October 6, 2013

Halloween just wouldn’t be the same to me without…

If you've ever read this blog before during Octobers past (and/or your follow me on Pinterest), than chances are you may already know that I'm one of those folks who eats, sleeps, breathes, and most definitely blogs about Halloween. Yes indeedy, though, naturally, my passion for All Hallows Eve springs to life most vividly during October, throughout the whole year I think about this spooky, enchanted, pumpkin and black cat filled day and pretty much become as giddy as a child when this month finally rolls into town again.

Out comes my treasured little collection of decorations, festive recipes, beloved seasonal movies, and photographs of Halloween past to wax nostalgically about with my relatives. Though there's much to get done and experience this month before all of those delightfully eerie little hobgoblins come knocking at the door for sweet treats once more, it's never too soon to talk about Halloween. On this nippy early October morn, as a rather fitting layer of frost glistens like a specter across the lawn and a dozen more ruddy cheeked maple leaves flutter to the ground before I even finish this sentence, that's precisely what I'm going to do.

There are certain things that are almost universally beloved and/or seen as steadfast signs of this holiday. Jack-o-lanterns, flocks of bats screeching in the crisp night air, witches stirring cauldrons, crumbling old headstones, the sound of heavy chains rattling, dressing up and filling your tummy with a rather substantial amount of chocolate, to name but a few.

These shared, fabulous, elements of Halloween are all things I adore, but there are plenty more as well - some of which many of you will no doubt also treasure, others which are traditions in my family (such as pizza - something my mom made from scratch almost every Halloween night when I was growing up, and which I continue to the same myself now as an adult), but perhaps not as universally associated with Halloween.

Most though, are things we all eagerly look forward to and which the season simply wouldn't seem the same without. Here's to the fun, magic, and cobweb covered memories of each and every one of these 31 (one each for every day of the month) Halloween must-haves!



{It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown}




{Reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein}




{Candy Apples}




{Michael Jackson's Thriller song & video}
 
 



{A trip to the local pumpkin patch}




{Homemade pizza}




{Faux cobwebs}




{Vintage (Halloween) pin-up photographs}




{Apple cinnamon flavoured or scented anything - food, air fresheners, candles, you name it!}




{Disney's classic movie Hocus Pocus} 
 



{Festive fireworks}




{Roasted pumpkin seeds}




{Campy mid-century scary movies}




{Vintage Halloween candles}







{Dressing up in any costume you want}



 



{Carving pumpkins}
 



{Ghostbusters}




{Halloween themed foods}




{Staring up at the moon and secretly hoping you'll see a witch fly past it}




{The Halloween edition of Martha Steward Living Magazine}




{Haunted Houses}




{Making Kleenex ghosts}




{Caramel popcorn} 




{Decorating your house (and/or yard)}




{Telling ghost stories}
 



{Dry Ice}

 



{Halloween themed episodes of Home Improvement} 




{Throwing festive parties}
 



{All that delicious candy!!!}




{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.} 




Ahhh, I so knew this was going to happen! I'm now even more excited, having put together this list, than I was yesterday. Can a person go twenty-five days without sleep? I kid, of course, but only slightly. I really do get so blissfully happy and endlessly excited for Halloween, that come the last few days before the Witching Hour arrives, it's all I can do to force myself to sleep a wink.

Yes, it's been many a year since I last traipsed around the neighbourhood, pillow case in one hand, the other holding my witch's hat on or vampire cape around my neck, but that doesn't mean I don't still go equally gaga over this mysterious, fun filled, fabulously cool night and the whole month that houses it.

To me Halloween is about the past and the present. It sings in playfully ominous tones of All Hallows Eves from years gone by, and gives me so much to look forward to in the moment. This day, for all its history and mystery, association with horror and grimness, is also terrifically lighthearted and (naturally) high spirited.

Halloween, much like the costumes we don for it, can be whatever you want it to be. Serious, sweet, mischievous, playful, darling, silly, lively or serene. There's no right or wrong way to celebrate October 31st and the spooktacular days that proceed it, just the way that you love, complete with all of the things that ensure Halloween feels like it should for each of us.

Here's to an incredible month and All Hallows Eve, my dear ghouls and boos, may it be a fabulously awesome one for everybody!!!



*PS* Speaking of seriously wonderful Halloween things, one of Chronically Vintage's lovely blog sponsors, Blue Velvet Vintage, is holding a super cool Pinterest centered Halloween giveaway contest this month for those located in US.




