This cute Spooky Bat Photo Craft is a great keepsake art project of your child and is perfect to make at Halloween parties! I know, I know! Halloween is only 2 days away! But I had to share this super cute project I am doing in my kindergartener's class for their Halloween Party! This year I am room mom for Oliver's class which means I get to organize and run the class … [Read more...]
Happy Halloween 2016
Happy Halloween a day late from our four Ghostbusters...Venkman, Holtzmann, Spengler, and Gilbert as well as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Kevin! I wanted to share this year's Family Halloween Ghostbusters Costume theme with you yesterday but we didn't get to taking pictures until after school today and then it was 'hey, let's get to Trick-or-Treating!" You know how … [Read more...]
Easy Paper Plate Vampire Bats
In need of a super cute AND easy Halloween Craft to do in your child's classroom for their upcoming Halloween or Fall Party? Well, I got your back!! This year I am in Penelope's classroom helping out for her class party and together we came up with this super cute Paper Plate Vampire Bat to do for the craft portion of their party! It is a pretty low maintenance yet super … [Read more...]
Halloween Fun: Chilled Monkey Brains
Oh boy! Today's post is not for the faint of heart!!! Or maybe, I should say, today's post is perfect for the Halloween lover! To quickly give you a little background on how this idea came to fruition, let's just start by saying that years ago when I was a kid Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was totally my jam. Well, that and Top Gun but that's a story for another day … [Read more...]
Halloween Spider Cupcakes
*This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Oh man, it's my favorite time of year again! The cooler weather is on its way and the Halloween and fall stuff is in full bloom in all the stores! I can't help but stalk these aisles once September hits and pick up some fun things to craft or bake … [Read more...]
Fall Themed Thank You Gift Idea
With Thanksgiving coming up in just a couple of weeks I thought it would be fun to put together a little gift for our teachers, something to let them know we are thankful for them (because we are)! I know I say this a lot, and I probably sound like a broken record, but we love our schools and our teachers. Each end every teacher that has come into our lives has just been … [Read more...]
Hot Cocoa Break Gift Idea
Oh man, it has been cold and wet here this week. No fun for someone who hates being cold. I thought I would go for a run this morning when it seemed there would be a lull in the rain and a half mile in it started pouring, for reals man! And it kept up for the rest of my run. Gah. I kept telling myself, "When I'm done I'm making a giant cup of hot cocoa, I deserve it!" :-) … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Mini Pumpkin Pizzas
It's that time of year again! That time where we love to create fun, holiday-themed dinner and snack ideas! It's part of why I love the last 3 months of the year so much. There is just so much to celebrate and so many memories to make! One of our favorite quick and easy dinner ideas around the weeks leading up to Halloween have to be when we do a Make Your Own Mini Pumpkin … [Read more...]
Trick or Treat: Plastic Fangs Treat and FREE Printable!
This weekend my kids and I ran to Target (I mean, hello where else would we run to?) and we searched the Halloween aisles looking for what they wanted to give away to their classes during their Halloween parties. Since our school does not allow the kids to bring candy or food items they decided on these fun plastic fangs! Plastic Vampire Fangs = Always a hit! And then we … [Read more...]
The Peanuts Movie Carved Snoopy Pumpkin!
Over the past few weeks we have been hitting up pumpkin patches like they are going out of style. It's one of our favorite things to do in October. We have quite a few good ones not too far from where we live and like to visit as many as we can before the weather gets really cold and windy…and you know that happens quickly in Chicago! And with all those visits we have … [Read more...]
White Chocolate Candy Corn Blondies Recipe
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Hershey Company. All opinions are 100% mine. Ooh! I always get so excited when the aisles at my favorite stores start getting switched over to the Halloween goodies. I love seeing all the new decorating ideas, the costumes, the party supplies, and of course all the new fun candies, isn't Fall the best! I found these … [Read more...]
The Failynn Fox Cowl
You guys! I am so in love with these Failynn Fox Cowls!! Are they not just the cutest things you have ever seen? I have been dying to make them for over a year now but just never could get around to it. Finally, a good friend pushed me over the edge by talking up how easy they were to make and I bit the bullet. Boy, am I soooo glad I did…and so are my girls as they love … [Read more...]
Happy Halloween 2014!
