She sat in her seat wiggling. She shifted from side to side swinging her legs and kicking the seat in front of her. The backs of her legs were sticking to the plastic seat, and the heat from the humid air resulted in tiny drops of dew on the tip of her nose.

As the breaks on the bus begin their unpleasant cry, “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……” she grabbed her backpack and scurried off the bus, nearly tripping on the steps as she flew down them.

Her feet hit the concrete.
Her trot, broke out into a full out sprint.
Her breath once calm, became deep, as she gulped for air.

Once a slow and rhythmic beat, her heart thumped harder and harder as the anticipation grew.
One foot in front of the other.
She could see her mother standing in the driveway smiling.

What was she was holding in her hand?
Something black?
Something shiny?

Each thunk, thunk, thunk of her feet reminded her to look ahead for anything that could be different. Anything that might tickle her senses just a little.

And then she saw it.
Her mother had done it.

The Giant Spider was out from the attic and on the front lawn.
The Giant Centipede adorned her lawn as well.
And Oh! The most marvelous, most splendiferous Giant Witch Hat sat on the front porch.

She looked over to her mother, as her mother chatted with the neighbor, still dirty and sweaty from a day of Halloween decorating.
She walked up to the two women, never once looking at her mother, but instead looked the neighbor staight in the eye and said.

“Gosh. I love my mom.”

Her mother smiled. Heart full of mush.
Then little girl turned around and skipped into the house.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

True story.
It happened yesterday.

I don’t decorate for my kids, I do it because I enjoy it so much. But golly. If ever I do stop liking it, I don’t think I could bear to stop because my kids look at me like I’m a super hero who just saved the world from A Mutant Alien Invasion.

It’s a Halloween Miracle. I say.
It’s a Halloween Miracle.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Originally when I made these, I didn’t know I’d love them so. At the time, I made them with paper mache, paint, and a spray sealant. I kept them outside for the entire month of October for 4 years straight, through rain, cold and heat, and they stood up to all the pressure.

However, when I pulled them out of the attic this year, they were on their last leg. So I decided to regroup, pull off the old paper mache (what was left of it) and using the plastic chicken wire mesh that was already sculpted I recovered it in colorful, sturdy, duct tape. And I must say, I like it A LOT.

It’s a super easy project, and your neighbors will be so jealous of your fantastically spooky Halloween Decorations. They’ll be quite impressed that you made it yourself, and so bummed that they can’t go out and buy one just like it.

May Halloween invade every precious moment in your life. This month:)
Happy Haunting!

GIANT WITCH HATS!!!

What You Need:

Plastic Chicken Wire Mesh (you can buy this at your home improvement store)
Thin Floral Wire
Plastic trash bag
Scissors
Duct Tape (any color)
Colored Duct Tape ( I get mine from Target – nice selection, fair prices)
Assorted Ribbon Optional

What To Do:

1. Unroll the Plastic Chicken Wire Mesh, and determine how long, narrow, and wide you would like the top of the witches hat to be. Once you have settled on a size, cut the plastic, roll into a cone and securely fasten with the floral wire.
2. Next, determine how large and wide you would like the brim of the hat to be.  Use your scissors to cut a flat round piece of the plastic chicken wire mesh. If you’re making more than one witches hat, try playing with the shape of the brim. Make one rim perfectly round, and another misshapen (maybe flat in the back and pointy in the front.) Fasten the cone to the brim using floral wire.

This is what the Plastic Chicken Wire Mesh looks like.

This is the witches hat that was previously covered in paper mache. I was in the process of  removing the paper mache from the brim, and the rest of the hat.  If you look closely at the brim you can see that it’s covered with a plastic trash bag and the plastic chicken wire mesh is below giving it it’s shape. If you look even closer, you can see my husbands funky shoes by the garage door.

3.  Cover both the cone and the brim of the witches hat completely with your plastic trash bag. Secure with duct tape.
4. Using your colored duct tape and starting at the top of the hat, begin wrapping the hat in your chosen color. Alternate colors for stripes, or cut our shapes for designs.

Start covering with the tape at the back of the hat. Finish in front so you can cover up any mistakes you  may have made.  (Ooops. As you can see here, I started recovering with paper mache before I got the bright idea to nix  the  paper and paste for duct tape.)

5. Once the hat is completely covered,  add ribbon at the bottom to add a sash and buckle to the hat if desired.