Healthy Halloween Snack Plate

This Festive and Healthy Halloween Snack Plate is sponsored by Nellie’s Free Range Eggs. All opinions are my own.

Halloween is often synonymous with the sugary treats we all love to give and receive on Beggar’s Night, but today I want to share a super cute snack plate that is healthy and totally simple to make!

This plate features Franken-kiwis, cheese brooms, boo-nanas, straw-mummies, clementine pumpkins, and spider eggs. 

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20 Unique Pumpkin Recipes

It’s pumpkin spice season, and you know what that means! Lots of opportunities to integrate pumpkin puree into your favorite fall recipes. Whether you’re looking for sweet or savory, these delicious and unique pumpkin recipes are sure to please!

Pumpkin Magic Bars are rich, thick, sweet pumpkin cookie bars layered not only with pumpkin but with butterscotch and toffee flavors as well! With creamy pumpkin, crunchy pecans, butterscotch chips, and toffee chips, it is a magical explosion of flavor and textures in every layer of this cookie bar bite!

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Roasted Red Pepper Deviled Egg Pumpkins

These 4-Pepper Deviled Egg Pumpkins feature a flavorful red pepper twist with a pretty filling that resembled mini pumpkins!

A big thanks to Nellie’s Free Range for sponsoring this post, Roasted Pepper Deviled Egg Pumpkins. All opinions are my own.

We’re a pretty traditional family at Thanksgiving. We often relish preparing and sharing the same traditional dishes year after year. Food trends come and go—but don’t mess with my mashed potatoes! You could say I went a little bit off the rails this year by experimenting with a fun twist on our deviled eggs recipe that I think everyone can get behind!

All it takes is one sweet, piquant, and smoky secret ingredient to upscale a dish of classic deviled eggs. The prototypical Dijon mustard and creamy mayonnaise still play an important role in this recipe the roasted red peppers and a magnanimous dusting of paprika take this from basic – to amazing.

Serve this for Thanksgiving (like we did) or bring them to a potluck, wherever they go, these roasted red pepper deviled eggs are sure to shine brilliantly.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy and disclosures.

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Lazy Mom’s Guide to Halloween Dinner

This post is sponsored by Tyson Foods, Inc.  but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Can you feel that? The chill in the air is already creeping in, and so are the Halloween decorations in every store I visit. As you’re well aware, I’m not a big fan of fall, but the holidays of the fall and winter seasons sure make the nip in the air a whole lot more tolerable.

While I do love delighting my kids with a fun themed meal every Halloween season, I don’t always have the same zest for pulling off the details.

Today I’m sharing my lazy mom’s guide to Halloween Dinner. I’m including three, super-simple ideas for pulling off that cute themed dinner, without the prep.

That’s right: if you’re decidedly *not* a Pinterest mom, this post is for you.Lazy Mom's Guide to Spooky Halloween Theme DInner | Five Marigolds

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Black (and Pink) Cat Halloween Bags

 Friendly Cat Printables for Party Favors and Boo Bags

This shop, Black Cat Halloween Bags, has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, MARS Incorporated. All opinions are mine alone. #BOOItForward #CollectiveBias

Trick Or Treating where I grew up was a ritual like no other I’ve found. When *I* was a kid (said in my best, wise old lady voice), we had to WORK for OUR treats.

When I graduated college and moved to Chicagoland, I remember being a bit appalled at how the kids acted on beggar’s night. They walked up to the door, held their bags open and looked at me expectantly.

Sure, they were dressed up in their adorable little costumes, but make no mistake: these kids were slackers.

I’d ask them, “What’s your trick?” And they and their parents would look at me quizzically, like I was the crazy lady on the block.

See, back when I was a kid in central Iowa, we kids would spend the week before Halloween searching for the BEST joke so we could be prepared for Beggar’s Night. If you had no joke and no costume, you would be DENIED, or at the very least, tsked for not doing your job right.

AKA: Trick FOR treat. Quid pro quo.

I tried to get my kids to single-handedly carry out the tradition  out here, but it was a no-go.  My neighbors were confused at why they were being told jokes. They didn’t quite  appreciate the tradition. I get it.

So, this year we’re trying a new angle: we’re Boo’ing it forward. Surprising neighbors and friends with little treats and goodies on their doorstep.

Forget the traditional and tired oranges, browns and greens of Halloween, and the spooky ghosts and goblins that just aren’t for everyone. We decided to stand out by creating classy and chic Black Cat Halloween Bags.

