Veeery Spooooooky!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
I trust everyone out there had a wonderful day and lots of Trick or Treating fun!  As you may know from previous posts, I don't really do much for Halloween.  My 3 year old son is just plain freaked out by the whole thing.  Case in point:  today we tried to convince him to put on his costume.  He wouldn't do it.  Period.  No amount of cajolling and encouraging would get him into that thing.  He also refused to leave the house to go trick-or-treating.  No interest, no desire.  Then we thought he could at least help us hand out candy at the door...well that didn't go over so well...he ran away crying at the sight of the first kids in costume who came to our door.  So much for Halloween at our house! 
Before all of this drama, my husband and I actually made an effort to make our house look a bit festive.  He carved a pumpkin in the shape of "Ramone" from the movie CARS (at my son's request, of course!).  I have to give him a huge amount of credit...this "simple" pattern took 4 hours to carve!!  He was exhausted by the end of it and, of course, our son did NOTHING to help out.  Here is a photo of John's masterpiece all lit up for the big night:

"Ramone" from CARS...my husband's Halloween masterpiece!

Ramone's close-up

For my part, I made some luminary bags to line our front steps.  They were really simple and quick to make.

Halloween Luminaries (photographed in our bathroom...the only room in the house dark enough to get the full effect!)

Scary Spider

 When I said these were easy to make I wasn't kidding.  I was done in less than 1/4 the time it took John to carve his pumpkin!  I started with plain brown paper lunch bags.  I ran each one through my Big Shot with a circle die.  I then cut a piece of vellum cardstock large enough to cover the opening from the inside.  I applied the "Spooky Things" Decor Elements from the Holiday Mini to the vellum.  Then I glued the vellum to the inside of the bag, ensuring that the image was visible through the opening.  Viola...easy-peasy Halloween decor!  The best part is that I can save them and use them again next year...too bad John can't say the same for his pumpkin!