She's A Betty

Getting Into the Fall Frame of Mind: 7 to 9

Just as Miss Moss had to psyche herself up for summer, I've decided to do a series of posts to get myself and readers psyched for fall. Think of it as a to-do/photo inspiration list. Here are items 7 to 9:

Clockwise from left: crockpot apples from Skinny Chef; easy apple tart by Pioneer Woman; apple cider cups by BusyMommy.

7. Eat apples: If you can, try to get some local farm apples (for Atlanta residents, I can recommend Farmers Fresh CSA). Eat them raw or cooked (I've made that easy apple tart twice in three days). Also, if you have any tips for making apple cider that isn't mouth-curlingly sweet, please share them with me below.

All photos by me; the two left images (brunswick stew with paprika & minestrone) have related posts, while the other two recipes are not yet posted (links to come).

8. Make soup & stew: Soup is healthy, it's tasty, and it's total comfort food. Now that temperatures have gone down, it's a lot more fun to eat, too.

Clockwise from left: Rachel Thurston's place via Design*Sponge; Ten Broeck Cottage via A Cup of Jo; photo of my own bed.

9. Snuggle under a down comforter: I know of nothing more lush and delicious when it's cold out than burrowing deep into the folds of a down comforter. Getting out of bed can be a problem, though.

Recipe: Basic Beef Daube

First, I apologize for blanking out last week. Halloween Week wore out my blogging muscles. 

Collage-heavy/link-heavy posts take a lot of time to construct, and the work is tedious. Imagine tracking down image sources (which is harder than it should be), writing link text, linking, etc., etc...500 times in a row. It got to the point where I did housework to avoid sitting down at the computer.

I still have two or three more Halloween-related posts I'd like to have up before the holiday, but they may not happen, and that's okay. In the meantime, it's back to regular blogging.  

The following beef stew recipe is a family favorite, and is perfect for colder months. It's an altered version of this Cooking Light beef daube recipe. I'll admit: I like this dish without loving it. Other people always seem to enjoy it more than me. It's tasty, don't get me wrong, and the meat comes out incredibly tender, but the flavor isn't as rich or complex as I want. So I've also included potential improvements in the Notes section, and will try them and post an update. 

Basic Beef Daube

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt & fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high. Season cut beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to pan; be sure to cook in batches to avoid overcrowding. Turn meat frequently to brown on all sides. Remove browned beef from pan & set aside.
3. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, and the remaining ingredients, plus salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.
4. Place beef mixture in a slow cooker. Cover & cook on high for 5 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving; serve with French bread, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles.

Notes

By far the most time-consuming & difficult task is cutting and trimming the chuck roast. Here's a video showing you how; I'd budget at least 35 minutes for it. That said, don't buy precut stew meat! It's inferior quality meat to begin with, costs more, and meat surfaces degrade quickly once exposed to oxygen. 

Go very light on the cloves. A "dash" means just that; I've overdone the cloves before, and regretted it.

Use a decent red wine. Burgundy is traditional.

Consider adding any or all of the following: mushrooms, potatoes, and corn starch or flour at the end to thicken the sauce. Also consider substituting baby carrots for the chopped carrots, and dusting the beef lightly with flour before browning. Finally, you might lightly brown half a pack of bacon (cut into 1 inch strips), and use the resulting fat to then brown the beef (the browned bacon also goes in the stew). I do this for boeuf bourguignon, and it adds a lot of flavor.

Halloween Week 2011: Spooky Coasters D.I.Y. Project

When I saw this Guinness ad campaign, I knew I had to try a D.I.Y. version because, well, look at it: 

Cool, right? The campaign originally ran in Romania as a low-budget way to promote Guinness during Halloween. It was a success.

I decided to copy the ghost coaster (without fingers, as the material I used, cork roll, isn't suited for detailed cuts), and then design one or two coasters of my own.

The New Designs

I drew the templates for each design on printer paper, building upon the outline of a wine glass base. I struggled with the bat coaster design, at first trying out a fat Batman logo-type bat. But a) it looked weird, and b) the wings were too separated from the coaster base. Then I found this bat placemat tutorial. It's the perfect shape, and she even includes a template (which I didn't use, but probably should have).  

The other design, the hairy toad, came about because I wanted to use angry eyeballs on one of the coasters. I didn't have a finished template, and made half my design decisions while cutting it out of the cork. I'm calling it a hairy toad coaster, but I also think it looks like a soot sprite.

