13 Days of Halloween: Day Eight

Every year, almost without fail, some situation calls for us to assemble some sort of Halloween playlist. There are many lists out there on the internet and of course there is also the last-minute option of making a Halloween station on Pandora or a similar site.

However, after years of celebrating the holiday, some of the songs are recommended again and again and can get a bit old. Now, Halloween is just not the same without "Monster Mash" and "Thriller", but we've tried to dig up a few songs that are maybe new to the typical Halloween mix. Whether you are throwing a fancy haunted dinner or a spooky dance party, there is hopefully something here for every Halloween occasion!

13 Days of Halloween: Day Three

 

We've got monsters on the brain. Big time. All the time. We also have a year round craving for everything and anything antiqued, cobwebbed, and creepy. So, even though this photo shoot was done in the summertime, we thought now would be a good time to broadcast it here.

Back home, one of our mothers has the ultimate creepy garage, complete with an accumulation of spider webs that have taken our eight legged friends years, maybe decades, to produce.The light is dim, and the surroundings are altogether dingy. It didn't take much alteration to turn it into a Victorian scientist's laboratory (Luh-bore- uh-tor-ee, not Lab-ruh-tory).

We simply added candelabras, dried flowers, yards of wispy tulle, and a few spell books to complete the scene. In this shoot, a scientist with a taste for the occult studies his subjects: a new bitten vampire and a lady werewolf. Costumes were sourced from our own wardrobes and from our friend's closets (which, luckily, included exactly what was needed). With the makeup, we tried to create implications of the monsters rather than full-on B-movie special effects. We are in love with the results of this photo shoot. The lighting, the set, the costumes, and make-up all came together exactly as we had envisioned. Can you guess the storyline from these photos?

13 Days of Halloween: Day Two

Today is the second day in our countdown to Halloween! It might be a little earlier to start wearing a costume, but that doesn't mean you can't be festive! Nails can add a little spooky touch to everyday outfits. Here are a few Halloween nail tutorials, ranging from quick and simple to a little more complex. They were all done with a variety of nail polish brands, most of them drugstore brands (wet'n'wild is a cheap but nice brand; it goes on pretty opaque). They can be done with any colors, really, so you can use whatever you have on hand!

Step One: Apply orange polish to your whole nail (or black if you want to reverse it)

Step Two: Paint a line of black diagonally across the tip of your nail from left to right

Step Three: Paint a diagonal from the opposite side of your nail so that the tip is covered. You can go over the tip one more time to even everything out

There you go; a fast and easy way to add a little Halloween touch to your outfit. Want something a little more complex? Read on for mummies, candy corn, and more!

Photoshoot Fridays: Dune Maidens

"Oh! come back from sea, my dear Johnny, to me,
And make me a bride of your own!
Or else for your sake my poor heart it will break,
And here I shall die all alone, alone,
And here I shall die all alone."
-I Must Live Alone, Old English Folk Song