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• Have adult supervision. Accompany your kids if you don’t think they’re old enough to trick-or-treat on their own. Babies: Make sure you keep child’s arms and legs in the stroller at all times, and everyone should stay away from open flames!
• There is safety in numbers. If they’re old enough to trick-or-treat without an adult, tell your kids to stay in a group, and look both ways before crossing!
• Map out your plan. Designate a route before your kids begin trick-or-treating, and make sure they stick to it. If they have cell phones, make sure they are charged and the kids know to call you if needed.
• Take the long way ’round. Have your kids trick-or-treat in areas where there are a lot of people around. They should also avoid taking short-cuts through alleys and parking lots. Stick to areas they know!
• Try trick-or-treat-friendly homes. Ensure your kids only visit houses with lights on. And, you might also suggest the houses they visit have some sort of Halloween decoration on the porch. Stay in well-lighted areas!
• Stay outside. Make sure your kids don’t go inside someone’s house. They can get their candy from the porch. Teach a child NEVER to go inside the house!
• Remain visible. Dress your kids in a bright costume so others can see them. If their costume is dark, have your kids wear reflective strips or carry a glow stick or flashlight.
• Remember, shorter = safer. Goes without saying but just in case you forget, ensure your kids’ costumes aren’t so long that they can trip over them!
• Don’t cover the face. Instead of masks, have your kids wear [skin-safe] make-up so they can see better.
• Quality-check treats. Check your kids’ candy before they eat it. Throw out any candy that is not in its original wrapper or looks like it has been tampered with. (And pick the best candy for yourself of course! Ha!)
• Say “no” to strangers.Tell your kids to never accept a ride or go anywhere with a stranger.
• Obey the law. Encourage your kids to follow all the regular rules for walking around. That includes looking both ways before crossing, obeying all traffic laws and using cross walks and crossing lights where available.
• Have a great time! Finally, make sure your kids have tons of fun and get lots and lots of candy.
• Source: Kaboodle and Harrisons Halloween blog

I love this Steampunk Hat from Futuravapeur Jimdo -- it's kind of like a Mad Hatter hat, and I am an Alice in Wonderland fan

Steampunk: What is it? Think gears, steam-power, airship goggles, Victorian-era Britain with a futuristic feel. Once a literary genre, it’s now a fashion and home decor genre too.

Lovely Steampunk Hatbox from Diarment Creations on deviant art dot com

I am a minimalist who likes clean, simple lines, and uncluttered decor in my home, and a zen/beachy/asian feeling to my decor. However, I am attracted to so many different kinds of art! Including Steampunk!

Steampunk Dragonfly Jewelry from Etsy

I have a thing for dragonflies. When we lived in one of our former homes, we were visited daily by huge dragonflies (“the size of birds!” I would tell people). The dragonfly jewelry above is just so unique and interesting to look at.

I don't know if it is functioning, but this is a Steampunk laptop from zoobie-doobie

Of course, having a brain that wants simplicity and no clutter, means I won’t have art all over my walls, nor on shelves or end tables (oh, the dust! I don’t like to dust!), because a clutter-free home means a clutter-free brain, or something like that. I’m most at peace without “stuff”.

So I enjoy art by looking at blogs and searching Pinterest. It’s such a clean, non-materialistic way to enjoy the beauties of art and design!

Steampunk cake from zoobie-doobie

Being non-materialistic, I find it interesting that I like steampunk, which has a lot of convoluted materials. I also love to look at arts and crafts online, even though I have zero art/craft supplies in my home (with the exception of my face painting) and I am not a crafter at all.

Steampunk Guitar from 2dayblog dot com

Lots of steampunk fashion is not my thing, it’s for a younger crowd, and is not appealing to me at all, except for the hats and some of the jewelry. But the art pieces are very cool and I really enjoy looking at them, as they are so unique and fascinating.

Combining my Face Painting interests with Steampunk (and knowing you can’t have steampunk without some mention of futuristic-looking goggles), I found this cool steampunk face painting design:

Steampunk Goggle face painting by Lone Wolf (one of my favorite face painters)

For more steampunk pictures that I have been collecting, please visit my Pinterest Steampunk page: http://pinterest.com/triciasphotos/steampunk/

Svartifoss, Black Fall, Skaftafell National Park, Iceland. Photo Credit: Philip Vergeylen.wordpress.com --- This photographer does a lot of black and white pictures of nature, landscape, old buildings and more... so worth a visit to his blog!