To make them, start with some simple, inexpensive craft essentials: pink and black paper favor bags, glitter paper, and self stick letters. Oh, and a feather boa.Pink and Black Cat Halloween Bags with Free Printables. Would make great Birthday Favors.

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Halloween Emoji Nail Art

Nailed It! Free printable nail art

I’m back with a new Halloween-themed tutorial combining two things I’ve been a little obsessed with lately: emojis + nail decals. Really, who doesn’t love emojis? They’re cute AND a stand-alone language. Keep reading to download your own free emoji nail art printable and learn just how easy this is!What a neat idea! Use tattoo paper to make nail art. Halloween Emoji nails.

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Last Minute (Free) Halloween Costume: Liz Lemon

Looking for a last-minute Halloween costume, on a budget? Shop your closet and go as Liz Lemon of 30 Rock! Who cares that the show ended two years ago? Tina Fey is always in style. Plus, there are cheese puffs involved.

This one came a little naturally to me – I often get comments that I remind people of Tina Fey when I wear my glasses. Having spent half my life in corporate, I pretty much already have all the makings of a Liz Lemon wardrobe (for better or worse), but you can shop the look below.

Shop your Closet for Free Halloween Costumes- Liz Lemon 30 Rock | Five Marigolds

Shop the look:

Looking for more last minute and free Halloween Costumes? Check out my round-ups, here and here.

Shop your Closet for Hallween Tina Fey as Liz Lemon in 30 Rock Costume | Five Marigolds

Confession: I had a bag of Cheese Puffs for this costume…but I ate them before I could take the picture. I am Liz Lemon.


 

No-Carve Family Halloween Pumpkins

Family Halloween Pumpkins

Do you want some pumpkin decorating ideas that do not require you to carve them up first? I have the best no carve pumpkin decorating ideas the whole family will love! 

At our home, we don’t really “do” spooky Halloween. We have fun, dress-up, and eat lots of sweets on Halloween. So this year, I thought it would be fun to make a pumpkin representing each member of our family that we could bring back out year after year – in addition to carving Jack-O-Lanterns in real pumpkins, of course.

THE BEST NO CARVE PUMPKIN DECORATING IDEAS

Frozen (or cinderella?) no-carve pumpkin

For this pumpkin, you will need:

5 No-Carve Pumpkin Ideas that don't suck! This Cinderella / Frozen pumpkin is super easy to make!

You will want to paint the pumpkin with the aqua matte spray, and allow it to dry.

Then, spray a light coat of the diamond dust spray, and allow it to dry. 

To make it, I used Krylon aqua matte spray paint to painT a white craft pumpkin.

I then layered  Krylon opulent opal glitter spray paint on top.  I was super bummed with this though. It was gorgeous going on, but within moments it stopped working. I figured the glitter was clogging the nozzle and I tried multiple solutions to no avail. What a waste!

Frozen Cinderella Halloween Pumpkin | Five Marigolds

I went back and purchased Krylon glitter blast diamond dust spray paint. It was also beautiful and the can worked much better.

Once completely dry, decorate as desired with self-stick rhinestone gems. Top with a fun princess tiara, if desired.

Hello Kitty no carve pumpkin

For this pumpkin, you will need:

  • Pinter
  • Clear contact paper
  • Black and pink acrylic paint
  • Hair bow

Simply print out a Hello Kitty face on the printer, and place it over the clear contact paper as a stencil. 

Paint the stencil in with the paint and allow it to dry. Add a fun hair bow to complete this look.

Hello Kitty Halloween Pumpkin | Five Marigolds

Minecraft Creeper NO CARVE pumpkin

For this pumpkin you will need:

  • Black craft pumpkin
  • Krylon emerald green spray paint
  • Printer
  • Clear contact paper
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Black craft pumpkin

To make this painted pumpkin, cut out a square in the black craft pumpkin, and paint the inside green with the green spray paint. Print out the Creeper face, and place it over the contact paper to use as a stencil. Place the stencil inside the dry pumpkin and paint on the Creeper face with the black acrylic paint.

Minecraft Creeper Halloween Pumpkin | Five Marigolds

Stud NO CARVE Pumpkin

For my pumpkin, I just picked up this black studded pumpkin from JoAnn’s I just love it!

Black Stud Halloween Pumpkin | Five Marigolds

For my husband, well…

Decorating Family Pumpkins | Five Marigolds

He’s a long-suffering Chicago Bears fan (as am I). Da Bears!

What do you think of our no-carve Family Halloween Pumpkins? Looking for more easy Halloween ideas? Check out my Lazy Mom’s Guide to a Halloween theme dinner.

