Halloween 2011 Recap

Halloween 2011

Whenever a holiday passes, it's a good opportunity to take stock.  As you pack away costumes and decorations, take a moment to reflect for next year: what worked and what could you do to make it more fun and less of a hassle? 

Did you wait too long to buy your children's costumes?  Did you break your diet eating all of the Halloween candy? 

Like all of you, I strive to create a beautiful and peaceful home.  As I mention often on my blog, I work outside of the home full-time.  Being a working mom, if I don't stay on top of things by planning carefully, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. 

It may be old-school, but keeping an old-fashioned calendar to record party dates really keeps my family on track. 



My Gooseberry Patch wall calendar

 Little ones eagerly anticipate holidays so it's always fun to encourage their sense of excitement!   We had so much fun with our Pottery Barn Kids Halloween countdown calendar.  Instead of filling the pockets with candy, I wrote little notes for each day of the month with an activity to do for that day (create Halloween masks, read a Halloween storybook, decorate pumpkins with stickers, bake cookies, watch a Halloween movie, go on a hayride, collect fall leaves, etc...)

My little guy loved going to the calendar each day for some holiday family fun.

Even our fur kids weren't left out. 

We bought some special Halloween doggie cookies for Ollie and Autumn.

We decorated indoors and out to create a spooky and festive atmosphere.  Even the playhouse was decked out with orange icicyle lights and whimsical decorations.

I'm more a fan of the cute than the creepy at Halloween - especially with a young child. 

We made a few of these wooden pumpkin luminary boxes years ago.

Of course Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without carving pumpkins...

These were my son's pumpkins

I drew the simple designs, and he (with help from his dad) carved them.

Our big one was a bit more sinister

with marble eyes and fang-like teeth.

little touches inside look magical, too...

Magical scent of the season

Candy Corn Candle

Eerie mouse silhouettes running along the stairs...Eek!

And all dressed up for trick-or-treating...

We hope you, too, had your best Halloween ever!

Spooky Graveyard Cupcakes

We're getting ready for Halloween at our house!

I love this time of year...

All of the spooktacular decorations, the candy, the fun!

No matter what time of year, there's always something yummy baking in the oven.
I never need a reason to get creative in the kitchen, and these little treats were no exception!

SpOoKy GrAveYard CuPcaKes!!

Aren't these super cute?!

I made them for my son's school Halloween party...

Ghoulishly delicious devil's food cupakes

With eerie sugar cookie tombstones,

candy pumpkins, fondant skulls and ghosts.



These cupcake liners have a surprise greeting when you turn them over.

Trick -or- Treat!

I accented my wire tiered tray with real, preserved oak leaves.

Decorating for each holiday can easily get expensive,

but by re-using things you already have on hand,

things you find in nature, and things you can make inexpensively like my cheesecloth ghosts,

you can give your house a spectacular and festive touch without breaking the bank.

We'll be watching Halloween specials this weekend,

and getting ready for trick-or-treating on Monday.

Are you all ready for the little ghosts and goblins that will coming to your door?

Happy Halloween!

Bewitching Halloween!

I hope everyone is having a fun Halloween!

I made these cute little witch cookies for my son's party at daycare,

along with bewitching black cats!

If you listen closely...

you just might hear them cackling!

Happy Halloween!!

My Knight in Shining Armor

My little knight in shining armor :)

Doesn't he look so grown up and handsome!?

He had so much fun with his costume

(what little boy doesn't love a sword and shield?!)

People got such a kick out of his cape.

Between his parade and party at preschool...

his parade and party at daycare...

and trick-or-treating,

he has a mountain of candy!

and for the 4th consecutive year...

he won the trophy for  

BEST COSTUME!!

(yet sadly he could've cared less! All he was interested in was the candy!)

.....

Some Halloweens past...

Halloween 2009

He was Max 

 from Where the Wild Things Are...

Halloween 2008

He was a not-so-spooky dragon!

Halloween 2007  
He was an adorable little Tom Arma bear

What have your kids dressed up as?

This post is part of SITs Halloweens Past.

Don't eat too much candy!

Be safe 

and have a

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Baking

The weekends are filled with parties and activities for us this time of year, so I wasn't able to get in the kitchen all that much. We did put together this adorable little gingerbread and candy haunted house.  I set it atop a cake pedestal for a cute little Halloween centerpiece.

I added some marshmallow Peep ghosts, tinted coconut for grass, candy corn accents and sprinkled the entire thing with autumn leaf candies.  There were little pumpkin candies, too - but those mysteriously disappeared every time my 4-year old entered the dining room!  

You can find these little kits everywhere - from Walmart & Target, to Joann's and Michaels.  They're fun little seasonal kits that take about an hour to assemble.  


This week we have three Halloween parties so I better dig out the rolling pin and get busy baking! 

Halloween is coming!

Are you almost ready?!

Halloween 

is nearly here!

There are little signs of it everywhere at our house!

From a little haunted house vignette in the foyer...

To the spooky artwork and eerie banner below..

Bowls of irresistible candy corn beckon...

And the site of pumpkins abound!

My son's popsicle stick pumpkin craft.

Pumpkin plates and ghosts adorn my kitchen shelf.

 

Black cat potholders make holiday cooking a little more fun :)

A ghoulish tea towel haunts my Halloween stove.

A pumpkin cookie jar and leaf light in the kitchen.

Adding adorable little seasonal touches can make even the most mundane tasks a little more enjoyable! Perhaps enough so to lure you into the kitchen to whip up a batch of cute little Halloween owl cookies :)

When you have little ones in the house, the change of seasons and holidays provide a wonderful opportunity for creativity and learning.  Whether we're going on nature walks to collect autumn leaves, baking something together in the kitchen, spending family time together watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," or doing a holiday craft, we always try to find ways to incorporate fun and a little educational value in each blessed season of the year.  

For fall and Halloween, my son has a wide assortment of  

seasonal storybooks 

that we love to read together.  

Reading together is not only a special bonding time with your child, but it helps to build your child's vocabulary and literacy proficiency...

of course all your child will care about is how much fun it is! 

As October breezes bluster outside...

My fall mailbox with the lawn peppered in fallen leaves.

...drawing us all indoors again,

we need to make our homes a cozy haven. 

Plump {pumpkin!} pillows to nestle against...

Warm, downy throws...

and the soft, flickering glow from a seasonal candle

or the lights from a little fall village

can provide a lovely holiday ambiance to your home...

making the time spent indoors all the more pleasurable!

This little set is in my dining room hutch...

along with the ethereal ghosts I made earlier this month.

 

So as the harsh October winds swirl outside your windows,

I hope you and your family are safely tucked inside,

enjoying this amazing fall season
in all its glory

while awaiting the thrills and fun of...

Halloween