Halloween Ideas.

This post would have been more helpful a couple months ago but I hope this inspires you for ideas for next year.  Halloween deco goes on sale so it's a perfect time to purchase some pumpkins to glitter next year.  I got a lot of my Halloween deco from thrift stores.  They have some beautiful items for cheaper and sometimes all they need is some paint, colored corn syrup, or candy to make it a perfect Halloween decorative piece.

Glittered Pumpkins.

I found some pumpkins around the house ( I think I purchased them after Halloween so I got a good deal).  Some had holes in them so I filled them with wood putty.  I brushed Modge Podge (Elmer's glue would work) over the pumpkins and sprinkled glitter on them.  I love the silver trays I got from the dollar store for my preschool kids...still use them for our projects.
 




I had two of these pumpkins that I bought in an after holiday sale.  I did one gold and one silver.  I painted one stem brown and the other black.  I think the black stems add a lot.


After.








Bought this one at the dollar store.  Here is the before.



Here it is in a couple table settings I made.  These I spray painted and the blue one I added some clear crystal glitter.






DIY Platter.  I bought a microwave dish and a glass ice cream sunday dish from the thrift store.  I used glass glue (that you can put in the dishwasher afterwards!) from Home Depot to glue them.  I sanded the glass, spray painted them, and put on a shiny sealant.  I used it in the table setting in the above pic.

I found this bottle at a thrift store.  We filled it with corn syrup and purple dye.  The kids had a blast making "potions".  We made a darling one for Carleton's work...a bunch of test tubes.  I used my label maker to label them.

Here are some other pieces I put together.  I found items from thrift stores, a close out sale from Thai Pan Trading in UT, and the Dollar Store.

We took a Jeep ride through a forest in ID with my parents.  We found an area that had bright green moss growing on the trees (the kids thought they looked like brains)  I got a bunch of sticks to bring home.  Keep your eyes opened this year!

Cute Invite.  It has a little insert not "forgetting" the party.

Bloody Candles.  Just melt red candles over white candles.  I bought this ivy candy holder from the thrift store and spray painted it black.

I bought a wooden vine wreath from the dollar store.  I glued red roses into the wreath and then spray painted the whole thing black (still leaving the red showing...looks cool).  Lastly, I glued a bow and hung it on my door.

You have a whole year to put together your decorations for next year.  Enjoy!

Halloween fun for kids.

Why I love dollar stores for Halloween. I stock up on costumes and put them in the kids' dress-up bin to use all year, they have fun Halloween crafts for kids, accessories for our costumes, and Halloween decorations. I let the kids decorate their rooms this year with a few decorations and they loved it.

Halloween fun. Where do I get my ideas? The dollar bin at Michaels. Dollar Stores. Pinterest. The Family Fun Magazine.


Bloody waffles. Red food coloring in syrup.

Acrylic paint. I like it because it doesn't smear. I'm really not sure if it's the best for kids' faces but I grew up with my mom painting ours and never had a reaction. Suzana said each bottle is on sale right now at Michael's for only 50 cents.

Pumpkin faces. We got glass jars and made faces out of masking tape. The kids painted over the whole thing with orange acrylic paint. After it dried, we peeled off the tape.  You can put a candle in and the light will make them glow.

Glass stained ornaments. I bought these at Michael's and they have Christmas ones out right now for a buck each. They turn into beautiful stained glass. Just put them in the oven. Great for little kids or older ones. The older ones can use tweezers and really make them amazing.

Halloween scratchers. They're like 10 for 50 cents at Michael's right now. The kids use a little tool to scratch little faces into the Halloween ornaments. They come with colorful ribbons to hang them up. My preschoolers loved this project.

Melty Beads.  Apollo made this witch (turn your head sideways to see:) from a pattern.  Now we just need to put the wax paper on and iron.  We'll hang it up with other Halloween ornaments.  Another dollar treasure and great for Apollo to work on during quiet time.

