Happy Halloween!

The day is finally here. Happy Halloween everyone! Be sure to bundle up - looks like we're in for a chilly night. I'll just have to fire up my cauldron. See you tonight! BWA HA HA HA



Happy Haunting!!!

The Frank Family

Website Updates!

Hi everyone! I've added three new pages to Frank n Hollow's website.

1) Fun Stuff

2) Spooky Places - These are other fun homes to visit on Halloween night

3) Printable Map - Now there is a printer friendly map you can take with you!


Be sure to check it out. I'm still trying to figure out how to add a guest book, so my guests can sign it and leave comments. But that will have to wait. I have an entire graveyard to assemble plus I've got to get all the little things ready for Halloween night!

See you Halloween!!!! BWA HA HA HA HA HA

Pumpkin Carving Party

Tonight we had our first ever pumpkin carving party. It was so much fun - I think we'll do it every year! I made all the gruesome treats like Cheese Ball Goblin, Gremlin Ears, and Mummy Dogs. As usual I made tons of food and had a lot left over to snack on (that's ok with me!) My favorite treat was the homemade caramel apples. Yum! I will post the recipes later today!!

Anyway, here are some pictures from our 1st Annual Pumpkin Carving Party...

The Cheese Ball Goblin was terribly cute & oh so yummy.



This year's sweets consisted of caramel apples, popcorn balls (which were a dud, I packed them too tight!) and Halloween candy.



Everyone is having fun carving their own pumpkin. Stephanie (bottom right corner) has that crazed look in her eye. Plus, she has a knife! Watch out!



Me, yes me. I have a pumpkin head. My pumpkin had a fancy toupee and mustache.



Our pumpkins lined up. We had two other pumpkins but they had already left with their owners. We finally figured out we could take the picture without the flash so you'd see that glow.



A pumpkin carving party wouldn't be complete without a little photo shoot in front of the haunted room.

Halloween Spook Carnival

Gather round, little goblins - and listen to this tale of a haunted house on an eerie night...



* NEW FOR HALLOWEEN 2006! *

Halloween Spook Carnival
This is a fun "mini" carnival that will be held in our garage - FREE to all trick or treaters. All little ghouls will get a set amount of "tickets". These tickets can be used in the carnival. So far we will have the following booths:

1) Pick a Pet Snake - find a new friend.

2) Helga's Gruesome Snacks - tasty treats on sale tonight!

3) Vampira's Tattoo Parlor - from cartoon pumpkins to the grim reaper, you'll look boo-ti-ful

That's all the info I can give you for now. Check back often for more haunting developments.

This is Halloween

So we have this bucket of candy... and wouldn't you know it may not be enough! Here I caught Brandon trying to make off with the whole thing. He's kinda a choco-holic.



At the Halloween Spook Carnival we'll have these tasty little vittles... Helga's Gruesome Snacks! Spend your ticket on your choice of vermin, from spiders... to rats... to tenderized shrunken heads. Your choice!



We made this victim. It looks pretty neat and a little disturbing, what with being all wrapped up in cobwebs and all. All I need to do is hang it. I think it's been lying on the floor for at least a week. Ava has really bonded with it. She sleeps by it a lot. Here she is, playing "dead" with the victim. (Disclaimer: no spiders were harmed in the making of this prop.)



Another feature of the Halloween Spook Carnival, is the Pick a Pet Snake Booth. Our snakes have been arriving fresh daily from some tropical climate. Piper kitty likes the snakes. He's even picked one of his own. Good kitty.

Star Telegram Blurb

Hi everyone! We've had a lot of extra hits to the website today, thanks to the "Fright Life Fun" article in the Star Telegram today (Monday). To those of you who read about us in this article, please let me clarify ...

Our haunted display is turned on nightly for viewing from when the sun sets until about 10:00 pm - depending on weather. If it is very windy, the giant 8 foot spider and 6 foot skull on the roof will not be visible. If it is very wet & rainy, the outdoor lights are not on (for safety reasons). Our spooky window displays will be on regardless of weather. We will light up the display nightly from now until Halloween night.

