Boo to You: Year #5

Even though I am slow to get stuff posted here, I am still doing those things that have some of you fooled into believing I am a really, really awesome mom. (Okay, for clarification, I am an awesome mom, just maybe not as awesome as you think. This is really not all that complicated, I promise.) So, here goes: Year 5 of the neighborhood "Boo Bags." (Wait, have I really been blogging for that long? Very nearly! Time flies, as they say.)

{Assorted Goodies for One "Boo Bag"}

This year, I didn't worry at all if the "Boo Bags" (containers) held the same contents or even if the "Boo Bags" themselves looked identical. (See, I'm learning to let go of some of the small stuff!) One was a cute Frankenstein takeout container that I found on clearance and set aside last year, and the other was the first thing I could find on hand at home -- a Scooby Doo Happy Meal bucket from some point when the grandparents babysat last October, apparently.) And it's okay. I finally realized that nobody in the neighborhood is comparing notes, here. So don't stress over that!

Also, don't feel like you need to spend a lot of money. These were for sure under $5 each since I put stuff away after last Halloween, but even if you're going out and getting things right now after reading this, it can be super affordable. This year, I had two Halloween dog bandannas to give away, so naturally we selected houses that I knew had little doggies. That was my only criteria, really.

{One Finished "Boo Bag"}

{Another Finished "Boo Bag"}

Besides the doggie bandannas and assorted goodies (like notepads, orange or black votive candles, non-scary Halloween gel clings -- no food this year), I also enclosed the following:

• We've Been Boo'd Sign (printed on orange construction paper -- although after the fact, I realized that white would have made more sense for the ghost design) -- 3 of these (one for the recipient of our "Boo Bag" and two more for them to pass along.
• Poem/Directions -- again, 3 sets, including 2 to pass along.

Then, Logan and I passed these out while his big sissy was at school. (Thankfully, she didn't take major issue with this.) He was very enthusiastic with his help! This was about two weeks ago, and Mia insists that she has seen one of the neighborhood dogs sporting one of the "Boo Bag" bandannas. I honestly am not sure if this is true since I didn't see it myself, but how fun if that's the case. Have a safe and happy Halloween, everyone!

P.S. If you're interested, here is what we did for our "Boo Bags" in years past:
2013
2012
2011
2010

DIY Puppy Ears

These fun puppy ears doubled as photo props (for the upcoming thank-you cards) and as party favors. What can I say? I like when stuff serves double-duty -- it's just plain smart. Plus, I saved money by making them myself instead of purchasing them from this site! Here's how I made these cute puppy dog ears (I made 11 pairs total) for about $6.

{Some of the finished puppy ears}

Materials:

• tan felt (I bought 6 sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" size at Wal-Mart, 23 cents each)
• brown marker
• scissors
• brown/black plastic headbands (These came in 3-packs from Dollar Tree. I bought 4 sets.)
• hot glue gun
• cream felt (This came in a neutral colors multi-pack at Wal-Mart, but I only used cream for this project.)

Directions:

1. Fold a piece of felt in half, width-wise. Cut along the fold. 
2. Now, take one half piece and fold it in half, lengthwise this time. Cut along the fold. 
3. Draw a floppy ear on one side and cut it out. Mine had a triangular notch at the top end.

   

   {This is how I folded and cut my felt to get started.}

4. Use this as a template for all the other ears. Trace around it onto the felt. A brown marker works nicely, and even if it shows on the felt later, it doesn't really clash. (Note: You can either cut the felt smaller first, or just trace an ear, flip it over, fit the template ear against the tracing, and trace again. Then, cut all traced ears out. I did it both ways, and didn't really have a preference.)

   

   {How I laid the ears for tracing with as little waste as possible.}

5. Lay out ears in sets of two, facing them the desired direction. (I made each one curve toward the center.) Then, using a hot glue gun, adhere each ear to a plastic headband. Lay them flat while the glue cools.

