©2006 review by Fiona Broome and the Hollow Hill Staff
If you love country decorating, gingham checks, tole painting, and decorations
that will outshine the Hallmark store, you'll want to read
Haunt Your House For Halloween: Decorating Tricks & Party Treats
by Cindy Fuller.
There's nothing very scary in this book. It's a wealth of ideas--decorations, party ideas, and recipes--to
make your family's Halloween celebrations especially rich and memorable.
If you enjoy tole painting, there are a wealth of projects--large and small--to make your
home a cornucopia of Halloween delights. And, many of these decorations can serve double-duty at
Thanksgiving.
Even if you're not a fan of cute country decor, you may enjoy this book.
For
example, I think you'll be inspired by
the Halloween trees in this book. Both are very similar to traditional Christmas
trees, but in harvest colors. One is decorated with black cats, and the other
with very silly rabbits. My husband and I looked at them and immediately said, "We
must have these in our home!"
I especially like the Pumpkin Patch, a series of small projects to display on your fireplace mantel,
atop a bookcase, or on a table.
Every project includes a list of supplies, and step-by-step instructions. The back of the book includes
line drawings and patterns to enlarge (with a photocopier) so that your projects can look just as good
as those in the book.
Best of all, Haunt Your House for Halloween is filled with inspiring photos and decorating ideas, showing how to combine several decorations
for glorious effects.
This book also contains recipes that are reliable crowd-pleasers. They include Crow Cookies, Beefed-up Buns, Cranberry Cider,
Sherbet Jack-O-Lanterns, and Dirt Dessert. Dinner in a Pumpkin is sure to impress your guests, and
Ghoul Aid--made with ginger ale and powdered fruit drinks--is easy and tasty.
In general, if you'd like to take the "scare" out of Halloween and decorate your home as richly
as you do at Christmas, this is an ideal book.
