Real Advantage Magazine October 2021

TheReal Buying, Selling, and Maintaining Your Biggest Asset

Make Your

Halloween Décor Hauntingly Memorable

The Top 5 Movies To Watch every October Make Pumpkin Carving Your Own Throwing a Fun Adult Costume Party

Allison Roman Lic# 3409788

Lisa Soloway Lic# 3443698

eXp Realty, LLC 818 E. New Haven Ave #1, Melbourne FL. 32901

eXp Realty, LLC 818 E. New Haven Ave #1, Melbourne FL. 32901

321-720-2141 allison.roman@ exprealty.com

321-301-0824 Lisa.Soloway@ exprealty.com

Make Your

Halloween Décor Hauntingly Memorable

One of the most enjoyable parts of Halloween getting to decorate your home inside and out. Here are some tips for creating memorable indoor and outdoor Halloween decorations.

Let’s start with inside your home.

are an inexpensive way to set the mood, even if you use CFLs.

Cover your lamps with spooky shades, either white cobweb types or black lacy ones, for a haunted look. Just make sure no fabric is touching the bulb.

Using white paper plates of various sizes, you can make spooky decorations simply with your computer printer. Print out images of skeletons, bats, cats, and other Halloween-related pictures. Then cut them out in circles and use glue to mount the images to the paper plates before hanging them on the wall.

Speaking of bulbs, wouldn’t it look extra-spooky to have red or orange light bulbs under those lamp covers? Colored light bulbs

Turn costumes into décor too. A witch hat here, a ghost costume there. You can repurpose costumes you’re not using as decorations.

Now let’s go out to your yard. Being mindful of any local codes and being sure to respect your neighbors, you can have great fun decorating the outside of your home.

1. Ghosts on stakes You can create a ghostly legion on your lawn using old sheets, shower curtains, or any white fabric. Drive tomato stakes (or something similar, such as metal fencing rods) into the ground at various points on your lawn. On top of the stakes, mount a Styrofoam ball or ball up newspaper held together by masking tape to act as the head. Drape the white sheets over top and draw black eyes and a mouth using a marker.

You can also dress up your ghosts with hats and other funny or scary accessories.

2. Burial ground Make your lawn into a frightening graveyard with fake tombstones.

These are usually made of lightweight material that is waterresistant and looks remarkably like stone.

3. Spider webs Grab bagged spider webs that are ready to hang on your outdoor shrubbery, windows and doors. You can also stretch cotton balls and place those on bushes and trees. Feel free to add plastic spiders along the webs to finish the look.

4. Unwelcome signs Signs that remind people to BEWARE are also a fun addition to your outdoor décor around Halloween. You can purchase one or create your own and have fun with the sayings.

Many of the decorations can be reused year after year.

Plus, it’s nice to add to your collection annually to make Halloween as terrifyingly fun as it can be.

Allison Roman 321-720-2141 allison.roman@exprealty.com Lisa Soloway 321-301-0824 Lisa.Soloway@exprealty.com

The Top 5 Movies To Watch every October As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, you know it’s almost time for Halloween.

And the month of October is the perfect time to watch Halloween-themed movies –

whether they’re scary, funny, or family-friendly.

Consider watching these classics (or remakes) this year to get you in the Halloween spirit.

1. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” The title says it all. This is not for the faint of heart. First released in 1974, the film was allegedly inspired by the real-life crimes of killer Ed Gein. But it’s entirely fictional in plot and events depicted.

2. “Rocky Horror Picture Show” This classic from the 1970s is not terribly frightening, but it does revolve around off-beat sexual themes and innuendos. It’s based on a British musical stage play by a similar name (“The Rocky Horror Show”), and was intended to be a spoof on a prior era of sci-fi and horror movies.

It was once a “midnight movie,” a term that came out of the 1950s practice of showing low-budget films on TV late at night.

If you like a bit of twisted comedy and memorable music, this is a great movie for Halloween.

3. Harry Potter Kids and adults alike are fanatical about the Harry Potter series and with eight films to choose from, you could make it an all-night film festival or watch one each night for eight days straight.

The movies are based on the wildly popular books by JK Rowling.

They are more magic-based than fear-based, making them a safer choice for families.

4. “Trick ‘r Treat” This Warner Bros. movie is considered original and fresh, which is a plus in a genre that tends to produce movies with similar story lines and effects.

Critics have positive things to say about this movie, and it has a strong cult following (not unlike “Rocky Horror”).

In “Trick ‘r Treat,” various characters appear in all sorts of different scenarios, tied together with the theme of keeping Halloween tradition. Those who fail to keep proper traditions meet a deadly fate.

This film is not for children. It’s better viewing for older teens and adults.

Allison Roman 321-720-2141 allison.roman@exprealty.com Lisa Soloway 321-301-0824 Lisa.Soloway@exprealty.com

5. “Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit” Wallace and Gromit are a classic pair of clay-animated characters.

Wallace is a private investigator/inventor and Gromit is his dog. They are hired to capture whatever critter is raiding the town’s sacred vegetable gardens.

