Friday, October 28, 2011

Happy Halloween

Image source: Joelk75
All kids, big and little, like Halloween, right?  All the candy, and parties and candy, and now the latest craze - Trunk or Treat, which I just heard about last year.  This is a relatively new Halloween activity where children go from trunk to trunk in a parking lot collecting candy, and is a safer alternative to traditional door-to-door trick or treating.  All you need is a parking lot, cars with decorated trunks and loads of candy.  Add ghosts, goblins, pirates and super heroes, and throw in Cinderella and a witch or two and you have the ideal Halloween recipe.

When I was growing up, we walked around our little neighborhood which had all of four streets.  There weren't even any street lights back then. As the sun was setting, the neighborhood kids, decked out in dime store costumes, took to the streets toting their bags or plastic jack-o-lanterns hoping for the "good" candy.  Yeah, baby, I'm talking CHOCOLATE!

The pictures below shows the bag (front and back) that my Mom painted for me one Halloween.  Did I mention that she was creative and talented?  This bag is one of my treasures.

Who wouldn't want a custom made, hand painted Halloween treat bag?




Fast forward to adulthood, and living on a busy road that isn't suitable for trick or treaters.  Upside?  I get to eat ALL the candy.

Now we come to my artistic talents.  I painted some treat bags a few years ago when Ashley's kids were here.  Below we have a witch with some bats and a ghost.  Scary, huh?

Boo!

And here we have a very spooky tree, a full moon and a black cat - all essentials for Halloween.

Mrrrooowww!
I'd love to hear about your Halloween memories.

20 comments:

  1. I love the hand painted bags. We didn't celebrate Halloween and as we lived on a farm, there were no neighbours to ask for tricks or treats anyway. We had Guy Falkes night on November 5th, with fireworks and potatoes baked on the bonfire...

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  2. Linda, you're so creative as was your Mom. My kids were always in homemade costumes, too and they carried matching containers in which to collect their treats. When my older boy was a firefighter, he carried a hollow plastic fire hydrant as his treat bag. The year he was Aladdin, he had an oil lamp-shaped container and his brother who was Abu, the monkey - his receptacle was a banana. I loved Halloween with my guys. :)

    I think Trunk or Treat is an excellent idea. We have pretty safe streets around my neighbourhood but we also have a lot of apartment buildings. Kids don't do door-to-door in apartments and at the best, they residents are often asked to bring their candy to the undecorated lobby for handing out. Use of the parking lot in this way would be a great improvement. Each car owner could decorate their car.. add music.. dress up. And if they get cold, they can warm up inside the vehicle for a few minutes. Love this idea!

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  3. Well, Trunk or Treating sure would've saved wear and tear on my feet. But the idea arrived long after my lads outgrew Halloween. More's the pity.

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  4. Those hand painted bags are totally amazing. And TRUNK or TREAT sounds like an absolute blast!

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  5. Anji- Thank you. My bag is a really special to me after all these years. I like the idea of fireworks and baked potatoes. I love potatoes, any way you fix them. I think that would top candy in my book.

    Hilary- I don't really remember my Halloween costumes. I guess some were homemade, others were dime store. It was really neat and creative to have the containers coordinated with the costumes. I bet they were adorable. Thanks for sharing.

    Frank- I do think the trunk or treat thing is a good idea. I've seen some elaborate pictures of decorated vehicles. Some of the events around here are church sponsored. Considering the size of some parking lots, you could still log some mileage.

    Meleah- Thank you. Mom had a talent for that sort of thing. I copied ideas from her bag. The weird witch was my own idea, however. Some of the churches around here have trunk or treat events in their parking lots.

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  6. WOW, Linda, that bag your mom painted for you is stellar!! So wonderful you saved it.

    I like the idea of the trunk-or-treat a lot!

