Brooklyn Limestone: October 2018

Halloween Loves Lately

October has flown by and Halloween is just a couple of days away but I didn't want this year to go by without sharing a little Halloween love. A shoutout to some things that have caught my evil eye this year.

Speaking of eyes, you can make these ghoulish but tasty "cow eyeball" treats if you follow this recipe by Squirrels of a Feather. They are vegan and gluten free too!

If ghoulish isn't your thing, take a peek at this McQueen inspired butterfly and skull tablescape by Domicile 37. I need friends like this to invite me to these dinner parties!

Last but not least this gorgeousness by Makerista. She created this Dickens inspired Halloween set up and costume that deserves some serious love. Stop by her blog to see more of this incredible scene.

There are so many great costumes and décor ideas this year, I could make this post a mile long but I'll stop here. Happy Haunting!

If you have a great Halloween party, craft or project, please share it in the comments!

Feeling Safer with Blink: Amazon's Wire Free Blink XT (Sponsored Post)

I've been meaning to install security cameras for ages but I've always been daunted by the project. My tendencies against new gadgets are pretty extreme which further delayed this out. Then, I found Amazon's Blink security camera system and saw it's promise of a relatively easy set up, no subscription fee and wire free set up, it was the perfect opportunity to take the plunge.

I didn't have to worry! This system is so simple to set up, anyone could install it in a few minutes.

My relief started when the box itself arrived. It contained just a few pieces and a very thin instruction manual. This was going to be easy! If you can recall your WIFI password, you are almost home.

After downloading the Blink app on my phone, I plugged in the command module and linked it with my WI-FI and then installed the camera. It really was that easy. The app itself is intuitive without too many bells and whistles. It just does the job well.

The hardest part was deciding where to put the camera. Since my house is rather vertical, has two doors and a barrel shape, the typical installation near the front door wasn't going to give me the most coverage. I "tested" (and when I say tested, I mean held the camera up for a second and looked at the blink app to see the view) a few different spots before realizing I was coming at it from the totally wrong angle. Instead of sitting on our house facing the street, it would be better to face the camera at our house. Installing it on a large planter facing our house was the perfect spot. Not only did that installation give full coverage of the ground floor entrance and front yard, it was also super easy to install because it required no ladders.

The Blink system allows up to 10 cameras to be linked so we will be adding more cameras to cover the stoop and a few other spots as well. Now that I know how simple it was to install, I will have the whole house covered in a flash.

One screw and it was installed. After arming the system, I am notified when the camera detects motion and can watch the video. Or I can click into the app to see a live feed at any time. I feel a lot more secure knowing I can watch what is happening at my home whether home or away.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Amazon Blink but all opinions expressed are my own.

The Screaming Room | Halloween Haunted Movie Theater

It's that time again! With just a few weeks to Halloween, it was time to decorate for Halloween. This year we went with a haunted movie theater concept. I present: The Screaming Room @ Windsor Terror Cinemas

I was so fortunate to team up once again with my friends at Lowe's this year. They had some great budget friendly elements to add to the display as well as the raw materials I needed to build the components. Thanks to them for making it possible to create another fun display!

We went in a slightly different direction this time incorporating some easy to use technology to amp up the creep factor which has given it a whole new dimension.

A few months ago we found 6 rickety chairs and a bookshelf left out in the trash. I knew it would make the perfect movie seats and box office once they were painted black. I used plywood for the movie screen and large movie poster backing, and some naturally weathered boards for the other signage. The LED blinking skull (the same one I used in my dead dinner party dining room set up) made for the perfect accent on a handprinted marquee.

Want to recreate this in your front yard? Here is the materials I used:

It's a fun little set up during the day. Nothing too scary and a sweet Halloween scene to stumble upon as you walk past our home. But at night is when it gets a lot more fun. Once the sun goes down, the winds start howling and the shows begin.

We used a large sheet of plywood and painted it white to create a movie screen. Then we used a digital movie projector and some creepy video downloads, created a spooky matinee for our all our skeleton audience members. It really adds a whole new element to our display that is a fun surprise for everyone. To see it in action, head over to my instastories where I'll be sharing a few clips all week long.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Lowes but all opinions expressed are my own.

Dead Dinner Party | Halloween Dining Room

It's October 3rd and you know what that means! It's all out Halloween prep mode around here. I won't be putting up my exterior decorations until middle of October but I couldn't help put a little spooky fun inside so I could join in the Halloween Home Tour fun (scroll down to the bottom to see lots more fabulous Halloween homes). In case you are wondering, both of the kids just love their "skellies" and say 'hi' to them as if they were an old family friends.
dead dinner party halloween dining room brooklynlimestone.com

This dinner party is so dead, alternate title: Me, waiting for my kids to finish eating would be fitting here. Feel free to add your own captions.

disclosure: Lowes provided the supplies for some of the items in this post but all of the opinions expressed are my own.

candles and skull halloween centerpiece www.brooklynlimestone.com

The centerpiece was super easy. I arranged a wooden board with taper candles, 2 fall berry garlands and a bag of plastic skulls using hot glue. It set the scene and required no special arranging skills.

I hung the male and female victorian style talking silhouettes over the wine stand and they made the perfect artwork. And yes, they do talk which is totally fun when the living guests arrive. Aren't they perfect?

My favorite element was definitely this LED skull light that blinks a bit to give it that abandoned neon sign look (you'll be seeing it again in my outdoor decorations). I decided to embellish it a bit by hanging it in front of the chalkboard to make a bigger impact and then hanging more of the berry garlands around it. It makes the whole dining room glow when all the lights are off which is especially eerie.

A few finishing touches like these skeleton fish filet, my free printable halloween wine labels and a bunch of cockscomb picked up from the corner bodega completed the look.

I hope you enjoyed a little party to celebrate the start of my favorite month. For lots more inspiration, stop by all the lovely inspiration on Ella Claire's Halloween Home Tour.