Last minute Halloween costume ideas

In a panic for costume ideas? Easy Halloween Costumes for Children by Leila Albala (646.47 ALB) is for you.

By just using a few things such as panty hose, garbage bags, and other objects found around the house, you can make your child into a Martian, a monster, or some other scary creature.

Here are two other books still available at the library:

Creative Costumes for any Occasion by Mark Walker (646.47 WAL)

Halloween Costumes from the Singer Sewing Reference Library (646.478 HAL)

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Confessions of an art dealer

Author John Howard Swanson was a very successful art dealer in San Francisco. He has written an autobiography called Confessions of an Art Dealer (709.2 SWA in the biography section).

Before I begin with an overview of his experiences, readers should remember that not all art dealers do inappropriate tactics for selling art. He's only talking about what he had seen in San Francisco.

Before he set up his own art galleries, Swanson worked at a gallery that bought blank paper with only the signature from Salvador Dali and had a local printer print, as needed, a particular image. The gallery sold these as original prints. ("Notice that the artist hand signed it!")

Swanson was one of the few art galleries in the San Francisco area who promoted local artists. During the '60s and '70s (same as now) San Francisco was a thrilling place for new artists to live. Instead of relying on "prints" from the established names, Swanson took a chance with local artists. He even made a promise, which he kept, that he would pay the artists every month for artwork that was sold. Many of the art galleries did not pay the artists on time, sometimes not at all.

Of course, he also had to deal with the egos of the artists who wanted more space or a larger percentage of the sales.

Overall, it's a fascinating look at the art world through the eyes of an art dealer.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Focus on the Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus! (745.5941 HOC) is another book currently available at the library for those who want to do last minute decorating. Spooky decorations that can be made include:

• Pumpkin place mats
• Pumpkin lantern
• Skeleton banner
• Beaded spiders and webs
• Caldron Candles
• Haunted tree decorations
• Spooky party favors

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Are you doing last minute Halloween decorating?

If you are like I am, you may be a procrastinator still thinking of decorating for the Halloween season. Have no fear, we still have a few books on quick, fun decorations to "deaden" (not liven) your house.

Appropriately called Halloween Decorating, by Cowles Creative Publishing (745.5941 HAL) has 50 projects and ideas. They range from the usual pumpkin carving and scarecrow to party decorations to picture frames and wreaths.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

In the cool of the evening, when everything is getting kind of spooky...

Halloween - the time of year when ghosts and goblins come out. To get in the mood of the season, here are two books written about spooky stories of Iowa that have been collected by the authors. These are very short stories; they can be read at a Halloween party in just a few minutes. They aren't really that scary, making them great for the entire family to hear while Mom or Dad reads them around a campfire on a dark, cold night.


Ghostly Tales of Northeast Iowa by Ruth D. Hein
(977.7 HEI)
I thought there would be some stories based in Waterloo or Cedar Falls, but there don't seem to be any. They are in Decorah, West Union, and other places. At least you won't get scared about some location you might frequently go by.

Ghosts of Johnson County, Iowa by Lori Erickson (cover not shown) (977.7655 ERI) Most of the stories are from the Iowa City area.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Halloween is fast approaching. Every place you look, there seem to be pumpkins for sale. If you are planning to buy one of them, are you planning on doing the traditional carving of it? This time of the year, Martha Stewart and others promote different ideas for carving.

The library has a fascinating book called Extreme Pumpkin Carving by Vic Hood and Jack A. Williams (745.594 HOO). The authors use non-traditional tools for their creations: toothbrush, a pocket knife, and wood carving tools. There are 20 ideas to spark your imagination. They include a witch and several old men (including Santa Claus himself). The photographs of the finished pumpkins are a treat to look at, even if you don't care to go through the work of carving a pumpkin.

If you're interested in a more basic book on pumpkin carving, check out Pumpkin Carving by Ed Palmer (745.5941 PAL).

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Richard Chamberlain

You don't hear much about Richard Chamberlain anymore. But this past week, I listened to a pianist who played music from "The Thorn Birds," which she informed me was one of her favorite movies.

I'm too young to really remember Richard Chamberlain in "Dr. Kildare," but I do remember "The Thorn Birds," one of the more prominent movies Richard starred in.

Shattered Love (792.028 CHA in the biography section) is Richard Chamberlain's memoir. Of course he discusses his rise to fame as an actor, becoming a heartthrob in the 1960s. He's much more, though. He's also an accomplished painter.

If you're looking for gossip on other actors and directors, this book isn't for you. Richard doesn't get into all the back biting bitchiness that other performers do.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007