Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Not Just Candy! Fun Surprises for Your Halloween Treat Bowl

Not Just Candy! Fun Surprises for Your Halloween Treat Bowl

Posted by


I love to have a few non candy items in my Halloween Trick or Treat bowl for kids to choose from. It's great for kids that can't have candy but it is also nice for everyone. Kids get some much candy in the month the October having a small toy or fun item is a good alternative. As a mom I also don't need more junk, so I decided to make a list of things that I think would be great options to include and do not add to the plastic junk piles.


Crocheted Halloween Mini Figures - I like to make the mini ghosts, eyeballs, and mini candy corns from this pattern because they are quick to make and fit the halloween theme.  A Menagerie of Stitches has a lot of fun patterns for mini makes as well and it could be easy and fun to add a few non halloween crocheted items to the trick or treat bowl.

Friendship Bracelets - It was the year of the eras tour when I thought about making friendship bracelets with the song Haunted as my inspiration. While Taylor Swift inspired friendship bracelets are fun, you could also use letter beads and seed beads to make a variety of Halloween inspired friendship bracelets to add to your trick or treat bowl.

Award Ribbons - These award ribbons feel so nostalgic to me and could be such fun surprise to hand out to your favorite Halloween visitors. In this tutorial I show you how to make the award ribbons and you could have a few on hand to give out to the cutest costume you see, the best group costume, the spookiest costume, etc. 

Temporary Tattoos - Generally getting temporary tattoos is fun for kids and they are generally easy to remove with baby oil or olive oil so they can be a very temporary thing if need be. These cozy fall themed tattoos are really cute as well as these Halloween themed tattoos. 

Stickers - You can get large packs of stickers and they are pretty inexpensive. I love to give my kids stickers as prizes and they love to have a collection of stickers. Harry Potter Stickers, Holographic Stickers, Woodland Animal Stickers or Halloween Stickers would all be good options for your trick or treat bowl.

Glow In the Dark Mystery Mini Figurines - My kids love to collect all the small animals because they are so cute. They glow in the dark as well. I like that they can keep their collection in a small container plus they are inexpensive and make a great prize.

Glow Sticks - This one is great because Halloween is at night so using a glow stick on the one night you get to stay out late and roam the streets is fun.

Textured Stickers - I love these long textured stickers. My kids like to put them on their school binders, folders, or on the side of their bed. If they feel anxious they can just trace their finger along the texture back and forth. There is a huge variety of colors and patterns so you can find whatever your kids like. These silicone strip stickers are also really nice and the texture is even more pronounced.

Glitter Gel Pens - As a kid and as an adult I love getting new pens. These glitter gel pens come in a huge variety of colors and are a huge hit for my kids. They use them to draw pictures or write in their journal. Pens are fun and functional and would make a great surprise for a trick or treat bowl.

There you go. Let me know in the comments if you have any great ideas of non candy items to hand out on Halloween.

This post contain amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them- at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and my family.

Read more »
Mallory Hazel
0 Comments
DIY Halloween Scene with Construction Paper | A Fun Halloween Craft for Kids

DIY Halloween Scene with Construction Paper | A Fun Halloween Craft for Kids

Posted by
I love making holiday plans each year that center around creativity with my kids. I truly believe that everyone should have spaces to be creative and that creating art worthy of display is for everyone. This year for Halloween I went into our paper stash and decided to make a Halloween scene out of simple shapes. It's a great project because it is easy to adjust shapes and plan things out before you glue them on. All it takes is some paper, scissors and glue. It's a quick craft that you can do while watching a Halloween movie or listening to some spooky music or an audiobook like The Witches. After you are finished you can display your spooky scenes on the wall as Halloween decorations. 


For my project I ended up choosing 7 colors I wanted to use so that it felt cohesive. I really love this card stock paper because it has so many colors in it and it's really nice quality. After choosing my background paper I took the other paper and decided what colors I wanted to be the main haunted house colors. I started cutting out large squares and rectangles, leaving them a bit oversized knowing I could overlap papers a bit or cut them smaller. After making the main house I started cutting out the details, using the scrap paper for the smallest details. After I had a good idea of what I wanted for the final scene I started glueing everything on that background paper from the back pieces forward. Then I added some fun details like the moon, bats, ghost, cat, and pumpkins. And it was as easy as that.

I hope this can inspire you to be creative this spooky season on your own or with your kids!

This post contain amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them- at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and my family.
Read more »
Mallory Hazel
0 Comments
DIY Halloween Award Ribbons | Give Out Some Spooky Bragging Rights

DIY Halloween Award Ribbons | Give Out Some Spooky Bragging Rights

Posted by

I love making these super cute award ribbons. They are so easy and quick to make and they are such a nice hand-made touch to add to a celebration. Today I'm going to give you a tutorial of how to make these award ribbons yourself for any Halloween gathering you might be hosting or to hand out on Halloween night to trick-or-treaters. Let's get into it!


