Ghostly Ghost Craft

All one would need are a few simple things,
Cheese cloth cut into various sizes, depending on how big you want your spooky ghost.(you want the cloth to be bigger than the balloon, it needs extra length all around the balloon.)
Liquid starch... I looked all over and old faithful Walmart was the only store in the area to carry it.
Balloons- the size you would like your ghosts to be, I had a couple different sizes, I think a real small balloon/ ghost would be cute.
Sharpie marker, black preferable.
Newspaper-to protect the working surface
Time-about 8 hours give or take

All you have to do is.... 1st lay out newspaper, then blow up balloon to preferred size, I had a difficult time getting the balloon to stay still as I was working with it, so I got a canning lid hole side up and place the knot of the balloon into hole and slipped under edge of ring to hold it in place. Then the weight of the cloth will set it in place.
dump liquid starch into a flat container (a bowl was difficult to work with),
take your cut to size Cheese Cloth open it to full size, then drench the cloth into the liquid starch. Squeeze the extra starch out of cloth. Carefully open to full size again and spread out the wet cheese cloth.
Cover balloon, leaving fun floating cloth edges around the balloon on the table.
This edging is what the finished product/Ghost stands on and give the ghostly spooky appearance.
Then wait, constantly tell children to leave it alone. I did it at night time to minimize this last step and let it dry overnight.
In the morning, most of the cheese cloth was dry except for a thick part of the edging where it was folded. I then drew a face on the ghost with the sharpie marker. Cut the knotted side of the balloon (i did not want to pop it). As the balloon shrank, it pulled away from the cheese cloth and Voila! A Ghostly Ghost. Place around the house to decorate or Halloween.

We sure had a nice time at the haunted forest in the Carlyle Reservation. It is free of charge, and that means lots of people. They moved us along quickly, but there were some roadblocks. Especially at the pumpkin patch and the scary haunted houses along the path. It was really neat to see 300 carved lighted jack-o-lanterns suspended above a pond. The reflections in the water made it seem even more pumpkins than there were. There was also a spinning bridge called the Vortex. It gave such an optical illusion that even Chloe loved it and wanted to do it over and over. It was a bridge that went through a tunnel that was spinning, as you entered the tunnel the inside was painted with florescent paint and had a black light illuminating the decor. You seriously had the feeling the bridge was turning over. I had to hold onto the railing half way through. Very fun. Through out the trail were several haunted homes, some were "friendly" some were "scary" I was glad they let you know before entering to determine what child would enjoy. It seems Alta loved the scary, Chloe not so much, we kept her out of the scary houses. Chloe was a little nervous with the fluorescent hanging plastic skeletons along the trail. She held her daddy's big hand to keep her safe.
It was so nice spending some time with Christine and her kids. We were so excited to have them visit. I realize how nice it is to be with family and share time with them. Thanks for making the trip, and spending time with us. We loved it!!

Fall

I enjoy the crisp of air, the newness of school, the new colors of red, orange, and yellow, as the trees turn from green to color. I love having my windows open and fresh air through the house. I am finding I enjoy fall weather more and more. I am in process of changing my home from summer fun to the cooler months. We did the inevitable clean out the garage, organize all the garden tools and lawn toys, putting to the back of the garage. It is definitely a season of change. Change is a good thing, it keeps us on our toes, gives us variety (which is the spice of life), and allows us to focus and remember what is important.