Halloween Recipe Fun: 2 Variations on "Dirt and Worms"

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's not too terribly early to begin thinking of fun things to make in order to turn your kitchen into a ghoulish Halloween laboratory for young children! It's fun to make your fall holiday decorations, decor, and treats at home, and we'll start bringing you some Halloween DIY ideas to get you in the festive party spirit. Today's featured video is from Modernist Cuisine, and it's a simple way to make dirt and olive oil gummy earthworms - gross fun for young and old alike. Click here for the complete recipe and preparation tips.

Bonus

For a completely different take on Worms in Dirt, click on the top photo for Martha Stewart's creation using, of all things, hotdogs and black beans.

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Happy Halloween: Do You Live in a Haunted House?

Jay Johnson - Is your house haunted? Are you experiencing the presence of others ... with no logical explanation? About a third of the population believes in ghosts, and according to a USA Today article on the subject, that's about the same number of people who are baseball fans.

Well, Happy Halloween to you! On Design2Share, we look at home design in a very serious way, and we wanted to acknowledge that for some people, their home may be an uncomfortable, fearful place due to reasons other than a bad decorating job we can blame on the previous owners.

We spoke with a feng shui expert last weekend, and she says that she now combines her practice with "clearing" procedures, to help rid a home of what's called predecessor energy. That's a fancy term for ghostly residue or unresolved issues from folks who used to live on the land or in your home. Even if you live in a new-construction home, you can be dealing with predecessor energy. We know a couple who just moved into a just-opened condo building in lower Manhattan. Nothing has gone right for them, and living in their ultra-modern apartment is supremely uncomfortable. When they found out that their home was built on the grounds of an old churchyard, they said "Ah ha!" and asked us for help finding someone who could clear the energy and help them restore normalcy in their home. 

As our feng shui expert told us,

If I don't deal with house clearing issues, it's like putting fresh flowers into dirty water. What's the sense of that?

I grew up in a small Midwestern neighborhood where most everyone believed in the paranormal (it's a long story!). Let's just say that set of beliefs was part of the history of our community of 30,000 people. Many people I grew up with can personally attest to the presence of an invisible world, and I've come to think that science just has to catch up with some explanations of what's going on. My mind is open to accepting many beliefs and respecting what others are experiencing firsthand.

The following video shows you some practical advice if you find yourself experiencing what you think is a ghost or paranormal presence in your house. If you're in that third of the population who believes, then this may be for you. If you're not, then this should be entertaining fiction. But I thought, being Halloween and all, that this would be an appropriate "holiday video pick." Please leave a comment telling us of any experiences you've had in your home. Thanks for sharing.

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Grandin Road's Delightful Obsession with Halloween Decor

Irwin Weiner ASID - I'm told that Halloween is now second only to Christmas as the holiday that homeowners use to redecorate their homes in a holiday theme. And it's fairly evident when you go down the streets of most any town. Front yards are turned into graveyards, wispy ghosts hang from trees, and everything's coming up pumpkins and mums. 

I've made myself perfectly clear about avoiding going overboard with decorating for any holiday. I'm not a big fan of turning your home into a holiday theme park, for heaven's sake - and think of the expense! - but I'm not about to bah-humbug anyone's Halloween and begrudge you the fun of decorating. So, have your splurge, and perhaps go to an online store like Grandin Road, where their Halloween Haven has an amazingly large collection of Halloween decor, collectibles, costumes and accessories, and more. This video will preview some of their many imaginative holiday pieces, like spider web chair wrap (top photo), yard fog machines (second photo, above), and the Martha Stewart Glass Eyeball serving tray (below).

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Avoid Halloween Decoration Overkill

Irwin Weiner ASID - Tis the season to be kitschy ... and I can say that about any holiday that demands redecorating your home to fit the season. For Halloween and any other season, I abhor the compulsion some homeowners have to create a holiday vignette everywhere you look. Jack-o-lanterns at the front door, witch cutouts on the windows, Halloween lights strung up on the eaves, ghost tea towels in the guest bath - you get the idea. 

Totally overboard.

Here and there, it's alright to add a holiday-themed accent, like the Woman's Day Felted Mummy Doll craft (top photo) added to the throw pillows on your sofa, a few Halloween silhouettes clustered together on a wall (below, top photo), or a Candy Corn inspired centerpiece - simple to make, yet imaginative - on your dining room table (bottom photo). These ideas prove

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