It might seem a bit strange to some that in mid-March my mind is already focusing heavily on Halloween.
Yet, if you have known me for at least a little while, chances are you’re aware of the fact that I am, unquestionably, one of those people who eats, breathes, sleeps, and lives for Halloween! 🥰
Rare is that day that goes by when I don’t think about October 31st.
Sometimes multiple thoughts and plans, musings and happenings pertaining to All Hallows’ Eve unfold in a single day.
I like those days a lot.
By far one of my favourite – and, most readily accessible – ways to keep Halloween going strong all year long is through crafting.
It can be -25C during the heart of a blizzard, +40C while we’re melting in the dog days of summer, or raining to the point of almost needing to build an ark in April, and in my wee craft room, the creation of a festive project instantly makes it feel like Halloween is here again.
Not literally, of course, but rather in spirit and heart. 🧡
I know that I am far from alone in my penchant for fall time and Halloween/Samhain. Both online and off, I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with oodles of fellow Halloweenoholics over the years.
Many of my closest friends share my love for the spooky season and counting down to the big day together has become a cherished aspect of fall for me.
As such, please allow me to introduce an original hashtag that I’m launching and which I invite all of you to use anywhere, and as often, as you’d like.
#MakeHalloween365
Use the hashtag #MakeHalloween365 at any point in the year when you create and publicly share a post, photo, craft project, or other creative work that pertains to Halloween.
Lest anyone thinks this is hashtag relates to (or was inspired by) MAGA, let me emphatically state that it does not (and as an interesting side note, Trump was not the first politician to use that now-famous expression, others such as Reagan had done so decades prior).
In this instance, the word “make” is used to convey the fact that this is a hashtag for makers and crafters, artists, creative folks, and anyone who whips up something handmade.
Be that project a quilt, scrapbook page, Halloween pet costume, handmade card, or a batch of skeleton gingerbread cookies – you name it!
The popular hashtag #Halloween365 has been around for years now.
This new hashtag – #MakeHallowen365 – is a spin on that existing hashtag and is aimed at crafters and makers the world over.
You can use this hashtag anytime, anywhere, no matter the month or season.
And one need not be utterly and completely obsessed with Halloween to utilize this hashtag.
#MakeHalloween365 is for anyone who makes a Halloween related project and shares it publicly.
By using the hashtag #MakeHalloeween365, it is my great hope that we can create a thriving, frequently added-to pool of inspiration for all those who enjoy Halloween, are looking for creative Halloween ideas, or just need a solid fix of their favourite holiday months before October 31st returns.
If you’re a fellow crafter, artist, or other creative type and share your Halloween related projects/posts online, I encourage you to use this hashtag.
I plan to routinely check out new posts that use the hashtag #MakeHalloween365 on social media and to share plenty of them in my IG stories.
As such, using this hashtag can also be a great way to help your account and its content get further exposure on Instagram.
Help spread the word about #MakeHalloween365
Please feel free to share this post or any of the images in it wherever you please online.
Start using #MakeHalloween365 today, tomorrow, anytime you desire. And don’t be shy about letting me know in the comments here or on social media if you use this hashtag.
Use #MakeHalloween365 anytime you share a relevant post on social media, YouTube, or your blog (if you use hashtags with your blog, that is).
And use it as often as you wish! I’d really love to see this hashtag flourish and for it to be a wonderful way for others to share and be inspired by fellow Halloween fans the whole year through.
As well, I have created some super fun #MakeHalloween365 sidebar graphics (below) that you can post on your blog or website’s sidebar as a way to continually share your own passion for Halloween. While, at the same time, letting others know about this festive-meets-creativity related hashtag in the process.
To display these graphics, copy and paste the HTML code below the image you wish to use into an HTML-compatible widget on your blog’s sidebar.
(Note: These graphics are currently sized to 200 pixels wide x 300 pixels tall, as many sidebars accommodate a width of at least 200 pixels. If you need a smaller or larger version, please shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to help.)
Let’s #MakeHalloween365 together!
By sharing this post, using the images it houses, and most of all, by utilizing #MakeHalloween365 throughout the year, we can create a wonderful new hub of Halloween-related posts to help inspire one another.
All the while, ensuring that the spirit of Halloween carries on stronger than ever, no matter what life throws our way or how a given autumn (or spring, south of the equator) unfolds.
Halloween is within us all and is fostered ever more by the passion and creativity we inject into our love of October 31st.