Make Your Own

Templates

I've uploaded jpegs with outlines (done by hand, they're sketchy) of the finished coasters. Here are the bat & hairy toad coaster templates & here's the ghost coaster template. 

Materials & Steps

What I used:

• cork roll
• black & white acrylic paint
• a foam brush & a paint brush
• an X-Acto knife & a cutting pad
• printer or other firm paper for the coaster template

Cut the cork roll into tiles, and paint the tiles with black acrylic paint using the foam brush. Once dried, cut out coaster shapes from the cork using the printer paper templates, X-Acto knife, and cutting pad. Retouch coasters with black paint as needed; paint eyes onto the hairy toad coasters with a paint brush.

Make It Better

Because this was an experiment, I used materials I had on hand, i.e., cork roll. But the cork roll wasn't great. One, I could not get the curl out of it, despite days of flattening the cork under heavy books. Two, cork roll isn't suited for detailed cutting. It crumbles far too much. Finally, I didn't love how the acrylic paint looked on the cork. The shiny-looking patches you see in the photos aren't as noticeable in real life, but the whole thing looks unpolished. 

If I were to do it again, here's what I'd try:

• use black PVC instead of cork roll or
• use thicker cork tiles instead of cork roll
• create & use an eye stencil for the hairy toads
• create coasters using a laser cutter 

Any or all of these tweaks could lead to cleaner cuts and sturdier & more professional-looking construction. At least I think so, what do you think?

Halloween Week 2011: Scary Reads

Do you read holiday-themed books? As a bookseller, I always wondered who the audience was for them (especially around Christmas, when we'd get 26 copies of Dating Mr. December).

Well, turns out that audience includes me. In anticipation of Halloween, I picked up Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party for 10 cents. The purchase got me thinking about good Halloween reads, and about making a short Halloween book list for the blog. Being a book nerd, my "short" list quickly turned into 50+ titles.

Halloween Book List

So I've created an Amazon aStore of my recommended Halloween books. I approached this list as a former bookseller, meaning it contains both books I love and books that aren't really my thing, but might appeal to others (for example, I don't like zombies, but zombie books are on the list).

I've also divided the list into 6 categories (see the left hand column) for easier browsing. And I've included only one or two titles per author (e.g., there's only one title by Stephen King), trusting you to fill in the blanks. Click the image below to visit the store.

Disclaimer: I made an aStore because it's the easiest way to make a book list with images, links & reviews. That said, I'm an Amazon associate, and do get a tiny percentage of the profit when you buy something through the aStore. It's a teeny-tiny amount, though, and I encourage you to shop around. Remember, there's the library. There's Paperbackswap.com. There are your local bookstores. There are free eBook versions of all public domain titles. And of course, there are your local thrift stores (my Halloween book was 10 cents!).

Bonus: Online-Only Treats

Here are a few more scary links that I came across before I decided to make an aStore:  

Emily Carroll's work: Carroll (who also wrote the disturbing His Face All Red) has a new webcomic called Margot's Room. Each Friday leading up to Halloween, a new part of the story comes out, with the link to that story part hidden somewhere in the room above.

Teeny-Tiny & The Witch Woman: An animated version of Barbara K. Walker's book, Teeny-Tiny & The Witch Woman is a classic, and one of my childhood favorites. I linked to it in the aStore (and still think children will love it), but it's also on YouTube if you want a quick nostalgia fix. 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: I'm not going to lie--this book (also in the aStore) scarred me as a child. As Brian Miggels put it,

"That sh*t damaged me. Honestly, that picture of the girl with baby spiders coming out of her face haunted me for years."

And it's not just the cheek spiders, it's the whole book. If you don't believe me, here are more scans & comments; that Scary Stories has been one of the ALA's most banned/challenged books for more than 20 years is another testament to its power to disturb. Be sure to get the out-of-print versions illustrated by Stephen Gammell, however; his illustrations make the book.

Halloween Week 2011: Costume Ideas That Don't Require a Bikini Wax

October is a cold month, and platform shoes and low-cut bustiers (and sleazy dudes) are a party-going nuisance. Unfortunately, retail Halloween costume options for women still consist mostly of "sexy" this or "naughty" that. Which means you'll probably want to make your own.

