It has been a very long month and seemed to have gone by so quickly. I never seem to have enough time to get all of the arts and crafts I want to get done for Halloween. There are so many directions you can go to be creative for Halloween: home decor, themes, costumes and accessories. Jewelry is thankfully one of those crafts that is easy to make, even with time constraints. I ended up finding this perfect twisted tree pendant from Blue Moon Beads. It had a silver bird dangle attached to the tree; while cute it did not lend well to a Halloween theme, so I removed it and started to brain storm. I wanted to make a more classy addition to a witch costume. Going with the classic idea of poison apples, I started to rummage through my glass and crystal beads.

“The wicked tree” ended up being simple to make but classical in design. I thought blood red crystals would add the needed flash of color with a touch of sparkle to remind of the ruby red but deadly apples.

Now still going with the Halloween theme, I bring you to my garden. As I noted in my last post pumpkins have been a big theme for me this season. For me Halloween is one of the best times to showcase this lovely squash. This year I attempted my first try at a completely organic pumpkin patch. Starting with only homemade organic compost and organic seeds I ended up planting 12 seedlings. Traditionally you want to plant pumpkins no later than June, I ended up planting them in the beginning of July but they still came out wonderful. I picked a small variety called New England Pie. This is a classic traditional heirloom pie pumpkin on the East Coast. They are small and usually only weigh a few pounds.

Quickly they took over my little raised garden patch and started to bloom! The bees did the rest and little pumpkins started to form!

I was so happy to harvest the first pumpkin of the season. But many more started to turn orange….

I have many more still turning orange on the vine but I was able to harvest these. They have to cure for 10 days but they look wonderful as Halloween decor until I can cook them up. 🙂

My family can’t wait for them to be ready to eat and they are already planning on what to make. One of my favorite recipes to use for pumpkins besides stuffed pumpkin is Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread. At first it might sound a bit odd but it is a wonderful recipe to use. The flavor is light but the bread is rich in nature, perfect to give as a gift.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Halloween! Until next time, Safe Travels!