Halloween Archives - Page 4 of 4

Decorating Your Yard For Halloween

October 28, 2013 By Deirdre

Our yard already had several Halloween themed items in that that have been there for a while so, decorating our yard for Halloween didn’t take a lot of work. We dressed up one area. Another area had an old friend come back to join it. This was a lot of fun. I bet you will like decorating your yard for Halloween too.

Decorating Your Yard for Halloween- Pumpkin Growing In A Pumpkin

On our deck we have the pumpkin growing in the pumpkin. It has gorgeous pumpkin leaves growing out of it. The pumpkin itself has started to rot and even had a little mold growing on it for a short time. I sprayed the pumpkin with a mixture of oil of clove and water. The mold totally disappeared after I wiped the pumpkin down and it has never returned. The pumpkin has developed some cracks and a hole. It seems to have age a lot in the last week. The pumpkin remained whole and unblemished for several weeks.We have decided it looks eerie and very Halloween like. JDaniel heads out in his pajamas every morning to check on it. He has really loved this project despite the fact the pumpkin isn’t holding together

The pumpkin will be given a little more time to just be his rotting self. Then we will be moving the whole pumpkin into a large orange container. Until then the temperature here has finally started to drop at night. We will need to start covering the pumpkin to keep him warm.

Decorating Your Yard for Halloween-Spider Web Trellis Spider

Last summer JDaniel helped me create a spider web trellis for a humming bird plant. Due to our mild summer and warm fall the plant is still growing and green.It never grew flowers. Maybe it will next year.

To get the spider web trellis ready for Halloween we made it a spider crawl through its tendrils. We took a random plastic lid that no longer base that it went on and glued a piece of a black garage bag material into the center of it. I used an Exacto knife to trim the extra bag material off. Then we placed a bunch of yellow circle stickers onto the lid for the spider’s compound eyes. A brown marker was used to give the eyes pupils. Black pipe cleaners were taped the back to give the spider legs. Someone at my house loves tape so, the legs will stay on for a long time.

The spider isn’t waterproof. We will have to bring him inside when we don’t want to have him visit the trellis. He will live in the garage when he isn’t visiting so, JDaniel can get him out whenever he wants to.

Decorating Your Yard for Halloween-Milk Jug Skeleton

Last year we created a Halloween craft called Milk Jug Skeleton. The skeleton was created so that its various parts could be separated and put back together again this year. I used paper clips to connect almost all the areas along with fishing line.This year we were able to reuse the same paper clips. We needed to use new fishing line to connect the head, chest, and hips. To store it last year the fishing line was cut and throw away.

JDaniel has been asking to have him hanging in the front year for awhile. He was thrilled when I said that it was finally time.

This year he helped me put the paper clips in place. It was great fine motor work.

What Else Will Decorate Our Yard?
We have also added three pumpkins to the front steps that are waiting to be carved. We carve them the day before Halloween at our house. Each will receive happy face with fun eyes. Adding happy faces is another tradition at our house.Decorating your yard for Halloween doesn’t have to be expensive or hard to pull together. We have simple decorations that we can use from year to year. Well, not the pumpkin itself, but the idea of growing a pumpkin. Making decoration that can come apart and be stored is really important to us. We have a small house with very little storage.

More Halloween activities and crafts can be found on my Halloween board on Pinterest.

How to Make a Despicable Me Minion Costume

October 27, 2013 By Deirdre

I need to figure out how to make a Halloween Despicable Me minion costume for JDaniel. He decided this summer after seeing the first Despicable Me costume on a neighbor’s DVD that he wanted to be minion. I started looking online for costume ideas when he announced that this would be his costume to look for minion costume ideas. I found a couple of them and pinned them to my Halloween Ideas board.Early this fall I started to look for the costume components. The overhalls were easy to find and were a great deal. I looked and looked for long sleeve yellow t-shirt or hooded sweatshirt. I couldn’t find one online or in any of our local stores. While I was on the hunt for them, I did come across a short sleeve t-shirt for $3 at Walmart. I decided that we would have to go with it. All of the hat examples I had seen on Pinterest were yellow knit hats. I couldn’t find one anywhere. I did find a yellow baseball cap at Academy Sports. It would just have to do.

