A Happy 2013 to you! Thanks for a fun 2012!

Happy New Year everyone! I've recently come across a few New Year's related videos and projects that I'd like to share with you. I hope you'll enjoy these, learn a little something, and maybe even do some crafting.

But first, I have to thank Becca from Magikal Seasons for the wonderful prize I received in the mail today. That in itself put me in a happy mood for the new year! Here's my prize, Frozen Jack:

As you can see, Jack is a frozen pumpkin, covered in glittering snow. He has that howling, shivery thing going on that we probably all have in January. I just love him, and I think he looks great on my pink Christmas tree! Thank you so much Becca. This is the perfect winter gift for a Halloween nut like me. You'll want to see the rest of Becca's creations, which are in her Etsy shop:

Becca's Seasons Art Etsy Shop

She has pumpkins, skulls, Bigfoot, the yeti, and all kinds of cool things going on there!
 
Onto the New Year's trivia! The other day, I caught an episode of Burt Wolf's Travels and Traditions. If you've never seen the show before, it involves the host Burt Wolf acting as a luxury tour guide and teaching you about the history of food and ceremony. The episode I watched was about New Year's traditions. Here are a few clips from that show. I bet you'll learn a little something new from these!



I wonder how many people are "fully awake and clear headed" when midnight rolls around?



It's interesting to think about celebrating the new year in spring instead of winter. I can definitely see why this was the original plan for some people. New growth and more sunshine helps to make people feel hopeful each spring, like something new is beginning. Still, I can see something positive in celebrating a new year so soon after Christmas. It's something else to get excited about after the Christmas celebrations have ended. I found the part about the God, Janus very interesting too!

There's Janus, facing both the past and the future. He's the perfect symbol for New Year's Eve.

I'd like to have a nice New Year's hat this year. So I plan to try creating my own. For anyone else who'd like to get hat making along with me, here are some tutorials that might help you! The girl in this first video is one of the more fun and funky crafters I've run across on YouTube:

OK, I just heard her use the term "fun and funky" herself. So I guess we're on the same page!

Some people also like wearing crowns or tiaras for New Year's. I found a clear and simple tutorial for that too. Even if the woman in this video was planning for Jubilee celebrations, I think these crowns would work fine for New Year's Eve. Like the last tutorial, there is a template included.



Mini top hats and crowns can come in handy for Halloween celebrations too. Just imagine these in an orange and black theme!

For any crafters out there who are looking for a last minute New Year's project, I found a page full of them! These projects mostly have a glittery, celestial theme:

51 DIY Ways To Throw The Best New Year's Party Ever

I hope you all have a fun New Year's Eve no matter how you decide to celebrate. As Burt Wolf said earlier, try to stay awake and level headed!

I wish you all a wonderful 2013 and I can't wait for another year of reading your fun, spooky posts. During the past year I have learned so much from your blogs and gotten to know many of you better. I've felt like our Halloween community has grown closer through 2012. So thank you for your friendship and all the entertainment you've provided!

Good luck in the coming year. I look forward to a 2013 filled with your creativity, photography, stories, reviews, and enthusiasm!

Leap Year Fears From My Childhood

February 29, 2012 is a leap day. Leap years always remind me of a legend I heard in my younger days. OK, it's probably not so much a real legend, as it is a plot made up for a TV show. Still, it's funny how the stories you hear as a child stick with you. Even if they're ridiculous. These stories seem to live on in that special part of your brain, the part where things don't need to be completely logical to make sense.

Like many kids at the time, I was obsessed with the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. The urban legends in those books really stuck with me! Especially the one about the teenager who thinks she has a some kind of blemish, but instead it's an immense sack of spider eggs. The eggs are shown hatching in one of the more gruesome illustrations I've ever seen. I haven't had one bug bite (even now) that doesn't make me think of that story.

Don't worry, I'm changing the topic back to leap years now...

Aside from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, one of my obsessions during grade school was a show called Are You Afraid of the Dark? If you are relatively my same age and reading this blog, chances are you were obsessed with the show too.

If you're not familiar with the show, here's a quick summary. Each week, the teenage characters met in the woods at night and told scary stories around a campfire. The TV audience would see the stories re-enacted. One of the stories was about leap day, specifically a full moon on the night of February 29. The story was called "The Tale of the Whispering Walls" and featured this groovy guy:

This character is the story's villain, Master Raymond. The story isn't amazingly scary, but Raymond is creepy acting and I loved his jacket. It sort of looks like a rib cage.

