happy halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Halloween!  I just finished our trick or treat wreath.  This year we are giving out little s'more kits! I put a pumpkin shaped marshmallow, chocolate graham cracker and mini Hershey bar into each bag. I even tucked in a stick to roast the marshmallow on.  If we were going to be home I would put the fire pit out front so they could roast their marshmallows right on the spot! Hope everyone has a fun evening.  Don't forget to eat, drink and be scary!

Witches Tea

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day here in Connecticut and the perfect time to host a mother/daughter witches tea party. We invited guests to our house from 3-5 and served finger foods, drinks and of course some sweets. I tried to keep the decorations clean and simple. I made most of them with things I already had around the house. Witch some ribbon and cardboard witches I made some wreaths which I ended up hanging from the lights on our garage. I spray painted a tree black and hung the same cardboard witches from its branches.

 

 

 

 

I also stacked pumpkins in our planters!

 

 

 

I had two crafts out for the kids.  One of the crafts was to make witches hands by filling some (non latex) gloves with candy corn as the fingers and topped it off with popcorn to fill out the hands.  We tied them with some purple twine and added a spider ring to the finger.

 

 

 

 

 

The second craft was to make witches hats with some chocolate ice cream cones and cookies. The kids filled them with candy and "glued" them on with frosting. I also hung pumpkin donuts from our play scape and the girls got a kick out of trying to eat them without using their hands!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had hot cider bubbling away on the stove which made the entire house smell divine and was a big hit, especially with some spiced rum added in for the adult witches!  I had cold cider outside for the kids and I even made a cinnamon stick broom which was inspired after viewing it in a Pottery Barn catalog!

I also served witches brew (lime seltzer, lime sherbet and a can of thawed out limeade) and some water with gummy worm ice cubes!

 

I didn't end up getting a great shot of the food table, but here is one. I served three different kinds of tea sandwiches and also made some sugar cookies and chocolate covered pretzel sticks (magic wands) and almost everything else was brought my sweet friends.

I set a table up for the children and used those little plastic cauldron's as their tea cups. They were easy to wash out and the kids got a kick out of them!  We also placed their goody bags at the top of their plates.  Inside were some witches warts, a witchy green finger lollipop, witch's potion bubbles and a witches hat ring pop!

 

For the adult favors I put some loose leaf tea in test tubes and tied them with string!

 It was really a lovely day to celebrate Halloween with my daughter.  We even ran out to get some Halloween manicures before the party.

 

Everyone wore their witch hat and it was a really glorious afternoon.  I will have fond memories of listening to all of the little witches running around screaming with delight in our backyard.

 

 

 

And since my sweet boys didn't get to partake in our fun yesterday, tomorrow afternoon they are having a monster themed play date with some of their friends.  I will be back with all of those details soon!

haunted candy houses

As is our Halloween tradition, we made haunted candy houses yesterday. It is a very simple craft to do with the kids and since it's all edible, they love it even more! Find yourself a box of chocolate graham crackers and whip up some royal frosting. My recipe calls for one pound of confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons of Just Whites (powdered egg white) and 6 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Mix Just Whites and water until well blended and foamy and then slowly add the confectioners sugar.  You can also tint the frosting to whatever color you choose, we did orange.  Then, put out some festive candy and let the kids do the rest! This was even fun for my two year old who didn't need any help at all.  Hope you all had a sweet weekend too!

that's a wrap

We got boo-ed last week! It was so much fun for the kids and my friend gave me the great idea of booing someone that we don't know. I have to get some items together so we can continue the tradition. In, the meantime I did make a Halloween basket for a friend that needed a little pick me up.  I included some wine and treats (homemade and store bought) and tucked in some paper plates and napkins so that no dishes would need to be done in order to enjoy it.

halloween hot cocoa

Last winter I had a hot cocoa bar on  my kitchen counter.  I thought why not start it a little sooner with our adorable Halloween mugs and some tricky cocoa.  I got the mugs last year at Crate and Barrel.  They usually sell child size mugs for Halloween and Christmas.   the cocoa I found at Marshalls.  It starts out as white powder, but as soon as you add the hot water it turns orange! The kids love it.  You can also find some pumpkin shaped marshmallows at target to complete the look.

pictures in disguise

 

 

This is a picture I took of some photographs that line our stairwell. A few years ago I saw this picture from my blogger friend Anna.  I thought it was such a simple and unique way to decorate for Halloween.  Instead, of just hats, I decided to take it one step further.  I found some adorable lip and mustache stickers at Target so I just stuck them right onto the frame, so easy! I also cut out a paper witches hat and a super hero mask.  The options are endless and my children think it's absolutely hysterical. So fun! I hope that you'll try it too!

spiders and rats

I have had fun decorating for Halloween this year.  These are three very simple and inexpensive ways to decorate.  I like decorations that are clean, tasteful and relatively simple, not over the top or to loud. I am pretty sure Martha Stewart should really be the one to get credit for all of these, but here is my version.

