Crunchy Doughnut Eyeballs

Oh so creepy, and no baking involved!

(See the recipe here via here)

Monsters on a Stick

These monsters are such a great October snack!

Via Little Nummies via TCC

Booed!

One of our favorite things to do this time of year is going "Booing." My girls love the thrill of ringing the doorbell and running after leaving a tasty treat on a neighbors doorstep. So I was thrilled when I saw that Skip to My Lou had a printable "Boo" post this week!

Happy Booing!

Oeuf Mask & Tails Sets

Another simple costume idea that I happen to love this year: mask & tail sets. Oeuf's collection is particularly cute.

Lion Costume

I have had the hardest time with costume ideas this year. It doesn't help that my favorite place for affordable costumes went out of business (so sad!) So this year I've come to the conclusion that less is more. This lion costume kit fits that perfectly. I may just have to do it for my daughter, who is obsessed with all things animal right now.

And bonus! It's super affordable.

Bat Boy and Girl by Ouef

Oh what a hit these knit hats would be!

(See more of Ouef's Halloween treats here.)

Cookie Costumes

Making cookies into (temporary) costumes is the official start of my list of things to do this Halloween. Isn't it such a creative group or party activity?

(Check out the cookie mustache. It is my favorite!)

Candy Apples

My baby starts kindergarten tomorrow...
Maybe we'll make these festive apple cake pops to celebrate/mourn.

{Kids grow up too fast.}

A Little Thank-You Gift for Teachers

Today is my son's last day of preschool and as part of his class's thank-you to his amazing teachers we are giving them a copy of the image above and a small book in which each child has a page with their picture and their thoughts on why they love their teacher and what their teacher does that makes them laugh.

I did the picture part and thought it was an incredibly fun and easy project. Just pick out the letters based on the amount of kids in the class and take pictures at the school. (I had each kid set their letter down for a separate picture that went in the book.) This final image was put together in Photoshop, but you could also attach individual prints to a paper as you can see below:

My friend who originally gave me this idea also likes to use this for teacher appreciation weeks at school. They make a huge version with 8x10 prints of the kids. With my son entering kindergarten this fall (gulp!) I think I will be stealing that idea too!

Sweet T.O.M Turkey

We made these darling cupcakes last year for Thanksgiving and they have been requested again. They are easy and perfect for that school feast, or a festive treat for the kiddies after Thanksgiving dinner.

Little People Thanksgiving Set

Perfect for teaching your little ones the Thanksgiving Story!

Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats

So cute and so very simple!

A Month of Gratitude - "Thankful Turkey"

I want to take advantage of Thanksgiving coming up and help my kids express gratitude throughout the month of November. One thing I would like to try is a "thankful turkey" : My friend made one with her daughter, and on each feather they wrote down one item she was grateful for. What a fun way to express gratitude while bringing in some holiday spirit!

You can also use the turkey's feathers as a countdown clock by removing one for each day leading up to Thanksgiving, or write down one thing your child is grateful for each day leading to the holiday.

Find instructions here.

turkey image and idea via Make and Takes

Happy Halloween!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

This pumpkin candy container is a wee bit gross, but isn't that half the fun of this great holiday? I am grinning just thinking about how hard this would make my kiddos laugh!

Downloadable Halloween Card

Throwing a last minute party? Inside A Black Apple has an extremely cute card available for download that you could use as an invite. They are high-resolution, so they'll print great. I'm thinking about using them as part of my favors for our kids Halloween party.

as seen on ohdeedoh

Mummies

We were making pizza for dinner and wound up using some of the dough to make "mummy calzones." Sure, they are a little rough around the edges, but the kids had fun making and eating them. They were easy too: Roll out the dough of your choice, use a pizza cutter or knife to slash the sides into mummy wraps, place filling of choice in the center, and wrap tight! Get fancy with the face or be a bit on the lazy side like me and consider the wrap to be scary enough.

We used basic pizza ingredients, but could have used turkey or chicken salad and made baked sandwiches. This would also be fun with any sweet doughs or sweet fillings.

You Can Make This

Halloween is one of the few times during the year that I buy my girls a festive t- shirt, but this year I made one instead! You Can Make This has heaps of darling ideas that are simple to make and affordable. I just finished making the "Too Cute to Spook" witch t-shirt and it turned out darling! They also have handbag patterns, crochet hats, tutus and step by step directions for felt food among other fabulous things. Their directions are easy to follow and just fun to try!

Mini "Caramel" Apples

We made mini "caramel" apples last week and they were a fun and easy snack. To keep things simple and quick we spread peanut butter on the apple instead of caramel, and dipped the apples in crushed nuts and toffee and chocolate bits. Using peanut butter and nuts made me feel this stayed more in the category of "snack" rather than "treat."

Here's what we did:

Use an ice cream scoop to scoop mini-apples out of a regular apple. These don't turn out as round as you might think, but they still work. You could also use thick slices and call them moons. Stick a toothpick in the skin side of the mini-apple.

Spread on "caramel" of choice. Use the real stuff, or for a quick fix try peanut butter, nutella, sweetened cream cheese, etc. The apple is not going to look pretty at this point; the toppings are what round it out and make it look nice.

Hand apples to the kiddos and let them dip into the toppings of your choice. We used pecans, toffee and chocolate bits, but you could use just about anything: flaked coconut, sprinkles, mini m&m's, crushed granola, or maybe even sesame seeds or ground flax seeds. The dipping itself is so fun you could probably sneak all sorts of healthy stuff in there if you are so inclined.

Enjoy, and then make another one. My kids really got into choosing different topping combos for each apple. It was cute.

Too Many Pumpkins

We love reading Holiday books and Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White is one of our favorites for Fall!

Bakerella Halloween Treats

How great are these fun cake pops by uber-baker Bakerella? They would be a hit at any Halloween party. I'm thinking of making them for my holiday festivities this year...and you can too! You can find the recipe for cake pops here, and a list of supplies to deck them out as Halloween characters here.

via hostess with the mostess