I bet you thought we forgot about you, eh? Or maybe that we died from a fun avalanche on Halloween night? Nay, we have been recovering from one of the most awesome Halloweens in recent history:
Like good little Halloweenies we’ve been reminiscing over and sharing our photos, eating up the last of our treats, and… planning for next year! At most stores you’ll find Halloween items discounted like crazy, which is a great way to drive away the post-Halloween blues. (If you haven’t scooped up a 3′ skull-covered, faux stone funeral vase for $9.99, I would highly recommend it.) If you’re the list-making type like us, you probably found more than a couple ideas that you didn’t have time for, which means you have an entire year to breathe life into them by October 2008. Joy!
Now that The Big Night has passed for another season, things will slow down around here as we focus our attentions elsewhere. (I think I can hear the moan of holiday zombies already…) But never fear Halloween fan, we will still be updating year-round. Please creep on by anytime and drop a comment; those help keep us motivated!
As you can see in the slideshow, we had a killer Halloween season. What about you guys? What marvelous mayhem did you participate in? Tell us your stories, share your photos…
There are countless rites of passage that we experience during our transition to adulthood. Always educational, sometimes quite embarrassing, these are the times we recall years down the road. An event that inevitably happens for every little Trick or Treater is the Halloween you ask yourself “am I too old to go out this year?” What will your friends think? Will they laugh at your costume? Should you be at home watching scary movies or out TP-ing and egging houses that are giving out crappy treats? Perhaps you even wanted to show just how mature you’d gotten since last Halloween and chaperon your younger siblings while they get sacks full of candy. Or maybe it just got boring?
When did you know it was time to stop Trick or Treating? How did you spend your Halloween nights after that fateful year?
You’ve been toiling away on your costume (or pumpkin, prop, spooky art, whatever the case may be) to freak out the impending trick-or-treaters. Your creation can win you a handful of treats, too! Some of these contests are frightfully simple to enter, while the rest require varying degrees of participation. Whether you only have a moment to join a mailing list, or have set aside months to create a fantastic costume or prop, you’ll find a contest perfect for you.
MAKE/CRAFT DIY Halloween Contest: Submit images of your homemade Halloween creations to the flickr pool. Categories include pumpkins, costumes, decorations or gadgets, and food. Prizes: A trip to Maker Faire San Francisco and a bunch of other TBA prizes Deadline: November 4, 2007
Curbly Candy Corn Challenge: To enter, transform these syrupy wedges into something seasonally superior for your home. Or, take a cue from its traditional three color stripes, and use it as an aesthetic for you next creation. Prize: $75 gift card to Amazon.com Deadline: October 29, 2007 (extended!)
Etsy Costume Contest: To enter, make a handmade costume or accessory and put it for sale in your Etsy shop. Categories include Pet, Kid & Baby, T-Shirt Costume, Sci-Fi, Green, and General Awesomeness. Prizes: 18 winners will share over $2,000 worth of goods and prizes including $150 shopping sprees at Etsy & Threadless Deadline: October 26, 2007
BloodSucking Cinema Halloween Contest: Send them an email with your name, age, address and the subject line HALLOWEEN CONTEST! Include your USERNAME from the boards. As always new members are always welcome to enter, but they will check to see if you registered and are a member posting on the site. Prizes: Portable DVD Player, horror DVDs, and tons of various (mostly zombie themed) items Deadline: Not stated
Penelope Illustration Monster Mash: Create a monster by any means you prefer: drawing, sculpture, design, textile, etc. and submit a picture. Prizes: 3 winners get a $20 certificate to Amazon Deadline: October 31, 2007
October Oddness Drawing: Leave a voicemail (or e-mail a recorded submission) related to Halloween, ghosts, goblins, news and any other October related subject matter. Prizes: Podcast related swag Deadline: October 25 & 30, 2007 (depending on which prize you’re aiming for)
Raven’s Barrow Halloween Prize Pack: Just sign up for the e-mail newsletter for a chance to win. Prizes: A whole bunch of prizes Deadline: October 20, 2007
Halloween Photo Spell Contest: Take photos of letters or things that look like letters to spell out the word “Halloween” in one image. Prize: a gift card or some other small token Deadline: October 21, 2007
Fujifilm Picture Perfect Halloween Contest: Categories include Best Pumpkins, Cutest Baby Costumes, Best Pets, Best Kid’s Costumes, Best Teens and Adult Costumes. Prizes: A trip for 4 to PA for the HERSHEY Trick or Treat Adventure in October 2008, Digital Photography course, $50.00 Visa debit card, or a sheet of customized stamps Deadline: November 3, 2007
Disney Halloween Costume Contest: Upload a photo of your homemade costume and instructions. Doesn’t have to be 100% homemade, but costumes must consist of some homemade elements. Categories include Most Unique, Family Costumes, & Easy to Make. Prizes: All inclusive trip for 4 to Walt Disney World, digital camera, or “picnic basket” of goodies. Deadline: October 31, 2007
Do you know of any Halloween contests that we missed? Leave a comment so we can add it to the list.