    I ave been o'd.ing on Almond Joys lately and my hips are beginning to show the results. Gonna donate the rest of them to the library kids. And start exercising again! Been so lazy the past 2 weeks.

    xoxo

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  7. Oh, and that is not to say YOUR halloween art pales, yours is nice too! I am just very impressed with your mom's art. And obvious love that went into the creation.

    xoxo

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  8. Those hand crafted bags are awesome! We live in a neighborhood where there are tons of kids so we generally sit out on the porch with pizza and a glass of wine and hand out candy from about 4:30 PM till about 9. I think we went through about $100 worth of candy last year. It's nice weather so we may get even more kids this year. Alex likes to wear a costume to hand out the treats. Me? Not so much!

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  9. I love the idea of hand-painted Halloween bags! Your mom was SO talented!

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  10. Linda,

    Like others, I love the hand-painted bags. My favorite was your bag with the tree, the moon, the back cat and white rabbit running away. Well done.

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  11. Jannie- I am glad you enjoyed the artwork. She had a way of knowing what should be saved and would mean a lot later. Hers was better than mine - I was using it as a pattern.

    Linda- Hey, it's not hard to spend $100 on candy. I do like the idea of pizza and wine on the porch. I'm afraid it would be a bit chilly here tonight. You can always wear your sunglasses.

    Megan- She was indeed. Thank you.

    Sara- Thank you. They were fun to do - mostly done in watercolor on brown paper bags, so it they took a lot of paint.

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  12. these are really cool and what a treat...would be fun to get the little to paint their own...jotting that down for next year...i think trunk or treet is a product of the scary elements of our culture...

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  13. Brian- That would be a great idea. Little ones can be quite creative. The trunk or treat is a reflection of our time, but a good idea nevertheless.

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  14. those hand-painted bags are a treasure! congrats on your POTW!

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  15. You have your hand-painted trick-or-treat bag from childhood? I'm wildly jealous. What foresight you had as a child.I'm kind of a hoarder, but I bet I wouldn't have thought to keep that treasure.

    We live on a street with hills and no sidewalk. I bought $5 worth of candy, and there was only one little trick or treater.

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  16. TexWisGirl- Yes, they are indeed. Thanks for stopping by.

    Kerry- I cannot take credit for still having the bag. My mother is the one with the foresight to save it. I am very glad she did. We tried trick or treat once in 24 years, and I think we had one visitor. Gave up after that. It's just too busy and unsafe. No one trick or treats on our street. Thank you for visiting!

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  17. Yeah... I can see why you'd save a bag like that. That's pretty cool.

    My mom used to make for me bags with clown faces drawn on, with a hole cut out where the nose would be, to put my tissues in when I was in bed with flu or a cold.

    I make those for my kids as well, though I didn't, for the obvious reason, save any of the "originals." ;-)

    I'm actually pretty fortunate to live in a good neighborhood for trick-or-treaters. We get tons, plus, vans come from a nearby not-so-nice neighborhood to drop their kids off to trick-or-treat here - so we're just swarmed every Halloween. It's good for the kids, and I like it too... it's how it ought to be.

    That's how it was where I grew up. My parents still live there, but there aren't many kids anymore, they only get a few now.

    Congratulations on your potw.

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  18. Was your mom a professional artist? That's incredible but what's more amazing is that you did not rip the bag trick or treating. My kids run crazily from house to house swinging the bag over their shoulders.

    Of course they're using pillowcases and not actual bags, but they're still rough with them.

    Your painted bags are pretty snazzy as well -- you clearly received your mom's creativity gene.

    p.s. I also enjoyed the white rabbit in your spooky tree version.

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  19. Hi Linda .. Halloween isn't that big over here yet - but to keep people secure is a necessity.

    They had a party up at the Nursing Centre - so it provided some amusement for everyone and entertainment generally ..

    Your mother's creativity is fantastic - well done for yours too .. I can't draw for toffee!! I'd draw teeth .. screaming in rage at the horror I'd created!

    Oh well .. love the photos - thanks Hilary

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  20. You know what? I wish you had been a bit younger or I a bit older. We would have had a fantastic time trick or treating around the block together! So glad you were wise enough to not let our little age difference cheat us out of such a life long friendship...
    Ashley

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