Here are some of my favorite costume ideas, most of which are no-sew:

1. Pop Art/Comic Book Character

So cool. It's a popular look, but the makeup is time-consuming enough that it's not been overdone:

• Lichtenstein-inspired makeup by Karin Stone for MAC Cosmetics.
• "Homage to Lichtenstein" photo by Eva Mueller, makeup by Andrew D'Angelo.
• Comic-inspired headbands, $23 by Janine Basil.
• Another Lichtenstein-inspired photo by Shannon Brooke Imagery (makeup by Jennifer Corona).

2. Celestial Beings

Pair an elaborate star (made with foam glitter stars & wire) or moon headdress with simple dark clothes:

• Hedy Lamarr photo from Ziegfeld Girl.
• Cosmic headdress from Martha Stewart.
• Image from Alexander McQueen FW07 runway from Style.com.

3. The Grim Reaper

Paint all exposed skin black, and cover everything else with black or dark brown fabrics. You want a shredded, tattered look, like you've been wandering the world from end to end:

• Still from a Tsolmandakh Munkhuu runway show via Twisted Lamb.
• Wandering spirit portrait by Elisabeth Frederickson.
• Still from Asher Levine's SS11 collection, via Trendhunter.

4. Silent Movie Femme Fatale

Go for the dramatic look of a turn-of-the-century vamp:

• Photo by Salomé Vorfas (makeup by Cosmashiva).
• Greyscale costumes from Boing Boing.
• Dramatic eye makeup by Tanya Skinner (photo by Adam P. Fuller).
• Vintage Pina Menichelli photo from How to be a Retronaut.

5. A Whole New You

Use makeup to make your features really "pop":

• Bleach Ichigo Hollow mask makeup (with video tutorial!) from Chuy Yang.
• Zombie makeup by Lyzius.
• Two face makeup by KyleeGreider. 
• Big eye makeup by Killer Colours.
• Fake smile makeup by Sh*ttyLiquor.

6. House from Up

You may prefer to leave this one to the kids (it's better suited for outdoor trick-or-treating than indoor parties):

• House That Fell on the Wicked Witch costume from Coolest Homemade Costumes.
• Hot air balloon costume from Country Living.
• Real-life Up house by National Geographic.

7. Creepy Doll

Dolls are always terrifying:

• "Doll Face" by Pascale Douglas. Obviously altered by the computer (see her neck), but lots of great makeup ideas. I've also seen eyeballs extended with white eyeliner or paint to appear more doll-like.
• Joint stockings from Japan. 

8. Japanese Ghost

All you need is white makeup, eyes rimmed with black liner and red eyeshadow, white sheets tied with a thick belt, handfuls of red yarn (attached to wrists with elastic), and (optionally) a white wig. Simple but eerie.

• "Yuurei" editorial by Nikolai de Vera via Twisted Lamb.
• Photo from "Eternal" photo set by Olivier Shows.
• Another image from the "Yuurei" editorial by Nikolai de Vera.

More Good Ideas:

Row by row, from left:

• Glamour mouse, part of Chanel's FW11 ad campaign.
• French burglar family, featured on Oh Happy Day!
• Mary Poppins & chimney sweep costume from Keiko Lynn.
• Ziggy Stardust/David Bowie costume idea from Mini Rodini.
• Easy Guinevere dress instructions from Charter-Magic.
• Beekeeper costume from Martha Stewart.
• Helga from Hey Arnold! costume by Suzanne Bonanno.
• Morton Salt Girl costume concept by Doxophobia.

Finally, see more costume ideas at these posts: Jane Asher's Fancy Dress; Arachnophobia Party Concept; Witch Party Concept; Mad Masquerade Concept (link coming soon); & Sugar Skull D.I.Y. (link coming soon).

Halloween Week 2011: Witch Party Concept

Sorry for the delay--the work is catching up with me! I may have to post a few things this weekend instead.

The Concept

I read about a "Which Witch?" party, where all the participants dress up as famous witches. It sounded like fun, and as I kept finding great witch-related ideas, a witch party concept seemed obvious. In my mind, witches aren't cartoonish hags with hairy warts, but rather women who have strange powers, and are mischievous and well-intentioned, but with a dash of malice. As a result, I wanted a party concept with touches of black humor & whimsy, but nothing too goofy or too dark. 

