simple snacks

I know a lot of parents are looking for quick and easy snack ideas.  I am too!  I have three different Halloween parties to contribute to this year.  Most of the schools often ask parents to bring in some fruit and/or something salty in addition to the sweet treats.  Here are some easy ideas, dressed up for Halloween!  I first saw this great idea which was to use a permanent marker to draw faces on the clementines.  When I shared the idea with my friend Krista she took it one step further and used stickers to make the pumpkin faces.  Since I couldn't find the face stickers this year I decided to use the masks and think they came out darling.  I found the tiny popcorn boxes at Marshalls and just used microwave popcorn and threw in some candy corn and placed a green spider ring on top.  The last treat is the easiest of all, munchkins!  I went to my local Dunkin' Donuts and picked them up and put them in little cupcake liners.  Easy.

that's a wrap

Since cold and flu season is right around the corner I thought I would share this little gift idea.  Fill a pretty mug with a nip of whisky, a honey stick and a tiny jar of cloves - all of the ingredients needed to make a hot whisky. Tuck in some cute tissues and you have thoughtful gift to brighten someones sick day.

goblin grog

Going to a Halloween party this weekend?  Why not bring a bottle of goblin grog as a fun hostess gift!  I found these stickers in the Martha Stewart Halloween section at Michael's.  Attach the sticker to any bottle of wine and you have a thoughtful, easy, and cute gift. 

that's a wrap

This was a present for a one year old boy.  We gave him the book "If I Could Keep You Little".  There is a line it that reads "If I could keep you little, I'd decide on matching clothes.  But then I'd miss you  choosing dots on top and stripes below."  So to go with the book I got him a polka dot onesie and some matching shoes.  I wrapped it in cellophane and tied it with some blue tulle.  I attached a craft paper tag with a miniature clothespin. 

pumpkin candle centerpiece

I used some of the pumpkins I found at the farm this past weekend for a centerpiece on my dining room table.  I already had some small white pumpkin shaped candles so I nestled them in amongst the real ones and I love how it turned out.  If I can find some bittersweet I might tuck some of that into it too!

i ♥ pumpkins

We had a wonderful weekend.  On Sunday we went to a place called Jones Farm.  It was a beautiful fall morning.  We picked pumpkins, went on a hayride and then headed over to check out the vineyard. 

I also made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. (I rarely buys store bought cookies. Homemade just taste so much better.) I put them in our red cookie tin that I bought on one of our trips to Ireland.  The recipe is easy and the cookies are delicious.  You can find the recipe here.  Hope you had a wonderful weekend too.

trick OR treat

Next week it is my turn to go into my son's preschool.  I like to bring some fun activities with me when I go in, just like I did with my daughter.  I am going to have the kids make these lollipop ghosts.  I cut a bandanna into four squares with my pinking sheers, wrapped one of the squares around a tootsie pop, tied some ribbon around the neck and stuck on some googly eyes. You can find bandannas for $1 at Walmart or I Party and and I got the lollipops at the dollar store so this was an inexpensive project.  In addition to being a fun activity for children you could also give these cute little guys out as party favors or to your trick or treaters this year.  I love how the pattern on the fabric made a mouth for the ghost too!  Boo!

that's a wrap

This is a gift for a three year old girl who is having her party this weekend.  We got her a pair of pink cowboy boots!  To go with them we are also giving her the book "Armadillo Rodeo" by Jan Brett .  I wrapped it in red and white polka dots and used a piece of bandanna print paper for the gift card.