As the story goes, you need to be careful if you're out during a full moon on February 29, because that's when spirits will come back to earth and try to change places with you. The story seems ripped off of old Halloween legends a bit. Anyway, here's the first part of the episode. I'm afraid that you'll have to follow this link to watch the video, because whoever posted the video won't let anyone embed it!

The Tale of the Whispering Walls

I don't expect you to watch the entire thing, because it's not spectacular. I do think the intro is worth watching, since you'll get an explanation of the legend. That and Betty Ann is wearing a cool mask (which looks like it was borrowed from her Day of the Dead stash).

"The spirits who prowl on a full moon leap year are hunting, and it may be for you."

That was pretty scary stuff to me back in the day...

Even those of us with large imaginations have no reason to be afraid this year, because the moon won't be full on leap day. I have to wonder if there has ever been a full moon on February 29.

I had wanted to share more about the full moon on February 29th legend, but there's really not much out there. Well, not aside from all the questions posted online by the other people who clearly watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? back in the day. Evidently, a lot of us are still thinking about the leap day episode 20 years later!

I suppose everyone carries childhood stories and superstitions into their adulthood. Probably each of you can think of a story that still seems scary now because you first heard it as a child.

Before I go, I'd like to mention something you've probably noticed already ~ My blog is wearing a new look! The new layout has two columns instead of three, and only one blog post will be displayed at a time. I hope these changes will cut down on my blog's loading time. I also designed some new icons to direct you to my Twitter, Pinterest, and Halloween Forum profiles. See the magnifying glass? Beneath that is a place for you to search my blog. Say you were interested in any posts I've written about vampires. Just type "vampires" in that search box, and a list of all my vampire posts will pop up. Pretty handy, hey? Please let me know if you have any trouble reading my blog on account of these changes, and Happy Leap Day!

Reflection, gratitude, and a wish for you

As 2011 draws to a close, I'm reflecting on the events of the past year. Blog-wise, I learned a lot of things this year. I learned while researching topics for my blog posts and from reading all of your blogs. I made new like-minded blog friends and feel like I'm part of a community. It means a lot to have a group of people who understand my goofy references and are interested in my spooky adventures.

Blogging has made this past year rich and interesting. I've found myself talking about blog-land to people in my everyday life. I've wanted to share the things I've learned from chatting with all of you. I've basically become Nigel from Crossing Jordan. Remember Nigel, who was always going on about his blog? All the characters would be hanging out in the morgue and Nigel's blog would still be his top priority.

Watch the first few minutes of this clip and you'll see what I mean. Nigel is so busy going on about his blog while making a snack, that he doesn't even notice a man being abducted! I found this weirdly relatable.



Nigel: Blogs my friend, blogs are the future.

Bug: Blogs?

Nigel: Oh I'm sorry, haven't you joined the twenty-first century?
 

He was always my favorite. On a side note, how cool is that shirt he's wearing?

Yes, it's been a year to learn about Day of the Dead symbolism, Victorian architecture, Plague Doctors, Voodoo ceremonies, Prohibition, Scandinavian Easter Witches, and Chinese Tomb Guardians, among other topics. I've taken day trips and night adventures, all the while considering what I'd say about these experiences in my blog. I've purposely searched for the dark side in everything this year, in hopes of having something to photograph and share. Overall, writing and assembling these blog posts has made me a more interesting person with more to say in my everyday life. Thanks to all of you for keeping the conversation going with your insightful comments through 2011. Here's to even more interesting conversations in 2012!

Now, being that this is a spooky blog, there's no way I can let this post go without mentioning the 2012 conspiracy theories. No, I don't think the world is going to end in the coming year. I do think there has to be some significance to the Mayan calendar ending in 2012, though. I say this because the Mayans predicted many major events in history. Depending on how the Mayan calendar is interpreted, they predicted World War I, World War II, and 9/11.

Some people have suggested that the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 symbolizes a huge change in consciousness. They say that there could be a major spiritual transformation at this time, and in a good way! I'd like to believe this is the case, because the world overall could use a positive spiritual transformation right now. I'm feeling positively about 2012. I can't quite tell you why, it's just a feeling. I wish you all a wonderful year. Hopefully 2012 will be a year of positive changes and happiness for you. I look forward to reading all your interesting blogs in the coming year!

I'll leave you with Auld Lang Syne, but not the traditional depressing version. This one is being performed by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers (not to be confused with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers). I've seen these guys a few times at Irish Fest in Milwaukee, and they're lots of fun. So enjoy and Happy New Year!