Women's Institute - Halloween 2

This is enough to scare away any children wanting sweets, I grew the double chin to look authentic!

I love dressing up for Halloween I missed out when I was a child as it hadn't crossed the pond then, so I am more than happy to make up for lost time! I turned up dressed as a witch for the WI meeting, (you can't see the black and white striped stockings!) it was J's idea and she looked fabulous!

I am so proud to announce we won the cup! They loved the crazy witch's desk!

Now I will add a little about the Women's Institute here: I am a little worried that unless it starts to attract younger members we will lose a great institution! I know it has a certain image that does not seem to relate to women our age and younger, but I really feel we are missing out! The competitions are great fun, there are also opportunities to make a contribution to our communities as well as make great friends!

Where else are we going to learn skills to really be independent? Our schools no longer teach children life skills such as cooking, it is all about manufacturing as home skills were considered non aspirational! This will be a whole generation dependent on pre package foods and take aways!

Colleges and evening classes no longer get paid to run 'vocational' classes, so they aren't able to run dressmaking, cooking or creative crafts. There are so many women now who can't sew a button or take up a pair of trousers, yet with the way clothing is made it is so hard to get a great fit without knowing how to take it in here or let it out there! Don't even start me on customising things - I just love being different!

Anyway, the solution is the Women's Institute, it is stock full of women with skills who are able to pass down the generations. I was taught to crochet from a lovely lady from the WI, she was so patient and kind, and I think of her every time I make something! There is also the wonderful Denman College, which holds such a huge variety of courses from beauty, creative writing, dressmaking to exotic cookery and chocolate making!

So, if you are thinking about it then just do it! Yes it will be full of older women, but they have so much to offer us, if we only had the courage to go for it! After all if we all started joining then it would be full of women just like us too!

There are new WI's starting up, activities include burlesque dancing, life drawing (with a male model!) for info check out this from the Bramley Lite WI - just give me time and we will be soon shakin' our bootie!

Halloween is nearly here!

I have created this display for my WI in a local competition! It has been great fun and difficult to know when to stop! I did not realise we had so much Gothic stuff in the house! I am glad the kids are out of their Gothic phase!
The bottles were in the shed and the contents is made up from various cleaners in the home, they come in such great colours! It is surprising how lovely thick wool can end up looking like intestines when it is immersed in window cleaner!

The labels were made using an ordinary word processing program, this font is called parchment, I also used Gigi.

I aged the labels by painting them with cold tea, then letting it dry in the oven!

The stink bugs eggs are made with some yellow cleaner, a necklace with white beads and some green oil.

I used red paint to fill this bottle, but I think red ink gives a better colour, not quite so muddy. The drips of blood were created using sealing wax and running it down the edge.

Candles don't burn down with bumps so the best way to get a runny effect is to drip the wax from another candle onto the sides. You can adjust the rate it falls by raising or lowering the candle that you are dripping from. It should give a lovely gnarled effect when you have finished.



Use an old fashioned font create a spell, using a velum paper, then cut it to form ragged edges. You then soak the edges with

cold tea and curl the edges round a knitting needle while it is still wet. Put in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up! You will have an aged spell for your ensemble!

I also had some small china cups, (used in Chinese food). If you drink herbal tea especially a red tea, (strawberry, raspberry etc) Empty the contents into a small dish and let it dry, it will look just like dried blood!


So it hasn't all been fun and games, I have still managed my de-cluttering task! I can actually see my dining room table! It is surprising how lovely it looks! The chooks are still enjoying all the shredded junk mail! The cups have started a bit of a frenzy, I have sorted out quite a few more cups and crockery to go in my bag. I also went to Primani today, so I filled the bag with unwanted clothes! However, I won't be de-cluttering the shed, after all those bottles have been hanging about for ages and they came in useful!