Looking for a deliciously spooky meal idea for Beggar’s Night? Check out these fun Halloween recipes below.
Give finger food a new meaning with these bloody fingers. To make the “nail,” simply scrape off a chunk at the tip of the hot dog, then add “blood” with a healthy drizzle of ketchup.
Looking for some spooktacular kid-friendly recipes? These simple snacks and desserts are just what the
Cupcake trifle with a Frankenstein rice krispies treat on top. This is super easy to make and fun for kids and adults!
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! 
Thank you for linking up all things DIY, design or decor.
Welcome to The Creative Circle link party – a place to share and find decor and DIY inspiration for your home!
How pretty is this week’s feature? Keep scrolling to get the full details!
Thank you for linking up all things DIY, design or decor.
Welcome to The Creative Circle link party – a place to share and find decor and DIY inspiration for your home!
Every year I love to come up with easy, inexpensive Halloween costumes for my readers, and it’s always some of my most popular October content!
Today, I’m thrilled to share yet another great idea for today’s Link Up! Keep reading for the full details on this costume…
This weeks feature is so simple but bold, blue and beautiful. Keep reading to check out this contemporary take on a traditional fall look.
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.
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.
Hold on to your Halloween party pants, folks. I’ve been wanting to baking these Spooky Sugar Cookie Bars – and they were totally worth the wait!
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!
It’s finally time for me to admit that fall is here. The cold snap of the season started this week, and while I’m mourning the short-lived Midwest summer, I am looking forward to the tastes and activities of the season.
Last week I shared my Salted Caramel Dip recipe. This week, we are excited to share with you this collection of amazing Apple themed posts from the talented and creative Social Fabric community.
You’re going to want to Pin or bookmark this post for later, so you don’t miss out on these amazing apple recipes, crafts and activities for fall!
You’re going to love this Salted Caramel Dip recipe! Use it on fruit, ice cream, dried apple and banana chips, or graham crackers for an extra sweet treat!
Looking for last-minute Halloween costume ideas? Here are 5 inexpensive DIY Halloween costumes you can shop your closet for – no sewing or glue guns required! Or, follow the links to shop these looks for yourself!
Did you know Tuesday is National Punch Day? Well, now you do. I couldn’t think of a better reason to share this spooky Green Halloween punch I made for the kids.
This year I tried hard to shop the kids’ closets for Halloween, but I still wanted them to feel extra special. What kid doesn’t want to dress up and transform into someone completely different on Halloween (and any other day, for that matter)?
This year I was able to create Eve’s Garden Butterfly Fairy costume for just $3, using items in her closet and three Dollar Store accessories!
From her closet and dress up bin, we assembled this from a tutu, a little lace tank, a flower accessory and her floral halo/crown. Then, I picked up a pair of fairy / butterfly wings and some paper butterflies from the Dollar Store. Not shown here: I picked up a butterfly wand glow stick from the Dollar Store for her to carry for fun and safety while trick-or-treating. Don’t have everything you see here? Shop the look:
Looking for more costumes you can DIY by shopping your kids’ closets? Find more inspiration here and here!
In addition to the fab blogs in the right sidebar, this was also linked up at Tatertots and Jello,Savvy Southern Style, Live, Laugh Rowe, Nap Time Creations The Turquoise Home, Tidy Mom, Chica on a Shoestring and The Scoop.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclaimer in the right sidebar. Thank you for your support!
Every year for Halloween (also known by some as Beggar’s Night) I’m faced with the dilemma of leaving the house to trick-or-treat with the kids, and being unable to hand out candy to our fellow trick-or-treaters. I can’t be the only one with this issue right? Continue reading
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 the look:
Looking for more last minute and free Halloween Costumes? Check out my round-ups, here and here.
My baby girl absolutely loves puppies, so the idea to dress her as a puppy for Halloween this year was a no brainer. However, I quickly realized that there are very few options out there for “girly” puppies, which for Belle is also a prerequisite. I found this adorable costume by Pottery Barn Kids, but I just couldn’t justify the price – especially since I already had most of the outfit at home: a pink tee, tights, tulle tutu pettiskirt and ballet slippers.
