaders with the red, white and blue pom-poms or they dress up as the miniature version of the Statue of Liberty.  The boys are all about it in their Uncle Sam costumes or dressed up in army camoflauge to show support for our troops.  The children love it and it’s so good for them to really understand what the “holiday” is all about.  The fact that they get lots of candy thrown to them from the people in the parade helps too!  We’ve been doing it for years and everyone from the neighbors to the parade goers love to see the costumes as much as we do.

Happy Memorial Day!

A couple weeks ago I wrote about throwing an awesome graduation party for your son or daughter with the Hawaiian Luau theme.  Since a lot of high school and college graduations are right around the corner I thought I’d throw out a few more ideas for some great themed parties that everyone will enjoy!

Mardi Gras - you can’t go wrong with this party theme and as they say, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is known as “the biggest party in the world”.  Decorations, music and costumes are all part of this theme.   You’ll have fun decorating with all the festive colors of Mardi Gras in royal purple, emerald green and shiny gold.  Instead of with the Hawaiian Luau theme of putting a lei around the neck of your guests as they arrive, with Mardi Gras you would greet your guests with a string of beads or even a really cool feather mask. 

Mexican Fiesta - the word fiesta means “a festive celebration” and that’s exactly what a graduation party should be.  You can greet your guest senoritas and senoras with colorful sombreros.  The colors of the Mexican flag of red, white and green are ideal when decorating for the party.  Christmas lights around your deck gives the party a festive ambiance.  Pick up some Mexican ponchos, maracas and of course a Mexican fiesta would not be complete with a pinata!   

You’ll find everything you need here at Halloween Express.  We have all your Mardi Gras and Mexican Fiesta party costumes, decorations and accessories that you’ll need to throw the graduation party of the year!  

Ghosts, ghosts and more ghosts!  They are the staple of every Halloween season.  There are so many crafts and decorations you can do using the ghost theme.  “You’ve been Ghosted” is a great way to say Happy Halloween to your neighbors.  Check out my blog from July 18th where I talk all about being “ghosted” and how you too can start a new tradition in your neighborhood or at your school with this spooktacular game.

Here are some great ghost crafts you can make.  They are quick and easy to do with your kids and a lot of fun too!

Ghost Wind Socks

• white construction paper
• black permanent marker
• stapler
• white crepe paper
• tape string

1. for each wind sock, decorate a 6-by-18 inch piece of white construction paper with ghostly eyes and a frightening mouth.
2. roll the paper to form a tube shape and staple the ends together.
3. cut eight 8-foot-long strips of crepe paper and drape them over the top edge with both ends hanging down to create "tails." Secure with tape.
4. for a handle, cut a 30-inch piece of string and staple the ends to opposite sides of the top of the decoration.

Ghost Leaf

• hole punch
• fallen leaves from your yard

1. with a hole punch, make 2 eyes and a mouth in an assortment of fallen leaves, one for each place setting.          
2. tuck each leaf stem under the edge of a dinner plate or inside a napkin ring.

Ghost Handprints

• black construction paper
• white paint
• crayons
• paper plates

1. pour paint onto paper plate and let your child rub both their hands in the paint until it is all over the bottom of their hands
2. press their hands to the paper (then wash hands)
3. turn paper upside down to where the palms of their handprint is the ghosts head and their fingers will be the bottom of the ghost
4. they can finish their picture by giving a face to their ghosts and coloring in pumpkins, bats, tombstones, full moon, etc…

Halloween Express has some great ghostly decorations that are sure to add that fear factor element to any home or yard.  From our hanging ghost in chains Hanging Ghost Chains to our inflatable 5 foot tall ghosts Inflatable Ghosts Halloween Express has it all.  Check out all of our ghostly decorations and costumes at Halloween Ghost Costumes.

What would Halloween be without a great carved pumpkin?  To me it never really feels like the Halloween season until you see that big crate full of pumpkins at your local grocery store.  I’ll see costumes, candy and plenty of Halloween decorations, but that first pumpkin sighting means it’s officially Fall for me! 

