1. Marshmallow Advent Calendar – behind each door you’ll find a delicious piece of handmade marshmallow, with different tasty flavours.

2. Tea advent calendar – an advent calendar full of rare teas, from Jasmine Fairy through to the incredibly named Double Dragon Pearl.

3. Ornament advent calendar – in the guise of a Georgian mansion and made from white porcelain, this advent house contains 24 individual and surprising Wedgwood ornaments in blue and white.

4. Coffee advent calendar – a selection of indulgent coffees in a variety of flavours.

5. Stationery advent calendar – different stationary items behind the little doors.

6. Doggie advent calendar – For man’s (and woman’s) best friend – a bone-shaped advent calendar contains a selection of natural and tasty biscuits in original and carob flavour.

7. Beer advent calendar – This advent calendar contains a selection of beer. Designed to take you on a tasty beer adventure from lagers via pale ales.

8. Musical advent calendar – an advent calendar that contains 24 spaces to hide sweets, toys and other treats, but upon opening each door, a different Christmas tune will play.

9. Wine advent calendar – and advent calendar full of a selection of wines.

10. Biscuit advent calendar – different biscuits and different tastes to taste.

11. Jewellery box advent calendar  – a 12 door advent calendar is for the DIY jewellery lovers. It contains all the ingredients for creating a delicate charm bracelet and necklace. Plus you can personalise the front of the box.

12. Radio or Tv show advent calendar – In Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden there is also a tradition of having a calendar in the form of a radio show or TV show.

13. A digital advent calendar –  a  beautiful main scene conceals a new game, animated story or other activity for every day of December up to Christmas Day, all accompanied by music carefully selected for each occasion. You can design your own tartan, build your own snowflakes and, of course, decorate your own Christmas tree. There are a selection of fun activities available even before the start of December, and the main scene itself is also full of unexpected surprises, gradually becoming more colourful and festive as the big day draws near. (jacquielawson.com)

We give you the definition. What’s the word?

1. a mythical monster like a giant reptile breathing fire

2. a soft, sweet, pink or white food

3. . an object that is beautiful rather than useful and is added to increase the beauty of something

4. writing and other office materials

5. having or producing happy and enjoyable feelings suitable for a festival or other special occasion

Key

1. dragon

2. marshmallow

3. ornament

4. stationery

5. festive

You don’t even need to like pumpkins to get into the spirit of things (although it definitely helps) but there are plenty of options for do-it-yourself Halloween home decor if you think outside the box, even just a little.

So take a look at this list of easy do-it-yourself Halloween home decor ideas, and you just might be able to have some fun.

1. Glowing Eyes

Want to terrify people with some glowing eyes around your apartment? Just take some toilet rolls, cut eye shapes into them, insert a couple of glow sticks and cover the ends. Simple.

2. Fake Pumpkins

If pumpkins are too heavy or you simply don’t like them, then just make your own. Get some foil tubing from a hardware store and a piece of pipe for the stem. Arrange the tubing in a circle and spray orange.

3. Ghost Candles

It doesn’t get any easier than picking up some tall, white candles and drawing ghost faces on them with a sharpie.

4. “The Nightmare before Christmas” Light

Take a cheap touch light. Take your sharpie and draw the face of Jack Skellington from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas.

5. Blood-Dripped Candles

Light a red candle and drip the wax around the edge of a white candle to give the appearance of blood.

6. Garage Door Victim

If you really want to freak people out,stuff some old clothes with straw or paper and leave the top half under your garage door, then splatter the front of the door with ketchup.

7. Cardboard Zombie Window

Cut some cardboard into long pieces and paint a wood grain pattern onto them and attach to doors or windows for that “boarded-up” look. For an added touch, attach plastic skeleton hands or even draw eyeballs on ping pong balls and have them peering through.

8. Eyeball Flowers

Buy some plastic eyeballs or use the ping pong ball trick (cut them in half to mimic eyeballs) and then glue them in place in the center of fake roses. Obviously, the darker the flowers, the better.

9. Watermelon Brain

Peela watermelon so the white part is still visible, put it in a bowl and cut a brain pattern into it. This is great for those who don’t like pumpkins.

10. A Head in a Jar

Take a panoramic photograph of somebody’s head and print it in color, then curl the paper up, put it in a jar and freak everybody out.

11. Another Head in a Jar

If the previous head-in-a-jar trick seemed like too much effort, just take some old doll heads, wrap them in lace or cheesecloth, and put them inside a bell jar.

12. Cheesecloth Ghosts

To make these ghosts just put some type of ball on top of a soda bottle and use some wire to arrange the position of the arms. Drape the cheesecloth over the top and spray with starch. Once they are dry, these will be able to stand up on their own.

13. PVC Mummy

If you have PVC piping, some old clothes and a mask, you too can throw together a pretty awesome mummy.

14. Styrofoam Tombstone

If you have access to an iron, you can make a pretty impressive-looking tombstone. Just draw your design onto a piece ofstyrofoam and then engrave it with the soldering iron in a well-ventilated area. After that, spray it gray and add some extra details, and voila, a realistic-looking tombstone.

Source: littlethings.com

What’s Halloween? Can you fill in the gaps in the text using the words given?

How did Halloween begin? The holiday traces back to the ancient …… (1) festival known as Samhain. The ancient Celts from Britain and Ireland observed the start of the …… (2) on November 1, …… (3). The day marked the end of summer and the …… (4). Folks came to believe that on October 31, the worlds of the living and …… (5) overlapped before the start of the new year. October 31 became All Hallows Eve, a time where the …… (6) of the dead could return to destroy the harvest that was stored for winter. People set …… (7) on hilltops to ward off the ……(8) spirits before the start of the winter season.

Key

1. Celtic

2. new year

3. All Souls’ Day

4. harvest

5. dead

6. ghosts

7. bonfires

8. evil