   

   {Here is my triangle tip + hot glue, before folding.}

6. Cut spots from cream felt. Mine were all shapes and sizes, but you can make basic circles if you prefer. Apply the the ears using the hot glue gun. I took my triangle tip, turned it over, applied the glue to that area, and then folded it over on itself around the plastic headband. Again, lay flat while glue cools. Tip: If glue strings bug you, use your fingers to remove any glue strings.
7. Your puppy ears are now ready to wear!

DIY Poodle Skirt (No-Sew!)

Last Friday was Mia's 50th day of school, and her first grade class was celebrating with a 50's theme. She had asked me if she could have a poodle skirt, and initially I thought there was no way I could pull that off with only a couple days notice. Then, I checked my craft stash and came across plenty of pink felt and a black iron-on poodle and some white pearl trim for the leash. Yes, I had actually hoped to make myself a poodle skirt several years ago, (like, B.C. -- Before Children era -- years ago). My sewing skills are not the greatest so I never got past the point of purchasing the materials!

Deciding that I had very little to lose here, I found an online tutorial for making a NO-SEW poodle skirt. The only thing I needed to purchase was some iron-on Velcro. The directions said that I would only need 2 inches, so instead of purchasing an entire package, I got 8 inches at the cutting counter at Jo-Ann. (I figured it was best to buy a bit extra just in case!) With my coupon, this cost me a grand total of 91 cents, so again, I felt that I had little to lose if it didn't go well. Actually, I guess that's not completely true. While at Michaels (which is right next to Jo-Ann, so I couldn't very well go to one and not pop into the other), I found some cute rhinestone ribbon trim in the $1 section. I couldn't resist getting this even though I knew I would use very little for this particular project. Honestly, it was a good deal, and I know it will get used for something else, but if you really want to know what I spent on this project it would be fair to share that.

I am happy to say that this project was a huge success, which I owe to my daughter who was entirely confident that I would produce a wearable skirt despite having never made her any type of clothing in the past. Her belief in me helped me feel that I could achieve what I had set out to do. Now that I have managed to make one cute little poodle skirt, I am thinking I should be able to finally make one for myself. I even have plenty of time to get it done before Halloween!

{Happy 50th Day of School!}

Materials:

• 1 yard pink felt (or color of your choice -- this is the just color and amount I used)
• scissors (I suppose fabric scissors are optimal; I used my regular old scissors.)
• iron-on poodle applique (or use the template provided by obSEUSSed with your own felt)
• pearl trim for leash (ribbon or other trim would work, as well)
• iron-on Velcro (I used 3 inches total)
• ruler (or measuring tape, if you have one)
• iron
• hot glue gun
• black pom pom for tail (optional)
• rhinestone trim for collar (or sequined trim, optional)

Directions:
1) (Note: I appreciate that obSEUSSed came up with this easy way to figure out how much felt to use.) Measure your child from the waist to her knees. I actually have a dressmaker's measuring tape somewhere... not sure where, though, so I used a plain old ruler. (See, I swear anyone can do this, and you do NOT need sewing skills!) My girl is petite so it was only 14 inches. I double that to get 28 and then added 8 more to come up with a total of 36. I used a white pencil and my ruler to help me figure out how to get a 36 inch square from my bundle of felt and then cut it out (using regular scissors, NOT fabric scissors, and it came out just fine for this non-sewing mama). Note: The blog post I got this from said she made a 42 inch felt square for her daughter, so make sure you take measurements before buying fabric as there is quite a bit of difference among children's sizes.
2) Fold the fabric twice to make a square half the size of the original. (Mine was 18 inches. Hers was 21 inches.)
3) On the edge that is NOT folded, cut a curved line from one corner to the other. (obSEUESSed includes a photo if you want to see how this looks.)
4) This is the part that confused me at first, and I had to have Brett read the directions and explain them to me, "While folded, mark 4 inches from the folded corner on both folded sides. Cut a curved line from each mark. This creates a 16 inch waist opening. It will be adjustable." (quote from obSEUSSed)
Now that I read this again, it makes sense. Basically, you are cutting away a section that has two straight lines and one curved line that has a 4 inch radius. Once you unfold the fabric it turns out to be a full circle with a 16 diameter. (Again, check her photos if you need clarification.)