Happy Halloween! I am soooo happy to say that all our Halloween costumes are done!! Woohoo! We had a bit of a last minute change of heart with costumes these last couple of days so I spent the last few nights up late trying to create costumes for everyone. With all those last minute costumes to make I honestly didn't think I wasn't going to finish..but I did! And if you … [Read more...]
Halloween Party Poppers
Whoa! Less than one week until Halloween, are you ready? We had a bunch of pre-Halloween festivities this weekend…Halloween parade at my littles' school, trunk-or-treat, and a pumpkin carving party! And I'm happy to say all costumes survived and are ready for my littles' school parties this week and HALLOWEEN! A fun thing we had at our halloween party were these cute … [Read more...]
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Movie Party
Yesterday my littles had an early release from school so I decided it was the perfect day for us to finally watch, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. My kids love the Peanuts gang so we have come to watch this movie every year before Halloween. Charlie Brown is good like that, timeless, and perfect for the holidays. … [Read more...]
Easy and Healthy Bento Lunch Ideas: Halloween Edition!
Aww yeah! Another round up of some of my littles' past school bento lunches this month except this time it's the Halloween edition!! Who's excited?! Booo yeah <---get what I did there, heheh! … [Read more...]
Gift Idea: Hot Cocoa Concoctions with Spooky Mix-Ins
Here's another fun gift idea or just all around fun activity you can do with your kiddos this fall. Last week, after our popcorn party from this post here, we did a hot chocolate bar of sorts after school one day. When my littles came home from school I had this fun little "Hot Cocoa Concoctions" table all set up for them to "make their own potion", it was a blast! … [Read more...]
DIY Monster Treat Cups
I have been surprising my littles with lots of Halloween goodness over the last few weeks. (If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you have seen some of our fun Halloween-y dinners already!) Because, why not. I love Halloween!!!! I made these fun Monster Treat Cups so we could fill them with popcorn for an after school snack one day. Popcorn is always more delicious … [Read more...]
Boo-tiful Stacked Pumpkin Topiary
I am so super excited to be sharing some fun Halloween decor with you today! You know, Halloween is only 3 weeks away…are you ready? We just decorated the inside of our house this weekend and we took the kids to one of our favorite pumpkin patches so our front door is slowly getting decked out to be ready for all those trick-or-treaters. We are getting there!!! … [Read more...]
Gift Idea: Halloween in a Box
My littles and I decided we should send our sweet little cousins a box full of fun for Halloween because as we all know Halloween is one of the most magical holidays of the year for kids...full of candy and dress up and non-stop ringing doorbells and of course, more candy! We were excited that we found lots of fabulous goodies to package up and now our Halloween in a Box … [Read more...]
More Non-Candy Halloween Treats and Favors with FREE Printables
Ok, Ok, Ok. So not to overload you with all my little ones Halloween favors right now buuuut here are just a few more fun NON-candy Halloween treats/favors for you! I just can't stop! These are so fun to make and my kids and I have been loving digging through all the cute Halloween trinkets in the Dollar Spot at Target. Can't. Get. Enough. … [Read more...]
Non-Candy Halloween Treats with FREE Printables!
With Halloween coming up in just 26 days (eek!) I have been working on some fun non-candy Halloween treats/favors for my littles' to take to their classrooms this year since the elementary school my two oldest go to is a 'non-food' treats or favors kinda place! And right now, if you go to any big box…or little box store for that matter…you will find yourself a whole … [Read more...]
Just Add Apples: Caramel Apple Kit Gift Idea
Helloooo October, it's so nice to see you again! You know, I think October juuuust may be my most favorite month of the year, aside from my birthday month (June) of course. And then November and December tie for third cause they are just so much fun and so darn festive…cooler weather, Thanksgiving, crunchy fallen leaves, pumpkin pie, apple cider, Christmas...oh you know … [Read more...]
Spooky Tic Tac Toe Game with Halloween Painted Rocks
This is a sponsored post for the Elmer’s “Crafty Mamas” Blogger Crew. I have received compensation for this post, but the ideas and opinions are , as always, 100% my own! Oh my goodness, I cannot believe Halloween will be here in 6 weeks, say whaaa? So to get our home more in the Halloween swing of things I decided we should do a little Halloween crafting cause what … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
Monsters University Tin Can Party Cakes
This post is sponsored by Monsters University. All opinions and ideas are 100% my own. With Halloween creeping up on us and all the parties the kids have coming up in the next week, I thought it would be fun to throw a party of our own, Monsters University style...ooh scary! But not just any Monsters-themed party, a viewing party! We just love the Monsters Inc. movie … [Read more...]