Indeed, you can just as easily share and support this hashtag, even if you’re not a crafter. If Halloween is your cup of tea in any way, then this hashtag is for you as well!
Thank you SO much in advance to everyone who connects with this new hashtag.
I know that together we can #MakeHalloween365 a thriving, awesome way to share and be inspired by each other’s creative Halloween projects and ideas.
So let’s all raise a collective PSL to that point and then get crafting so that we can start putting #MakeHalloween365 to good use! 🧵🎃✂️👻🎨
I’m with you on this! Halloween is my favorite holiday and the center of my calendar. No reason not to think about and plan for it year-long.
Thank you SO much, my fellow Halloween adoring friend.
Your awesome support of this hashtag right out of the gate means a great deal to me. Please don’t hesitate to use it on your own blog/SM and to share it with anyone your heart desires. The more people who hop on board with it, not only the merrier, but the create the pool of creative inspiration with can build and inspire one another with all year through.
Huge thanks again! Here’s to the joys of making Halloween a year-round celebration! 🎃
♥ Autumn
Although I’m not exactly the biggest fan of Halloween – it’s just not a major thing here in Belgium – I do love Autumn, and especially the month of October. I’ve always enjoyed seeing your Halloween based crafty projects, though, and indeed I don’t see any reason why not to indulge in them throughout the year. That hashtag is a lovely idea! xxx
Thank you very much, dear Ann. I get that for sure. It can be hard to connect with holidays and other elements of countries that were not part of your own upbringing and/or adult life.
For all intents, Tony wasn’t raised with Halloween in Italy (though they do observe the Day of the Dead there, and dress up in costumes/masks for annual Carnevale events). However, it didn’t take long for him to become very familiar with – and fond of – this spooky October celebration via my passion for it.
For many years now, we’ve shared in excitedly counting down to, and celebrating, All Hallows’ Eve each year. It means the world to me that Tony has taken to Halloween like a fish to water. Who knows, maybe one of these years we’ll finally dress up in matching couples costumes (we’ve long talked about but haven’t yet done so).
All that said, I readily acknowledge that Halloween isn’t for everyone or that some folks aren’t as OTT gung-ho about it my fellow Halloweenoholics and I am.
That’s totally okay, of course! Everyone loves and feels a connection to different things.
Like yourself, fall is my favourite season and the time of the year when I feel happiest and most like my true self.
This hashtag can also be used for fall-themed projects, if so desired. After all, most of what works for autumn in general, definitely suits Halloween to a tee as well. 🎃
♥ Autumn
Love your fun Halloween cards! I too enjoy making them throughout the year, not just in the fall!
Thank you very much, my fellow Halloween adoring crafter. It’s awesome that you enjoy connecting with Octber 31st via your paper crafting all throughout the year, too.
I swear, even if no one else ever used this hashtag (though I truly hope that won’t be the case! 😄), I’d be pleased as punch that I came up with it simply because it helps to inspire me to craft Halloween-related projects all the more. Which, in turn, I get to share here with awesome crafty friends.
♥ Autumn
This was never celebrated where I go up. Must admit I don’t get any of it. Enjoy your build up and crafting. Hugs Anesha
Hi Anesha, that’s totally okay. No worries at all. It can be hard to connect with holidays that weren’t part of our upbringing and/or where we live at present.
For example while not completely unknown there (and it has grown in popularity there in recent years), Halloween is not a traditional element of my husband’s own culture in Italy.
As such, a fair bit of it was new to him when we first started going out and were married. Thankfully though, between my endless zeal for Halloween and the fact that he quickly took a liking to October 31st as well, it wasn’t long before (much to my absolute delight!) we were counting down until All Hallows’ Eve together each year.
I appreciate your comment and hope that even if you don’t celebrate Halloween or make projects for it, those that I share here can still inspire you on the paper crafting front in general.😘
♥ Autumn
I’m afraid it’s not that popular in the UK, however I do make crafty things for the 31st and blog them, so I will keep a copy of this hashtag and add them when or if I do make something. I love your cards and all the colours that belong to Halloween. Good luck with your hashtag and I hope you have a lot of like thinkers join you.
Hi Faith, thank you very much for your lovely comment. I’m sorry that Halloween isn’t overly popular in the UK. I lived in Ireland (ROI) for a couple of years in the mid-2000s and it was quite the culture shock for a Halloween loving gal like me to no longer be surrounded by a culture that made a big deal of October 31st.
