I'm pretty sure you know this by now, but Hocus Pocus is my favorite Halloween movie ever. So it's only right to feature the (not-so) lovely Sanderson sisters in my final Fall-O-Ween post. What you probably didn't know is that there are almost two dozen things I learned from Hocus Pocus.

Mornings are rough for everyone. 

Virgins should never light the candle.

It's always about boys.

And boys like 'yabos'.

Give 'em the old over the shoulder.

When all else fails, put a spell on them, their yours. 

Walk like you're on a mission.

Be weary of strange, automatic contraptions. 

A book can see into your soul.

Fire ain't nothing to mess with.

Neither is the cops.

People believe it when you scream it.

Also, saying it in Old English makes a bigger impact.

Enough said.

Life's exciting.

But not that exciting.

Singing makes everything better.

Always make a grand exit. 

The ones who love us never really leave us.

Most of all...

So ends Fall-O-Ween. I really had so much fun, and I hope you did too! I loved sharing my favorite season with you all, and I can't wait until next year to hopefully do it all over again <3

If you've got a Fall-O-Ween/Halloween post, link it up!

Have a happy and safe Halloween! 

Treat, trick and eat tons of candy!

1

Super Easy Halloween Snacks

So I was suppose to post about these Halloween goodies last week, after my sangria recipe. But I didn't feel like baking then. There's a baking mood, you know. I wasn't in it. When was I in the baking mood? Well, 1 AM last night, of course. Typical me. So I baked while I caught up on yesterday's episode of Sons Of Anarchy (Poor Bobby).

These goodies are super easy to make. I'm talking a toddler could whip this up, which seems to be the talent level of most of my DIYs these days. Both snacks are perfect for Halloween parties, baking with your children and devouring as your family watches Casper for the four thousandth time, or just making them for a party of one.

(Warning: this is a very picture-heavy post. Proceed at your own risk... and that of your waistline.)

A twist on the traditional cupcake, inspired by my favorite Halloween candy. All you need is classic white cake batter, yellow and orange (red + yellow) food coloring, vanilla icing, and candy corn pieces. The longest part of this recipe was layering the batter in the muffin pan, it's that simple.

You don't know this, so this might just blow your mind, but... brownies are kinda my specialty. It all began with a box of brownie mix on a drunken college night and the rest was history. Ask my boyfriend. They're damn good. How do you halloween-ify your staple dessert? Throw a ghost on top of them!

If you thought it couldn't get any easier than those cupcakes up there, you were wrong. Grab a box of brownie mix and follow the instructions on the back. Cut the brownies into medium squares and top each with a large marshmallow. Melt a few spoonfuls of icing and dibble it over the top.

Do you have any go-to Halloween snacks? Tell me about them!

Blood Never Tasted So Good

Every holiday I can think of has a festive drink to go with it. Christmas has eggnog. New Years is all about champagne. Even Thanksgiving dinner's not complete in my family without a few bottles of apple cider. Halloween gets the shaft, I tell ya. The shaft!

I had been thinking about what the perfect Halloween drink was for a few days before I decided on this wonderful, basic choice. For some reason, I kept going to the fantastically creepy and complicated (think green, bubbling cocktails with an eyeball replica dropped into it), instead of seeing all the potential in one of my all-time favorites.

Sangria. A sweet, fruity, refreshing drink hailing from the lands of Spain and Portugal. The name itself loosely translates to blood (it means "bloodletting" and the Spanish word for blood is 'sangre'). And, I mean, what's more Halloween than blood? Sure, you could throw a severed limb or a mummified corpse into the mix, but a blood-inspired option is just so basic for the creep factor of Halloween. And yummy. Sangria, that is. Sangria is yummy. I have no idea what blood tastes like...

I make sangria pretty regularly. It's my go-to drink for the summertime and it helps that it's so easy and cheap to make. So if you have a cheap bottle of red wine lying around, try out this "recipe" next week!

Spooky Nail Ideas For The Artistically-Challenged

One thing I've always been jealous of? People who can do their nails really well. Cause homegirl is pretty terrible at it; and by homegirl I, of course, mean me. Really though, how do you people create these amazing designs? Teach me your wayyys!