The Host/Guests

Literature & film are packed with witches for costume inspiration. For starters: Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service, Bellatrix Lestrange (or any Harry Potter witch), Elphaba or Glinda from Wicked, Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle, Chocolat from Sugar Sugar Rune, Jadis the White Witch from Chronicles of Narnia, Baba Yaga, Circe, the witches from Hocus Pocus, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and on and on. The blog Sexy Witch has tons more historical inspiration, and below are a few more ideas:

Row by row, from left:

• Both runway images are from Luella Bartley AW08, photos from Vogue.co.uk.
• Middle image from "Dark Light Shining" article in Rue Magazine Issue 4 (pg 145). Stylist Jesi Haack has behind-the-scene photos & the full credits here.
• Professor McGonagall's hat, $16.30 from Amazon.
• Borrow the hairstyle of this witch from Donkey Skin (fun fact: she spits toads when she talks).
• A large rubber toad glued or sewed to the shoulder of an outfit will give it instant witchy flair (and give you a familiar). Here's a vintage example of a vermin-covered witch costume, and here's a hair mice tutorial from Martha Stewart.

Row by row, from left:

• Black cat lips by Paige Thompson.
• A very cute Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service at Tomorobi.net.  
• CG portrait "Coldblue" by Olivier Ponsonnet (I seriously thought she was a real woman).
• Glam witch from Latin America Vogue, Sept. 2010 issue {via Lovely Clusters}. 
• Leg Avenue striped tights (other colors available), $7.00 at Sock Dreams. 
• Leg crawlers idea from Martha Stewart.

The Food

Darkly Elegant Cake

A potential centerpiece: a lovely gothic cake. From left:

• The Beautiful & the Damned whisky & dark chocolate cake by Poires au Chocolat.
• Devil's food cake by Cenk Sönmezsoy at Design*Sponge.

Drinks

Drinks in sickly shades of green or with sly embellishments like onion eyeballs or skull-n-crossbones ice cubes add a festive touch:

• Witch's wicked punch from Woman's Day.
• Acid green martinis from Better Homes & Gardens (sadly, no recipe).
• Eyeball martini idea from the 2010 Halloween season at Pottery Barn.
• Bone Chillers ice cube tray, $4.95 at Amazon.

Treats

Finish the meal out with bubbling cauldron stew (Martha Stewart has a recipe for green Cauldron Curry), and a few of these treats:

• Witch hat cookies from Betty Crocker.
• Donuts on a broom from Frog Prince Paperie.
• Candy frog mold, $5.58 from Amazon (these can also be used as a mold for non-candy items, like meatloaf).
• Poisonous parfaits from Frog Prince Paperie.
• Red velvet cookies with white chocolate chunks from WhipperBerry.
• Pigs-in-a-frog, original source unknown (the aggregator sites found it, so even Google Image Search doesn't help). 
• Melting witch cookies by Death by Cupcake/Jennifer McFadden.

The Decorations

Sign & Brooms

Have a combination of a tongue-in-cheek sign and brooms at the door to make guests feel welcome: 

• Disturbed sign (another one discovered by numerous aggregator sites, so that Google Image Search can't help source it. If you know who to credit, please let me know).
• Brooms and toad sign instructions at Better Homes & Gardens.
• Broom door garland from Martha Stewart.
• "Well Behaved Children" sign from Marion's Pie Shop.

The Cauldron

All witch parties need a cauldron:

• D.I.Y. witch's cauldron from Martha Stewart.
• Witch's cauldron tutorial from Make It Do.
• Budget-friendly fog chiller/witch's cauldron from z7q2.

Poisoned Apples & Spellbook

A few poisoned apples and a spellbook can't hurt:

• Poison apple centerpiece by michellelouise22 at HGTV.
• Candy apples recipe from Woman's Day. 
• D.I.Y. witch's spellbook by Through My Looking Glass (this is amazing!).

Black Cats

And of course, every witch loves a black cat:

• Dancing black cat silhouettes from Martha Stewart (template here; 13 other cat silhouettes here).
• Black cat pumpkin lanterns from Sunset Magazine {via Hostess with the Mostess}.
• Black cat nails from Beauty by Kayla Shevonne.
• Black cat pumpkin from All You.
• Lovely black cats by...and another credit fail. I do know it was posted to CG Hub at one time. Again, if anyone knows who to credit, please let me know.

Plus A Few More Witchy Ideas

Row by row, from left:

• Witch table from the Los Angeles County Fair tablecase showroom, photo by Bubblegum & Duct Tape. One of my favorite finds.
• Witch's hands serving tray (sold out, witch hand vase still available) at Grandin Road.
• Broom place holders from HGTV.
• Black glitter chandeliers, $14.99 from Martha Stewart.
• Black candles in candy corn by Nikki Green Peterson.