Elmer’s Early Learners Academy Kids Project: Tissue Paper Pumpkins
Since my little Ellie Belly turned 3 this summer and she started preschool a few days a week this fall, we have been using her "off" days to do some fun crafts that help to develop her fine motor skills. You know, the fine, precise thumb, finger, hand, and wrist movements involved in writing, cutting with scissors, buttoning up shirts and sweaters. She isn't … [Read more...]
TUTORIAL: Spooky Snow Globes
So not too long ago one of my favorite stores, JoAnn Fabrics, contacted me about creating something Halloween-y as part of their #SpookySpaces campaign. I love, love, love everything about Halloween..Trick or Treat, Parties, Pumpkins, Decorating, Dressing up...ummm, hello? how could you not! ;-) So of course this was right up my alley! Now since I have 4 little ones we … [Read more...]
TUTORIAL: Magnetic Paint Craft Pumpkins with Magnetic Letters
If you remember from this post here, I was invited to participate in Michaels' Great Pumpkin Challenge where they sent me a box of their neat-o craft pumpkins to create, carve, or design something fun with them for Fall/Halloween. Since we are in Back to School mode as my kids are finally starting school (Noah started his first day of FULL day school today, hold me!) I … [Read more...]
TUTORIAL: Gold Accented Decoupaged Pumpkins
I was contacted by Michaels and asked to be a part of their Great Pumpkin Challenge and with my deep love of the Fall and Halloween I was pumped to participate. They sent me a box of their craft pumpkins and was told to create a look for them...how fun, right! These are what the pumpkins looked like. Michaels has a whole array of awesome craft pumpkins in stores now. … [Read more...]
Peter Pan Halloween Costumes
I thought today would be a good day to do the 'official' reveal of the kids' Halloween costumes. If you follow along with my randomness over at Facebook (here) or on Instagram (here) you got a few sneak peeks at the big pile o'fabric I bought at Joann's and some snippets of this year's costume making chaos. A few of you even guessed right at what the kids were going to … [Read more...]
The One Where I Talk About Halloween
I think it's safe to say there is no candy shortage around our house right now. Halloween was a complete success. And like clockwork they were up this morning asking for candy for breakfast. We also realized last night that three kids also means 3x the candy...for us, hahaha! Noah and Penelope made these guys at Dad's Night at their preschool last week. You can … [Read more...]
Oldies but Goodies…Halloween Style!
I thought today I would do a little Round Up of a few of my favorite past Halloween/Fall crafty tutorials and recipes from my blog. Many of them would be perfect for an upcoming Halloween party if you are hosting one! They can all be done in one afternoon so if you have a bit of time to kill this weekend maybe you might want to give one or two a try. Enjoy! Happy … [Read more...]
How to Make Mario and Luigi Costumes {Tutorial}
So here they are! The Halloween costumes are complete, hip hip hooray! They are truly adored and they survived some pre-Halloween festivities this weekend too. I loved so many of your guesses as to what I was making and I loved hearing all the neat things your children are going to be too! Halloween is just so fun because of all the costumes, isn't it? I'm usually … [Read more...]
Tissue Paper Pumpkins {Tutorial}
Earlier this week the kids and I spent one afternoon making a few Halloween decorations while Eloise took a much needed nap. Noah and Penelope absolutely loved this craft, it was right up their preschool art project alley. I think they turned out great! This was the perfect activity to keep their little hands busy for a good 45 minutes. They really took their time … [Read more...]
I Must Be Out of My Mind.
I did something this weekend that I have never done before... I went to Joann's and bought a whole bunch of fabric. But not just any fabric... Enough fabric to make each of my little ones their own Halloween costume. Noah has been asking to be a certain someone for Halloween. every. single. day. After about 3 weeks of listening to him ask/beg, I asked … [Read more...]
Happy Halloween-y to You!
