A Homemade Halloween

Has anyone else noticed how completely bonkers Vancouver is about Halloween? 

I think we can safely say that it appears to be a lot of peoples most beloved holiday. And who can blame them, the spookiness is all-inclusive, all religions are free to participate. And it demands people to be creative, to dress up as someone- or something else and play a part for a night (or week,) a un-expressed need many of us might have. 

There is no obligation to buy anything, and you're encouraged to feast and drink, or just watch scare movies.

Halloween can be homemade and be MORE awesome than store bought.  

Lets keep that going. Yes, all of us have caved to incredibly cheap and cool Halloween decorations (I have a great set of sparkly skeletons) but I want to display them alongside beautiful sticks found in the forest, a mini pumpkin from the Farmers Market and a mini witches broom from a local craftsman.  Nuts and dried poppies from the garden fit right in.

Homegrown garlic braids conjure up thoughts of Vampires and Witches, and maybe lonely cabins in the woods.

And homegrown pumpkins can stay out of the pantry for a few weeks and add to the decor of your home.  And once the holiday has passed, cook them for dinner.

The homemade aspect doesn't get more fun than with the costume. Putting ANY effort into a costume will make your Halloween more fun. Go to thrift stores, raid your closet, ask a friend what they have to spare and brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm. I made this little skeleton costume for my girl using black pants and a shirt she already had, and a white dress shirt my husband was going to turn into rags. I sewed it with another mom friend for moral support, and my daughter loves it so much its hard to get her to take it off. To see her perform her skeleton dance for everyone who comes over is reminding me of why this holiday is so great. Hedonism unleashed, for once.

But there is a dark side to this holiday that I do not enjoy, and have a really tough time getting around. Candy.....

So much sugar, so many weird preservatives, and so much garbage. You want your kid to participate in the holiday and make fantastic memories, but you don't want them eating this junk.

This is a picture of my two year old's teeth. She has 7 cavities. We brush her teeth twice a day, and floss daily. She will be put under general anesthetic to get her needed crowns and fillings. We have HUGE reservations around Halloween candy. I am going to be handing out walnuts and gum to the kids who come to my house, and maybe a few apples....

Have you ever looked into the razor blades in apples rumour? I did, a little bit, and it seems like most of the cases were hoaxes, maybe with razor blades put in by the children themselves.  How tragic that this rumour has totally squashed a beautiful, local, seasonal, and waste free alternative to all the garbage we are currently feeding our younger citizens.

And lets not forget Halloweens roots. Samhain begins on the same night, and is the Pagan New Year. The time when the last of the harvest is brought in, and winter begins. There definitely is a little bit of magic alluded to, and a remembrance of all those passed. But mostly, it is a shift, to the inside, to the darker and colder time of the year, when the stakes are a bit higher as nature cycles beyond abundance to death, and ultimately, months later, renewal.