Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  I hope your day is filled with treats, spooks, and a whole lot of fun!  The past few weeks I've been getting in the spirit and creating and crafting some tricky and treaty projects, and today is the perfect day to share them!  Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Welcome guests to your house with a bevy of spiders!
Attach magnets to the backs of plastic spider rings
(take the ring portion off) and you have creepy crawlies
to attach to your door!

Use mini black trees and candy corn for a festive table setting.
I plan on decorating these trees tonight.  Use orange or silver buttons,
mini lights, whatever!

Of course I had to include a tutu!  I added a black flower
to this green and yellow one and it was a hit with my
students, who pretended to be witches brewing spells
in it!

Ballerina Halloween Characters

Halloween is just around the corner! Still looking for costume ideas?  Look no further...
I always love asking my students what they plan on being for Halloween.  After a myriad of responses that usually include: mermaids, ballerinas (duh), fairies, witches and Disney characters, I ask them what they think I should be.  They usually ponder for a moment or two, and provide me with a litany of creative responses.  My favorite this year has been a princess zombie.
So I got to thinking about Halloween characters and costumes that could be ballet and dance inspired.  "Ballerina" is a pretty general character to portray, why not spice it up a bit and get more specific if your budding ballerina (or maybe you) are interested in being a creature from the dance world for Halloween.  Here are some ideas for characters and costume ideas too.  Happy Spooking!

Medora from Le Corsaire
Medora is a spunky harem girl in the Ballet Le Corsaire, a la Jasmine from Aladdin.  Set to be sold to a Pasha, Medora and her friend Gulnare embark on a set of adventures with Conrad the pirate and his slave Ali in this ballet.  

Viktoria Tereshkina

I love the idea of a yellow tutu and leotard, sparkled up and with a floaty veil or scarf to give the costume an Arabian Nights kind of feel.  Or some baggy pants (you could use ribbons or hair ties to pull the pants in at the ankles and knees) and channel Princess Jasmine.

Coppelia from Coppelia
Click here for the full story on Coppelia.  She's a great option because not only is she a 'ballerina' but a doll as well.  A ballet dress with an apron, and some fun and funky make up will make an easy and cute doll look.

Jewels
Balanchine gave us this gem of a ballet and this is a great option if you have a ballerina on your hands who LOVES a specific color.  Emerald, Ruby and Diamond were the original variations, but think outside the box!  You could also go Lilac Fairy from Sleeping Beauty!

Ariadne from Errand Into The Maze
Wanting to go a little more trick rather than treat? Martha Graham's Errand Into the Maze explores the Greek tale of Ariadne and the Minotaur.  Here is a picture of the traditional costume used.  This could also be a great costume to use make up on, both the face and the body!

Miki Orihara

La Sonnambula
We can again thank Balanchine for another darker character in La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker).  Also an opera, this haunting character floats mystically through her story in a long white nightgown, hair down, with a single candle lighting her way.  It's not only a chilling costume option, but a chillingly beautiful ballet.

Wendy Wheelan

Fall Tutus

I got to go on a little get away this weekend up to Tahoe, where the colors are swiftly changing to warm fall shades, which made for a beautiful drive and planted a seed of inspiration for a fall colored tutu.  JoAnn's is great for always having lots of seasonal craft items on hand, including tulle, which is great for my seasonal tutu making ventures.  I love the colors I found for this tutu, lots of warm burgundy and plums, along with green and gold makes for an awesome autumn tutu.

I made this Halloween tutu a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post about it for awhile.  Here it is as if it grew off my parents lemon tree, a bit sweet and sour at the same time, perfect for a Halloween fairy to do some trick or treating in.

Soon we'll be falling back and changing the time, which is always a bit bittersweet for me... officially saying goodbye to summer and longer days, but with fall colors and warm holidays ahead it's not such a bad trade off!

Hats and Sparkles and Spiders... Oh My!

With the thoughts of a girly Halloween party dancing in my head I was tickled to find these fun sparkly witches hats at my local TJ Maxx.  Gotta love TJ Maxx for cheap and festive finds.  I think my favorite is the purple and hot pink hat (perfect colors for a girly Halloween), but the turquoise with the skull is a close runner up.  Usually I'm not a fan of any type of skull, should it be in the Halloween spirit or not (I guess I truly am a "girl" in that sense... I prefer sparkles to skulls any day and for any occasion, and it is a rather friendly looking skull...), but the juxtaposition of the skull and the glitter of the hat hits just the right chord with me!

And these sparkly spiders are technically supposed to be napkin rings, but just think of the possibilities... decorating a Halloween wreath, spinning a web on some cotton batting in a corner of your living room, or maybe even attached to a ponytail?  Happy spooking!

Make it a Girly Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner, and I've been thinking how fun a girly Halloween party would be, which got me to searching around the internet to see if any other crafty ladies had the same idea and what their inspirations were.  A To Zebra Celebrations blogged about their Girly Halloween Celebration last year, and I love their colors, sparkles and fun feminine touch.  Check out their blog here, and make sure to check out all their pictures of the event, so pretty!

A few weeks ago while I was at Benicia Bay Company I saw a sparkly chandelier like this one and thought to myself what a great addition it would be to any Halloween get together.

Polka Dot Design has tons of wicked cute Halloween invitations, here are two of my favorites.  (You know I love a polka dot, these orange and white ones are festively fun).

If you're planning a Halloween get together hope this gets your juices going with some spooky and girly ideas for your own bash.  Happy planning!