Friday, October 17, 2008

Welcome to my Halloween party and my 100th blog post!

I'm so happy that you dropped by! Come in and warm yourself; you must be chilly, tramping for miles through Blogland to find yourself in this neck of the woods. I bet you don't even know where you really are!
Please come to the table and warm yourself with a hot cup of tea, and some delicious Halloween goodies.
Here is a special treat just for you!
And a plate of witches' fingers...a meal isn't complete without it!
Now that you are full, I'm sure you'd like to meet the residents of the house you suddenly have found yourself in. Here is the adorable and not in the least bit scary pet of the domain:
And now it's time to meet your hosts...if you dare...
Now that the scary introductions are over, let's go outside and see the place you are visiting, and get a feel for the lay of the land...
I think it's more scary inside, don't you? This is how the House of Houben was decorated in 2007. If I put the '08 decorations up this early, my neighbours might report me. Tee...hee! So I'm going to take you on a little tour of past Halloweens.
We'll begin with the pumpkins. For years I carved the ordinary Jack o' Lantern smiley face, and then I discovered FREE stencils online. Here is my first attempt at stencil carving in 2004: (it really isn't in the least difficult if you have the correct tools)
In 2005 I reverted back to a Jack o' Lantern face; I missed it too much:
Hmm...it seems that I felt the same way in 2006, but I did use a stencil:
In 2007, I found a unique stencil that wasn't another face pattern and who knows what I'll carve this year! However, I bought 2 pumpkins so please drop by for another visit in a few weeks time.
Being a collector of Chatty Cathy dolls, I decided to incorporate them into my Halloween window scenes. My first display was in two sections of the living room windows, in 2004. The effect was so cute, I've continued the decorations each year and it's quite a hit with the neighbourhood kids. I've seen an increase in traffic to my door! I used to hand out 30 treat bags, and now it's up to 60!
Do we look spooky enough? Please tell the truth!

Here is the window display in 2005: (I began decorating the 2 smaller windows to the left of the large one, and in '07 I had so much Halloween stuff I could fill all five windows!)
I used to have a difficult time finding Halloween decorations here in Canada, but not anymore! I love to sew, and I've created my Chatty's outfits, except for the pumpkin one which I purchased at Build a Bear shop.
We have come to an end of the tour. I hope you've enjoyed yourself!
Here are a few of the outfits I've created for Chatty Cathy: I bought the cute sweater in the first photo, at Michael's craft store, but I made the velvet skirt and the little bag. I sewed the little dress in the following picture; I've been sewing since 12 years old. I sell my creations on eBay under, you guessed it; "House of Houben".
In celebration of my first blog party and my 100th post, I will be having a Give a Way contest! The rules are simple; leave a comment below, and I will draw one name for a HALLOWEEN GIFT, consisting of something edible and something cute. I will draw the name on OCTOBER 31st, in order to give everyone taking the tour a chance to drop in.
Thank you so much, Vanessa, for dreaming up the Halloween Blog Party idea! It's been such fun!
By Loretta Houben

32 comments:

Linda said...

awesome job, Loretta!

Linda

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your 100th post. Great decorations and dolls. I just love the photos of you and your son in those glasses, tee hee. And your pumpkin with the cat is spectacular. Wonderful goodies too. Great party.
Karen

ittybittyandpretty said...

thanks for visiting my blog for the party, nice of you to stop by. your post is wonderful especialy the black cat at the end! to answer your question of how to get the picture to enlarge... i think it is because i choose not to put them in the centre, i tick the none box when it asks for position. try that and see if it works, otherwise i am magic *^_^* xx rosey

Ana Balbinot said...

Happy 100th post and congrats for the wonderfull party! Love the pictures, the pumpkins, the food, everything was just great!
Thanks for you comment and your visit at my blog. Hope you come more times!

Betzie said...

I used to have a Chatty Cathy doll...how neat you collect those!! Your decorations are awesome and I love the pumpkins. I may have to look for one of those stencils and try one out. The last two years I've just put out the pumpkins without even carving a face. Getting lazier every year!! Thanks for the PARTY fun!

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Too cute. Thanks for stopping by my blog & I don't mind at all ;)

Elizabeth said...

Loretta!
Congratulations on your 100th post.
I see you love Halloween as much as I do!!!! I love your creative pumpkin designs! Your home is beautifully decorated!
Elizabeth(bluebirdsandbubbles)

Anonymous said...

