My new outlet for coping with COVID-19 is part mantra, part rebellion: themed holidays. I’m putting up a big sign on my living room wall and calling out the sadness of living with this virus—it’s “for the BIRDS!”
I want to do something purely for fun. It’s not to augment my kids’ education, to volunteer in the community, or to make money. It’s just for me, just because. This is more than holiday decorating–it’s treating life as a series of intentional events.
Why Have a Theme?
Recently I’ve found that a general love of fall, reverence for my ancestors, and nuttiness for Halloween decor isn’t great. In fact, it produces a kind of frenzied overdrive that makes me feel a little strung out.
Some years I’ve focused by throwing big events, which worked then. Not now. I don’t need a party. I don’t need an event. I need a mantra. Let’s call it a theme. It helps to have a theme.
This year my theme for Halloween is “for the BIRDS!”
Because 2020 is…
Zero Expectations
I’ll let the season evolve, and maybe I’ll run in and out of this obsession. I don’t expect to be inspired every day. That’s one thing I love about Halloween: there aren’t any rules. Do what you want!
Plus, nothing has to be perfect. Wonky is great. If anyone looks sideways at my walls, I may remind them of just how much it matters in light of our own mortality. Who cares? It’s for the BIRDS!
Materials
Just a reminder, this blog isn’t monetized. I’m sharing materials because I’m NOT the craftiest person. I frequently have to ask for recommendations, sources, and detailed instructions. So I’m sharing what I DO know.
I’ve used this roll of black paper every year since 2017. This is year #4 with the same roll. It cost me about $20 USD on Amazon back then. It has a shiny side, and a matte side (with more tooth). You could do a lot with chalk on it. It’s great for making giant silhouettes—trees, witches, eyes, you name it.
My walls are textured, and blue tape and sticky tack aren’t very effective. You know what I love? Glue dots. For this project I used Scott Permanent Adhesive Dots, Medium.
I’m totally minus as a freehand artist. So I used Photoshop brushes to make letters and bird silhouettes.
I wanted my letters and birds to be bigger than an 8.5×11 piece of paper, bigger than what I could print at home. So I used Apple AirPlay to project my PSD onto my home TV screen. I traced the birds onto white tissue paper. I used that tissue paper like a pattern over the black paper, secured with a little blue tape around the edges to keep it in place while I cut.
An old heavy duty moving box protected the table. I used an Xacto knife to cut out each letter and image.
PS Brushes:
- “Birdfin” set at Brusheezy.com
- artist: kaotika
- https://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/49298-18-bird-brushes
- Used Bird 1, 4, 6, 11
Font:
- JackLanternBB
- by Nate Piekos for Blambot Fonts
- Available at 1001 Free Fonts: https://www.1001fonts.com/jacklantern-bb-font.html
Movies that aren’t for the BIRDS!
Yes, my family and I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. It’s still great. That scene in the diner where the protagonist is blamed because she’s not from around here… still deeply disturbing. And why didn’t anyone shut the front door in the final scene? Doesn’t that bother us??? Arg.
We found a plethora of documentaries and even one TEDx Talk on crows. Crows use tools! They are the smartest birds. We saw a New Caledonian Crow use an 8-step process in specific sequences to solve a puzzle to get a treat. Corvids are amazing!
We learned some of the ways crows become smart: teaching their young (up to two years with parents, plus having nest helpers, and sharing knowledge within family groups), eating a wide variety of foods, and using flexibility in their thinking.Often crows are depicted in movies and stories as evil, or foreboding. But now I’m thinking of them like this:
- relational (they mate for life, and stay in family groups),
- flexible (they change behaviors and incorporate new knowledge),
- intelligent (literally “big brained” proportionally), and
- problem-solving (they solve problems better than dogs, on par with chimps).
More on Halloween
I love Halloween (so much!) and have written about my love for the holiday before, as well as eulogized family and mentors who have meant a lot to me, who I remember especially during this time of year.
It’s really meaningful to have a specific time to remember people we love who are gone. Whether you observe All Saints’ Day, El Dia de los Muertos, Halloween, or something else, I highly recommend it!
Making a personal statement inside my home for no particular event or point of entertaining–just for me–is also enormously satisfying. So there! for the BIRDS!
Playlist
Need a Halloween playlist while you run? Here’s my playlist, Halloween Running: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJYVqpJCTFGVH8y2rAQJmrzM4fqFoPGBA
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