Countdown to Halloween

There’s 36 more days until Halloween!  Sure, Trick-or-Treating is mostly for younger kids, but Halloween is also the time for haunted houses and hayrides, costume parties, parades and dances.  Now is the time to plan and make costumes and decorations. 

• Glitter Pumpkins

Perfect for parties and dances, glitter pumpkins add some glamor to your decorations.  You can use real or fake pumpkins.

• Costumes

Make your costume out of duct tape!  The library has a lot of  books on how to make halloween costumes. 

• Duct Tape Mummy Pumpkin

No carving needed!  This Mummy Pumpkin is on page 33 of Stick or Treat by Patti Wallenfang.  Other duct tape pumpkins include the Eyeball pumpkin, the Witch pumpkin, The Rollin’ Pumpkin, the Diva Pumpkin, and  the De-bone-aire Pumpkin.

For more decorating ideas, check out Creative Costumes and Halloween Decor:  50 Projects to Sew and Craft.  Learn how to carve and decorate pumpkins and squashes, make a lighted swag, make a harvest wreath, make creepy mummy hands and more.

Let’s keep sharing ideas until the big day!

Marian

CLP–Mt. Washington

The Sexy Kitten Shakedown: Happy Halloween

Halloween was originally a Celtic (Druid) holiday, called Samhain (pronounced Sow-in), celebrated more than 2,000 years ago. It was a festival to celebrate the death of the earth, taking place at the end of summer, and its eventual rebirth, in spring. The Celts celebrated by creating huge bonfires, which were said to discourage the sun from disappearing, as well as burning crops and performing animal sacrifices. The Druids also believed that the veil between the worlds was at its thinnest on this day, leading to more accurate divinations, and to more ghosts and spirits roaming the countryside.  For the latter reason, the Druids dressed in costume to prevent being possessed by any of these meandering spirits. By dressing as ghosts, witches, goblins, as well as sporting animal skins and heads, they were said to fool the spirits into believing they were already one of them.

This celebration has persevered through the millennia. In the 19^th century, Halloween was a day for skullduggery, mischief-making, and general scariness. Eventually, in the early to mid-20^th century, Halloween evolved into a community oriented event (ala trick-or-treating). The country started seeing more block parties and community events associated with this holiday. It became a day for children, teens,  and adults to celebrate youthfulness and fun (Halloween party at the library, anyone?).

Which brings me to my next point, or not…really, but I still need to ask– where did the sexy kitten come from?  Today’s Halloween has this uncanny knack for turning things that aren’t typically attractive into something suggestive. For example, pirates. What is sexy about a group of people who lived on a ship, didn’t bathe regularly, surely didn’t brush their teeth (if they had any) and habitually came down with bouts of scurvy?—not much.  Then why does nearly every costume for women, and even men now, turn into sexy witch, sexy devil, sexy gangster, sexy nun (wait, nun? NUN?!?).

One of the best things about Halloween is the chance to use your creativity to its max! So put away the ears, tail, and eyeliner whiskers, because there are tons of really groovy costumes out there that just require some time and TLC.  Here are a few of my personal favs (click on then for DIY instructions).

                    

Of course this post wouldn’t be complete without me telling you how awesome and gratifying it is, to me as a librarian, when people go dressed as their favorite literary character. If you’re finally sick of dressing like Edward Cullen or Hermione Granger, check out this awesome article (thanks Joseph!) which tells you how to channel your inner Clay (from 13 Reasons Why) or Katniss Everdeen: Girl on Fire. If none of these grab your attention, try one of the books below that can be found at or ordered to your local Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh!

                        

Happy Hauntings– Julie, CLP Beechview