The bummer about kids Halloween costumes is that they’re pretty much a one-time use item. Kids grow so dang fast, and unless you’ve got younger kids to pass down those costumes to, they’re useless to your family after the season. Thankfully, you can help out other families in need and give new life to a used costume at the same time. Preschool Rock has set up a Halloween Costume Exchange that allows you to donate your kids used costumes and get a 20% discount off a new costume for this year. Pretty sweet deal.
How Does the Halloween Costume Exchange Work?
Parents seeking free Halloween costumes:
Look through the listings of free Halloween costumes.
When a desirable Halloween costume is found, the parent contacts the Halloween costume donator via email to arrange for shipment.
Parent receives Halloween costume in the mail just in time for Halloween!
Parents wanting to donate a Halloween costume:
Complete the Halloween Costume Exchange Donation Form.
Your Halloween costume will be posted on PreschoolRock; PreschoolRock will email a code to you that will give you 20% off the cost of a new Halloween costume from Anytime Costumes.
How simple is that? So if you’ve got any kids costumes laying around please donate them so that a family in need can have a great Halloween.
Halloween is a time for creativity; letting your imagination wander into the unexplored corners of your mind, the birth of new monsters, unleashing of ideas long since bottled… Sometimes the end result is reward enough, but you know what makes it even sweeter? Recognition. When you finally get to wear the costume that took you 8 weeks to make, the cries of “What an amazing costume!” make it so worth it. And when your neighbors do a double take and have to peer closer at your handmade yard prop: that’s one satisfying moment.
So if you haven’t already started, now’s the time to get cracking on your Halloween creations. When you’ve finally finished, enter them into the MAKE/CRAFT DIY Halloween Contest. Just upload your pictures to their DIY HALLOWEEN photo pool at Flickr by November 4th and your homemade masterpiece is in the running. What are the categories, you ask?
Hack-o’-Lantern contest: Decorate a pumpkin any way you see fit, or unfit.
Costume contest: Dressing up? Making your own costume? Any costume with homemade elements on it, in it, or used with it is OK.
Decorations, Haunted house, gadgets, and more contest: Decorations at home, work, wherever, a haunted house, lawn gadgets, anything Halloweeny.
Food contest: The grosser the better.
If you need some inspiration but don’t plan on entering the contest, the Flickr pool promises to be a nearly endless supply of creative ideas. Last year there were thousands of entries, and if you submit yours, this year will be that much cooler.
“Makers” were born to create amazing Halloween projects. Whether you’re a reader of MAKE magazine or just a DIY inclined individual, you fall into this category. Like an evil MacGyver, you can probably take any 3 items from around your house and whip up a firebreathing jack-o-lantern or a decidedly unique costume. If 42 of “the craftiest costumes to amazing animated props and the latest in computer-controlled haunted house effects” piques your interest then you’ll want to pre-order MAKE Mag: Halloween Special Edition. It ships late August which, in Halloween-preparation time, is about 5 minutes away.
You’ve been toiling away on your costume (or pumpkin, prop, spooky art, whatever the case may be) to freak out the impending trick-or-treaters. 