Dusty book -- what magic awaits! Photo credit: Found on several random posts on Tumblr.com and Pinterest.com (everyone seems to like this one!) No idea who original photographer is, though I clicked on several links trying to find him/her.

Love the free-spiritedness of the children dancing. Found on pinterest.com. Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com (sholgk)

Not b/w, but a very cool antique Kodak camera from Tumblr.com (Photo credit: Sunday in Bed)

Black and White photo of wood cabin in my back yard, under dark skies (Calif.) Taken with my inexpensive point and shoot digital amateur wanna-be camera! (c) Photography by Tricia: JinglesAndTricia.blogspot.com

BigStormPicture.com -- Amazing storm cloud photos from this site and their blog... too cool!

Storm cloud in Nebraska, August 2011 -- Looks like it is RACING! BigStormPicture.com

I first saw these huge storm cloud photos on Pinterest then followed the pictures to their original website. BigStormPicture.com has so many awe-inspiring photos, including some from this August 2011 storm… the cloud looks like it’s going full speed ahead. So cool! (Actually, the first thing I thought when I saw this picture was that it reminded me of the ‘black smoke monster’ from tv series Lost!)

 Ryan McGinnis and BigStormCloud.com copyrights. I am sharing their website and blog because the photography is beautiful and the storm clouds are magnificent. And I’m not a storm chaser fan at all. But I do appreciate great photographic moments, and that’s something I like to blog-share about. Gotta love the internet for finding such talented artists like these!

So I enjoyed the Harrisons Halloween Costumes blog posts about both of those classic tv series, in relation to their spooky-creepy-cute infant halloween costumes (which are 100% Cotton).

Harrisons Halloween Costumes are on facebook too.

Harrisons Halloween 100% Cotton Spooky Baby Costumes from CastlesNCrowns.com

resurfaceart.com/blog

Resurface Art owner Amanda is making it her mission to help with the global water crisis by donating 20% from surfboard art to the construction of a 60 foot well in Africa. She is partnered with World Vision.

http://resurfaceart.com/blog/2011/07/happy-one-year-resurface/

Beautiful art with a beautiful purpose.

Find her on facebook.

Her blog.

Her website.

From Luxurbex.blogspot. com When Time Stood Still

(All Photo Credits: Luxurbex.blogspot.com)

I have discovered a photography blog called Luxurbex, and can spend hours looking at its amazing and hauntingly beautiful photography. It’s like the settings are all trapped in a time warp….

(Ford Consul left to decay in forest in Belgium)

Abandoned mines, industrial art, autos, ruins and residences in urban and other settings, all forgotten and frozen in time.

Called Urban Decay or Urban Exploration, I am fascinated with this new photographic discovery, which started with Luxurbex!

Makeshift Christmas Tree seen in Quarry

Abandoned Film Studio in Germany

Tailor in Boudhanath in Nepal -- I love black and white photography!

Belgium, India, Germany, architecture, quarries, mines, rusty cars, people, black and white photography and more.

I wish I was a photographer too, but even though I am not, I greatly appreciate artists like Luxurbex! His website has tons of photos to admire, and I frequent his blog and photo website often.

Enjoy!

Balloon animals and balloon twisting can include fun Halloween Party Decorations like this Giant Balloon Spider from Pop Artist.

If you need some spider face painting ideas, there are several to choose from over at Jingles And Tricia?

FrankenBaby – Baby Frankenstein: cute soft hat, pants, shirt with attached vest, and booties.

Witchie – Little black witch dress with orange cat embroidered on front, cotton felt witch hat and darling orange and black striped booties. Optional long stretchy knee socks in orange and black can be added.

Spider – Clever design with attached ‘web’, great for boys or girls.

Vampire – Boy vampire design with attached cumberbund on pants! Cape, booties, onesie shirt.

Vampira – Girl vampire black dress with red spider design and red trim, cape and booties.

Made by Harrisons Halloween Costumes, imported. All 100% Cotton infant costumes come in one size that usually fit most babies who wear a 3-6 months size clothing. Available and On Sale at Castles N Crowns Boutique: Save $10 OFF Today!