Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

Less than 10 days away from Halloween and you have no idea what to be? Don't worry! The GAP Team has you covered. Here are a few costumes we think are so simple and easy to make you could even procrastinate a little longer.

Stick Figure Costume

Photo Courtesy of All for the Boys Blog

Ingredients:

• white sweatshirt
• white sweatpants
• paper plate
• scissors
• black marker
• black electrical tape
• string

Directions:

First, draw a circle along the outer edge of the paper plate to make the “head” of your costume. Next, trace two eyes and a mouth. Once you’ve traced them out, take your scissors and cut out holes where you traced so you can see and talk through your mask. Before you put the scissors away, use them to punch two holes in either side of the plate. Thread the piece of string through the holes and tie them tightly. The string will act as a headband and hold the mask to your face. Finally, take the black electrical tape and adhere it to both your sweatshirt and sweatpants so that you are “drawing” a stick figure's body. Now, simply put on the clothes and the mask and you have a perfect and easy last minute DIY Halloween costume.

Cactus

Photo courtesy of Dan Bloomfield on Flickr

Ingredients:

• green sweatshirt with hood
• green sweatpants
• package of white pipe cleaners
• tape (alternative: hot glue)

Directions:

Simply bend each pipe cleaner into a “V” shape and tape them onto both your green sweatshirt and green sweatpants. (If you're looking for your costume to last all weekend, we suggest hot glue to ensure those needles stay put). Put the sweatshirt and sweatpants on, give the field goal signs with your arms, and congratulations! You are now a cactus.

Clark Kent

Photo courtesy of Coolest Homemade Costumes

Ingredients:

• Superman t-shirt
• button-up dress shirt
• black dress pants
• dress shoes
• black framed glasses

*Bonus:

• neck tie
• wire hanger
• wire cutters
• newspaper, folded up

Directions:

If you don’t already own a Superman t-shirt, walk into any Target, Walmart, or Old Navy and purchase one (typically $12 - $14). Wear your Superman t-shirt under a button-up shirt with the top three buttons open. Wear with black dress pants, dress shoes, and black glasses. This is the perfect costume if you’re not sure people are dressing up for the party you’re going to. Keep your shirt buttoned until you are sure.

*Bonus: To really get into character, wear a tie loosely fitted around your neck and carry around a newspaper. To make your tie look like it is flying behind you, take an old wire hanger and use wire cutters to cut to the length you need. Stick wire inside tie and bend as desired.

Cat Out of the Bag

Cat Ears and Tail

Ingredients: 

• cat ears
• cat tail
• paper bag

*Bonus: makeup

Directions:

Wear cat ears and tail. Hold an empty paper bag. Simple.

*Bonus: Use eye liner to draw whiskers on your cheeks. For more makeup inspiration check out our Halloween Costume Pinterest board.

Rosie the Riveter

Photo courtesy of Beyonce.com

Ingredients: 

• chambray shirt
• jeans
• red bandana
• red lipstick

*Bonus: "We Can Do It!" sign

Directions:

Wear a chambray (denim) shirt and roll up the sleeves as pictured above. Pair with jeans and tie a red bandana around your head. Your hair can be pinned up or let loose like Beyonce's locks. For a glammed-up look, apply red lipstick and black eye liner.

*Bonus: Make a yellow and blue "We Can Do It!" poster to carry with you.

For more Halloween Costume ideas, check out our Pinterest Board.

Get to Know GAP: Favorite Halloween Movies

For the second installment of “Get to Know GAP”, we asked the team to talk about their favorite movies to watch during the month of October leading up to Halloween. We came up with a list of team favorites that can appeal to fans of horror, suspense, or comedy – or all three! So grab a pumpkin beer or apple cider, hop on the couch, and get in the Halloween spirit with one of these great movies!

Erica Nee

Saw

“I really like the whole psychological part of it. I know there’s a lot of blood and gore that makes it scary, too, but all the riddles and games the people have to play to stay alive is what’s really freaky.”

Mike DiMichele

Rear Window

“My favorite scary movie to watch around Halloween is definitely Rear Window. It’s completely different than today’s horror movies. Today, movies are all about shock value and showing the most disgusting things they can to the audience. Rear Window, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. You’re always left sitting on the edge of your seat because the suspense of what might happen is what really scares you.”

Jen Ballou

Hocus Pocus

“As a kid growing up in Salem, I loved that there was a movie that took place where I was from. Today, Hocus Pocus is still my favorite Halloween themed movie. I try to watch it every year. It’s sort of a tradition.”