Supplies
Felt - You can get individual colors of felt at any local craft store but I really like these variety color pack because they give you lots of good colors that go well together.

Letter Beads - I like to have black and white and colored letter beads. These packs are super nice because they separate out the letters so they are easy to find.

Sequins and Small Beads for Decorating - I like to get a big variety pack of sequins and I have a collection of seed beads that I sometimes use for decorating as well.

Embroidery Thread & Needle - Needed to sew some details on these ribbons. I like to just get a big variety pack of embroidery thread so I can get a lot of good colors that are inexpensive but give me an ample supply of colors so I can color match easily to any project. These needles are good for hand sewing.

Ribbons - I love having a bit ribbon collection to make these ribbons. A variety of colors, textures and patterns are perfect for this project. I like to collect different ribbon packs along the way but here are a few good starter packs to get a good base. 
Classic Pastel Pack | Sheer Ribbons | Polka Dots | Gingham | Glitter Ribbon

Sewing Clips & Fabric Scissors- These sewing clips help to hold your fabric and pattern together while you are cutting it out. I love this pack because it is cheap and comes with a lot of extras so I have have a few handy in all of my crafting areas and you can use them for a variety of sewing and craft projects. Having a good pair of scissors you use only for fabric is also really helpful so the cuts on the felt are nice and sharp.

Spooky and Fun Phrase List - A Quick Brainstorm of Potential Phrases

A good phrase is important for the middle of your award ribbon, here are a few ideas to get your creativity going.
Spooktacular
Cutest Costume
Most Bewitching
Spookiest Costume
Best Group Costume | Best Couples Costume
Spookiest Spirit
Master of Mischief
Fang-tastic
Boo-tiful
Eerie-sistable
Killing It!
Howl of Fame
Gourd Job!
Skelly's Choice

Food Awards
Chili Champion
Chili CookOff Champion
Best Spooky Snack
Most Bewitching Dish
 

1 | The first thing you need to do is cut out four pieces of felt, two circles and two ribbon pieces. I like to trace the shapes on card stock first. For the circles I simply used a ramekin and small candle to trace two circles because they were the size I wanted. The ribbons are long rectangles with just a sharp diagonal cut on one end. Once I cut out the card stock paper I use a sewing clip to clip each piece onto the felt and just cut along the edge. This helps keep all of my pieces consistent.

2 | Take the smaller circle and some embroidery thread and sew a consistent dashed line around the edge. Then you are going to sew on the letter beads with your chosen phrase onto the middle of the small circle. I like to lay out the letters before I sew them on to make sure they are centered. I also like to sew the full word on and then go back through two or three letters at a time to really secure the letter beads on.

3 | Now it's time to decorate with sequins and/or seed beads. At this point I split the embroidery thread to 2 strings so it is not as noticeable. I like to sew sequins on all around to add more color and a bit of sparkle to the award.

4 | Now take the larger circle and do a blanket stitch around the edge. The start and finish can be little messy so I always glue the ribbon part over that section.


5 | Now I choose a few additional ribbons to put on the bottom and cut them a little longer than what you need.

6 | It's time to glue it all together. I really love the Hoto Glue Gun because you can charge it so you don't' have to be near an outlet or deal with a cord. I start by glueing the felt ribbons to the front of the large circle, then glue on the ribbons to the felt ribbons, then glue the small circle to the top. 

7 | At this point I make sure all the ribbons are cute at a sharp diagonal for a clean looking finish.

8 | Now you know how to make ribbons so you can make more!



Want more ideas to make your spooky season great? Check out the following blog posts.
Super Simple Candy Corn Crocheted Scrunchie
My Favorite Halloween Picture Books for Kids

This post contain amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them- at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and my family.

Read more »
Mallory Hazel
0 Comments
Super Simple Candy Corn Crocheted Scrunchies

Super Simple Candy Corn Crocheted Scrunchies

Posted by

It's Halloween. Let's crochet a super simple Candy Corn Scrunchie that is easy enough for beginners and can be worked up quickly. It takes just a few simple supplies you might already have around. Let's get right to the pattern, shall we?


