Welcome To Samhain's Sirens October Extravaganza! -October 1

Hello and Welcome to Day 1 of the first EVER Samhain’s Sirens October Extravaganza! We are thrilled to have you join us for this month of blogs, recipes, craft ideas, songs and giveaways.

So many people have joined together to bring you this month of fun. Please do check out our About section to see the bios and links of all our participants!

This is a total labor of love. Some have contributed through writing, others through compiling things like recipes and craft ideas.. and others are sharing their art and skill with you. Some contributed financially to getting things started, while others worked hard to administratively pull this all together. We bring this to you in the spirit of Pagan love and honoring of our most sacred time of year. We are so excited to kick this off and we hope you’ll enjoy this as much as we’re enjoying bringing it to you!

How it’ll work:

Each day, we’ll be posting (at the very least) a recipe, craft, and song. Additionally, you’ll be treated to blog posts, ritual, and giveaways on certain days.

Giveaways will work like this:

The giveaway will be posted in the morning. You’ll have until the end of the next day to enter. On the third day, the winner will be announced.

Entries: You’ll get one each for the following, but you have to post each as a separate comment if you want an additional entry.

Follow the Samhain’s Sirens blog (you’ll get an entry if you tell us you already follow us)

Follow Samhain’s Sirens on Twitter (you’ll get an entry if you tell us you already follow us)

Like us on Facebook (and again, if you’ve liked us already, that’s still an entry but you have to tell us you did it)

Go to the vendor (person holding the giveaway)’s shop or page and peruse their wares. Come back and tell us what you liked best on their site.

If the vendor has a site and you “like” it or “make it a favorite”, that’ll qualify for an extra entry. Remember, you have to come back and tell us you did it.

Blog about it, come back here and comment with a link to your blog post.

Tweet about the giveaway, come back and comment with a link to your tweet.
Note: All Sirens who are not hosting a particular giveaway are eligible to participate. Exceptions: me and my daughter, Lyssa, who will be pulling the names.

If you have any questions about the giveaways, email kallan.kennedy@gmail.com

That’s it for now. Let the celebrations begin!

Giveaway: From Sosanna's Closet

This is a handmade 3 Inch Fimo Clay Black Earth Goddess. You can see from the pictures here it’s beautifully crafted. A great piece for ANY altar!

Remember:

Your first entry is to follow us here. (make sure you comment and tell us that you're following!)

Bonus entries:

Go to Sosanna’s closet and peruse her wares. Come back and tell us what you like best there.
Make her page a favorite on Etsy. Come back and comment separately that you did it.
Like us on Facebook- come back and tell us (separate entry)
Follow us on Twitter (come and tell us!- separate entry)
Blog about this giveaway (comment separately and send us a link to your blog post)
Tweet about this giveaway (comment separately and send us a link to your blog post)

Deadline for entries: October 2, 8pm EDT.

Winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 3. We’ll ask the winner to contact us with shipping information so Sosanna can get this out to you ASAP. Thank you and good luck!

Today's Recipe: Soul Cakes

From Witches Cooking it up for the Holidays

Completely versatile, these soul cakes can be customized to suit any Sabbat. This recipe has been slightly modified for Samhain, where we replaced one egg with a tablespoon of pumpkin puree and added some nutmeg for a bit of a pumpkin kick! Serve with a pumpkin spice latte or a piping hot cup of cocoa.

Ingredients:

5 oz butter

5 oz sugar

2 cups flour

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp pumpkin puree

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp golden raisins

2 tsp milk

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter up a baking tray.

2. Sift flour and spices into a bowl.

3. Cream together butter and sugar, then beat egg yolks and pumpkin puree to the creamed mixture, beating well.

4. Add flour and spice mixes, stir in the raisins, and add milk to form a soft dough.

5. Place dough on a lightly-floured surface and shape into flat cakes about two-or-three-inches in diameter.

6. Transfer to your buttered tray and bake until lightly golden.

7. Cool on a wire rack, then share with your friends!

Today's Craft: Broomstick Bags

photo by Andrew Greto

What you'll need:

brown paper lunch bag
party favors
12- to 18-inch long sticks or dowels
raffia
black spider rings

How to make it:

For each broom, use pinking shears or regular scissors to trim the top few inches from a brown paper lunch bag. Fill the bag about halfway with party favors.

Place a 12- to 18-inch-long stick or dowel into the bag and use a piece of raffia to cinch the bag around the stick, about two inches down from the bag's top.

Trim a handful of raffia strands so that they're as long as the bag is high. Use another length of raffia to tie the strands to the bag, then spread them out to cover the bag evenly. Thread a black spider ring onto the tied raffia.(thanks to familyfun.com for this great craft idea!)

Today's Song:

Welcome to the Samhain’s Sirens’ Song Corner. I’m Kestril Trueseeker, and I’ve picked out a song for every day of October to get you in the Samhain spirit! This first song is a little twist on perennial classic. If you are on Facebook, don’t forget to like our page. I’ll be posting some bonus tracks there as well:

One more treat from all of us here. If you're having a rough Monday, and need more to get you into the Samhain Spirit, please visit The Devil's Tramping Ground and play for awhile. It's just too much fun!

Click HERE to visit

That's it for today! We hope you've enjoyed our first day of celebration and fun. See you tomorrow when Alan Heartsong will be sharing a fantabulous Samhain Ritual with you! Until then...