The big deal of course, is Halloween night. Let's keep our fingers crossed for decent weather. On Halloween night we will have a mini carnival in our garage for the trick or treaters and our haunted display will be all lit up. All ages are welcome. Most of us are in costume and we will be giving out all kinds of goodies for free! We are still trying to determine the best time to start these events, so please check back soon for operating times. Thank You!

Young children are encouraged to come as we do NOT do gore and we try to keep it just fun and spooky. You're welcome to bring your camera if you'd like to take pictures. Burleson is a great town for trick or treating and there are many other homes where you'll be able to trick or treat as well. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail us at info@franknhollow.com

HAPPY HAUNTING!

Weekend Baking

The weather was a bit too windy over the weekend so we didn't have the inflatables on. Every time it gets really windy Brandon has to go up on the roof and adjust them so they will inflate properly the next evening. We didn't get around to doing that, so they aren't on tonight either.
:(

This weekend I did a little baking - made some Halloween cookies and fixed up goodie boxes to send to my nieces and nephews. I'm still watching for our pictures (if any) in the newspapers. I will have to buy a Burleson paper on Wednesday since it may be in that edition.

I can't believe Halloween is almost here! I have one full weekend left to get everything ready - it's so exciting. I can't wait to see everyone's costumes this year.

Spiderman - To The Rescue

Yet again Brandon could be seen scaling our roof in little ol' Alsbury Estates...

After the 22 mph wind fiasco of yesterday we had to do a little damage control. Both the skull and spider needed to be repositioned - and one of the spider's legs had twisted up and needed adjusted. Oh and my lovely curtain draperies can get nasty tangles. But all's well that ends well. Wouldn't you know the weather is perfect tonight for the props! I'm still thinking they got good pictures and that's good enough for me.

(sniff sniff) there's a pot of chili on the stove... yummy!

Colder Than a Witch's...

So yea, a Northern blew in. Go figure.

I say that because on most any other day I'd be jumping up and down doing cartwheels while making a mean pot of chili. But today, of course, photographers from both the Star Telegram and the Star Group came to take pictures of our display. And the wind was wicked!

Yes we had some problems. First off I thought the skull was going to fly off the roof like a tornado was blowing threw. We managed to load it down with some big stones. My husband has become quite the "roof climber" - maybe we should just refer to him as Spiderman!

So that was going on and the wind kept blowing off our hats - the whole time we're freezing our butts off but trying to pretend we're in Jamaica. Yea, Jamaica. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the winds (those nice 20-30 mph ones) stay away on Halloween and it stays somewhat dry!

We got some fantastic pictures though!

Picture This (And Other Random Stuff)

Yesterday we were contacted by both the Star Telegram and the Star Group newspapers. They want to photograph our haunted display!

So today Brandon and I were scrambling to finish up some of the final details on our home. Of course, there will still be those few touches (like the graveyard) that we won't get out until Halloween night.

We decided that we needed something more that people could see from the main road. Our answer was a 6 foot inflatable skull (that just so happens to be crawling with a couple of spiders) on the opposite side of our roof. It looks amazing! I love it. I will post pictures as soon as possible - my battery on my digital camera kicked the bucket and needs a recharge. :-)

We're dressing up in costume tomorrow night for our home's picture taking. Did I mention I am dead tired??? BWA HA HA

Boo Cups

I love this easy and spooky dessert. Kids really enjoy having their own little "boo" ghost. In this picture you'll see I forgot to buy my Oreos for the dirt, and had to improvise with leftover Milano cookie crumbs. Everyone thought they were fantastic. Your family & friends will too!