5) With the fabric unfolded, cut a line from the outside edge to the inside edge. It doesn't matter where you cut, but I did try to get a relatively straight line. Now you have made the basic skirt, and you are on to the easy (and fun!) part: embellishment!

6) I decided that I wanted the cut part to be in the back of the skirt, and then I decided to place the poodle on the lower right are of the skirt (as seen when she is wearing it.) Since my applique was an iron-on, I just heated up my iron and followed the package directions, flipping over the fabric and ironing from the reverse side. It said to apply heat for just 30 seconds I believe, but I found that it took 3 repetitions before it was set. To be on the safe side, I had a kitchen towel in between my iron and the felt so that may have been the reason for the delay. (Note: While it saved me time, using the applique was more expensive that her version with the homemade poodle. Even though, I didn't buy it recently, it seems fair to mention that I priced this out at around $6 at Jo-Ann.)

7) Once the poodle was placed, I laid out my pearl trim and arranged it to make a couple of fun loops, making its way to the upper left corner of the skirt. After my glue gun was hot, I used it to adhere the pearl trim in my chosen design. (Note: Again, I had purchased this long ago, and I did not occur to me to figure out a price. I think I used just under a yard of the stuff, which is essentially the same as a little girl's pearl necklace except that it is broken. Well, I am pretty sure we have a broken necklace laying around somewhere that I could have used if I were being more frugal!)

8) I blinged out the poodle further with a black pom pom (already had this) for the tail, and that cute turquoise rhinestone trim, both of which I applied with my hot glue gun.

{After adding the poodle and trim}

9) For the closure, I did it differently that obSEUSSed. She just used two 1-inch sections of the "pokey" side of the Velcro, which she says will cling to the material and make it adjustable. I used 3 inches of both sides for extra security since she was going to wear it ALL day at school. I had extra left over, so I can always adjust the sizing down the road, since this is bound to become a Halloween costume at some point. First, I used a 1 inch section of the soft side and ironed it to the the inside corner (so that when she would wear the skirt, the other end would fold over it -- this was where I ironed the corresponding 1 inch section of the "pokey" side of the Velcro. (Per directions on the package at the store, I flipped the fabric over and ironed from the reverse side, holding it down for 90 seconds.) Then, I had Mia try the skirt on, and I decided to place another set of 1 inch Velcro tabs, so that there was about 2 1/2" gap between them. There was a lot of excess material, so I cut away some from the inside fold so that it would lay better. Then, I added another set of hook/loop closures to the bottom of the skirt. The placement was determined by where the material was hitting, kind of the opposite of what I had done with the waist closure.

In the end, the poodle skirt didn't fit her quite as well as I had hoped, but it was definitely good enough for a "costume." I simply told her that she had to wear leggings underneath, just in case. Fortunately, she didn't mind and she was really thrilled to have her very own poodle skirt, enthusing that she had "always wanted one!" (This was news to me, but I was happy that she was happy. Also, I made a poodle skirt! Who wouldn't be excited to realize she could do that?!)

DIY Lightning McQueen Halloween Costume

When my little man asked me to make him a race car costume for this past Halloween, I was secretly thankful that he didn't request something that required sewing! It's like he somehow knew that this was not exactly one of my best strengths, and he instead chose to play to a particular skill that I possess: making cool stuff out of cardboard. More likely, it was just that he really wanted to be his favorite character, Lightning McQueen. My inspiration was the Lightning McQueen pinata that I had made for his third birthday party. Having already accomplished that, I was pretty sure I could pull this off. After many hours, I had created a costume that we were both pretty excited about (and it only cost me $3 for two cans of red spray paint)!