For more on this contest, pop on over to Blue Velvet Vintage's beautiful blog or Facebook page. Festive Halloween themed pining with vintage looks and garments - now that sounds frighteningly fun! :)

35 comments:

  1. Kleenex ghosts, how cute are there!
    I will try it with my kindergarten group, Iam sure it will be a lot of fun=)
    Is this first picture a movie or a book? I love charlie brown because its so classy <3
    lots of love Jen

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  2. Jessica,
    What a wonderful images! Gosh, so many wonderful things you have to look forward to (we don't celebrate Halloween here, but I still enjoy looking at the ways you do).
    Now, what was I thinking?

    Oh, yes: Get some roasted pumpkin seeds (I must admit: they are my guilty pleasure - but a healthy one) and watch some Adams Family episodes... you do know I grew up with that show? They had re-runs when I was a kid, I loved it!

    Have a wonderful day, dear.

    Marija

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  3. I can't wait for Halloween either!

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  4. Yay! As you know, I share your passion for Halloween. (Thanks for telling me about our shared enthusiasm earlier.) This holiday is a great excuse to be creative and happy, to enjoy aspects of life ignored the rest of the year. Wonderful post.

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  5. What a wonderful collection of pics. I like the young adults in their vintage costumes, very classy. I also love the picture of the haunted house, that stirs all kinds of ghostly thoughts.

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  6. I love 'Hocus Pocus'! I have it on VHS! haha!

    And kleenex ghosts....those bring me back...great list!

    Lisa.

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  7. I so love Halloween too, there is just so much to love. It brings out the wide eyed kid in everyone...mix that with he crisp air and the beautiful colors that nature bestows on us...throw in some cinnamon and spice, and add a bit of magic!!! What's not to love!

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  8. Okay I think your post has finally gotten me into the mood I need to decorate! Thank you!

    xoxo
    -Janey

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  9. Such a fun post!!!! Oh, you got me super excited! Most of the things on your list we do/watch/ read every year! (and I just got the Martha Halloween mag! It's fabulous!). Yes, definitely excited now!!!

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  10. I was pleased to see the Addams family on this list, it's one of my favourite television shows of all time and in fact I'm watching it right now! I'm quite excited about Hallowe'en as well although we don't celebrate it as much over here.

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  11. I love this post, it really gets you in the mood for halloween!

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  12. I love Halloween too but I would add watching Dracula 1931, reading Dracula and Eggar Allan Poe and HP Love Craft, and watching silent fims Nosferatu, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and Haxan Witch Craft Through the Ages, oh and Rosemary's Baby. In fact there our so many horror films I love watching in October that I have to get started the first weekend or I will never get them all in.

    Kate the old fashioned way

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  13. Ahhh I LOVE the idea of Halloween so much, it's starting to become more popular in Australia but only very slowly. I do wish it would take on because I love all of the carved pumpkins and candy corn so much. I might just carve my own pumpkin this year :)

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  14. What a great post! I'm inspired to do my own list now after reading this.

    I, too, adore Halloween and everything leading up to it. What a fun season!

    I hope you are enjoying your October to the fullest!

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  15. Great inspiration for Halloween parties!

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  16. Halloween has never been a big event over in Australia. Some do celebrate it with parties but it never is the event it is over in America, which I was lucky enough to witness last year when I visited the US. I love how everyone embraces it and most of all, I love the fields of pumpkins! :)

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  17. Yay Jessica! :) This post makes me want to jump up and down and clap my hands like a little girl! I love it all. Everything you list here in these wonderful vintage photos! The Peanuts Halloween special is one of my all time favorites. The Great Pumpkin! I am a believer for sure! And scrumptious candy apples. Yummy. :D And i love love the costume aspect. It really lets a person's creativity and originality shine. Just such a wonderful time.. all of it. Did you bob for apples at your Halloween parties when you were a child?

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  18. I am looking forward to Halloween :) There picture are gorgeous!
    I hope you have a wonderful time!
    http://balearaitzart.blogspot.com.au/

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  19. I have said it before but I will say it again-I love the way you think my dear! I love Halloweeny things too! Love all the photos you chose. What is not to love about this month!!! xox

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    1. That is so terrifically awesome - and super touching - of you to say, dearest Bunny, thank you deeply. It's really wonderful to know that you enjoy the way the ol' gears turn in my head and what they produce here for the blog.

      Tons of hugs & joyful Halloween countdown wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  20. You almost made me excited for Halloween! Until recently it just wasn't a thing here in Australia - but a few years ago we started getting trick or treaters and now my girls are obsessed with it. They put so much effort into making their costumes each year. It just seems so bizarre to me as it was something I only ever saw in movies/tv.

