If you've been reading this blog in past years then you know I really love holidays and decorating for them. Christmas is my very favorite because of the meaning and religious aspects, but Halloween is just so fun to decorate for! My sister and I were talking about how there are really only three styles that people decorate in for Halloween. Scary (blood, bones, monsters that sort of thing), Cutesy (brighter colors like purple, orange and green, cartoon like characters and pumpkins) and Vintage (black cats, pumpkins and old signage sometimes from the 30's and 40's sometimes leaning toward Victorian).
I don't like scary anything, I don't like horror films... (correction - I hate horror films), and I do not like haunted houses. I've never understood why people think being scared is fun, but I do love suspenseful movies like Rear Window and the new Sherlock Holmes so it makes sense that my style is vintage based.
I have made a lot of my own decorations. Remember this garland I designed and Making Memories used as inspiration for a garland they sold at Target? Now that we are in a house and not a tiny apartment, I've been whipping up a few new projects that I want to share here. I know it's just September (don't worry I'm not hanging up Halloween decor just yet!) but I wanted to give everyone time to be able to use the ideas for their own Halloween decor.
The first project up is creating your own family of ghosts. These images aren't hard to do - it just takes a little time and some photoshop know how. I was thinking - if anyone is interested I could do a little video tutorial here on my blog. Let me know if you are interested in the comments. Maybe I'm the only crazy one who would want to do this...
We spent the weekend in Fredericksberg, Texas. It's an old German town and it's perfect for finding spooky looking backdrops. The first two images are of Cole. All the clothing is from Zara. The first is from a distance and I've found that full lengths look a little better than the close ups for these. This image is a little more whimsical.
This next image is a little bit more scary. The only difference is really that he made a serious face and I offset the background so it's slightly blurry.
On a side note - what's the only thing worse than a scary movie? A scary movie with creepy children in it.
Fredericksberg still has it's jail from the 1800's. It was the perfect backdrop for Mark's ghost photo. His beard and long hair help the vintage factor. He is growing it out for Shakespeare auditions this fall.
I'll have to post the images of Grant and I later. I have to say if you have boys like mine that don't like getting their photos taken, this project is great. What boy doesn't want to have a ghost picture taken? My advice is to sneak a few smiley good ones into the shoot. They never have to know, and you end up with a good photos you like and spooky photos they think are awesome!
Would love to see your tutorial - your ideas and photos are always so inspiring!
Posted by: Tracy Reed | September 11, 2011 at 10:43 PM
I love them and would love tutorial too!!
Posted by: Danielle | September 12, 2011 at 09:45 PM
The pictures are Awesome Candice!!!
Posted by: Valeria Sequeira | September 15, 2011 at 06:51 PM
I would Love to learn how to do this. I'm a new follower who found your picture on pintrest.
Posted by: Kristyn | September 27, 2011 at 01:15 PM
Love it, please do a tutorial.
Posted by: Jenne | September 28, 2011 at 07:15 AM
I would love to see a tutorial on this….bring it on!
Posted by: Susan | October 01, 2011 at 12:53 PM
HI, I just stumbled upon your blog, and think it (and You) are awesome! I would like to follow your blog but am having trouble finding the subscribe/follow thing... could you perhaps email me with where its located? bebedoll74@live.com Thanks!!!
Posted by: Tonyia Karwanski | March 29, 2012 at 10:38 PM