{The finished costume!}

Materials:

• cardboard box
• pencil
• scissors
• masking tape
• red spray paint
• acrylic paint: black, white, red, orange, yellow, turquoise
• paint brushes/paint trays (old Styrofoam trays)
• black Sharpie marker
• hot glue gun
• wide red ribbon
• craft knife
• Mod Podge
• computer/printer
• scratch paper (optional)
• tracing paper (optional)
• clear spray shellac (optional)

Directions for Making a Car Costume:

1. First I found a box that was in good condition and was large enough. A clerk at Meijer happily gave me this when I asked about boxes.
2. Then, I removed all of the tape. I also took off the labels as best as I could.
3. Next, I cut off two of the four flaps from the bottom of the box and set them aside. (This was so that he could easily fit his legs through the bottom, but it would still have some cardboard to give it structure.)
4. I flattened the box and drew a car shape on one side like I had done when I made the Lightning McQueen pinata. Then, I cut around the lines, leaving the other sides of the box in tact. I used some scratch paper, traced the car shape, cut it out, and then used it for a template to draw the same same on the reverse side. I cut that out and then I had two sides of the car that matched up.
5. After that, I measured my son to determine how big of a hole I would approximately need for the center. He's pretty thin, so I just ended up tracing around a big bowl and cutting out the circle from the top of the box.
6. Next, I re-taped the bottom of the box, using many strips of masking tape along the seams. This made it easier to do the next step. To make the taping stage go more smoothly, I tore off many, many strips of tape and then draped them along the edges of my table before starting.
7. To shape the car, I started with the back section of the body (the flat side that I had drawn on) and I bent the top panel of the box down (easily) to meet the side. Then, I taped it, first with many short pieces of tape going up and over, then with longer strips going lengthwise over the top. A way to describe this more visually would be that it resembles stitches. I did the same to the opposite side of the car.

   

   {Shaping the side}

8. For the top of the car, I taped the flaps together around the cut-out circle, making adjustments with my scissors as needed. 
9. Then, I reinforced all of the inside seams with tape "stitches" and added another layer of tape "stitches" to the outer seams.
10. For the front end of the car, I cut about 3 inches off the flap (that would be the hood section), and this may have been slightly more than I needed to trim. Then, I folded it down to meet the top and sides and taped everything in place using my "stitches" method.

    

    {Shaping the front end}

11. To make the tail fin, I flipped the box over and used the blade of my scissors to score the inside of the flap, about 2 1/2" inches in. I did this along the entire length of the flap and then flipped it right side up and easily pushed the section of the box down along the scored section, making a peak. Then, I just taped the rest of the rear end of the car in place, again using my "stitches" technique. (Note: This was the end of shaping the box into a car. I would have liked the front end to be more rounded to look more like Lightning McQueen, but given time constraints, I decided this was good enough. Plus, it was still reasonably sturdy and I didn't want to tamper with that aspect considering it would be worn several times by my 4-year-old and I needed it to hold up!)

    

    {Shaping the tail fin}

12. I took the box car outside and spray painted it red. Once the first coat was dry, I applied a second coat. After that, I finished it with a third coat of spray paint. In all, this was more than one can, but less than two cans of paint. This was enough to get good coverage, hiding any writing on the box, and filling in all the taped areas which were initially much lighter than the cardboard. By this point, it was looking more like a race car, but it definitely needed some special details to be transformed into his favorite character!

Directions for Decorating the Costume:

1. The front end: I traced a plastic bottle cap for the eyes and a button for the pupils. The rest of the eye area I drew freehand. I painted this with white acrylic paint and turquoise acrylic paint, and outlined it all with black Sharpie, including filling in the pupils. I drew the mouth freehand and painted it white and then outlined it with Sharpie. The Rust-eze logo on the "hood" is one I printed from the Internet and just sized the way I wanted in Microsoft Word. I applied it with a foam paintbrush and Mod Podge.
2. The sides: I drew the side windows freehand and painted them gray by mixing black and white acrylic paints. Then, I went around the outsides with black Sharpie. The lightning bolt I also drew freehand, and then I used tracing paper to trace it and reverse it for the opposite side of the car, which was a big sanity and time saver! I painted these with a gradation of color from orange to yellow, with the two blended in the middle. Then I Mod Podged my number 95 "decals" on. Again, these were copied from the Internet and pasted in Microsoft Word, where I could size them the way I wanted. After applying the "decals," I outlined the lightning bolts with my black Sharpie.
3. The tail fin: This Rust-eze logo was found online and printed off. I cut it out with scissors (and a craft knife for some of the smaller spots) and then decoupaged it on the front of the fin.
4. The back end: Admittedly, by this point, I was getting worn out, so I simplified the tail end a bit. I included another Rust-eze logo like the one on the tail fin. Then, I drew "tail lights" and painted them orange and yellow, outlining them with my black Sharpie.