    Now all I want to do is watch home improvement LOL.

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  21. Oh I love love Halloween! So excited xx

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  22. Thank you so much for this list! I'm always looking for new Halloween-themed films and activities and you've left me feeling so inspired.
    I adore Halloween, and I always wish it were more widely celebrated in Australia. I imagine that if I lived in Canada or the U.S I'd be one of those people who goes totally overboard with decorations, costumes and sweet treats. As it is, I usually decorate my loungeroom, watch some scary films and hold a costume party for my family and friends.

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  23. Sheesh, I think you have even ME looking forward to Hallowe'en! *lol* No matter, I'm in love with October (and November), and ne'er shall I break his heart... "His" you ask? Of course it's a he...cold yet colourful, endlessly romantic, and slips away far too soon to leave one's heart frozen for the Winter.

    24 sleeps to go until Your fave night!! :)

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  24. we are two birds of a feather as it seems, me too i´m already sooooo overexcited for halloween and i really can't wait for it;) i celebrate it more than christmas and my birthday together haha so no wonder your post made my heart skip a bit again! i enjoyed those beautiful halloween themed pictures, the dressed up pin ups are adorable;) and well seeing all this i know i need much much more decoration;)
    love and kisses, mary
    http://www.maryloucinnamon.com

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  25. Eeee! Love your 'mood board' of all things Halloweeny and vintage and creative. And I love that the blog world makes me feel more normal for starting to get excited for Halloween already! Last year I let it leap up on me without enough preparation but I must do better costume and event planning this time around!

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  26. OMG, I love Halloween so much that I practically implode with joy, every year. Now, I have the Charlie Brown music in my head, and I am happy to have that little earworm. Ghosts and vintage - my two favorite things IN THE WORLD!!!!

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    1. Awesomely said, dear Katie - I all but implode with joy about Halloween each year, too, and it's a love that just continues to snowball and snowball with each passing October 31st, too. Sad as I am to see Halloween come and go again on the morn of November 1st, I swear, I'm already thinking ahead to the next Halloween. How it will be both different and the same, what I might want to wear, serve my guests, hand out to the kids, decorate the house with, etc.

      Three big cheers for us vintage and Halloween loving ladies!!!
      ♥ Jessica

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  27. Your words and wonderful selection of photos recreate the magic atmosphere of Hallowen with a special touch of style...

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  28. What a fabulous post, I love this! Here in Finland we don't really celebrate Halloween but after seeing this selection of photos I'm thinking maybe we should. :) I wish you a lovely day, dear Jessica!

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  29. Wonderful inspiration, sweet Jessica! I'm starting to prepare my home this Halloween with great enthusiasm, as you know, this party is not very popular here in Spain, but I am determined to bring it to my family and neighbors and enjoy wonderful pumpkin pie, sweet chocolate and fun Halloween decoration this year. Yes! I too am excited about that! Happy October, dear friend.

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  30. I grew up watching the show Home Improvement with the fam, it was Dad's favorite show, and between Tim's annual war of the Christmas decorating contest with the doctor on the block and the hilarious spooky episodes where Brad, Randy, and Mark always were scared by their old man was perfect!

    We have never decorated for Halloween, or really any other holiday other than Christmas and even that was minimal, but the couple across the street have a spectacular theme for their house every year. Unfortunately one of the guys was in a horrible car accident and now they are unable to decorate as outlandish as they once did. I miss it. :-(

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  31. What a lovely post. I am so in love with Halloween too. It has finally started coming to Denmark, but son and I started 12 years ago. We simply needed some fun in the middle of autumn, so we made our decorations ourselves, and I still have it all, so nice. I especially love the orange pumpkins, skulls, skeletons, bats, witches, but not the spiders, ough! I will decorate tomorrow and can hardly wait. Most Danes think it is a silly American tradition, but I love it. Also because it is so different from all other holiday traditions. Happy Halloween to you, dear. :)

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    1. Yay!!! How awesome that Halloween is starting to spread throughout Denmark. I have a sneaking suspicion that as time goes on, it will become considerably more universal. Though it wasn't observed much in Italy when Tony was growing up there, he says it's gained in popularity there in recent years, too. I'm just like you - no spiders (unless they're fake, tiny, and super cute!) either. Real or fake, the big guys are not my cup of tea at all!

      Happy decorating and start of the witching season! :)
      ♥ Jessica

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    2. Yesterday, I bought a spider necklace - and I felt very brave. But I keep the chain short so I cannot see it myself. ;)

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