trick or treat wreath

This year we are going trick or treating with some friends in their neighborhood. We usually only get a dozen trick or treaters at our house and I wanted to leave something for them even though we won't be home. I was going to leave a bowl of candy and then thought it would be fun to make a wreath instead. I used a glue gun to attach some mini clothespins that I spray painted black. I got the paper treat bags at Michael's and filled them with some candy. Happy Halloween!

halloween play date continued....

Yesterday was our Halloween play date. After our mummy munchies the kids watched "The Great Pumpkin" which gave me time to set up our activity- decorating haunted candy houses. A few days before the play date I assembled the houses using chocolate graham crackers and orange colored royal icing. I put out candy out and let the kids decorate to their hearts content. The kids loved it! Even my two year old was able to make one. At the end of the play date I sent everyone home with some Charlie Brown hot cocoa and Halloween marshmallows. "The Great Pumpkin" is on television tonight so I hope they enjoy their cocoa while watching it. It was a fun afternoon and my daughter told me "it was the best play date ever!" That made all the time and effort worth it. If you don't have time to do a whole Halloween party consider doing it on a much smaller scale with a play date instead.

mummy munchies

(photos courtesy of family fun)

For our Halloween play date this week I am going to make pizza and hot dog mummies. They are simple enough to make and hopefully will be a hit with the 4 and under crowd. You can find the directions on how to make these here and here.

trick!

Halloween falls on the weekend this year and I would love to have a big party. However, since I am 6 months pregnant with baby number three, I knew that a party would be to much. Instead my daughter asked a few of her pre-school friends to come over after school for lunch and a play date. Since we are only having a few kids over I am able to add some fun personalized touches like these candy place cards. I got the idea from here and adapted it for Halloween. Stay tuned for our menu, activity and favors.

boo bark

During the holidays I often like to make peppermint bark. I thought it might be fun to make a Halloween version. I melted white chocolate and spread it in a thin layer on a sheet pan. I sprinkled it with Halloween shaped pretzels, candy corn, Halloween Oreos, and candy corn colored nonpareils. When it cooled I broke it into pieces and packaged it in a white tin. I added some Halloween ribbon and a candy corn ornament to bring as a hostess gift to a party later tonight. This was a simple and delicious project, and one that can be adapted for many different holidays.

october pizza & movie night

Friday in our house means that it's pizza & a movie night. Since it was the first day of October the kids got to open a gift from our countdown calendar. They got new spider web jammies! After changing into them we made pizza. We took store bought (whole wheat) pizza dough and shaped it into a pumpkin. We used orange cheese and the kids decorated it with their favorite toppings. It was easy, fun and delicious!

(picture courtesy of Amazon)

Then we watched one of our favorite Halloween movies.....

and munched on a favorite snack - popcorn and candy corn. It was a fun way to welcome October and an all around great way to spend a rainy night together as a family.