Mike Meredith

Halloween (The Original)

“My favorite scary movie has got to be the original Halloween. What’s terrifying about it is the simplicity of the whole thing. All it took was just one guy to come back, put on a mask, and just be there to send a whole town into chaos.”

Pat Vaughn

The Cabin in the Woods

“On the surface, this looks like your standard, run-of-the-mill horror movie, but Cabin in the Woods is so much more than that. It goes much deeper than the blood and guts and monsters, although those elements still remain. Without giving anything away because I don’t want to spoil this movie for anyone, Cabin in the Woods incorporates elements of suspense, horror, and comedy into an entertaining blend that will please a movie fan of any variety.”

GAP TEAM TOP 5: THE FALL BREW REVIEW

School is back in session, the air has cooled, and the first leaves are turning. Now that autumn is officially here, you can drink your favorite fall beers without feeling like you’re cheating on summer. The craft beer industry is booming and this season’s best releases chase those light, summer beers off with their full-bodied flavors, unique characteristics and warm, pumpkin spices.

From GAP’s own Blackburn Tavern, we proudly present The Fall Brew Review. We handpicked a wide variety of 11 autumn seasonal beers that included more than just the classic pumpkin ales or Oktoberfest-style lagers. We wrote tasting notes and ranked these beers on a scale of 0 to 5 to bring you our Top 5 Fall Beers. Here are the results:

1. Woodstock Inn Autumn Brew: Out of the 11 beers, Woodstock Inn’s Autumn Brew received the most 5s from the GAP Team, with an average rating of 3.95. This medium-bodied brew is chestnut in color and features apple and cinnamon flavors, with an aroma that pleasantly mixes all your favorite fall scents. Most of our tasters found this beer to be light with satisfying complexity that didn’t overwhelm.

                           Facts:

                           Style: Ale

                           ALC/VOL: 4.63%

                           Availability: Fall

2. Harpoon Octoberfest: If you read our Oktoberfest blog post, you already know that the Oktoberfest tradition started as a wedding ceremony in 1810. It was such a hit, the party became a yearly tradition.  Harpoon’s Octoberfest is a favorite around the office, with its full-bodied, complex character. When poured, it has a garnet-red color with firm, creamy head. The beer’s hue is due to the blend of Munich, chocolate, and pale malt. Swirl for a slight hop aroma. Then sip and you’ll find a mild bitterness with a soft, malty finish, which is very enjoyable.

                           Facts:

                           First brewed: 1991

                           Style: Marzen/Oktoberfest

                           ALC/VOL: 5.3%

                           Availability: 6-12 pack bottles/cans, and on draft. 

                           Widely available from August to November

3. Southern Tier Warlock: This moderately-carbonated, dark stout won over several palates with its aroma of pumpkin pie, coffee, and dark chocolate. It features a velvety and slightly sweeter finish than Pumking. It’s best served in a goblet, and its recommended pairings are spicy BBQ and smoked or roasted food. But if you prefer deserts, try it as a float with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

                           Facts:

                           First brewed: 2013

                           Style: Imperial Stout

                           ALC/VOL:  8.6%

                           Availability: Seasonal, September release, 22 oz. bottles or 1/6 keg

4. Southern Tier Pumking: Among GAP’s top-rated pumpkin beers is Pumking. Truly a complex beer with all the pumpkin pie spices you could ask for, and exactly the sweet aroma you’d expect. It’s a medium-to-light-bodied beer with a malty sweetness. If you want to kick it up a notch, serve it with a cinnamon sugar rim.

                           Facts:

                           First brewed: 2007

                           Style: Imperial Pumpkin Ale

                           ALC/VOL:  8.6%

                           Availability: Seasonal, Mid-July release, 22 oz. bottles or 1/6 keg

5. Dogfish Head Punkin Ale: A full-bodied brown ale, the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale has smooth, malty hints of pumpkin, caramel, and brown sugar. Named after “the seriously off-centered” Southern Delaware extravaganza Punkin Chunkin, Punkin Ale has been around since before Dogfish’s brewery doors opened for business. It made its debut winning first place in the 1994 Punkin Chunkin Recipe contest. And after 20 years, we think it’s still a crowd pleaser.