Now I may be nail decal illiterate and unable to polish my right hand without smearing everything (lord, help me!), but I want themed nails too, especially with Halloween approaching. I'm not going for anything too elaborate (that would be a big fail), but I'm already feeling so festive, my nails should be too! So if you're challenged like me or can't go completely all out because of work or whatever, try your hand at these 4 designs I was able to successfully pull off (so basically a kindergartner can do it).

Shout out to my ratchet lil DIY dotting tool at the bottom! You da best :)

Spooky nails are great, but so's a deep purple or berry shade for fall! My dear Deb mentioned that she love Bahama Mama by Essie, and well, now I'm polishing my nails that color. What Deb says I do #basic :)

If you've written about fall beauty or any Fall-O-Ween themed posts recently, link up below. I'd love to read all about it!

Giveaway Time!!!

Interested in rocking a dark lip this fall? Thinking about trying a spooky nail on for size, or just in love with berry-toned polish? Enter to win this neat little bundle of goodies! Fall-O-Ween giveaway #2 features: Wet n Wild lipsticks in "Cherry Bomb" and "Vamp It Up", Ardell "Demi 105 lashes (all from the previous post), and the black and white nail polishes used above. You seriously want this beauty stash!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, don't forget to enter the Gone Girl Giveaway! It ends Sunday night!

Tell me about your favorite fall beauty products in the comments below!

9 Favorite Halloween Movies

Just for a bit of Halloween-y fun,
a picture of me all vamped out :)

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't leave my sofa for the full 4 weeks of October if I didn't have to because I love the tv programming so much. Occasionally, I spend the night of October 31st tucked inside my apartment with a few good
movies and lots of treats.

In honor of the awesome-ness that is Halloween and my final Halloween-y post :\, I present my favorite Halloween movies. Some are quite scary as I love horror movies; others are a bit childish to entertain the nostalgic kid in me. I don't watch all of them every year, yet, I consider all of them my Halloween classics and they put me right into the spirit of the day.







1. Hocus Pocus. It's clear that this is my favorite Halloween movie. A must-watch for me every year (and yes, I watched it this past Sunday), it simply reminds me so much of my childhood when I wished for my very own talking cat named Binx.

Fame, What A Feeling! (Outfit, Hair & Makeup)

Yes, I did just combine two song titles from the movie Flashdance because I couldn't choose just one. I adore that movie. Don't judge me.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, as evidenced by my excitement over 13 Nights of Halloween and my recent Instagram posts. Even though I always wait until the last minute for a costume, I do like dressing up. If you also wait until 2 days before to figure out a costume, Alex from Flashdance is a fun and easy one. I love love love this costume because it's super cute and an ode to the funnest decade ever. Long live the 80s!

THE OUTFIT:

A Flashdance inspired costume

• Opaque Tights - Choose a pair as close to your skin color as possible, but make sure the tights are your exact size (I'd suggest maybe even going a bit bigger) so the material doesn't stretch and become see-through in your bum area!
• Bodysuit/Leotard - Who knew my old gymnastics leotard would be useful almost 10 years later? If you don't have a bodysuit, my advice is to be strategic and buy one that can be multi-functional. Like this bodysuit by American Apparel. It's $30, but an addition to your wardrobe that can be worn lots of ways. But if you're on a budget, here's one from Forever 21.
• Legwarmers - I have a white and a black pair but I really like this neon pink pair for the outfit (Or if you're like me and have always wanted thigh-highs, pick up a pair and roll 'em down). You can go with whatever color you want here, and it doesn't have to match your leotard either. That's the beauty about the 80s. It was all expression and none of the judgement. So throw on a purple pair with that neon orange leotard if you want to, girl!
• Sweatshirt - If you don't have a old sweatshirt that your comfortable cutting up, then buy a cheap one here, here, and here. Cut a deeper half-moon into the collar, which allows the sweatshirt to hang off your shoulder. Then, and this is optional, cut the sleeves a bit so that they roll-up. I'd stop here but you can really get creative with the scissors if you want.
• Black Heels - Any black leather pumps in your closet will do. These pumps are on my Pinterest wishlist because they look like they'd be comfortable enough for anything.
• Accessories - Here's where we ease off the color, and instead put on some dainty silver jewelry. Forever 21 is my go-to store for cute, inexpensive occasion pieces so I picked out this heart bracelet, and these basic silver hoops.

*Scroll to the bottom of this post to see a modified version of this look!

THE HAIR: