Halloween Game

One fun Halloween game that I've played with friends for years is a Horror movie trivia game. We play for candy. (It isn't Halloween without treats.)

Players:
It works best with 3 or more people.

Supplies Needed:
A Bucket, Hat, or Bowl (to put the questions in)
Paper torn into smaller pieces
Pens and or pencils
Bells to ring in when you know the answer to someone else's question
Small prize for each question that is answered correctly (candy, pennies, etc)

Directions:
The way we play is fairly simple. We each write out a bunch of questions on separate slips of paper and put them all in a Halloween bucket. Then we take turns pulling out a question. If the person who drew the question out doesn't know the answer, someone can use their hand bell to ring in and snag the other person's candy. This game is great to play with any type of movie, and I've been known to play it with my family during power outages.

The best games are ones you can play anywhere.

Bell Delivery

We had a dilemma come up with some of our bells not being able to find their location once they were shipped out. So since the customer is located in the same state, a person from the warehouse the bells had shipped from did a personal delivery to ensure that they made it to their location in time for the game that they were purchased for. Here is the email from our customer:

Kim,

I just wanted to let you know that somebody just dropped off the cow bells at the house. I wish we were able to get in touch with them before they made that long drive here but I so totally appreciate you going WAY above and beyond to make sure that they got here by this afternoon.

The bells look amazing and they were definitely worth the wait. We will be ordering again for sure. Hopefully I can get the league to order a much larger quantity for next year.

Again- thank you, thank you!!!!

Sincerely,

T.K.

We are so glad that we were able to make this customer so happy, and we strive to achieve this with all of our customers.

With Bells On! Where did that come from?

Ever invite someone to a party or an event and had them reply, "I'll be there with bells on!"

Most of us know that this statement means that they are eager to attend. But where did this phrase originate from?

There are several different theories as to where this particular sentiment originated:

• Theory #1:
  The costume of a court jester. The court jester would wear a costume to many events that was decorated with bells. Most of these events were lively parties, in which the participants celebrated one occasion or another in merriment. 
• Theory #2:
  This theory goes back to days before the modern automobile. When people rode around in horse drawn carriages. Sometimes when attending a holiday or festive event, they would use harnesses on the horses that had jingle bells on them.
• Theory #3:
  In the Appalachian mountains and other areas of the U.S. peddlers had to be quite when they roamed in order to avoid bandits and other threats to themselves and their wares. When reaching a settlement or town the peddler would place bells on their horses to announce their arrival to that settlement's people. People were always excited for a peddler's arrival since they were able to receive not only goods and wares that were sold by the peddlers, but also because the peddlers would bring news and letters from the outside world.

Jingle Bell Spider Craft by Crafts-For-All-Seasons.com

We have found a fascinating craft for Halloween that uses craft bells and with permission from Crafts-For-All-Seasons.com we are sharing this neat little creation with you!

All directions and photos are written by and taken by Crafts For All Seasons.

Things Needed:

• Two 25 mM (1-inch) jinglebells (orange, black, purple, or green look best for Halloween)
• Two 12 inch long black pipe cleaners
• 24 beads (I used 8 mM round marbleized pearl beads)
• Scissors
• Small length of wire (I used 20 gauge wire)
• Small jewelry pliers (optional, but come in handy)
• Glue

1.  Begin the jingle bell spider by attaching the two jingle bells together.  This is most easily done by taking a small length of wire and threading it between the two small hangers in each jingle bell, and wrapping it several times to secure.  Use some jewelry pliers to help.

   

2.  Cut each 12 inch pipe cleaner in two six inch sections, you will have four total.

3.  Thread two pipe cleaners through the front jingle bell, and two through the back jingle bell, as shown below.

4.  Thread on a bead on to each of the 8 pipe cleaner legs, and thread it all the way up flush with the jingle bell.   You can use a little glue to secure if desired.  This keeps the legs from coming out of the jingle bells.

5.  Now, take your time and bend each leg to look like a spider leg.  Begin by bending each pipe cleaner up from where it comes out of the jingle bell.  Then about halfway down make the pipe cleaner bend down.  Look at the photos for help.  Then, thread on two more beads on each leg.  Secure the beads with a little bit of glue, if desired.  A cord can also be added around the middle of the two jingle bells for hanging.

To view this craft at it's original location please visit: http://www.crafts-for-all-seasons.com/jingle-bell-spider.html and be sure to check out all their other crafts while you are there!

Thank you to Crafts for All Seasons for letting us share this wonderful little Halloween craft with our readers!

A Saturday Night in Hillsville with the Bells

 Just a little repost from our Red Hill General Store Blog:

Whether you're a local or just passing through,
Hillsville, Virginia is for a family like you!

We're not the only folks around that feel this way,
A family of five bells have something to say.

They started their Saturday looking at sites,
Doesn't the courthouse really look nice?


The civil war statue is something to see,
It won't disappoint you, Mr. Bell will guarantee.


Now the little ones will want something refreshing and sweet,
if it doesn't ruin their dinner, get them a tastee-freez treat.

With full bellies of sugar, it's time to play,
Fast down the green slide, hip-hip horray!

Time to cool off now in the close by stream,
it paints a perfect picture of the American Dream.

You're never too old to be high in the air,
Swinging around with not even a care.


To finish the day in this sweet country town,
stop by Red Hill, the best store around.
Kids love our candy, there's no doubt this is true,
now the question is, how about you?

Wordless Wednesday with Bells

Cowbells in our store.

Jingle Bells for crafts.

Mini Liberty Bells

What are those bells on motorcycles?

With all this nice weather lately there have been a lot of motorcyclist traveling through the Hillsville, VA and Fancy Gap, VA area, enjoying the parkway I presume. I happened to notice that some of the bikes had a little bell hanging on them, curious about this, I decided to do a little research:

From what I was able to gather gremlins are little imps that like to hitch rides on motorcycles and wreak havoc during their stay. It is believed that evil road gremlins cannot live in the presence of bells. It is said that their hearing is super-sensitive and that the constant ringing of the bell will drive them insane. It is believed that a gremlin bell works even if you purchase your own, however, it is stronger if it is given to you from someone who cares about you.

It is said that the bell should be mounted as low to the road as possible without interfering with any of the parts of the motorcycle.

It might be a neat idea to get a small custom bell for someone you know who rides a motorcycle as their own gremlin bell.

If you are curious about the legends behind the gremlin bell a quick search on google will reveal tons of information and folk lore.