Lazy Mom's Guide to Spooky Halloween Theme DInner | Five Marigolds

Then, check out my free printable Halloween emoji nail decals here.

What a neat idea! Use tattoo paper to make nail art. Halloween Emoji nails.

 

Halloween Treats Round-Up

Spooktacular Halloween Recipes

Halloween may not be my favorite holiday in the world, but I do love getting festive with my food! Here is a round-up of some of my Halloween treats and recipes.

Mean, Green Halloween Punch with Spooky Skewers This refreshing punch with fun and spooky drink stirrers is sure to please at your Halloween gathering!

Make this mean, green, Halloween punch with spooky skewers | Five Marigolds

Skeleton guts made with little smokies and your favorite barbecue sauce make a fun Halloween party appetizer.Lazy Mom's Guide to Spooky Halloween Theme DInner | Five Marigolds

Monster Mix Simply toss whatever you have on hand: I use popcorn, pretzel sticks, Cheerio’s, M&M’s, candy corn, and a few mini Oreos. Just a little effort goes a long way with this snack. I once brought it to a cross country meet in a ziplock with some plastic cups for serving, and I don’t want to brag here – but phrases like “awesome mom” and “best cook ever” got thrown around by my kids and their friends quite a bit. No need to tell them this took all of 2 minutes to pull together.
Monster Mix Halloween Trail Mix Recipe | Five Marigolds

Monster Mix Halloween Trail Mix Recipe | Five Marigolds

Frankenstein Pudding This one is as easy as mixing a few drops of green food coloring in your vanilla cook & serve pudding and crumbling some Oreos on top. Draw a Frankenstein face on the outside of your clear container with a dry erase marker.

Halloween Treat Round-up: Frankenstein Halloween Pudding | Five Marigolds

Mummy Pizzas and Hot Dogs It doesn’t get any easier than wrapping strips of crescent rolls around a hot dog and baking them, or DIY mini pizzas using string cheese for the mummy wraps, but it still gets me some serious street cred with the littles.

Halloween Treat Round-up: Mummy Mini Halloween Pizzas | Five Marigolds

I made the eyeballs for the Mummy Hot Dogs using slices of string cheese and cutting out a hole using a straw. Then, using the same straw to place a perfectly sized olive slice in the hole. I really did that. Should I be ashamed right now?

Halloween Treat Round-up: Mummy Hot Dogs with Mozzerella and Olive Eyeballs| Five Marigolds

 

Jack-O-Lantern (and Minecraft Creeper) Stuffed peppers are a regular meal on our rotation, so we love to make it a little more festive in October. We sometimes also stuff them with spaghetti when we’re trying to make our monsters a little more gory with guts.

Halloween Treats Round up: Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns and Creepers | Five Marigolds

This year, I even made a Creeper Stuffed Pepper for my Minecraft – obsessed son!

Minecraft Creeper Stuffed Pepper | Five Marigolds

Candy Corn Jell-O Parfaits These are as easy as they look. Layer orange Jell-O over cooled, firm lemon Jell-O gelatin.  Top with whipped cream and serve!

Halloween Treats Round up: Candy Corn Jell-O Parfaits | Five Marigolds

Monster Cookies First, get these fun Wilton eyeball candies and then follow this recipe.

Halloween Treat Round-up: Monster Halloween Cookies | Five Marigolds

Caramel Apple Bar Okay this one isn’t Halloween, per say, but what a perfect treat for a Halloween Costume party or Autumn gathering? Learn more about how I pulled this together, here.

Halloween Treat Round-up: Caramel Apple Bar | Five Marigolds

Even better, make your own to-die-for salted caramel dip!

Halloween Treat Round-up: Salted Caramel Dip | Five Marigolds

Lots of ideas for fun and spooky Halloween treats and recipes | Five Marigolds

Shop your Kids’ Closets for Halloween Costumes!

DIY HALLOWEEN Costumes FOR FREE

Looking for last-minute Halloween Costumes? Look no further than this inspiration for shopping your kids’ closets for these super cute looks!

Star Wars Jedi Luke Skywalker: All it takes is a Karate uniform top, a bathrobe or bed sheet (or you can buy a Jedi cape inexpensively here), some khakis and a pair of boots – and a blue light saber, of course. Here is how I envisioned the costume:

Shop your kids' closets for Halloween - Star Wars Jedi Luke Skywalker| Five Marigolds

Shop your kids’ closets for Halloween – Star Wars Jedi Luke Skywalker| Five Marigolds

And here’s how it looked on Dub.