Boo Cups


Ingredients
Instant Chocolate Pudding (1-2 boxes depending on how much you wish to make)
Pepperidge Farms Milano Cookies, 1 package
1 tube of brown frosting writing gel (found in the baking aisle with cake decorating at the grocery store)
Oreos or other chocolate cookie, 1 package
MnM minis, 1 tube
Cool Whip (if frozen place in fridge to thaw)
Short glasses (how many? It depends on how many boo cups you make)
2 Ziplock bags and scissors

Directions

Take about half of the OREOS or chocolate cookies and place them in the ziplock bag. Crush them up to make dirt. Set aside. If you end up needing more dirt, make more dirt ;-)

Line up your Milano cookies. With the frosting gel, write little epithets like RIP or 1892 etc. on the top half of the cookie (you'll be placing these little tombstones in the cookie dirt). Set aside to dry. Be sure to let the gel set for an hour or so.

Prepare the chocolate pudding according to package directions. If you are making a lot of boo cups you'll need more pudding, less if not so many. This is easy to adjust. Scoop the pudding into short glasses. I like to buy the plastic stem glasses found in the party stores. Glass martini glasses are also great. You want to pick something short. Those short plastic glasses you buy at the grocery store work too. After you put your pudding in the cups, seal them with plastic wrap for now and place them in the fridge to set.

Is the pudding ready? Let's decorate! First take your crumbled cookie "dirt" and sprinkle some on the top of the pudding. Place the Milano tombstone partly in the dirt. Now you will need to take the cool whip and place it in a ziplock bag. Snip the end so you can use it like a pastry bag. Pipe little ghost plops in front/beside the tombstone cookie. Don't worry if they are perfect. Ghosts are supposed to be creepy! Now you need to put the boo cups in the fridge until it is time to serve. DO NOT put the ghosts eyes on yet (the m&ms) they will run and blur. Be sure to put the ghosts on about an hour-3o min before serving time. This is because you can't cover the pudding up once you put the ghosts on, and if you did it way before you needed them your pudding can get a tough film on the top of it. ;-)

Just before serving, take those M&M minis and place them (printed side down) for the eyes. Serve to your guests and they will ohh and ah! Enjoy your little boo cups. They are tasty!

Deviled Eyeballs! (or eggs for the faint)

Ok Halloween is getting really close everyone! Time to get ready with some of my favorite recipes. I'm going to start posting all those gruesome vittles ya'll love to chow down. Be sure to try some of these out for your upcoming Halloween parties. And check back everyday as I will be adding more recipes...

Deviled Eyeballs (aka deviled eggs)



Ingredients
1 Carton of Eggs, hardboiled
Miracle Whip or Mayo (your choice)
Jar of green olives, sliced
some chopped pickles (or relish)
salt and pepper to taste
2 ziplock baggies and scissors
red food coloring

Directions
Boil the eggs and set aside to cool. Prepare the eggs for deviled eggs. If you haven't made deviled eggs before... you cut the egg in half and gently scoop out the yolk. Put the yolk in a large bowl. Set the egg halves aside.

Get your bowl of yolks and mix the finely chopped pickles (or relish) and some mayo (not too much that it is runny, you want it kinda thick) and salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange your egg halves on a platter. Scoop the egg mixture into a ziplock baggie, seal it and snip the end to use as a pastry bag. Pipe the egg mixture into the egg halves (this gives it that round eyeball shape!)

Place a single sliced olive in the middle of the egg mixture. Now it's starting to look like an eyeball...

In a separate bowl, mix some mayo (or Miracle Whip, whatever you use) with red food coloring. A little red goes a long way! Scoop this into the other ziplock baggie and seal it. Snip the end (be sure it is a small snip) and now you can add the red "bloodshot" squiggles.

The Chill in the Air

Ah... Yesterday we finally felt the chill in the air for the first time this fall. It was a great day. I went to Weatherford to work and while I was there I had lunch with my mom... we had chili of course! We also went and picked out pumpkins to carve for Halloween.

Yesterday was our 5 year anniversary! I love you Brandon! We're supposed to do something to celebrate but we haven't figured out what yet.

One of the big things we wanted to add to our Halloween display this year was enough adequate spooky lighting. Here's a picture of Brandon and Ava working hard on getting the outlets ready for our new spotlights.

"What's going on in your garage?"

Oh that? You must mean the redecorating! Yea, I thought it would be nice to make a new room in the garage. Just kidding! It's for the carnival, of course.