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween. Our was busy so sorry I'm posting some of these ideas after the fact but I saw some cute ideas and still wanted to post them. Maybe you can use them next year.


Brain. Jocelyn asked us to make this and it turned out really cool- Carleton did the carving. Here's how:

1. Cut off the bottom of the honeydew melon so you spoon out all the gunk in the middle. We used a melon baller to get the fruit out (save it for the end to serve).

2. Carve out the brain. You don't need to go all the way through.

3. Follow the directions to make 4 boxes of red jello (we added 3/4 cup whenever it said add 1 cup to make it not so jiggly).

4. So once you've mixed the hot water, cold water, and jello powders in the bowl, put the honeydew melon in (with the cut out brain next to the bowl). We found a bowl that was just bigger than the melon so the jello would cover most of the outside. We put the rest of the jello into the melon rind to set up. I have to say this looked pretty cool.

5. The jello will set up into the brain. Just clean off the jello around the grooves and put it onto a platter to serve. I used a scary looking silver platter. We served the melon we had scooped out in another bowl for the party. There are tons of things that can be made instead of a brain-a face with red eyes, etc.






Purse. I took Apollo to Music Makers where they all dressed up for Halloween. I saw this on the side and took a picture-so thanks for whoever made it. My friend said you can buy the bag, 3 for a buck at the dollar store. The ribbon and "fur" was just glued on. This would be cute for any time of year with different colors and ribbon.




Angel Annie. I hot glued white feathers to the wings. It was so simple but really added to her costume. She really did look like an angel.

Save your Halloween Candy.

Great uses:

1. The Family Fun magazine showed a family that did a bunch of experiments with their candy-like melt them and add some normal household liquids to the candy to see what they would do. They had some fun ideas. I'm going to make a lab (the high school chemistry teacher showing up in my momhood now) for Apollo and I to try some things, draw some pic etc. I'll post it when I make it up.

2. Gingerbread houses.

3. Smores using the chocolate.

Dress Up.

My friend, January, made these for the nursery. She took the felt material, folded it, and sewed the edges (leaving holes for the arm). These would be great for every day dress up fun or for Halloween costumes. I saw a lot of Halloween costumes-hats etc. that could be added to the costumes for cheap.


Police uniform.
Chef.



Cowboy.


Nurse.

Indian headdress.

Halloween. Party.

Sorry for the overkill on Halloween stuff. I've just had Halloween on the brain trying to get my house decorated and to plan Apollo's second birthday party. I'm posting some ideas from the party because they can be used at adult or kid parties or just fun activities to try.




Party favors. These were done with orange tissue paper with candy and plastic Halloween treats inside. The stem is green floral tape. I've never used floral tape but learned from Carol, you have to stretch it to get it to stick. After taping the stem, I cut the excess tissue paper. These would look cute on the Thanksgiving table too.


Decorating haunted houses. These are like the Christmas gingerbread houses (only we used graham crackers). We used Halloween candy and lots of frosting.


Decorating cupcakes. There are tons of magazines (Martha Stewart's site is great) that have great ideas for cupcakes but the kids had fun just putting random sprinkles, eyes, and chocolate on top of their cupcakes. Scary stories. I saw some at the library and Apollo was given some by Grandma for his birthday. We read them to the first kids that came to the party. Here is the guest book where the "goblins and witches" signed in and took a pumpkin.


Face painting. There are some free templates on line that are fun to follow. Carol and Callie did a great job on the kids.



Fun cakes. The pumpkin cake was baked with a pumpkin mold but could be done with two bunt cakes (one for the top of the pumpkin and one for the bottom). You can use a small cup for the stem and can cover it with green frosting. Carol made the spider cake out of left over cake cut off from the pumpkin cake. She used fruit rollups for the lips, black pipe cleaners for the legs, black sprinkles, and plastic googly eyes.


Decorating pumpkins. We carved pumpkins just after Apollo came home from the hospital. He "helped" me just before his first birthday. He painted his this year. Carleton recruited the neighbor kids to help this year too.