So with this adorable inspiration in mind, I concepted a DIY version of this pink poodle Halloween costume.
I went to my local JoAnn’s, which happened to be having amazing sales due to a move in location, so I bought 1/4 yard of curly white fur fabric for around $2.
I simply cut large rectangle strips, tall enough to fold over once (for bulk), and wide enough to fit around her wrists and ankles.
I made a simple template for the ears.
I cut them out and also backed them with white craft felt I had on hand, using adhesive spray, for a little structure. I then took a large square of the fabric and tucked all the corners until they met in the middle, forming a little ball. I filled that ball with a few of my fur fabric scraps for a little bulk. I affixed the ears to the sides of a headband we had on hand by tying grosgrain ribbon around it and fastening it into a bow. Using a needle and thread, I tacked the ball closed, and then threaded it to the headband. I then fastened a pink grosgrain hair bow to the front. Now, you could totally do this without sewing. You could just staple the fabric to form the ball, and hot glue it to the top of the headband. The only reason I sewed it was because I knew this headband would get lots of dress up play use, before and after Halloween.
Next, I found a novelty dress up tail at JoAnn’s (for $0.66!). I fashioned a fur ball in the same way as the top of the headband, and tacked it to the end of the tail with a needle and thread. Again, I was tempted just to tie a grosgrain ribbon around this tightly to affix it to the tail, because I can be that lazy, but I stitched it knowing that it would get use after Halloween and would hold up better this way.
Here is Belle all dressed up and loving life.
Shop this look: Pink top or leotard, tights, tutu pettiskirt, ballet slippers
I told her to shake her booty to get a tail shot.
Thanks for reading my pink poodle costume tutorial! I hope you like this copycat chic costume.
I think it would be super easy to make this a lamb, or even a kitty costume, just by replacing the poodle headband with some cute cat ears or lamb ears and adjusting the face paint. What do you think of my pink poodle Halloween costume?
At our home, we don’t really “do” spooky Halloween. We do fun, dress-up, eat lots of sweets 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.
My local JoAnn’s store is moving, so they are having some crazy sales right now! That allowed me to buy these carvable foam pumpkins and supplies for a steal!
For ‘Belle, we chose to do a Frozen themed pumpkin because she’s straight-up obsessed. I didn’t have any craft snowflakes on hand, so I’m thinking it ended up a bit more Cinderella, right?
Regardless, it’s perfect for this little girl who loves to dress up and play princess every. single. day.
To make it, I used Krylon aqua matte spray paint to pain 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!
I went back and purchased Krylon glitter blast diamond dust spray paint. It was also beautiful and the can worked much better.
How pretty this would have been combined with more of the opal glitter spray! I topped it with self-stick rhinestone gems and one of the girls’ princess tiaras.
For Eve, we went the Hello Kitty route. I don’t know what it is about this cat. She’s never seen a Hello Kitty cartoon, but she loves it.
For this pumpkin, I just printed a Hello Kitty on my printer and placed it over clear contact paper to use as a stencil.
Then, I simply painted the face with black and pink acrylic paint and topped with one of the girls’ hair bows.
For Dub, I had to go the Minecraft route. I bought a black craft pumpkin, carved out a square hole and painted the inside green with Krylon emerald green spray paint. I then printed out a Creeper face on the printer, placed it on clear contact paper and cut it out to use as a stencil. I then placed it inside the dry pumpkin and painted the Creeeper face with black acrylic paint.
For my pumpkin, I just picked up this black studded pumpkin from JoAnn’s I just love it!
For my husband, well…
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.
Then, check out my free printable Halloween emoji nail decals here.
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!
Skeleton guts made with little smokies and your favorite barbecue sauce make a fun Halloween party appetizer.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
This year, I even made a Creeper Stuffed Pepper for my Minecraft – obsessed son!
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!
Monster Cookies First, get these fun Wilton eyeball candies and then follow this recipe.
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.
Even better, make your own to-die-for salted caramel dip!