The big costume element we needed to create as the minion hat. We had several of the items needed already at home. A couple were purchased at our local five and dime.

Minion Hat Materials

1 yellow hat
1 Pringles container
1 styrofoam ball
1 yard of 3 inch black ribbon
a black marker
an Exacto knife
a roll of foil wrap insulation tape
a needle
black thread
3 black pipe cleaners

How did we make the hat?

Cut one section off a Pringles container. The section needs to be 3 inches long.
Cover the section with the foil insulation tape on the outside and cover the top edge of the section with tape.
Push the styrofoam ball into the section. It may take a little push.
Draw an eyeball on the styrofoam ball that is facing out.
Cut slight curve on the bottom the section that will be facing the baseball hat to match the curve of the hat.
Cut a horizontal slit on each side of the foil covered section to create a place to put the ribbon through. My slits were about 2 1/2 inches long.
Thread the ribbon through the slits. Try to make sure that there is the same amount of ribbon on both sides of the foil covered section.
Using black thread and the needle sew tiny stitches through the ribbon and hat. Make sure you pull the ribbon tight before adding the next stitch. I sewed a couple tiny stitches in, knotted the thread and then cut it. Then I moved to another section off ribbon until I got to the back of the hat.
When you get to the back of the hat tie a bow with the remaining ribbon.
Cut the pipe cleaner in half and fold them in half.
Put the folded sections of pipe cleaner through each of the air vents in the top of the hat. Twist the folded area and bend it to the left to create an anchor inside the hat. (The anchor will hold each of the pipe cleaners in place.) Spread the pipe cleaner hairs apart on the top of the hat for a more dramatic effect.

Done?

I truly believed I was done with the costume when I took JDaniel outside to take the pictures for this post. JDaniel informed me as I took the pictures that I am missing the triangle on the overhalls. I will try to work on creating one before Halloween, but for now I have figured out how to make a Despicable Me minion costume that I think looks done.

The costume was missing one other thing. Do you see it in the picture? We were missing a banana. Minions love bananas! JDaniel rushed inside to get one for his costume.

What are you and/ or your children wearing for Halloween? Will one of them be a Despicable Me Minion?

Halloween Safety Rules and Ways to Review Them

October 24, 2012 By Deirdre

Halloween Safety Rules and Activities to Review Them

We have been reviewing Halloween or Trick or Treating Etiquette at our house for a couple of weeks. I just started this working on Halloween safety rules with JDaniel.I searched the internet to see what safety rules I wanted to cover with him and found a couple of websites with lists of rules. I wish I had know about Living Montessori Now’s Halloween Grace and Courtesy post. I only found it after I had started mine. I like hers a lot.

Here are the ones I chose to cover with JDaniel:

Halloween Safety Rules

1. Children should never trick or treat alone

2. Parents need to check children’s candy before you eat it.

3. Children don’t have to talk to every stranger they meet.
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4. Cross the street at the corner or the crosswalk.

5. Walk close to the curb if your neighborhood does not have sidewalks.

6. Visit houses with lights on.

7. Don’t play near a lit pumpkin.

8. Don’t push to the front of the group to get your candy first.

9. Say please and thank you.

10. Accept your treat at the front door. Don’t go in a stranger’s house.

11. Check your costume and make sure it isn’t too big or too long to walk in.

12. Make sure you can clearly see out of a mask if you costume has one.

Rather than just talk about the safety rules I created two activities with JDaniel to review the rules while playing.

Halloween Safety Rule Activities

The first activity we made was a Halloween Safety Rule Game. We traveled from the house at on the left to the house on the bottom right. When we landed on a green dot, we had to answer a safety rule question. You can find directions on how we created the game on The Studio by Kiwi Crate.

JDaniel loved this game so much we ended up taking it to a restaurant and playing it before our meal came. The rules are in the pumpkin cup.