“Were-Rabbit” is both family-friendly and a funny Halloween film.

The movie has some amusing moments for adults like tributes to classic movies, while amusing kids with gentle humor and fun action.

Now it’s time to pick your favorite, pop some popcorn, and settle in to be entertained.

Carved pumpkins signal that it’s truly autumn. But you don’t have to do the traditional jack-o-lantern face to be festive. You can get really creative and carve all kinds of designs. Here are the top tips for pumpkin carving this fall.

1

Get the Perfect Pumpkin The perfect pumpkin may not be what you think. Round and flawless may seem like the ideal shape, but the more oddlyshaped ones are even better. They can inspire interesting designs, and are sure to result in one-of-a-kind pumpkin decor!

No matter what shape you choose, you should always select a firm pumpkin without any soft or rotten spots.

2

Use the Right Tools Pay close attention to the tools you’re using for pumpkin carving. Not only do you get more attractive results with the right tools; it’s also safer to have tools that are designed specifically for this purpose.

Here are some of the tools for pumpkin carving: Knives - You’ll need a large knife to cut off the top of the pumpkin. A large carving knife or a serrated bread knife – both as sharp as possible – are good options. You may also opt for a small saw like a coping saw or keyhole saw.

For the actual carving, you’ll want to use a small paring knife with a thin, sharp, and flexible blade. A box-cutter or X-acto knife can also work well.

Spoon - To scoop out seeds and pulp, you’ll want to have a large spoon handy.

Some of the pulp can be stubborn, so a metal spoon will be more useful than a plastic or wooden one.

Also, a small fruit spoon with a serrated edge can help to scrape some of the pulp thin to create a glowing effect without your having to actually cut through the flesh.

Toothpicks – These are the rescue tools. If you accidentally cut off a chunk you meant to leave in, you can use toothpicks to reattach it. For example, if you are carving teeth and cut one of them off, you can use a toothpick to fasten back the “tooth.”

3

Learn the Cutting Techniques When you cut the top off of your pumpkin, the ideal shape resembles that of a bathtub plug.

These plugs are wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, so be sure to slant your large knife slightly inward so that the base of the cut-off top will be narrower than the top.

Go slowly while you carve, making sure that the blade of the knife never comes out of the pumpkin flesh when you’re cutting with it.

Start with the center and working outward to be as safe as possible while making sure the design stays true to your original plan.

Now that you’ve got the tools and the tricks, this can become a family tradition each fall.

Allison Roman 321-720-2141 allison.roman@exprealty.com

Lisa Soloway 321-301-0824 Lisa.Soloway@exprealty.com

Throwing a Fun Adult Costume Party Halloween costume parties aren’t just for kids. Here are some ideas and tips to help you pull off a fun costume party for adults.

1. Give It a Theme When you pick a theme, guests get the opportunity to be really creative with their costume choices. Here are some to consider: Mythical creatures of the night – Sure these may be traditional Halloween costumes for kids, but adults can enjoy them too.

Vampires, werewolves, and zombies have inspired costumes for years. Guests can even come dressed as their favorite creature from a movie. How about a Thriller dance, just for fun!?

Decade fun – Pick your favorite decade and ask your guests to dress

accordingly. Alternatively, guests can choose their own decade in American history and have everyone guess what decade they’re from.

Rock stars/Movie stars – Have your guests dress as their favorite rock stars or movie stars. For even more fun, you can stipulate that the costume has to represent someone who’s no longer alive.

2. Play Games Even adult parties are more fun with games. Here are some ideas.

Costume contest – Giving guests recognition for their

exotic costumes is always a hit. Make ballots and different categories for people to vote. The winners get awarded prizes.

Wrap the mummy – TPing isn’t just for kids. Divide guests into teams. Each team gets one minute to wrap one member in toilet paper. Whichever team ends up with the mummy most covered in toilet paper wins.

Scavenger hunt - These can be lots of fun for adults, especially if you have funny hints and activities included on the hunt. The prize should be something to commemorate the event, such as a boxed set of scary movies, a big bag of candy, or a book of ghost stories.

3. Drink and Eat in a Spooky Way

You can also make a signature dish that brings people back year after year and gives them fond memories of your parties.

Having a “signature” drink at your party, alcoholic or not – is a fun, memorable addition to the menu.

No matter what theme you choose, remember to take lots of pictures and videos. You’ll easily remind guests of the incredible fun they had and that they’ll get to do it all over again next year.

Allison Roman 321-720-2141 allison.roman@exprealty.com Lisa Soloway 321-301-0824 Lisa.Soloway@exprealty.com

TheReal Buying, Selling, and Maintaining Your Biggest Asset

Allison Roman Lic# 3409788

Lisa Soloway Lic# 3443698

eXp Realty, LLC 818 E. New Haven Ave #1, Melbourne FL. 32901

eXp Realty, LLC 818 E. New Haven Ave #1, Melbourne FL. 32901

321-720-2141 allison.roman@exprealty.com

321-301-0824 Lisa.Soloway@exprealty.com