I found this all the more ironic given the fact that a lot of Halloween’s origins begin in Ireland (and the British Isles).
That said, it was starting to grow more popular in Ireland at the time and I’ve since heard from friends there that Halloween continues to become more widely adopted in Ireland each year now (yay!).
I adore that you make festive projects for All Hallows’ Eve and share them on your site, even though this holiday isn’t as big in the UK as here in Canada + America. Way to go, you!!!
And a huge, immensely appreciative thanks for letting me know that you plan to use this fun hashtag. I sincerely appreciate it – just as I do your visit to my site. 🧡
♥ Autumn
So cool you’ve created your own original Halloween hastag. I love the idea behind Make Halloween 365 because it refers to both craters and makers (with the verb make) and to the idea of making Halloween an all year holiday. We don’t celebrate Halloween where I’m from, but it is so fun to see others celebrate it and to read about this cool holiday.
Thank you very much, dear Ivana. I really appreciate your encouraging support and kindness as this fun new Halloween related hashtag springs to life.
IMO, even if one didn’t grow up with/doesn’t live in a country where Halloween is typically observed, there’s no reason a person (or group of people) can’t opt to celebrate it all the same in their own ways. It’s such a fun, lively, spookily awesome event and one that can be observed by all who wish to do so.
Many thanks again. I hope that you have an excellent start of spring!
♥ Autumn
I don’t tweet or use IG or anything (I don’t have a phone), but I support the idea of 25/7 Hallowe’en! I think you know I’m a big fan of it! I’m hoping that Hallowe’en 2021 will be one we can celebrate together – I’ve missed dressing up for a full office, and getting everyone else to play along!
Thank you very much, my dear friend and fellow Halloween loving lady.
No worries at all! If you use hashtags in your blog posts (either in their formatting in Blogger and/or in the course of a post’s text itself), this hashtag can be used there as well, if so desired.
I just have to say, I utterly and completely admire you for not having a phone and for opting to eshew social media.
I don’t use SM very heavily (and use it less so these days than back when I was vintage blogging), but I do engage with some SM platforms. For all the positives that SM can house (no two ways about it), there are times when I miss the days before this element of the web was such a pervasive part of modern life.
Those like yourself who have either never opted to join SM or who have done so and then stepped back entirely from it are swimming against the tide in some ways, I have nothing but respect for you and others who are doing just that.
Hopping back to the subject of All Hallows’ Eve, I too hope that this year allows more (safe) socializing and a greater sense of pre-pandemic Halloweens. Or, at the very least, that the situation is no worse this year than it was in 2021. Fingers crossed to the breaking point there!
♥ Autumn
You created some really cute hashtags. I’m not in the Halloween creating mood yet, but soon! I love making Halloween cards and I usually start early August so I can donate them to the Ronald McDonald House 🙂
Take care, Tammy
What a caring, fantastic way to help spread festive cheer and brighten peoples’ days, Tammy. I really appreciate you sharing that you make cards for the RMH and hope that your comment may inspire others to take your admirable lead and do the same.
There are a lot more places for people to make and send cards in the States than here in Canada. You’ve inspired me to see if RMH locations in Canada accept handmade cards as well.
Thank you very much for your terrific comment and support of this fun new Halloween hashtag. You are such a fantastic person! 😘
♥ Autumn
A great idea Autumn, you have created some super graphics, thank you for sharing.
Pauline – Crafting with Cotnob
x
Thank you very much, sweet Pauline. 🧡 I really appreciate your support, as well as your blush-inducingly lovely compliments about these fun graphics.
While I very recently got Canva Pro, these were made just prior to that happening (created with the free version of a different, far less advanced editing site). I suspect I could have produced even snazzier ones with Canva, but am thoroughly happy with these ones all the same. Plus, no saying I can’t release more #MakeHalloween365 graphics at a later point in time. 😃
♥ Autumn
Your special hashtag sounds perfect. You know that I love all things October and Halloween! Can you believe October is just over 6 months away?!?!
Debi
Thank you very much, my dear friend. Your kindness and support are as lovely as autumn’s jewel-toned leaves.
Please, if you’d like, feel free to use this hashtag for photos of things like your (stunning!) Halloween mantle and tree. Halloween-inspired outfits (and costumes themselves, too) fall under the banner of creativity as well for sure, and can likewise be teamed with this fun new hashtag.
Many thanks again – and here’s to counting down the next few months until our treasured fall time returns again. 🎃
♥ Autumn