Then we gathered together items that we could use to play and review the safety rules in a sensory bin.

Here is what we used to review Halloween Safety:

-We used some train track that has a road side to be the road we walk on while trick or treating.

-I found a small pre- lit pumpkin light to represent the pumpkin children shouldn’t play near.

-My sister Kate just sent us the train station we used to represent the house we would visit while trick or treating.

-An odd assortment of characters from JDaniel’s Star Wars collection and his Playskool set also helped represent trick or treaters, the homeowner and a parent.

-I added leaves and small decorative pumpkins to the sensory bin too.

We had a great time sitting at the kitchen table pretending to trick or treat and reviewing the rules.

I hope you will take a moment or two to go over Halloween safety rules with your children. I found going over them while playing helped JDaniel remember them. I bet you can find fun ways play to review them at your house

This post is linked to Mrs.Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.

The History of Halloween at Our House

October 27, 2011 By Deirdre

Mama Kat lists several topics to write about in her Writer’s Workshop each week. One of the ideas for this week was 22 things you have done.

My list of things we have done is going to focus on things we have done for Halloween at our house or the history of Halloween at our house. I am going to tell you a few things have done each year since JDaniel was born.

First Year

Dressed my 7 month old son in a pumpkin costume.

Had my husband and I dress like farmers.

Left my mom at my house to pass out candy while we wheeled JDaniel in his stroller around the neighborhood.

Read the book Redeeming Halloween by Kim Wier and Pam McCune to start thinking about how we wanted to celebrate the holiday.

Decided to pass out baked goods and/or candy to neighbors whose homes we trick or treated to as a way to reach out to neighbors. We passed out cookies with the a message wishing them a blessed Halloween attached to the bag.

Second Year

Had two cute costumes and had JDaniel wear both to different events.

Took JDaniel to a nursing home to attend a Halloween party for seniors and toddlers dressed as a lion’

Started the tradition of carving JDaniel’s pumpkins the day before Halloween.

Learned that he doesn’t like to touch pumpkin pulp.

Dressed him as a dinosaur for a library event and for trick or treating.

Bought a reusable Halloween bag with Frankenstein on it to use as a trick or treat bag.

Started trick or treating with the family next door

Ran from the front of our subdivision with a wet dinosaur when it started pouring.

Third Year

Had JDaniel decide that he didn’t want to wear the costume I bought at a consignment sale.

Decided that his choice of a Dalmatian costume was a great choice.

Coveted the ability one of my friends had to make super cute Halloween cupcakes.

Took JDaniel to Nevin’s farm to go on a hay ride and select a pumpkin.

Discovered my husband could eat as much of JDaniel’s Halloween candy as I could. If I was going to sneak Snickers, I was going to have to do it when we came home from trick or treating.

Fourth Year

Let JDaniel pick out his own robot costume.

Paid full price for a Halloween costume.

Had a robot running around the house in early October when the costume came in.

Tried to make pumpkin soup my family would eat twice.

I hope you enjoyed our family history of Halloween.

What are some of you traditions?

This post is linked to my Halloween Traditions linkup, Mrs. Matlock, and Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop.

Muffin Tin Monday- Boo for Lunch!

October 17, 2011 By Deirdre

JDaniel usually eats everything in his muffin tin meals. This week several items were left in the tin. He just didn’t like their contents.

What did he like?

The cream cheese bagel ghost flew off the tray. (Do ghosts fly?)

The dip was scooped up.

The mac and cheese with sport equipment noodles that look like bones to me were a slam dunk.

The ghost shaped marshmallows were a success. ( I guess they flew too.)

What he did not like?

The cucumber sticks were left standing in their corner of the tin as yucky despite the fact that JDaniel’s inhaled as a before dinner appetizer the night before.

The tuna fish was scooped up and moved to an empty cup in the top row so he wouldn’t have to sit near it. JDaniel asked for tuna for breakfast a few day later.

I guess I can’t complain about his being a picky eater. He really does it a wide variety of foods. Some days that just don’t tickle his fancy.

What won’t your children eat?