Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

I am heavily deciding on doing a witches kitchen this year. Our house is under renovations so I don't mind hanging up some black plastic etc. for this year.
I already made my first bottle of potion (highlighter trick) and loved it under my daughters black light (that I will be borrowing).

So, is there some "must have" items I should include? I've checked some posts and am going to attempt the face and eyeball bottle, the different color highlighter potions. I bought some ping pong eyeballs at the dollar store...might have to go back for more.

Any ideas are welcome!

oh, I am a newbie..my name is Amanda.

Well welcome Amanda aka pum'kinpye... love the idea of your kitchen witch them... I alway have more witchy type stuff in my kitchen too and actually I leave a little bit of witchy stuff up all year round... Anyway enjoy the forums... great place for friends and frightening ideas!

Hi Pum'kinpye, Love your profile name I too am doing a Witches Liar theme in my Kitchen, but instead of it being just for halloween what I am planning on doing is 1/2 the year it will be a witches Lair and the other 1/2 will be my old world Paris Theme.
Here are some of the things I love for a WItches Lair. An area for a witches Potion bottle cabnet complete with bottles and a few ornaments. Witch pictures, witch ornaments, witch boots, and signs.
Feel free to look at some of the stuff I have bought for it under Halloween Decorating and under the thread "Lets show our new stuff"
Hope that gives you a few ideas. I've bought some more stuff but haven't got pictures posted yet.
Well it's nice to meet you. Have fun checking out all the threads

Dutchess of Darkness wrote:Hi Pum'kinpye, Love your profile name I too am doing a Witches Liar theme in my Kitchen

Witches Liar?

Hey ImAWalkingCorpse, SOrry about the typo, Witches' Lair.

For some great ideas, check out some of these ladies' work:

My friend VIcki in Germany made some really cool stuff for hers. She's doing a huge display at a castle ruin in her town of Badenweiler for the whole community to see. She's making most of her stuff herself:

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b172/ ... rs%202007/

Then there's DeadSpider's work, which is AMAZING. She's one of the best talents around:

http://aranamuerta.com/2007/02/20/witch-kitchen-jars/

Also, if you're making your own eyes and have a printer, these are perfect for making realistic irises:

http://www.hauntershangout.com/graphics ... syeyes.jpg
And showing how to make them:
http://www.hauntershangout.com/home/easyeyes.asp

And lastly, I made a list of some of the stuff I used in mine year before last:

Dead Man’s Fat— Crisco shortening
Dried Hell Fire— dried chili peppers
Dried Swamp Bottom-Dwellers— dried shrimp
Essence of Death- water and blue laundry detergent mix
Eye of Goblin— green pimento-stuffed olives
Eye of Newt — whole black peppercorns
Ghost Tears — tonic water (or water with blue laundry detergent)
Instant Love Potion— powdered chocolate milk mix or cocoa powder
Liver of Salamander— Turmeric (the one sold as pellets)
Muddy Swamp Water— water with dirt and stuff in it
Pasteurized Werewolf Milk— any white liquid
Pickled Liars’ Tongues— fake rubber tongues in a yellowish liquid
Pirates Eyes— fake eyeballs
Pixie Dust– cinnamon sugar or colored granulated sugar
Poison Ivy— fake ivy vine pieces
Scales of a baby brown Gwardar Snake — Fennel seed
Spawn of Jack O’Lantern — green pumpkin seeds
Squid Ink— water and lots of blue food coloring
Toasted Bat Wings— Bat wings cut off fake rubber or plastic bats
Vampire Blood— corn syrup and red food coloring
Warlock’s beard— Chinese bean Thread noodles

Check out the ethnic food sections of your local grocery store. There are usually some pretty gnarly looking things packaged, particularly in the Mexican and Chinese food sections. You can think up some names for stuff with a little imagination. Also, take a walk outside.. there are lots of things right in your yard that can be used as ingredients.

For a great witch kitchen, try and obtain or make a cauldron! It doesn't have to be a huge one, but a cauldron with some dry ice in to give the impression of a smokey brew bubbling away will look amazing.

Also how about the statutory twiggy broom hanging up somewhere - or a few if you want it to appear as though a coven meets there?

As well as plenty of potions and spooky ingredients, bundles of dried flowers and herbs add a brilliant touch.



Ghostess thank you for the amazing links!!!

Thanks for the links..I have enough ideas now for a whole cupboard full!!
I can't wait to go shopping now. My husband is going to think I went nuts and my daughter is going to be so excited.
This is exactly what I was looking for! Everyone is so talented.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I don't recommend using dry ice to create a "bubbly brew"... I tried that last year and it was very messy.... you have to keep putting in warm water because whatever you're using for "brew" will freeze around the dry ice and keep it from "bubbling" like it does when you first put the ice in.

They do have fog-machine cauldrons for relatively inexpensive... and with their popularity, they should be easy to find (I had a hard time finding a large, plastic cauldron last year!) I would recommend one of those as an alternative.

Also, something I did last year with my cauldron was to put glowsticks in it to give the fog an eerie green hue. =)

Happy Haunting!

I agree... dry ice requires attention, and it's more trouble than it's worth-- Especially when you're the one doing all the work!

I have a fog machine I bought last year, might try that..I had forgotten about it.

I totally forgot about a cauldron...what kind of witch would I be?!?!

Hmm disappointing experiences with dry ice! I haven't as yet managed to even procure some here in the UK - now I don't think I will bother. I hadn't heard that it was messy, although I had heard that it shouldn't be used in *actual* drinks but rather just for scene setting as it can be dangerous if unwittingly touched by a guest or ingested because of the "burn" issue. I wouldn't want to have to keep filling up the cauldron with water thoughout the party.. that would be extremely annoying!

With smoke machines, I was warned of residue that appears on everything the "fog" touches, making them quite messy to use indoors - is this true??

Oh and pum'kinpye, another prop you could use for your witch's kitchen is a large, old looking "spell/recipe" book on a plinth. Especially when placed next to the cauldron that would look quite effective

I hadn't thought of that "fog mess" indoors, is it messy?
I was going to use it on the step outside (weather permitting) to give an eery effect before even entering...
A spell book would be an excellent touch. Has anyone made one before?

It does leave some residue, mainly on the surface you have it sitting on. I use mine inside in my office where I have plenty of computer stuff, and haven't had any problems with residue getting on anything except the floor within a 5 foot radius. The bad thing about using a fogger is that unless you have a chiller, the fog will float up and make anything you want people to see less visible.

I made a spellbook last year, but mine is a foam one made solely to sit in the arms of my witch, Tabby.

http://hometown.aol.com/howloweenqueen/spellbook.html



I'm thinking of making a spellbook with actual spells in it this year and multiple pages like a real book. I dunno yet... maybe if I have time.

Your spell book is awesome.
I can only hope to make something as half as nice as that.

I still can't decide to go foam (I have no talent) or work with an old book...