Not pictured: A witch crash site; a witch under a table (scroll down); and a dancing witch's broom (so cool).

Hope you enjoyed this concept! Up next: Halloween Week 2011: Costumes That Don't Require a Bikini Wax (link coming soon).

Halloween Week 2011: Dexter Party Concept

Inspiration & Concept

When I first saw Amy Lau's incredible Dexter-themed dining room a few years ago, I knew it had dinner party potential. Hence the name of this party concept, although it doesn't have to be for Dexter; the ideas here would work for a generic serial killer or (with tweaks) a mad doctor party.

What I like about this concept, aside from the stark beauty of the red and white color scheme, is that it can be quite cheap to produce. Furniture & floors can be covered with white sheets, tarps, or tableclothes, and most of the accent items are inexpensive (washable fake blood spatter (recipe below), red yarn, red taper candles, cheap red vases, white candlesticks, & test tubes).

Washable fake blood recipe

200 ml water
5 tbsps corn starch
2 tsps cream
5 tsps red food coloring

Mix water + corn starch first, then mix in the other ingredients. Add some green food coloring or chocolate syrup if you'd like your fake blood to have a more realistic color. Be sure to do a test patch on all surfaces you intend to cover (I'd recommend sticking with glass surfaces and bleachable fabrics). Apply with spray bottles, hands (for bloody handprints), and old paintbrushes.

The Food

What's for dinner? Dismembered body parts and blood (red wine or red punch), of course:

• Dexter blood slide suckers from Forkable. 
• Meatloaf brains, by Lauren's Latest at Tasty Kitchen.
• Bloody murder cupcakes by Jai on All Recipes.
• Puff pastry intestines from The Knead for Speed.
• Bleeding Heart martini from Martha Stewart.
• Adam's Ribs from Better Homes & Gardens.
• Zombie cake from Lily Vanilli's A Zombie Ate My Cupcake.

Not pictured (but awesome): bloody jello shot-filled syringes; frozen eyeballs; meatloaf hand; ogre eyes hot cocoa; ladies' fingers and men's toes.

The Decorations

Again, decorations should be simple, mostly white with a few red accents. You also only need to decorate the dining area and maybe the bathroom. Other areas can be cordoned off with crime scene tape (example).

1. Halloween splatter nails by Never Too Much Glitter. Also: imitate Dexter's blood-spattered look.  
2. Blomster white candle holders (set of 3), $14.99 from Ikea.
3. Midnight Massacre desk lamp from Living Dead Creations.
4. Spine candles by Daniel Tyrkiel.
5. 10" red taper candles from Dollar Tree. Or these bleeding taper candles.
6. Bloody hand towels from Heather Hutchinson/Pinterest.
7. Salong red vase, $7.99 from Ikea.
8. 50 plastic test tubes with aluminum rack, $25.99 at Amazon.
9. Bloody window treatment from Muse Lodge.
10. Bloody shower from Justinsomnia.
11. Bloody bath mat from Perpetual Kid.
12. Antonio Murado Salome 14-piece set (sold out) from the New Museum/via Haute Macabre.

Not pictured: red flatware; more blood-themed housewares.

Hope you found this concept helpful! Up next: Halloween Week 2011: Witch Party Concept.

Halloween Week 2011: Arachnophobia Party Concept

The Concept

When I saw this cocooned man (also below), I knew I had to do a spider-themed Halloween post. I've titled it the Arachnophobia party concept, in honor of the Jeff Daniels movie (I'll never forget those pulsing larval sacs), but it could easily be a Black Widow party, or for the nerdy, a Shelob's Lair or Aragog's Nest party. Repetition is key here: you need a volume of webs, fake spiders, and ensnared victims to get visitors' skin tingling.

The Host

Simple costumes are better if you're hosting. Just dress in all black and add some of the following spidery touches:

• Spiderweb fake lashes makeup by Erika Uhl. Here's a better D.I.Y. version (better only because it's more visible).
• Spider lace hose, $9 at Sock Dreams.
• Cheese cloth spider web wrap (scroll down) from Martha Stewart.
• Spider sunglasses (scroll down) from Martha Stewart.
• More spider web eye makeup by Daisy Van Winkel.