   

   {The rear view}

5. The tires: Deciding it wasn't worth my time or energy to reinvent the wheel, I pulled the two rear wheels from this party game. For the front tires, I traced a pan or a bowl onto one of the flaps of cardboard that were left over from step 3 for shaping my box car. Whatever it was, I chose it because it was the largest round object in my kitchen that would fit onto that cardboard flap. After cutting out both circles, I painted them and added details just as I had done for the Pit Stop party game (and if you need directions, just click the link). I used my hot glue gun to adhere all four tires to the car.
6. The straps: I used two lengths of 1 1/2" wired red ribbon that I had on hand. I had him wear the costume so I could tell wear to place the straps, and I made pencil marks where I would put holes. To make the holes, I used a craft knife to make a small "x" in each spot I had marked. Then, I pushed the ribbon through the tops of the holes and knotted on the underside. I used masking tape to hold the extra ribbon on the insides of the car, rather than cutting it, just in case I needed to adjust the lengths on Halloween night. (In Michigan, we never know if it will be 60 degrees or if they will be wearing snowsuits!)
7. Finishing the costume: For good measure, I applied a coat of clear spray shellac. (Again, this was something I already had on hand.) It turned out that was a good precaution because it was a very, very rainy Halloween! Once he put the costume on, we realized it was hanging slightly funny, and we decided it was because the straps were spaced slightly too far apart for his narrow shoulders. (Remember, I had to make the opening kind of big in case he was going to wear five layers!) I fixed this problem by grabbing some red and white bakers twine and tying the twos straps together in the back. He was able to slip in on and off without adjusting anything, but it stayed in place well while he was wearing the costume.

{Don't they look so happy together?}

{Everyone agreed that this was a very cool costume!}

How to Accessorize a Witch Hat (for a Particularly Fashionable Girl)

I got pretty lucky this year in that I didn't have to spend very much money to come up with Halloween costumes that made the kids quite happy. Mia wore a cute black and orange witch dress that my mom had found at a garage sale. She paired that with sparkly black tights (which she already owned), a long-sleeve black shirt (new, but very practical, so worth a few dollars investment), black shoes (which she already owned), and a black flower belt (also new, but again, she has already worn it several times, so totally worth a few dollars), which helped with fit since the dress was a teensy bit large. She also accessorized with a charming little broom that we had found at a garage sale for 75 cents.

The only thing I had to recently purchase specifically for costume wear was a witch hat. (I had actually gotten one at that same garage sale where we found the broom -- 50 cents. However, when we got it out and examined it, we found that it was a) falling apart and b) much too big. The redeeming quality is that it had some black sequined trim on the brim, which having been sloppily hot glued, was easy to remove.) I bought a new hat for her at Dollar Tree. It was orange with a spider web lace all over it and it fit her well. The only problem was that she felt it was a bit on the plain side.

{BEFORE}

I decided that it would be easy enough to trim it out and make it more acceptable to my little fashionista. We already had the black sequined trim, which laid nicely along the brim, making it simple to adhere with hot glue. Unfortunately, it only went around half of the hat, and left the rest looking very unfinished. I ended up buying a roll of black tulle at Walmart for about $3. (Ironically, this trim item was the single most expensive thing I purchased for either of the kids' Halloween costumes this year!) I bunched it up and applied it along the rest of the brim using my hot glue gun.

Then, we went through our craft stash and selected other items to accessorize the hat: three black feathers, a small scrap of orange tulle, a black and orange star-shaped button, and some ribbon that said "Trick or Treat" with candy corn on it. To complete the hat, I layered on some embellishments starting with the black tulle, making two lengths that hang down, and affixed them with hot glue. On top of the tulle, I placed the decorative ribbon, again with two lengths. Next, I fanned out the three black feathers and adhered them. I followed that with a little "flower" that I made by pinching the orange tulle into a round shape. After it was glued down, I added the button for the center, and voila -- an adorable witch hat for my sweet little witch!