                           Facts:

                           First brewed: 1994

                           Style: brown ale

                           ALC/VOL:  7.0%

                           Availability: September, usually gone by Thanksgiving

We also sampled Anchor Brewing's Big Leaf Maple, Ipswich Ale's Brewery's Hop Harvest, The Bruery's Autumn Maple, Slumbrew's Attic and Eaves, Troegs' Hop Knife and Two Roads' Roadsmary’s Baby.

Next up: Winter Seasonals. Look for our next beer tasting review in December!

Look for these Top 5 Fall Brews on our BEER HALL OF FAME on Pinterest! 

Prost! 5 Things You Might Not Know About Oktoberfest

Tomorrow, the Mayor of Munich will tap the first keg of beer at Oktoberfest and the two-week-long beer festival will have officially begun! In celebration of this year’s festivities, the GAP Team decided to offer you a unique list featuring things you may not have known about the annual festival. To everyone celebrating Oktoberfest in Germany, or anyone enjoying an Oktoberfest-style lager at your local bar, we wish you a happy and safe celebration. Prost!

1. The annual event we know today actually began as a wedding ceremony. 
   
   On October 12th, 1810, Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend festivities celebrating the wedding. The final event of the festivities was a horse race held on October 17th in the presence of the Royal Family. The decision to hold this horse race every year is what ultimately led to the Oktoberfest tradition.
   
   
2. Strict requirements, known as “Reinheitsgebot”, must be met in order for the six breweries to be allowed permission to sell their beer at Oktoberfest.
   
   Strong regulations regarding the brewing of Oktoberfest beer date back to the 16th Century. The oldest and perhaps most important of these regulations is the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Beer Purity Law. Originally decreed by Duke William IV in 1516, the Reinheitsgebot states that only water, hops, and barley should be used to brew Bavarian beer.
   
   
3. Only six breweries are allowed to make and sell the beer at Oktoberfest.
   
   Augustiner, Hacker Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten are the only registered breweries allowed to distribute their products at Oktoberfest. These breweries were granted permission to distribute their product due to their following of the Reinheitsgebot. Other requirements met by these breweries include that they are all brewed within the city limits of Munich and the beers are all approximately 6% alcohol by volume.
   
   
4. Other than eating and drinking, there are various activities to take part in throughout the event.
   
   If you’ve had your fill of beer and food, you can always head over to one of the various attractions including Ferris wheels and roller coasters. If amusement park rides aren’t your cup of tea (or mug of beer), you can stop and listen to any of the live music performances being held or try your hand at crossbow shooting in the Armbrustschützen tent!
   
   
5. In 2013, 6.4 million people attended Oktoberfest. 6.7 million liters of beer were consumed.
   
   In addition to supplying attendees with beer, 114 oxen and 58 calves were also consumed. Guests spent roughly 400 million Euros during the festival, which is over roughly 517 million U.S. Dollars. To put that into perspective, that’s more money than the seven highest paid athletes in 2013 combined.

[Oktoberfest.de] [Forbes]

Plants Like Vodka, Too: A GAP Guide on Alternative Ways to Use Your Booze

Have you ever wondered what else you can do with your favorite alcoholic beverages? 
Of course drinking these brews and spirits is the ideal form of enjoyment, but there are many other uses for these wonderful liquids. Below, the GAP team has compiled our top alternative uses for beer, wine, gin, vodka, and rum. Are you brave enough to venture into this unknown territory of liquor?

BEER

1. Shampoo Hair: Boil a cup of beer in a saucepan over medium heat, until it is reduced to ¼ cup. Now that the alcohol has been removed, let it cool and mix with a cup of shampoo. Wash and rinse per usual to give your hair that hoppy shine.

2. Stain Removal: Spill a little wine on your carpet? Try some beer instead of a chemical cleaner! Pour a little beer on the stain, let it sit for a bit, and then dab with a cloth. Clean thoroughly with soap and water to get rid of the stain.

3. Spruce up Wooden Furniture: Using a soft cloth, massage flat beer into wooden furniture to restore its original color and luster.

BONUS

4. Firefighter: Put out fires…small fires.

 WINE

1. Fruit Fly Trap: Finally, a use for that half-drank glass of wine from the previous night’s soiree. Toss it in a cup, cover with some plastic wrap, and poke some holes in the top for entry. Flies will check in, but they won’t check out.

2. Clean Your Veggies: Spraying wine onto fruits and veggies can remove unwanted bacteria better than water can. Just put in a handy spray bottle for easy E. coli extermination.

3. Grease Lightning: White wine can help rid you of those grease stains in your driveway or garage. (You know, from working on your 1948 Ford De Luxe Special). Mixed with some baking soda, it can be a cleaning staple in your shop.