Other ideas include drawing a spider on your mouth to go with the eye webs, gluing fake spiders onto your face and neck with eyelash glue, and creating a black widow-infested beehive per the urban legend. Martha Stewart also has a spiderweb shawl, a sock spider costume for babies, and a black widow spider costume for Fido.

The Food

For whatever reason, spidery Halloween foods tend to be sweet, so you'll need to balance these out with some savory dishes of your choice (or not): 

1. Pumpkin spider pancakes with black cinnamon syrup from Tidy Mom (variation idea: make crepes & use Nutella)
2. Black spider lollies from Jackie Boucher & Ohdeedoh.
3. Halloween spiderweb cupcakes from Little Birdie Secrets.
4. Itsy Bitsy Spiderwebs cupcakes from Country Living (photo by Con Poulos).
5. Pumpkin chocolate spiderweb tart from Martha Stewart.
6. Along Came a Spider cake from Country Living (photo by Con Poulos).
7. Spider devilled eggs by Joanie Pimentel at Sunset Magazine (photo by Leigh Beisch).
8. Spider ice cubes (with blood red punch!) from Noble Pig.
9. Chocolate spiderweb cake-in-a-jar from I Am Baker.

Not pictured: spun sugar spider nests with choux eggs, creamy tomato soup with web topping, hairy leg spider cookies, licorice spiders, chocolate cake spiders with Pocky legs, & orange-eyed spider cookies.

The Decorations

Spiderwebs & Egg Sacs

More important than the spiders, in my opinion (also, cheaper). Use an array of cheesecloth, glue gun webs, yarn, and the fake spiderwebbing from Halloween stores: 

1. Hanging cocoon man and larva balls, $29.00-$49.00 at Grandin Road. This was the inspiration for this party concept, because I find it so creepy! Here's a D.I.Y. version, too. 
2. Web-covered window with trapped bats from Good Housekeeping (photo by Gemma Comas).
3. Spooky lamp by The Yellow Cape Cod/Sarah Macklem Interiors.
4. Quick spun webs from hot glue, from Martha Stewart.
5. Spiderweb door photo by Sister72.
6. Coffee filter cobwebs from Mega Spooky.
7. Webbed chandelier from Better Homes & Gardens.
8. Spider house from Apartment Therapy.
9. Webbed typewriter from Poetic Home.
10. Cobwebbed candles from Martha Stewart.
11. Spiderweb balloon tutorial from Crafty Crafty.
12. Giant spider web from Target (in-store only).

Not pictured: spider egg sac tutorial. 

The Mother

This part is optional & expensive, but big on impact: have a giant spider mother to greet your guests. On the one hand, you'll definitely get a reaction; on the other hand, I don't think I could sleep with that thing in my house. From left:

• Monstrous 6" long Halloween spider, $148 at Walmart. 
• Gigantic tarantula, $59.99 at Target
• D.I.Y. Halloween spider with PVC legs from Halloween Forum.

The Babies

Spiders, spiders everywhere! On the walls, in the sink, guarding the cookies, in the flowers, and on the furniture. Which means you'll need a lot of fake spiders. Luckily, they're cheap: the Oriental Trading Company has 144 plastic spiders for $4.00; the Dollar Tree has velvety tarantulas for $1 (in-store only); and Martha Stewart suggests using ink pad spider stamps for glass surfaces. Other options and inspiration:

1. Cheesecloth chandeliers and wall spiders at the Curious Sofa (click through for all the images, it's amazing!).
2. Spooky spider-covered door & web sign from Martha Stewart.
3. Window webs & giant spiders from Better Homes & Gardens.
4. D.I.Y. glitter spiders from Sweet Something Design. 
5. Spider vinyl clings (click through for templates) at Pretty Handy Girl.
6. Haunted tablescape from Good Housekeeping.
7. Spider pumpkin from Brooklyn Limestone. Martha Stewart has spider stencils.
8. Realistic D.I.Y. spiders by moGuyver on Instructables.
9. Spider vase filler (sold out) at Pottery Barn. I love the way this arrangement conveys motion.
10. Balloon spiders from Martha Stewart.
11. D.I.Y. small spiders from Born to Haunt.
12. Spider plates designed by Lisa Storms for Fiskars.

Not pictured: the arachnid descent trick (love this!), a spider sentry, a spiderweb tablecloth with pom-pom spiders, & spider-covered candles & window webs,  

Hope you enjoyed this post! Up next: Halloween Week 2011: Dexter Party Concept.