{AFTER}

While I wasn't originally planning to spend anything more than the cost of the hat, I think this impromptu project made a big impact. With a bit of my time and some hot glue, I was able to transform that witch hat from drab to fab for just a few dollars. This project cost me about $4.50 -- $1 for the hat, $3 for the black tulle, and 50 cents for that sequined trim that I got from the discarded hat. It was completely worth it to see my little girl's big smile when she tried on her newly accessorized hat!

{My sweet little witch}

And Then the Doorbell Rang...

I realize that it's been a while since I have done a post. Really, I have tons of stuff to say, but I wanted to make it truly count this time around. You see, this is my 500th post! In my head, I had built this up to be something bigger than it really is, thinking that I needed to write something that would be a summation of all that I am and all that this blog stands for. And now, I have decided to end my self-imposed writer's block by simply telling a story of something that made me smile at a time when I really needed it.

In addition to getting myself worked up over the significance of what to write next, I got super busy with Halloween preparations  -- which I am sure many other moms out there can relate to. I actually lost count of how many hours I spent making my little man's Lightning McQueen Halloween costume (which came out pretty cool, and I promise I will post more on that later). Also, I may have said "yes" to taking on yet another project when I really should have said "no, not right now." And, I felt down because nobody was coming to a party that I had planned. Rationally, I knew that this wasn't personal, but it was upsetting nonetheless.

By Thursday evening, I was overtaxed, and I was definitely feeling it. The house looked like it was falling apart and I was getting pretty grumpy with the kids. I was exhausted in the evenings, looking around and feeling like I had accomplished nothing for an entire week -- except for yelling at my kids. (So, it turned out to be a blessing that no guests were coming to my party after all. This saved me from having to do one more thing: a "company clean!")

Then, Friday morning came, and things were starting to look up. After dropping Mia off at school, Logan and I headed to our MOPS group meeting, where I got to hear a great speaker share ways that we can do more "missions" as a family. This gave me hope for finding a solution to yet another thing that was weighing me down: the kids are currently going through a phase in which they seem to have a bad case of the "gimmes" -- not a good thing with the holidays fast approaching! After having some chat time with other mamas, and getting a much-needed hug, I left feeling excited about doing some random acts of kindness.

All the rest of that day, I spent countless hours hard at work transforming a cardboard box into a costume, because after the party was cancelled I realized that I would be taking the kids to a costume party, after all. This meant that my deadline was pushed up, waaaaaaay up, from this coming Thursday -- Halloween -- to the preceding Saturday! I was completely in a trance and had no idea what anybody else in the house was up to. I actually asked Brett at one point, "When did the toys get picked up from the living room floor?" and he told me, "You were painting." I asked something else, and got the same response, "You were painting." Then, I realized I missed quite a lot during that lost time.

The good news was that it came out well and Logan was very happy with his costume. They had a fun time at the party, but after 3 hours of treats and games, I was drained. We ended up doing a movie night just to get through the evening. Then after the kids went to bed, I tried to tackle some of the mess that had been left to accumulate "while I was painting." After 30 minutes or so, though, I was worn out. I had just sat down to take a break.

And then the doorbell rang...

Honestly, I was not at all happy about this. I was 8:45 at night, and my kids were (hopefully!) asleep. I glared at the dog and warned her not to do her usual machine-gun, someone's-at-the-door-and-I-must-alert-you! bark. Amazingly, she listened, but I was still alarmed at the thought of answering the door.

Who could be ringing the doorbell at this hour? Nervously, I looked out the window, and not seeing anybody there, I asked Brett what to do. I was thinking, Oh great! Somebody's pulling a Halloween prank on us and we're going to find a bag of flaming dog doo on the porch... or something worse! My next thought was, I hope it's not that Kirby vacuum salesman. He was ridiculously hard to get rid of! Brett suggested that we turn off the porch light, and after doing that, we noticed a large vehicle -- a van? -- parked on the street, slightly obscured by the neighbor's trees. Then, I tried to quiet my apprehensive and over-active imagination, It could be somebody doing something nice. You know we just talked about random acts of kindness at MOPS. They're waiting to see if we get the gift!