Turning our garage into a carnival for Halloween is our last big project for this year. We wanted to build a fence as well but I'd like to actually spend some of my time enjoying my favorite month and holiday, so we've opted out on that project. There's always next year.

So with that in mind, I need to finish the home's spooky curtains and get the carnival all together. We do have those extra special touches that we don't put out until Halloween night. Anyway, here's a peek at the garage. It will look awesome on Halloween - that's for sure!

Trash Bag Draperies

Our home is getting even spookier these days - thanks to our "trash bag" draperies. I love how they flow in the wind and they just look creepy.

It is easy and cheap to make your own spooky curtains! I use the large 33 gallon trash bags and I cut them open to make one large piece of plastic. (You could use plastic tarp but the thin texture of the trash bags allows the curtains to flow in the wind.)

At one end of the plastic (you'll want to start on the longest side to get that length for curtains) I cut small slits every 2 inches or so. This is the starting point for the tears. After this I just sit and watch tv and carefully tear the plastic up (from the started cuts)until the place I want it to stop. The end result is very haunting indeed. I just staple them to the house and voila - instant spooky!

"Hey, there's a spider on your roof!"

Previously I mentioned that our spider needed some lighting. Over the weekend we scoured Home Depot and came up with a lighting solution: the work clamp. We needed something that could clamp onto the house where the spider was and shine on him in all his terrifying glory.

We also bought a 150 watt blue flood light... and a green one... and a white one. After looking at each colored floodlight with the spider, Brandon and I decided that blue was the best choice. We also found the stake flood lights that you can just place in the ground at Lowes - to illuminate our graveyard. Yay!



Over the weekend we also placed our pumpkin inflatable on the lawn. This piece of decoration is very important to our haunt! The reason being, that kids can see it from further down the road in both directions. It is a beacon of sorts, for trick or treaters. A lot of our decorations can't be seen until you are close to our street or directly by our home. But the pumpkin, ah the pumpkin. It glows and beckons little ghouls and goblins to come closer.

Ghost Card

Did you know that I make greeting cards & invitations? Here is a picture of one of my favorites...



You can view my entire line of Halloween theme cards at my other website www.busybcreations.com


OK so the carnival is coming together. I've ordered the ghoulish prizes and this weekend we made a "spider toss" game board. I'm still decorating the garage and finalizing our carnival games and all that jazz. I'll post here when we've come up with the final Halloween game plan!

Our New Pet...

Today we finally put our new pet, an 8-foot inflatable spider, on the roof of our home. This idea came from the www.sleeplesssouls.com home haunt - and I couldn't resist the urge to recreate this look for Halloween!

We started with our spider, a heavy board, an old yoga mat, a staple gun and some rope. I cut up the yoga mat and stapled it to the board which gave it really good traction so it can stay on the roof. We then screwed the spider "fan" to the board. It is also attached with two ropes that tie down in the back of the home.

I added two rope webs that we picked up from Michael's Craft Store. I would like to add one more web if I can find it. My husband was so sweet and spent at least 1 -2 hours on the roof positioning our new pet. We kinda lost track of time! It was really fun to see people driving by and stopping to have a look. The spider lights up at night, but we need to add a blue spotlight to illuminate his face and webs some more. So far, so good!

Placing the spider was a family affair! Ava pup watches over everything from the driveway...



Brandon, diligently tending to our 8-legged creature...



Our new pet with his very large webs... we hope to add a spider victim soon!

It's October!

Yay! It is finally October. Now if only the weather would cool down here in Texas, we would have it made. Yesterday we went to the State Fair of Texas. What fun! We even tried a fried coke - which I thought was rather yucky. I got my fill of funnel cakes, corn dogs, and oh we got to see an 1100 pound hog! I got my picture with him so I'll have to post it later.

Brandon and I are both looking for new jobs so we have been pretty busy around here. Ava and Piper are just chilling, enjoying the Halloween decorations (we put up a little more each day). Ava is a "ham" for pictures... here she is wearing spooky eyeball glasses!