The candy-filled gourds, in happier times

I did some freelance work for Better Homes and Gardens again this year, along with my good pal Sarah, for Halloween segments on The Today Show. Specifically, last-minute Halloween decoration ideas. Sarah focused on pumpkin painting and assembling the body of our buddy, the scarecrow. I got crafty with candy-filled gourds, gourd votives, a personal pozy (gourd that holds flowers), a mummy pot, a leaf-decoupaged pumpkin, the scarecrow’s carved jack-o-lantern head and a gold, glitzy pumpkin with painted leaves.

It turns out that living in Tribeca worked out well in terms of rounding up all the supplies for these projects, except for the gourds, which I found at the invaluable Union Square Farmer’s Market. I ended up having to carry around a bunch of the produce one day because of meetings, so it’s funny to answer the proverbial, “Oh, you getting ready for Halloween?” question with a, “Well, kind of, but actually, all of this is for Better Homes and Gardens and The Today Show.” At the hardware store in my neighborhood, I bought a terra cotta pot for the mummy pot, which prompted the guy ringing me up to say, “Man, everyone is so into growing things these days.” Me: “I’m filling this baby with candy and decorating it like a mummy. It’s gonna be on TV. But yeah, a lot of people ARE into growing things these days.”

After many hours and a couple of glue gun burns later, we got to proudly deliver everything to 30 Rock, an adventure in itself. Picture a car service picking us up with all of the above, particularly a headless scarecrow we put in the backseat in between the bleary-eyed two of us. Only in New York…. Here are a lot more pictures and pictures from last year’s segments.

To top it all off, the Ewoks hired to be part of the Halloween segments (the costume theme was Star Wars) were a little…rambunctious, and possibly tipsy. They stole the show, so to speak, and that’s putting it lightly. Very lightly. Care to watch what an ewok downing my gourd full of candy looks like? Or inappropriately doing something to Al Roker’s leg? Check it out here, if you dare. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Thankfully, I am soon headed off to what is quite possibly my favorite event in New York City, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s Halloween Procession of Ghouls+silent film+organ music, and I’m fairly certain there will be no Ewoks. At least I hope not. Happy Halloween!