Feeling emboldened by my more positive thinking, I opened the front door...

And I found a purple plastic tub loaded with goodies: a preschool fishing game, a dice game meant for kids Mia's age, two bottles of flavored sparkling water, some sprinkle-covered chocolate doughnut holes, Halloween pencils, and glow-in-the-dark necklaces! There was also a note explaining that we had been boo'ed. (Now here was something I could relate to, after having done this for the past four years in our neighborhood!)

It turned out that nobody was out to get me, after all. Some sweet, thoughtful mama (and while I don't know for certain who is responsible, I have to assume that the most likely "suspects" are my MOPS friends) gave us everything we needed to have a fun family game night! She may have known that I was having a rough week (self-inflicted, mainly, but rough despite it all), or she might not have even realized that I was feeling overwhelmed with everything at that moment. Either way, I hope she knows that she brought a much needed smile to my face...

A smile that I intend to pay forward -- just not at night. That's when all the scary stuff happens -- at least in my imagination!

Boo to You: Year #4

I love Halloween! It is my second-favorite holiday, right after Christmas, and I think it can be so much fun! Okay, I don't love all of the blood and gore that I seem to be seeing more and more of, but that's not the point. Halloween can and should be fun for kids of all ages, which is why our family once again initiated "boo bags" in the neighborhood. This is a simple and inexpensive way to spread a little holiday cheer.

We first started this in 2010, and I don't think it spread beyond the first two houses where we delivered our "boo bags."

Then, we tried again in 2011, and the results were pretty much the same.

Last year, Brett was a little surprised to see me at it again. However, come Halloween, I was pretty darn excited when we actually received our own "boo bag!" This meant that it was possibly catching on, or at least that someone figured out who started it and passed it back to us. Anyway, it was all new stuff -- not what we had included in our "boo bags" -- so this gave me hope that people were ready to join in on the fun!

This year's bags were the simplest (and probably cheapest) yet. Knowing that I would continue this tradition, I found items on clearance after last Halloween and put them aside for this year. The bags themselves were small canvas trick-or-treat totes that I found at Meijer for 14 cents apiece. The insides of the "boo bags" included items I had saved for this occasion and other little things I had on hand such as:

• a small package of animal crackers (left over from soccer snacks)
• some Pixie Stix (left over from the rainbow pinata)
• a few suckers (I am guessing that these were left over from some other birthday party that the kids attended at some point...)
• jack-o'-lantern pencil erasers (I had gotten these a couple years back on clearance at Target.)
• Halloween pencils (Also from that same shopping trip to Target, if I remember correctly.)
• plastic vampire teeth (These came in a 24-pack that I got on clearance at Kroger. I put 3 sets per bag into 2 baggies, and then I placed each baggie into each "boo bag.")
• a set of black and orange paper bag luminaries (These were also on clearance at Meijer - 30 cents for each package of 8.)
• window gel clings that spell out "Boo to You!" (Perfect, right? These I got either at Walmart or Kroger last year, for 50 cents each, and I bought all they had at both stores. I also got some other Halloween gel cling window sets that were not creepy or gory, which is why I can't remember exactly which store they came from. The moral is: just buy things after Halloween and make sure to get them when you see them because they will be gone by the next time you get to that store.)
• 3 copies of the "You have been BOO'ed" poem, explaining the activity -- one for each recipient of our "boo bags" and two more for them to pass along to neighbors.
• 3 copies of the "We've been BOO'ed" sign -- one for each recipient to put in a window, door, or even on the garage door -- and two more to pass along to neighbors.

That's it. I didn't add cute ribbon or do any rubber stamping or anything else to make it more decorative. (The idea is to make it fun, not to spend lots of time making it look perfect.) I didn't make excessive copies of the papers in hopes that this would help it spread throughout the neighborhood, as I had tried in the past. (This didn't work anyway, so save yourself some paper and printer ink!)

I just kept it really, really simple -- and cheap! It cost me a little over a dollar, and certainly no more than $2 per bag. (14 cents for the bag, 50 cents for the gel clings, 30 cents for the luminaries, and add few more cents for things that I have forgotten the cost of. When you break it down per unit, this was very affordable.)

