Simple Halloween Party Decor Ideas

Here are some of fun and inexpensive ways to decorate for a kids' Halloween party that I came up with for a local mommy group's get together they hosted this month!

I made simple goody bags that acted as an activity bag for each kid during the party. I stamped "Happy Halloween" on plain brown kraft bags and filled each one with the all the items needed to make little pom pom spiders for their craft activity.

Inside each bag I placed a smaller clear cello bag full of different sized pom poms and googly eyes, a few pipe cleaners, a straw for their drink, and a cute pipe cleaner pumpkin to take home.

Each table had simple teeny pumpkins in wire baskets with some Halloween colored crinkle paper. I love this stuff!!!

We also put jars of pumpkin wands at each table. Just a stripey straw with one of those marshmallow pumpkins on top! Each jar was tied with a ribbon for a simple centerpiece.

Easy and well within a small budget! 

Some of the activities also included these tattoos I made here. And each child took home these party favors too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

 XOXO,

Making Messes (and Memories) in the Kitchen

I know it's been said time and again that the kitchen is the heart of the home and I for one truly believe that is the case for us. Our kitchen is a place where we share meals together, where we gather after school while we eat a snack and I get to hear about the details of my kids' day at school, it's where homework is done, and a place where we work on crafts and art projects, it's also the place where we make food together.


Thank goodness, I tell you, for Clorox® disinfecting wipes. I think we need to buy stock in this company for the number of dirty sticky situations in our home that they helped me clean up. They are literally a mom's best friend. Just wipe and you are disinfecting as you clean. And the best part is that they go right in the garbage so you don't have to deal with washing any dirty rags which is especially nice come cold and flu season which is right around the corner.

I truly love bringing all my littles together to make something in the kitchen. It could be helping me make lunch, baking cookies, or even something as simple as the pouring of cereal into a bowl to make Rice Krispies treats. I love that we are doing something together I think making food is one of our best memory makers we have as humans. I love seeing their eager eyes as we pull out bowls, spoons, measuring cups, and ingredients. I love hearing their sweet little voices as we count out how many cups of this or that we need. I love that they fight over who gets to stir and who gets to add in one thing or another. I love that I can count on the fact that they always, always, always jump up and down begging to lick the spoons, beaters, or bowl once we finish the last step.

But with all that love comes something I don't love so much. I can't help it, I'm a mom. It's those darn messes, the stickiness, the goop, that dirty floor. It's enough to make me say, "I'll just do it myself" because hey, it's less mess for me to clean up in the end...but I don't. Cause that's no fun.

Instead I let them help, I let them make a giant mess. I let them dump a brand new container of sprinkles all over the table and the floor. I can't help it, I'm a mom. It's what we do.

We tend to keep a canister of them in the kitchen, the laundry room, every bathroom, and even in the car too. Anywhere we can get to them when we need a quick clean up.

We wipe down hot spots like doorknobs, light switches, TV remotes, faucets, and toys before and after we host get-togethers, especially during the holiday season. And don't forget that you can also put a stop to the spread of yucky germs this upcoming holiday season by washing your hands frequently with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds and by coughing and sneezing into your elbow instead of your hands. You don't miss out on any fun festivities or holiday parties!

Clorox® and BlogHer are giving away a $100 VISA gift card! Just leave a comment telling me, "How do you stay healthy during the holidays?"

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Be sure to visit the sponsor's brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post, however, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 

XOXO,

Zombie, Witch, Cat, and Mummy Halloween Costumes!

This weekend I actually finished all my littles' Halloween costumes! And with a whole 5 days to spare, phew! :-) We even carved our pumpkins and into more than just jack-o-latern faces too, I tell ya we are on a R.O.L.L.

So back in August (yes AUGUST! Don't your kids start planning out Halloween costumes months in advance?), Noah kept telling me he wanted to be a zombie...a zombie?! Thankyouverymuch Plants vs Zombies. I figured this was finally the year of store-bought costumes and you know what? I was okay with that...I mean it has to happen at some point. I even took him to a few different stores but he just didn't like anything he saw. Finally he asked me if I would just make it for him. Really??? Okay, sure! And then Penny literally begged me to make her a witch costume with lots of purple (her favorite color)...and Ellie, well, she had her heart set on a kitty cat :-) So thinking all this through I figured they were all "classic" halloween characters and, since Oliver really doesn't care what he is, I decided to make him a little baby mummy. Gah! His turned out so stinking cute!

At first I wasn't really sure how to make a zombie costume. I mean they are just an un-dead version of regular people in regular people clothes, ya know. We talked about his vision and really he just wanted to be all bloody and have ripped up clothes, lol! Well, that was easy enough for me.

I sewed up a pair of light grey twill pants using an existing pair of his pants as a pattern except making the legs much wider so he looked really skinny and zombie-like. We wanted the pants to be light enough so that you could see blood and dirt but not white in color.

Then I bought a simple white t-shirt and stained it with tea to make it look grungy and found a flannel at a local thrift shop for $3 to finish off his costume. To make everything all dirty and bloody, we actually just grabbed some Crayola markers in red, brown, and black and went to town marking up his clothes. I used a pair of scissors to make small cuts all over and then took a piece of sandpaper to rough up all the edges.

I bought some face paint at Target and lightly painted his face white and then added some black around his eyes so he looked tired and undead.

I was even able to get him out of character for this one...do zombies ever smile?

