Autumn Inspiration

All holidays are great (we'll take any holiday we can get), but the most anticipated holiday in our house is Halloween. Is this funny in a religious household? There's nothing really special or meaningful to Halloween, yet still, aside from sports, it, and all the festivities that come along, is one of the most discussed topics in the Stock home.

I have costumes that I have brainstormed since this time last year - that's right, I begin planning next year's Halloween before current year's is even passed. Party ideas and motifs run through my head year-round, and then daily as we get closer to the big day. Oh what? You didn't know about our Halloween party??

It's true. This October 2011 will mark the Stock's 2nd Annual Halloween Bash (one of these years we'll think of a cool name for it). We went all out - or, as far as we could with the budget we had - for the first, and it was loads of fun. We had pirates and superheroes and princesses and M&Ms and psychos and Russians and old people and bandits and bugs, and even a blind referee and his trusty robot friend:

(Blind Referee is actually Connie's boy)

And please take a moment of silence for the time, blood, and sweat (not to mention lost pins) put into this amazing mummy costume (minus the head piece that makes him slightly scary):

Sadly, Mike didn't let me tea die it for a more authentic look, but I'm pretty proud of how awesome it looks for having been made on short notice.

At this point, we're pretty amateur Halloween party throwers, but the idea is to get better and better with each year, and we've definitely got a lot planned for this one. And though our budget doesn't allow for every idea to come to fruition, we put them back into the pot for future years. (I totally plan to pull off the bathroom this year, so watch out. And Mike hopes to really make a scare with his carport haunted house again - but for real this time.)

But speaking of limited party budgets, wouldn't it be awesome to have some help in that area? And not just help there, but with the decor as well? Have any of you heard of Autumn with Matthew Mead? A GREAT magazine - definitely getting an issue for inspiration. Bloggers from around the sphere have given their best input, and you'll probably recognize some of your favorites. 

Autumn with Matthew Mead is hosting a giveaway for $250 gift cards for autumn decorating right now (holy how far that would go for us!) to get the word out about their genius "book-azine." Follow my links to go check them out and order your own issue!

(Oh yeah and come to our Halloween party!)