You can buy these rat cut out (by Martha!) at Michael's.  But, I also saw some glittered ones at the party store for only a few dollars.  You could even cut out your own if you are inclined.  My children think they are hysterical!

I let these beautiful hydrangeas dry out and some of the leaves have even turned a slight shade of brown.  They were the perfect spot for some glittered black spiders. 

I also had some black paper spiders that I taped to the inside of my white lampshade.  I love that you cannot see them when the light is turned off.  When you turn it on you see a great surprise!  Again I think I bought these at Michaels but you could certainly make them yourself and could put any kind of Halloween creature inside.

More Halloween to come next week, but for now I hope that you all have a lovely weekend!  Its a perfect fall day here in Connecticut.

the countdown begins

It's officially October! And, as is our tradition, we have put out our Halloween countdown calendar.  Nothing seems to fit in the tiny pockets, so I found some adorable buckets to hold everything instead!  It is a fun tradition that my children look forward to every year.  As in years past, some of the items are family activities, like making caramel apples or going pumpkin picking.  Here is our calendar last year and from a few years ago.  I'd love to hear how you are getting ready for Halloween in the comments below. 

happy halloween

 

 

 

Since we are going trick or treating with friends I put out my wreath again this year.  Trick or Treaters can grab one and go,  Have fun tonight!  Eat, drink and be scary!

that's a wrap

We were invited to a pumpkin carving party yesterday.  As a hostess gift we gave them a pumpkin bread mix that I picked up at Trader Joe's.  I "wrapped" it in a Halloween dish towel and tied both ends with ribbon so that it kind of looked like a piece of candy!
We have spent most of today preparing for the BIG storm that is heading our way.  I am really hoping that our Halloween isn't cancelled due to the weather like it was last year.  We will be very disappointed.  Stay safe everyone. 

tiny treats

Yesterday was my daughters doll Halloween play date.  The idea for this play date came from this book that she was given for her birthday last year.  All of the dolls got a bat mask when they arrived.

 

 

For the crafts the girls made lollipop ghosts.  Big ones for themselves and mini ones for their dolls.

 

They also used candy to decorate tiny pumpkins.

There was also a dress up area for the dolls.

 

 I made tiny doll sized sugar cookies.  I put them in little bags and tied them with twine.

 

 

 

 

The girls and thier dolls played bingo.  They used candy corn for the markers.

 

 

 

 

They watched "Eloise's Rather Unusual Halloween" and we served popcorn with candy corn.  I was lucky enough to find popcorn containers in two sizes. 

 

 

 

 

The girls and their dolls played a mini version of pin the spider on the web.

 

 

In addition to taking home all of the crafts the dolls also got to pick their own trick-or-treat bag.  Inside we tucked some tiny bags of gummy bears. 

 

 

 The girls had pizza and boo-nilla milkshakes for dinner.  Since it was a lovely evening we ended the play date with some fun outside in the dark.  The girls all got glow necklaces and had fun running around and jumping in leaves.  This was definitely one of my favorite parties to plan.  I love the idea of finding things in doll sizes. 

pre school play date

 

 

This morning was my son's pre school play date.  He invited a handful of his friends over from school for some crafts and snacks.  I served popcorn, ghost boo-nanas, mini caramel apples, pumpkin doughnut muffins and clementines.  We had orange milk, cider and mummy juice boxes.  I also had hot cider on the stove for all of the mom's.

 

 

I used white duct tape and eyes to make the juice boxes into mummy's.  I put them in galvanized window boxes that are hanging on the deck.

 

For activities the kids decorated pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, glittered pumpkins and tried to eat pumpkin doughnuts on a string without using their hands. I also put some halloween toys (spider rings, plastic bats, etc) in the sand box for them to find.

 

 

 

 

 I also put out the dress up box and a mirror outside and that was a big hit with the four year old crowd.

      And the favors were the orange jello play dough and pumpkin cookie cutters.  It was a very fun morning and my son was delighted to share the fun with his friends.