Penny had her heart set on a purple witch...you know, a "good" witch. A witch! I didn't think my kids would ever want to be a witch with all the princess-y stuff out there. How fun it was to make a witch costume!

I made Penny's dress from a lightweight knit fabric so it has a nice drape and some stretch to it. I patterned it after a peasant dress but extended the sleeves into bell sleeves for that perfect witch look. I added a black cord for a witch-y belt and I bought her tights a Jo-Anns for 60% off. PS. they have lots of fun colors!

To make her cape, I bought some of this fun purple "Halloween" novelty fabric at Jo-Anns for 50% off...come to think of it all the fabric I bought for these costumes was 50% off...so inexpensive! When I did the math it costs about $12 or less to make each costume, such a great deal for handmade costumes!

I made a big witch-y collar on it and sewed a length of bias tape at the top of the collar that doubled as the string to tie it on.

I found the hat and broomstick at Target for a few bucks a piece, you can't beat such inexpensive finishing touches!

Ellie wanted to be a kitty cat, so sweet! All she wants to do is say "meow, meow" which actually sounds a lot more like "mow, mow" when she says it.

She picked out this kitty (cougar-y?) fleece fabric all by herself, it is so dang soft! And it's nice and thin and a dream to sew with.

I used Simplicity Pattern 1584 to make the dress except I added a small velcro closure on the back and omitted the black fuzzy collar as I figured that would annoy her after awhile.

I was also lucky enough to have just enough leftover fleece to make her a pair of pants to match. Love when that happens...and I actually don't mess up and have to buy more fabric after deciding to go through with it ;-)

Oliver. 

Oh, this costume is just so fabulous on him! I just love everything about it!

I bought 4 yards of white gauze and tea stained it in my crockpot along with a simple white onesie. I bought some white fleece and made him a pair of pants and a little hat and then just hot glued the gauze all over. Back and forth and side to side. 

If you are planning on doing a mummy costume and using hot glue, may I just warn you that you will want to stretch the clothing as you hot glue or you will have a really hard time getting said clothing on. Since it was hot glue and gauze it stretched and ripped apart without a problem but just took a bit of extra time having to re-do some of it.

I was a little worried he would hate this costume but he actually really enjoyed having it on! I think since the base is a simple onesie and a nice cozy pair of fleece pants all the gauze doesn't really bother him.

I just had to black and white one...so mummy-like!

I have to laugh at my attempt at group shots...4 kids in one frame...it's tough stuff, especially with a 16 month old who has no desire to stand still!

 I hope you enjoyed this year's Halloween costumes!
Are you done, getting close, or just buying at the store this year?

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

XOXO,

Pillsbury Fall Starter Kit Giveaway!

Remember when I shared new fun fall flavors from Pillsbury® in this post here? And remember how I made those rockin' Perfectly Pumpkin Cake Mix Pancakes with their new Perfectly Pumpkin Cake Mix? Well, I'm here to tell you that Pillsbury is giving away a whole bunch of goodies from their Fall Seasonal flavors today to one of you, my awesome readers, holla!

Here is what's included:

Fall Seasonal Celebration Starter Reader Giveaway Kit:

·         One Pillsbury Caramel Apple Cake

·         One Caramel Apple Cookie

·         One Caramel Apple Frosting

·         One Perfectly Pumpkin Cake

·         One Pumpkin Crème Cake with Vanilla Frosting

·         One Perfectly Pumpkin Cookie

·         $100 dollar Visa or American Express gift card

·         Total estimated giveaway value: $115

Sounds awesome, right!

Okay, so to enter this giveaway click here now or enter via the rafflecopter widget below!

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GOOD LUCK!

XOXO,

I have been compensated by the  J.M. Smucker Company to promote its Pillsbury Fall products, but the opinions expressed are my own. ©/® The J.M. Smucker Company. Pillsbury is a trademark of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license.  

Halloween Treats and Party Favors

Anyone else feeling the time crunch of Halloween...one week to go!!!! I just finished two of the kids' costumes last night and I'm hoping to get the last two done in the next couple of days. We need them for a few parties this weekend, gah!!! Nothing like a little last minute stress, hahahaha, no. 

A local mommy group I'm in is throwing a big Halloween bash for all the littles in the group this year and they asked me if I wanted to help with the decorations and general party-ness. I have been creating goodie bags, table decor, treats, and favors over the past month and loving every minute of it, I love this kinda stuff!

I thought I'd show you what I've been creating over the last few weeks! 

I picked up these spooky little chocolate eyeballs and originally intended them to be in a vase or as some type of table decoration until I was browsing through designs in the Silhouette online store one night and I found this rad skull and cross bones design. I created a cute little party favor with it using their nifty print and cut feature!

I love catchy, some would say nerdy, word phrases (see past Valentine's here and here)

so I thought it would be fun to hot glue two eyeballs where the eyes would go and say, "Eye hope you have a Happy Halloween" *Snort!* Get it!

I die. :-)

I also found these fun "night creatures" at the dollar store and my mind went straight to that super cute Valentine I pinned about a year ago from Dandee (seen here). I thought I'd throw a Halloween spin on it and came up with this...

How freakin' cute, huh? Little specimen jars with creepy crawlies in them :-) Just like all the mason jars we use in the summer collecting bugs! Again, I found the cute little design in the Silhouette store and used the print and cut feature to create them.

I'll try to post some of the other things I created for this party if I can get the rest of my littles' costumes done...can you guess what they are going to be? They all go together again if you can believe that! Our theme this year is...SCARY!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

XOXO,