We love going to the pumpkin patch in October.  Being able to pick out that perfect pumpkin becomes a mission that usually takes my daughters about an hour to complete!  But the look on their face once they find it is priceless.  Finding that perfect pumpkin is the easy part, it’s deciding between the 10 perfect pumpkins that they’ve found that’s the hard part.  It’s funny, but I find that I’m the same way.  Wouldn’t it be nice if this really was the biggest decision that we had to make in our day to day lives?  Anyway, pumpkins do come in every shape and size imaginable.  That’s what makes carving them so fun.  Never carry a pumpkin by its stem, it may break.  If it does break-off you can use toothpicks as a basic patch.  If you find a perfect pumpkin but it’s missing its stem, have no fear, you can still use it!  Just carve the bottom out for the opening the same way you would do the top.  Then, just sit your light source on the cleaned bottom piece and sit the pumpkin over it.  This works great and you don’t need the stem for a lid handle.

Many centuries ago, October 31st was a magical night when glowing jack-o-lanterns, carved from turnips or gourds, were set on porches and in windows to welcome deceased loved ones, but also to act as protection against malevolent spirits. Burning lumps of coal were used inside as a source of light, later to be replaced by candles.  Soon after, it was the Irish who decided it was much easier to use pumpkins since they were much larger and easier to carve.

I was looking through a Halloween magazine the other day and couldn’t believe all the cute pumpkin decorating ideas that are out there.  I absolutely love the idea of carving small holes all over your pumpkin and pushing each bulb from a small strand of white lights through each hole.  When lit up the pumpkin looks amazing – and it’s so simple.  Another idea would be to let your children “paint” their pumpkin.  My youngest daughter, Olivia wanted nothing to do with gutting her pumpkin last year, so instead I had her paint a face on.  She loved it!  And even if you have a child that is younger Halloween Express has a “pushpin” pumpkin kit that works just like a Mr. Potato Head.  You just push in the eyes, nose, mouth, ears etc… and you’ve got the perfect no mess pumpkin!  You can find it at Halloween Pumpkin Push Pins. 

Other great ideas include our Witch or Vampire Pumpkin Stand.   These are great if you want to carve your pumpkin with a witch or vampires face because the stand looks like the rest of their body.  You can see these, our stencil books, carving tool sets and much, much more at Halloween Pumpkins. 

Have you ever been picking up your child from a friends house or running an errand late in the evening in October and just can’t believe how some people can completely transform their yards into a spooky graveyard or a haunted cemetery?  Have you ever wondered how they do it?  Depending on how “spooky” you want it to be, it’s actually pretty easy and a lot of fun, if you have the right props and decorations.  

We go all out on Halloween night, transforming our front yard into a eerie, fog-induced yard haunt.  Since you have to walk up our driveway to get to the front porch for trick-or-treating, our neighbors decided to start calling it the “driveway of doom”.  The younger children are so excited, but usually want mom or dad to walk with them the first time.  The older kids try to act cool about it, but it’s funny to see how slowly they come up the driveway.  Now mind you, we do have another walkway to come to the front door for the smaller (and some older) children that are too frightened to use the driveway.  That’s happened to my kids before at other houses and I didn’t want any children to think they couldn’t get candy just because our driveway is a little too scary for them.    

First, we put up a portable garage (they’re shaped like a tunnel with sides and top covered) for the night to put in the driveway and hang strobe lights inside.  Then we put stretchable cobwebs, which you can buy in a bag, throughout the ceiling of it and hang fake spiders throughout.  Every year we put one big prop in there.  Last year it was a coffin with a dummy that the kids had made and the year before that it was the grim reaper.  Finally to top it off we have haunted music playing.  Our kids love it!  They help us put it together every year and decide how they want to decorate it.  I think it helps to have the kids involved with it.  That way they’re not scared because they know it’s not real.

For the front yard we hang orange Halloween lights from the trees and change our porch light and light post to black lights.  Then we place old tombstones around the yard with cobwebs hanging off them and skeletons coming up from the ground.  Skulls and bats are hanging from the trees.  But, by far the most important special effect prop we use would have to be the fog machine.  You can’t have a haunted yard without one!  There’s nothing like a layer of fog floating through the night air adding an element of the unknown for your trick-or-treaters.

So whether you go all out this Halloween night or just put a few decorations in your front yard, the trick-or-treaters will love it!  Don’t forget to check out our website for all your yard decorating needs:  Halloween Decorations and Halloween Props