"Happy Halloween" from my two monkeys and their little banana! Did someone say 'Free Candy?' Just for ringing a doorbell? Well then, count me in! We had lots of fun loading up on candy. We may even have heard the words, 'can you carry my pumpkin, it's too heavy' uttered from someone... One of our neighbors even had a candy buffet table. I'll take one of … [Read more...]
Halloween is Here!
Happy Halloween! I have chili in the crockpot. And cornbread in the oven. I think we are ready for a long walk around the block collecting candy. Have fun tonight and be safe! I'll post some pictures of the kidlets in their costumes later. Talk to you soon. … [Read more...]
Have a Boo-tiful Friday!
We are having a Halloween party today. It should be lots of fun. Lots of little ones in costumes. And some kid-friendly scary treats. Happy Friday! … [Read more...]
Happy Bat Crayons
So, did you all have a fun weekend? The hubs and I had a full day date yesterday, it was awesome. We took Ellie with us due to our current breastfeeding situation (she's my little sidekick these days :-) )and headed down to Chicago. We did a bunch of shopping at a ton of places that we have been wanting to go to for, like, ever but just never do because of the crazy … [Read more...]
Fall Boo Frames
So, with the Fall season on our heels I was in the mood to start doing a little decorating in my home. I really love Fall, especially for the rich orange, yellow and brown colors as well as for my favorite holiday...Halloween! I made this fun Halloween frame collage this weekend: I love it! Not only does it have all those lovely Fall colors I think are rad, orange, … [Read more...]
CANDY CANDY CANDY!!!
Halloween...need I say more!?! Yup, so if you didn't know...Halloween was last night...SURPRISE...hope I didn't let you know a day too late! By the picture above, you can see that Noah was MORE than into it this year. In his mind, Halloween = CANDY! At least he remembered to say the 3 phrases we taught him before we left the house: 'Trick or Treat', 'Thank you' and … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Pie Fruit Dip
OK, as promised, here is the recipe for the sweet dip that I made for our Halloween Bash. This dip had some majorly rave reviews and many people wanted the recipe. It is super easy to make and tastes like a pumpkin pie without the crust...nummy in the tummy! A sweet treat to make that's healthy to boot! Need a nice and festive dip option for your Halloween party? Well … [Read more...]
The Annual Halloween Bash
Yesterday was our Annual Halloween Bash and what a sugary fun time we had! We had lots of Noah and Penny's little friends there, lots of good food and lots of very cute costumes! I love hosting parties and the Halloween one we do every year is a clear favorite...I just love to see all the little ones dressed up and each year they wear their costumes for longer periods of … [Read more...]
Halloween Decor-ating
Sooooo, I have been meaning to post some pics of my Halloween/Fall decorations that we put out on our front porch...or stoop...or walk...or, geez I don't know, whatever you call the area by your front door. Anyhoo, so you all know we bought some pumpkins a couple of weekends ago, right!? Back when the weather was semi-nice not freeeezing like it is now...do I sound like … [Read more...]
Rice Krispie Treat Fun – Part II {Eyeballs}
Ugh, it's raining here...again...and I just can't take it! I soooo want to take the littles out to play at the park or a pumpkin patch or well, really, anything outside...but it's just way too soggy! Yuck! Onamorepositivenote,Ido have to say that being stuck inside because of all this rain has been great for me to get those Halloween treat ideas out of my head and into the … [Read more...]
Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins
Since you all know that I am totally into Fall and all Fall Holidays, last night I just had to make some more yummy Halloween treats for my littles. I just can't get enough, if you will...see exhibit A: Aren't they adorable!? And yummy in the tummy too! I am trying to come up with some cute kidlet-friendly treats for a Halloween party we are having at the end of the … [Read more...]
A Wagon Full of Goodness
Today was beautiful here in Illinois! The weather was absolutely perfect for a trip to the pumpkin patch and that is exactly where went. Our littles had so much fun running around (and on top of) all the mounds of pumpkins, what a great way to burn some energy especially after all the rain we have been getting around here lately! The patch we visited had a kid-sized maze … [Read more...]
Cornflake Pumpkins
Yum! Don't these look good? I told you I love Fall, didn't I? This season just gets the baking and cute dessert making bug under my skin. I love making these cornflake pumpkins cause they just look so darn cute! They are perfect for my littles too as they fit just right in their little hands. Want to make some for your littles too? Here is the recipe: Cornflake … [Read more...]
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