Bereft of any Judy Garland knowledge, all subtle references to The Wizard of Oz were lost on this group of suburban dads.
Nonetheless, Halloween is a great excuse to dress up, get together with friends and hit up the neighbours for treats.
Hello Cavities!
Growing up in Australia in the 90’s
Astro Boy,
Garbage bags slip n slide,
Hypercolour,
Pebble mix lined swimming pools,
Running through the sprinkler,
Pavlova, Queen Adelaide in a cask, Tang,
Swinging on the Hills Hoist,
Swinging the cat in a bucket from the hills hoist.
It’s a bit of a lemon when it comes to rhythm and rhyme. Nonetheless, it sums up the mundane little everyday things remembered from my childhood. Of all of the above, what remains ever present in my adult life is the Hills Hoist. Rusting quietly in the backyard, home to a plethora of sun bleached pegs, half a dozen spiders and the occasional kookaburra. Once in a while it blooms in colour for a short while before returning to it’s former functional self.
The men putting cookies up on the hoist for daughters Alice in Wonderland party…
Two years later, jungle party…
And now this…
Web weaving at dusk. Unfinished and hopefully kitted out in time for Halloween!
In the dead of the night
Can you hear the little children cry?
Cryin’ “Mama, mama.” Watchout!
Arghh! Zombie’s a terrible fright
Songs to spook to: C.W.Stoneking… The Zombie!
Made from sequined foam, this one’s for the front door.
For the letterbox drop. A heads up for the neighbours!
C.W.Stoneking is an Australian blues singer-songwriter, guitar and banjo player.
We’re off to see the Wizard…
In a rush to make Halloween costumes.
Gemstone template & making paper emeralds.
I’ll be going as the Emerald city.
How to keep it hidden from daughter, bling makes her giddy!
DIY Witch Softie made from interior mattress foam, fabric, stockings, paint and wool.
Must be the season of the witch…
For more of my Halloween crafts –
https://speckledsydney.wordpress.com/category/halloween/
The sun shines bright as the quasi tropical birds whistle an eerie tune (aka Kill Bill). The flying machine farts, grunts and whoops as the occupants on board sip milkshakes. After a soft as a pillow landing, they disembark only to re-board the ever bumpy Ninky Nonk (genius idea on a tummy full of liquid ice cream).
Yes. Welcome to the world of kids TV, where colour and content shall never meet. Fortunately, this mind numbing stimulation is peppered with something for us bleary, weary parents too: Shaun the Sheep, Small Potatoes and a big shout out to the Queen of dry humour… Nanny plum.
These shows come and go. Few seem to have the staying power of Play School, which has been around since my mum had pimples. Jay and Justine sing pitch perfect incy wincy with spider in hand, fashioned from bottle tops, foam, pipe cleaners, sticky tape and wool. It’s terrific, and looks pretty do-able if you’re crafty inclined.
DIY FOAM BALL & PIPE CLEANERS SPIDER
Make your own play props… http://www.abc.net.au/abcforkids/sites/playschool/makeanddo/craft/
Curiosity killed the cat… some of the time.
Back in 1935, there was a widely accepted theory amongst physicists when it came to teeny, tiny things not visible to the eye. They agreed that since you can’t see them, it’s possible they could be in state x or state y, so let’s say they’re both, in two states at the one time (the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum mechanics).
An Austrian physicist called Erwin Schrodinger thought this to be reductio ad absurdum (absolutely whack). He put the theory to life size terms to illustrate his point, this became known as Schrodinger’s cat. The thought experiment goes; What happens when you put a cat in a box with a vial of poison and a trigger. How does kitty fare?
According to the accepted thought at the time, since you can’t see the cat, either possibility is valid, cat is both dead AND alive. When you open the lid reality collapses to one possibility or the other. Until that moment, it’s undead kitty.
This led to all sorts of other theories about parallel possible realities… but that’s another story altogether!
DIY UNDEAD CATS
Zombie Cat Straw Toppers
For more of my Halloween crafts –
Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.
DIY PAPER WITCH SHOES
“There’s no place like home,” Dorothy chanted, willing her return back to her Kansas prairie. Munchkins, winged monkeys and an emerald city weren’t lure enough!
For more of my Halloween crafts –
https://speckledsydney.wordpress.com/category/halloween/
Illustrations by Sara Ogilvie
Witches shoes template here: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/10/28/paper-witch-shoes/
Who is Miroslav Váša? More elusive than John Galt, I could find little info on this Czechoslovakian Illustrator.
I stumbled across his haunting Halloween illustrations in Bohuslav Březovský: The Mysterious Castle (1969).
Radovan Krátký: Bubáci / The Bugaboos Or Little Natural History Of The Spooks, Ghosts And Phantoms (1961).
Ghoulish? Macabre? A little disturbing.
Miroslav Váša
Born, lived and died in the Czech Republic 16.5.1920 to 14.8.1996
Illustrator, Typographer, Graphic Designer.
Other illustrated books by Miroslav Váša:
Pisen Pisni, 1956
Mlady Technik, 1962
Kraj Dvoji Oblhy, 1969
Dobrodruzstvi Prostopasnic, 1973
This is Mr.Pumpkin.We lit him up pre – Halloween (a test run).
This is how he looked the morning after!
Poor Mr.Pumpkin caved before his time, he was soft and gooey and smelled rank. Trick-or-treat? Definitely Trick. Fortunately the other Halloween decorations were a treat. This is what they looked like…
The race for Candy…
How was your Halloween? Did you trick or treat then gorge on sweets!
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