Supplies:
Loops and Thread Posh Purl Yarn in White, Sherbet Glow, and Lemon. (This yarn a bulky, weight 5 yarn that is super soft).
Size J/10 - 6 mm Yarn Hook
Hair Elastic



Instructions:
Begin with White Yarn
Foundation Row | 32 SC around Hair Tie. Join last SC & first SC with a slip stitch to close the row.
(You may need a few more SC depending on elastic size and personal tension, you want the elastic to be fully covered). 
Row 2 | Change Colors to Orange (Sherbet Glow). 
Chain 2. 3 HDC in each SC stitch from round one. (96 HDC). Join last HDC & first HDC with a slip stitch to close the row.
Row 3 | Change Colors to Yellow (Lemon). 
Chain 1. SC all around (96 SC).  Join last SC & first SC with a slip stitch to close the row.


You are going to be left with a scrunchie with a bunch of loose ends. Go ahead and tie them off and sew them in. And there you have it, the cutest candy corn scrunchie!


Thanks for joining me on this fun Halloween Craft Project. I hope you will follow along for more crochet projects. Feel free to comment any questions or other fun crochet recommendations. Crocheting for holidays is my favorite!

This post contain amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them- at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and love of all things crochet.

Read more »
Mallory Hazel
0 Comments
13 Halloween Books So Fun, Your Kids Will Forget About Candy (Almost)

13 Halloween Books So Fun, Your Kids Will Forget About Candy (Almost)

Posted by


It's October, which means it's time to pull out my favorite Halloween Books to read with my kids. We love to gather in our living room each night with all of our decorations and spooky lights and read together. We have gathered quite the collection over the years, and checked out lots of spooky stories from the library, but this a collection of my absolute favorites. I hope you love sharing them with your kids, as much as I do. 


Sandra Boynton always comes through with the cutest stories for the youngest readers. I've been reading these books with my kids since they were young. They are fun, playful, silly, simple, perfect for reading with the babies and toddlers but they hold up as kids grow. 
EEK! Halloween and Spooky Pookie are perfect books to read again and again.


Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin is the another perfect book for the youngest of readers. This large board book has colorful pictures and a silly simple story. I love the characters and that they are part of a larger series, so they can return to Duck and Goose throughout the year.


I love all of the Little Blue Truck Books and Little Blue Truck's Halloween is no exception. It is such a cute story of friends gathering for a Halloween party and each one having and unique a fun costume. Kids get to guess who is wearing each costume through cute rhymes. This is for sure one to have a permanent place on your shelf.


Slumberkins books are incredible books that take fun characters and sweet stories and weave in concepts that teach emotional intelligence. 

The Costume Comeback at the Monster Ball is a fun story about a friend that chooses a costume on Halloween night, but then sees all the other friends costumes and isn't sure if theirs is good enough anymore. In the end the lesson is about everyone being unique and that makes life great. 

Halloween Fright is about how it is natural to be a little scared sometimes, especially about things we don't know about, but if we take time to learn, maybe things that we are afraid of aren't really all that scary after all.


Little Witch's Big Night is a Halloween story that I remember reading as a kid, so it is really nostalgic to me. It's about a Witch who takes three Trick or Treaters on a Halloween Night ride on her broom. It is such a cute story and has that old school Halloween vibe.


Big Pumpkin is another old school story. Written in 1995 this story follows a Witch that wants to make pumpkin pie on Halloween night. Unfortunately the pumpkin is stuck on the vine, so friends gather to help her. It is a cute story about working together and friendship, and it is absolutely a delight to read-aloud.


Pick a Pumpkin is a newer book that is really cute. From the unique illustration to the simple semi-rhyming text, this story takes you on the adventure of picking out the perfect pumpkin to carve on Halloween night.


Room on the Broom is another rhyming adventure about a Witch that is flying around and the friends that help her out along the way. It teaches kids that if you are kind and make space for those around you they may come back to help you in your time of need.


Franklin is such a childhood favorite of mine. The vibes of Franklin are kindness, cozy, friendship, small town. Franklin's Halloween has all of the aspects of the perfect Halloween book, dressing up, a community Halloween party, a spooky mystery, and being generous with the good things you get.


The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat is my absolute favorite Berenstain Bears Book. Having the perfect costume, going trick or treating with friends, getting caught up in the spookiness of the night, and learning that things are not always what they seem, it's the perfect book. As a kid when I read this book, I would also just stare at the candy apples in the illustrations. Nothing looked better to me, they were absolutely perfect and I wanted one so bad. I can still feel that longing.


Finally Too Many Pumpkins. I'll admit that this book is long, so you definitely need your child to have a little bit of an extra attention span, but it's such a good story. An older woman that hate pumpkins, accidentally grows too many pumpkins and must find a way to share them with the community. 

And that's that. 13 Perfect Halloween Books to share with the kids you love. I hope you can find a new favorite and please share with me in the comments books I need to add to my collection.

This post contain amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them- at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and our love of story time.

Read more »
Mallory Hazel
0 Comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)