Shop Your Kids' Closet for Halloween Costumes | Jedi Luke SkyWalker Star Wars | Five Marigolds

 

Sock Hop – I love this look for a brother and sister! The boy look is super easy, of course. For the girls, I paired a pink tutu pettiskirt with a cardigan, scarf and some black Mary Janes. Either cut out your own “poodle’ or grab a really inexpensive one online. Add some cute glasses for a final touch!

Shop your kids' closets for Halloween Costumes 50's Sock Hop | Five Marigolds

Here’s how it looked on my little one (Yeah…that was before her hair was done, but the only happy look I got. Toddlers!):

Shop your kids' closets for Halloween Costumes 50's Sock Hop | Five Marigolds

 

Baby Jazzerciser: This goes down as my favorite costume yet and it’s super easy. Just pair a baby onesie with a bright cut-up onesie,  legings or tights, some baby legwarmers or Baby Legs (or cut up some old socks) and use a knit baby headband for, well, the headband. I actually cut the elastic tops off of some baby socks for the little baby wristbands! My mother sewed an adorable boom box to complete the look. You can get something similar here or here.

Shop your Kids' Closets for Halloween | Baby Jazzercize Jane Fonda | Five Marigolds

Here’s how my little one rocked it:

Shop your Kids' Closets for Halloween Costumes | Jazzercize Exercise Baby | Five Marigolds

 

Baby Kitty Cat: This one can’t get any easier. Combine a black baby onesie with black leggings or tights, and maybe a cute matching fur vest or black tutu pettiskirt, and you’ve got yourself a kitty cat! Add the finishing touches of a black nose and whiskers using eyeliner, and don’t forget the kitty ears! You can currently buy kitty ears headbands at the Target Dollar Spot, online here, or you can make them on your own. Use a thin feather boa from the dress up pile, and cut it up to make “fur” wrist cuffs and use as the tail.

Shop your Kids' Closets for Halloween | Baby Kitty Cat | Five Marigolds

 

Pink Poodle: Similar to the black cat costume above, this costume starts with a pink leotard and tutu. I completed the look with a DIY Poodle Headband and faux fur cuffs.

Copycat Chic: DIY Pink Poodle Costume Pottery Barn Halloween Costume | Five Marigolds

Shop this look: Pink top or leotard, tights, tutu pettiskirt, ballet slippers

Copycat Chic: DIY Pink Poodle Costume Pottery Barn Halloween Costume | Five Marigolds

Looking for more last-minute Halloween Costume inspiration? Find more ideas for shopping your own closet here and here.

 

Shop Your Closet: Free and Fabulous Halloween Costumes!

DIY classic HALLOWEEN LOOKS FOR FREE

Note: This post was originally published in 2013, but due to the continued traffic and interest each season, I’m reposting it with updated shopping links. Enjoy!

Looking for last-minute Halloween costume ideas?  Here are 5 inexpensive DIY Halloween costumes you can shop your own closet for.  Or, follow the links to shop these looks for yourself!

Where’s Waldo

Shop your closet for these 5 Halloween Costumes on a budget Where's Waldo | Five Marigolds

Bank Robber

Shop your own closet for free and fabulous costumes this Halloween! Love this bank robber costume idea.

 

Holly Golightly – Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Shop your closet for these 5 Halloween Costumes on a budget Holly Golightly | Five Marigolds

Mary Poppins

Shop your closet for these 5 Halloween Costumes on a budget Mary Poppins | Five Marigolds

Or here are a couple inspired by some great television shows:

Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) in 30 Rock

Shop your Closet for Free Halloween Costumes- Liz Lemon 30 Rock | Five Marigolds

 

Couple Costume: Sheldon and Amy from The Big Bang Theory

Shop your closet for these 5 Halloween Costumes on a budget Couple's Costume Big Bang Theory Sheldon and Amy | Five Marigolds

I think my favorite is the “Shamy” couple costume from one of my favorite shows, “The Big Bang Theory.” Which is your favorite?

LOOKING FOR MORE LAST-MINUTE HALLOWEEN COSTUME INSPIRATION? FIND MORE IDEAS FOR SHOPPING YOUR OWN CLOSET HERE AND HERE.

Shop your kids’ closets for Halloween

Shop your kids' closets for Halloween | Five Marigolds

Shop your kids’ closets for Halloween | Five Marigolds

Shop your kids' closets for Halloween - Luke Skywalker| Five Marigolds

Shop your kids’ closets for Halloween – Luke Skywalker| Five Marigolds