I plan to do some Halloween hauls but at the moment I have so much stuff that I don’t even know where to start. I thought it would be nice to apply Hygge to Halloween. Hygge is something that I have started to introduce to my life about a year ago. Halloween is my absolute favourite time of year. I live for it. This year, however, it hasn’t been as easy to celebrate Halloween as we have suffered the loss of our beautiful baby, Pumpkin. I won’t get into that now because it is too painful and sad, instead I’ll discuss some self-caring and fun things to do at Halloween other than eating lots of sweet and scaring the bejaysus out of people (both of which are very great activities). Here are a few Halloween things that I think lend themselves well to the concept.
Pumpkin Soup
I’m not one for being overly warm or cosy. I hate the idea of fleece socks or pjs as I’m constantly boiling. Those kind of things make me feel claustrophobic so for me candles and soup is about as toasty as I’m willing to go. This pumpkin soup is lovely; it is healthy and low in fat.
You will need a pumpkin, a red pepper, an onion and some stock, chicken or vegetable, whichever works for you.
- Cut the pumpkin into segments like you would with a melon and roast it in the oven for about 15 minutes. This will make it easier to separate the skin from the flesh.
- When it is done, chop the pumpkin flesh and throw it into a pot with the chopped onion and pepper with some stock.
- Boil it all up and then blitz the life out of it until it resembles soup.
- You could add cream if you wanted it to be thicker. I added some fat free natural yogurt to my bowl as an alternative to cream and it was really lovely.
I served my soup in my fab new pug in a pumpkin patch mug from TK Maxx. I also got the ouija chopping board in the above photo in TK Maxx.
Candles
Candles are the epitome of Hygge. I really like the scent of the pumpkin candles that appear at Halloween. I had a few old and almost fully used candles from previous years so I decided to make use of them rather than buying more. I melted them down and poured them into a jam jar with a wick. To make them look a little nicer I added some twine and an autumn leaf.
I decided to make a few more autumn candles for around the house. I used wax pellets and when they were melted I added an orange dye before pouring in some vanilla essence and ground cinnamon. The vanilla and cinnamon work really well together to create an autumn scent. Again I added twine and a leaf.
Reading
There are so many wonderful books that are perfect for the season. One of my all time favourite books is Dracula. I don’t think there is anything more appropriate for Halloween. Frankenstein is another great option and Dorian Gray could be added into the mix. At the moment I’m reading Tales of Mystery and Imagination. This is a fantastic collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s work that a dear friend of mine bought me for my birthday. I like a bit of Gothic reading but I’m not brave enough for actual horror so if you are then go for it. The All Souls trilogy has to get a mention here. If you love witches and vampires then you simply must read these books. The first book, A Discovery of Witches is my favourite in the trilogy. The books are written by a Harvard Professor and are a mix of fantasy and history. I absolutely adored reading these books.
Halloween Bath
Both Lush and The Body Shop offer a great range of Halloween bath goodies. The Lord of Misrule bathbomb from Lush is one of my absolute favourites and the scent reminds me of lots of happy memories. This year the vanilla and pumpkin Halloween collection from The Body Shop was introduced. I bought the shower gel and adding it to a bath makes for a fabulous Halloween scented bubble bath. Similarly for a green Halloween bath use Lord of Misrule. Add pumpkin candles to your bathroom for the ultimate Halloween relaxation.
There are lot of ways to get comfortable and crafty for the Halloween season. Have you any tips?
