The House Dressing Company

Hello Everyone!

The Holiday often associated with ORANGE and BLACK is fast approaching! Yes…you guessed it- HALLOWEEN. This year it lands on a Saturday! It’s wonderful for all the children who are trick -or-treating! The Jack -o-Lantern, a carved pumpkin, is also a very unique and strong symbol associated with Halloween.

I was reading a bit about the history of Halloween from “Wikipedia” and this is what I found. I thought it was quite interesting and could make a fun story to tell your children.

“Halloween has origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain [pronounced: sow- wen] (Irish pronunciation: [ˈsˠaunʲ]; from the Old Irish samhain, possibly derived from Gaulish samonios). The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes regarded as the “Celtic New Year”. Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Celts believed that on October 31st, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the living and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks being worn at Halloween goes back to the Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.”

There are many activities that are part of the Halloween tradition: ghost tours, trick -or- treating, bonfires, haunted houses, costume parties, scary stories, horror movies, wearing costumes, carving pumpkins and funny pranks. No matter what age you are………there are lots of  fun ways to celebrate Halloween. My fond memories of Halloween consist of my dad and I carving pumpkins together, and me dressed up in my favourite “white” witch costume.  I used to love sorting all the candy in different categories when I got home.

We have lots of Halloween goodies in the store right now! Doormats, Pumpkin stands with eyeballs, bat candles, paper napkins, crows and spiders!! I have set a Halloween table at the store. Its so much fun on the round cream table! The black place-mats sure stand out! Have some fun with your table decorations! You could use black licorice as napkin rings. You could also pour that orange hard Halloween candy in small glass votives for a base for all your twinkling tea-lights!! Bring in some twigs from outside and place them in a vase as your centerpiece. The artificial crows would look fantastic in amongst the twigs!!

Take a look at these great Pumpkin Stands! There is no need to carve your pumpkin. Just simply place it in the stand. The crazy attached eyeballs extend out to create a fun face!!

I am fortunate to drive by the pumpkin fields everyday on my way to and from work! Take a look at some of these great shots. We sure live in such a wonderful place!

Halloween would not be complete without a SPOOKY recipe!! There are loads of great ones at these websites: Just click on the links below

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/halloween/index.html

http://www.britta.com/Hw/hwr.html

One in particular that is really yummy and that look so creepy are the “Witches Fingers”  A friend of mine makes them every year!

Enjoy this great time of year and make the most of this fascinating Holiday!