Happy early Halloween, and congratulations with your 100th blog post :)

Lola Enchanted said...

Hello, thank you for the tea! It's just what I needed!!!
Nice to meet you here at the party!

Happy Halloween

Anonymous said...

Love your Halloween decorations! Everything looks frightfully good!

Kim

Maria-Thérèse ~ www.afiori.com said...

The witches' fingers scared me so much!!! Glad the pic of the adorable dog was there to comfort me....

♥ visit me at www.afiori.com ♥

AwtemNymf said...

I'm Blog Hopping from Vanessa's "A Fanciful Twist" Party <{:O) Lovely pics and cute dolls!
Stop by my place too... I'm having a couple of give-aways!
Have a bootiful day!
Be Enchanted!
~A~

ikkinlala said...

I love your jack-o-lanterns, especially the cat.

NyteRayn said...

I was just hanging out over at a Fanciful Twist’s party and I thought I’d check out your blog! Congrats on your 100th post!!! :)

Laume said...

Honest - can't say it was spooky at all. Well, maybe the googly eyed people a little bit. LOL. But it was flat out adorable. I'm old enough to remember Chatty Cathy dolls - I'd forgotten what they looked like. Y'know, I don't remember if I had one or if it was my sister who owned one. I still have one of my old Marie Alexander dolls. She's missing some of her outfit, but it's nice to still have her. I wish I had my original childhood Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.

*~TWo PiXie DoLLs~* said...

I love your party & your dolls are adorable!

Visit my magical world..

http://twopixiedolls.blogspot.com
toopixiedolls@yahoo.com

xoxo
~K

Shell said...

Enjoyed your party and all the goodies. Happy 100th post.

http://afancifultwist.typepad.com said...

Happy 100 posts!! And thank you for this delightful Halloween Fete at your place!! Look at the hosts with those eyes!! in the spooky house with those amazing pumpkins!!! Cackle Cackle!!

Hilda said...

Awesome window scenes!! And adorable Chatty Cathy outfits!!
Hilda

Sandra Evertson said...

OMG! Fabulous! I LOVE your chatty Cathy dolls!
Happy Halloween!
Sandra

Anonymous said...

Loretta!!!
A. I love your doggy! Is it a rat terrier or fox terrier?
B. OH my I loved my Chatty Cathy!!! I need to get one!
C. I'll be back from time to time tosee you!
Diana

3rdEyeMuse said...

thanks for sharing such a spooktacular post! am sooo loving all the pumpkin carving. :) thanks for all the treats, too.

Jenna Z said...

Love love LOVE the dolly clothes! I make dolly clothes too but for Fisher Price My Friend dolls. Too cute! I need to get sewing some Halloween outfits!

Anonymous said...

Hi Loretta - your doll collection is fantastic! What a great Halloween setup you have! Thanks for stopping by my Halloween post and for the kind comments on the Dutch girl costumes I made for my girls when they were little! I plan to do a post about past Halloween costumes sometime soon... Donna

cinnibonbon said...

Great party!! Thanks for all the treats and warm tea.
Happy Halloween
come on over to my place and sit with me a spell

Heather said...

Ah, how cute! Chatty Cathy AND American girls come out for halloween! Nice to meet you :)

Altered Route said...

Sorry so late to visit...I traveled Vanessa's list from the bottom up this time. Great pictures of your decor!!
Happy Halloween!

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you stopped by my blog so that I could find yours. I really enjoyed the tour and the past Halloween decorations and jack-o-lanterns! Happy Halloween!

Fleur de Bee said...

Hi Loretta! Thanks for the comment! I got those spider web lace doilies at a local store here. They were very inexpensive too! I will call them and see if they have more for you and let you know if you want some. I would be happy to grab them and ship them off to you. They come in packs of 4 and are just darling!!

Fun Halloween Party!

Molly

Anonymous said...

I just love all your dolls dressed up and your decorations too! You do such a nice job decorating. Love the googly eyeballs of the "hosts" of the tour! LOL

Hope it's ok if I put my Barbie website link below when I sign!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful decorations and home just looks lovely. I am so glad I stopped by. Happy Halloween !!!

Natalia said...

Hi! Better late then never!

I wish I was your neighbor because you are just too much fun.

Please stop back by and enter a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to A Fanciful Twist :)