Southern Lady Celebrate The Halloween Issue 2012

My family and I have always loved the fall—settling into a slower pace and having more time together at home. After jump-starting another school year, I quickly turn my attention to Halloween, the next celebration on the calendar and the perfect opportunity to gather with family and friends. We embrace this holiday to the fullest here at Hoff man Media. Halloween, more than any other, presents our stylists and culinary teams with a challenge that holds no limits in creating spirit-filled and spooky fun for all ages. We love the magic that comes with this holiday, and we strive to keep our celebrations sophisticated and family friendly. You will love the party ideas we have pulled together in this issue. There is something for everyone—from a blackand- white girls’ night to a…

Halloween always brings back such fun memories of my childhood. Being one of eight children, I remember how creative my mom was, using her sewing machine and McCall’s patterns to costume all of us for the big night. She handmade everything—from a clown to a dog to twin Dutch-girl outfits complete with long yellow-yarn braids for my sister and me. I also recall having a great bowl of soup before heading out, and we were each given our own little flashlights to guide the way. Times have changed, though, and costumes, props, and party accessories are plentiful across the country from the beginning of September through the end of October. But that doesn’t mean you can’t dabble and craft your own or even combine store-bought elements and DIY projects. We present a…

No.1 Mustache Men Whether a handlebar or a Groucho Marx variety, cut out your favorite mustache style from black felt, and hot-glue to pumpkins. Line them up for a whimsical display and a fun twist on ordinary jack-o’-lanterns. No.2 House Number For a spirited display of your street address, spraypaint a large pumpkin black, and attach metal house numbers, using small brad nails (both found at homeimprovement stores). No.3 Melted Wax Create a playful look perfect for a Halloween bash with melted crayons and a white pumpkin. Remove paper from crayons, and using a hair dryer or a long-reach candle lighter, melt and drip the crayons over pumpkin; let dry. No.4 Gold Chevron Spray-paint medium or small pumpkins black. Hot-glue gold Ric-Rac ribbon around the pumpkin to imitate a mod chevron pattern. No.5 Woven and Wrapped Choose several neutral…

coil & trouble Spray-paint a decorative nest and some small rubber snakes black. Weave them together for a hair-raising wreath to surround a pillar candle. Specimen domes Large bell jars take on a deadly effect when used to cover found objects such as this skull and crow. Wooden slabs covered in Spanish moss create a base for each jar. Bug Collection creepy crawlers Create spine-tingling terrariums, starting with a mix of potting soil, pea gravel, and moss in jars. Then spray-paint plastic insects gray and black, let dry, and place them in jars. Cre mos inse haunted mantel Scour flea markets and estate sales for antique portraits—the spookier, the better. Set them on the mantel, and cover with fake cobwebs. Complete the vignette with old pieces such as a candelabra, stacks of old books, dark apothecary jars, and…

You don’t have to wait until dark on Halloween night to open your home to friends and family. Invite them to drop in for just a bit or to stay for an evening of frightful fun. With a few simple tricks, creative vignettes, and a creepy display of pickup foods, your house will become perfectly ghostly. GHOSTS IN OUR MIDST Drape the living room furniture in white sheets, and cover with fake cobwebs. To create the proper ambiance, keep only dim lamps and candles lit. Bring in a few haunted touches like crows and bones mixed with antiqued items. menu orange punch with lime slices mummy pizzas barbecued bites | graveyard dip vampire bite cookies | spider stacks cookies-and-cream ghosts ORANGE PUNCH WITH LIME SLICES Makes 1 gallon 1 (46-ounce) can pineapple juice 1 (33.8-ounce) jar mango nectar…

These pumpkins are ready to party with their gree n-and-white striped hats. A Halloween birthday gives your little one twice the reason for celebration. It’s quite all right to deviate from the traditional orange-and-black color combo and introduce a cool, fresh green-and-white scheme with bright bursts of orange. Little details, like pom-poms, striped straws, and party hats, add sweet and modern finishing touches. And our twist on a table runner is made of circles of green card stock placed on a plain white tablecloth. Give pumpkins party hats, and everyone is ready for the fun. CHALKBOARD MATS Set the table with a chalkboard place mat for each child. We purchased ours at annabellenoel.com. When they open their lunch boxes, they’ll find a colorful bundle of chalk to create designs as the party gets…