Halloween, 2006

(Originally written on November 2, 2006)

Since Halloween happened a couple of days ago, I think it's appropriate to focus on that holiday for this week's series of doll photos. Every year in the U.S. the various stores sell all kinds of Halloween decorations, some of which are very elaborate and expensive (such as giant inflatable ghosts and witches for the front lawn, with prices starting at $60). My husband and I have been bucking this trend towards Halloween excess by having simple decorations that don't cost us very much and are very easy to set up and take down. For the past couple of years, I have been incorporating my Dollfie Dream as part of the Halloween decorations. Here is what the front of our house looked like on Halloween night. (Click on any of the photos to see a larger version open in a new window.)

I dressed up my Volks Dollfie Dream as a ghostly ethereal character who has just sprung back from the dead and she is about to rise from her casket. I placed her in the kitchen window and I lit the doll from the back using a desk lamp, which gives the whole spooky appearance to the display (especially when viewed through the screen mesh). My Dollfie Dream wears a platinum blond wig with a pale yellow lacy dress that gives her a ghostly appearance. (I purchased the dress for about $3 at a doll show when I found it in the bargain bins of one vendor's table.) I found the casket for $25 at Party City and I was thrilled when I discovered that it's the perfect size for my doll. (All I had to do was line the bottom of the casket with paper towel in order to avoid staining the doll.)

Here's another close-up of the doll from another angle. Here you can see the details of the casket lid, which includes a giant cross and roses. The backlighting and the screen covering the window gives a spooky effect to the doll but, unfortunately, it makes the window a total bitch to photograph.

Here is what the whole display looked like in this photograph that was taken from inside the kitchen. (I twisted the doll and casket around for this photo.) Since I already own the doll, wig, and dress, my only real expenditure for this Halloween was the $25 casket. I'm already thinking about bringing the doll in her casket the next time there's an Asian ball-jointed doll meetup in my area so I won't be restricting the casket to just Halloween only.

Here is my little set-up on the front porch. I have a black cat candleholder that's flanked by two smaller candleholders. Next to the candleholders are a set of cheap $20 speakers that I used to pipe Halloween-related music from my iPod, which was attached to the speakers by a cord that was long enough to keep the iPod behind the front door. (I wanted to minimize any chances that some trick-or-treater would try to steal my iPod. I didn't mind if the cheap speakers were stolen but having a stolen iPod would've been a greater hassle.)

Here is a close-up of the three candleholders. The smaller candleholders are based on the ghoul character from the Scream movies. I've never been able to find candles small enough to fit those holders so I just leave them out without candles. The bigger candleholder in the middle is a ceramic one that's shaped like the head of a black cat. I purchased that candleholder in a card store many years ago and I still bring it out every Halloween. (I don't remember exactly how much I paid for it but I don't think I paid more than $5 for it.) I've always loved the way that candleholder was designed because of the cut-out eyes, which gives them a glowing effect once the candle melts down at a certain point.

Here you can see the glowing cat eyes, which becomes even more pronounced in the dark.

Here are some jack-o-lanterns that I carved myself. I generally wait until a few days prior to Halloween before I buy pumpkins because the stores generally tend to have clearance sales the closer you get to the holiday itself. My pumpkin carving skills are generally limited to the traditional jack-o-lantern faces since it can be challenge to carve on a bumpy uneven surface. (In other words, don't ever ask me to carve anything more elaborate. One year I purchased a CD-ROM full of pumpkin stencils and I attempted to carve an image of a haunted house with disastrous results.) What's really cool was that while I was putting the carved pumpkins outside on Halloween, I had a neighbor walk by and he said he loved my pumpkins and he said that he wished he could carve something like I did. There are times when I can wow people with something so simple.

Here is another Scream movie ghoul, this one dangles on the front door. I purchased this one a few years back for under $5 and he's another one that I bring out each Halloween.

Here is a rubber bat that dangles from the outdoor light fixture and hovers over the mailbox. (The bat is hanged high enough so the postal worker can still put the mail in the mailbox with no problem.) I won this bat at an old job years ago during the company's Halloween party and I've been using him every Halloween ever since. This year the elastic snapped from the bat's back but I managed to repair it with my glue gun.

Now you have an idea what the trick-or-treaters saw as they came to my townhouse. Well, anyway, enjoy!

Halloween, 2006

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