BONUS

4. Seeing Red: Use wine to dye your favorite white shirt pink, your brand new white rug maroon, and your friend’s annoying white Shih tzu red.

GIN

 

1. Mouthwash: If you are sick of the peppermint burn in your current mouthwash, try gargling a bit of gin in the morning. The alcohol will kill the bacteria in your mouth from last night’s cocktail party. Gin, mixed with some flavored oil, can add some flavor and kick to your morning. Just don’t swallow.

2. Arthritis Cure: Soak some golden raisins in a bowl of gin for up to a week. Eating 10 of these a day is said to rid some of the pain associated with arthritis. Although it may be an old wives’ tale, it is thought that the relief is attributed to the juniper berries’ anti-inflammatory characteristics and the sulfur dioxide in golden raisins.

3. Foot Wash: If you have any gin lying around, combine with some thyme oil for a foot odor remover. Soak for a few minutes to give your feet an herbal cleanse.

BONUS

4. Brine Time: Add gin to a jar of pickles to let everyone know you mean business.

VODKA

 

1. Poison Ivy: If you are itching to use some of that 100 proof vodka you’ve been saving, use it to get rid of that uncomfortable poison ivy. Pour the 100 proof vodka on the affected area to wash away the itchy oil.

2. Preserve Flowers: Mary Poppins® forgot to tell you that a spoon full of sugar and a few drops of vodka help the flowers stay fresh. Change daily for best results.

3. Shine Your Fixtures: To achieve that brand-new look, use a soft cloth with some vodka to polish your chrome, porcelain, and glass.

BONUS

4. Stain Remover: Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, and then blot dry.

RUM

 

1. Cooking: Rum Balls.

2. Helping with Upset Stomach: A little rum is said to help ease stomach pain & nausea.

BONUS

 3. Where Has All the Rum Gone?: If you are a pirate, and you suffer a parrot or snakebite, use rum to clean out the wound.





[NetworkX.com]

[Men's Health]

[SheKnows.com]

[Esquire]

[FoodNetwork.com]

GAP TEAM TOP 5: Last Hurrah for Summer Beer

Earlier and earlier every year, it seems that Fall seasonal beers are finding their way on to liquor store shelves and tap lists everywhere. And while we love the brews that come with the changing of the season, we hate to see the Summer offerings go so soon. 

To celebrate the Summer, since it’s still here until September 22, we decided to have a Summer beer tasting on a gorgeous Friday afternoon. From shandies to IPAs, the GAP team tried 12 different Summer beers and gave each one a score between 0 and 5. Our panel consisted of 11 GAP employees, each bringing their experienced palate and preferences to the table in our very own Blackburn Tavern. 

Here are the results:

1. Otter Creek Fresh Slice: The most enjoyed beer of the afternoon was the Otter Creek Fresh Slice, an unfiltered white IPA. It had a crisp, fresh, citrus taste, and a hazy-orange color. It had the perfect balance that appealed to both beer aficionados and non-beer-drinkers alike.

2. Narragansett Del’s Shandy and Harpoon UFO Big Squeeze: Tying for second place, both shandies seemed perfect for a day at the beach, playing games in the backyard, or any outdoor adventure.

The iconic beer from Jaws (Narragansett) teamed up with Rhode Island’s summertime frozen lemonade staple (Del’s) by combining their beer with lemon concentrate to create the perfect concoction of malty sweetness and citrus tartness. While Del’s Shandy is said to only be available this Summer, we have a feeling it will make another appearance next year, as it flew off the shelves all season.

Harpoon’s UFO Big Squeeze is a shandy of a different color. Rather than the usual lemonade and beer combination, Harpoon crafted a shandy that mixed beer with grapefruit juice. The orange coloring has a hint of pink and has sweet, grapefruit flavoring with a hint of tartness.

4. Harpoon Summer Beer: A classic seasonal offering from Harpoon, this beer is light and refreshing, which pairs fantastically with a hot, Summer day.

5. Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy: Like much of America, the GAP team took a particular liking to shandies during our beer tasting. Leinenkugel’s put shandies on the map over the past few years with their Summer Shandy, which features natural lemonade flavor and crisp wheat beer taste.

Since we enjoyed our Summer beer tasting so much, we will be bringing you the GAP Team Top Five every season! Our favorite beers will be placed in our Beer Hall of Fame and featured on our social networking pages. Stay tuned, our Fall seasonal beer tasting is right around the corner!