Handmade Halloween Memories//October 133rd, 2021

 As you most likely have already noticed, especially if you know me on Instagram, a great deal iof my Halloween collection is handmade. 

I love supporting artists, and finding pieces that are clearly made with love and an understanding of what those of us who love and live for Halloween want to see. As someone with a lifelong appreciation for art, but zero crafting talent, it’s super fun to see what other people come up with.

I realize, though, when I think about it, that I have always had a deep love for all things handmade, which likely began in babyhood, as I was always being brought to craft fairs by my mother and aunts.

Craft fairs were interesting places to me, and as I got older, I made sure to save whatever money I could scrape up for them, rather than just trips to the toy store. Craft fairs were magical places, where you truly never knew what you might find. Everything there was the product of someone else’s imagination, and you never knew when you might stumble across something that would capture yours. There was a personal touch, a heart and soul to these items that mass-produced things on store shelves just didn’t have. You couldn’t help but wonder, when finding that perfect item at a craft fair, if someone was having a train of thought similar to your own when they made it. 

My favorite things to see at craft fairs were, of course, the Halloween items. There was a big craft fair we would always go to at the beginning of the October, and it was a Halloween lover’s dream back then. It was nearly impossible to decide what to spend my money on. Should I go for the less expensive small things, so that I could purchase more? Or should I spend it all on the one big piece that had grabbed my attention the second we stepped onto the grounds? Decisions, decisions. 

My money was usually limited to whatever allowance I could manage to save, and sometimes birthday or Christmas money, depending on the time of year. If my aunts came along, they would sometimes offer to buy me something small, or occasionally my grandfather would slip me some cash as I headed out, but it never seemed like enough. I always envied my Aunt Trish, and the things she would buy, specifically the pumpkin dolls that cost far more than a child could ever afford. I remember promising myself, over and over again, as she walked away with these items that captured the time of year we both loved the most, that when I eventually had the money, I would have a collection of perfect pumpkin dolls, and, though maybe it’s questionable as to what kind of “normal” adult goals Ive reached at this point in my life, I can honestly say I believe I’ve made good on that promise.

 

(Doll by QuestForTheBeasties)

(Doll by PetitesFripouilles)

Collecting small handmade Halloween items, though, became a passion of mine in childhood. There were certain stands I’d look for, at the local fairs, because I knew they’d have something nice that I could afford. One such vendor was always selling these small pumpkins, made out of a cornhusk-like material, with faces painted on. Their expressions were all different, each one a perfect representation of Halloween in its own way. Some were funny, some were spooky, some just looked contemplative as they took in the world around them. For that Halloween season, it became my personal mission to collect as many as I could. 

On one particularly lucky day, I wound getting three of them. We then went to a restaurant in the area where the craft fair was being held, and were seated in an area that was at the top of a very small staircase. I couldn’t wait to see my pumpkins again, so I pulled one out of the bag, lost my grip, and it actually went rolling down the stairs! One of my most distinct childhood Halloween-related memories is actually of watching my Aunt Trish go chasing after this rolling pumpkin, as the people at the bottom of the stairs watched.

I’m not sure what ever happened to these pumpkins as time went on, but I’ve never forgotten them. I was recently lucky enough, though, to adopt a little pumpkin doll, made by my friend Sandee (check out her Instagram !) that looks more like those little pumpkins than anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s like someone took one of those pumpkin heads and gave it a body of its own!

I haven’t been too many craft fairs in recent years. In all honesty, they’ve changed quite a bit over time. you have to search high and low to find the things with true personality, and many of the vendors are now focused on food and jewelry. But, I am so happy that the handmade Halloween spirit still lives on online, and now tons more artists are even more easily accessible to me. I think I was truly destined to have a big handmade Halloween collection, and I think that the younger me would be very proud.

(Doll by SpookyCutes)

Stay spooky, my friends.