Once we had our "boo bags" assembled, Logan got into our red wagon, I slipped the leash on the dog, and we went for a walk around the neighborhood. (It is always nice when we get perfect weather for these special deliveries!) Once we had selected our candidates (people who were not home, and who had not gotten "boo bags" in the past), we quickly slipped them into their mailboxes, and kept on moving. 

He had a lot of fun delivering our secret packages. In fact, it was hard for him to contain his excitement as we were headed down to the bus stop at the end of the day and he noticed one neighbor retrieving the "boo bag" from her mailbox. "Look! Mrs. T. got our bag!" I reminded him, "Shhh. Remember, it's a secret," and he replied, "Oh, yeah... right!" Not that I was upset, mind you. It's nice to know that someone else is having fun with our "boo bags", and I am just enough of a cock-eyed optimist to believe that eventually more neighbors will participate in the fun...

DIY Snoopy Costume

Sewing is definitely not one of my strongest skills, but I was pleased with how this home-made Snoopy costume for my husband's work party (his department had a Charlie Brown theme) turned out, especially considering that he only gave me a couple days notice that he wanted something like this. It wasn't really difficult so I think anybody can do this. I started with this basic idea for using a white hooded sweatshirt, which I found on clearance at Old Navy for $10.49 and improved upon it. The only other items I purchased were two pieces of black felt which were 23 cents each at Walmart. I was originally thinking that now that it served its purpose, I would dye the sweatshirt whatever color he chooses, but my mom suggested that we keep it for a Halloween costume, so I may wait a bit before deciding what to do. If I had known I might have wanted this to be permanent, I might have used something like Liquid Stitch to save myself some time.

Materials:

• white hooded sweatshirt
• 2 pieces of black felt 
• white felt
• scissors
• needle
• white thread
• black thread
• hot glue gun (optional)
• 16 gauge craft wire (optional)
• wire cutters (only needed if using craft wire)
• 2 black pipe cleaners (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the first piece of black felt into a large oval shape. It doesn't have to be perfect. Tip: Save your scraps later. Sew this to the back of the sweatshirt using black thread to make Snoopy's big spot on his back. I am not sure of the name of the stitch (running?) that I used but it was just like those lacing cards from when I was younger. I just did big stitches, about 1" long, and spaced them approximately 1" apart. I wasn't worried about how well it would hold up since I thought it would get worn once and then clipped off so that I could dye the sweatshirt.
2. Fold the second piece of black felt in half like a hamburger. Then, cut out a floppy ear shape. These can be simple ovals, again, or if you want they can be more of a kidney bean shape. Either way, you will end up with two identical ears. Position them how you would like onto the hood of the sweatshirt. Use black thread to stitch them onto the hood.
3. Cut a piece of white felt into a triangle shape, making it as long as you would like Snoopy's tail to be. (The website I found directions on said to use black felt, but my husband said that wasn't right. I checked online and sure enough, his tail is white with a small black spot, not black, if you want to be precise.) I used a length of 16 gauge craft wire that I already had at home, which I cut with wire cutters to help give the tail some shape and make it stick out from the back of the sweatshirt. This is optional, but it looks nice (Plus, Brett says his co-workers really liked it when Snoopy wagged his tail after getting a strike. Their party took place at a bowling alley.) I laid the wire on top of the white felt triangle, stuffed it with some of the extra felt that I had cut, rolled it up into a long, narrow, cone shape, and hot glued it. I tried my best to make the seams end up on the underside of the tail. Then, I covered up what was left of the seam with a black felt spot that I cut out and hot glued to the tail. Lastly, I sewed the tail to the back of the sweatshirt using white thread. Tip: If you don't have craft wire, you can use a wire coat hanger instead. 
4. This last step is optional, but I think it completed the look. Make a collar out of two black pipe cleaners. Fit them around the neck of your Snoopy, and twist them together. If needed, you can trim away the excess. (I also sent him with some black ribbon and black yarn, but this was the collar option he went with since it didn't require any tying, glue, tape, staples, or other work.)
5. Another option I gave him was some black face paint so that he could paint on a Snoopy nose. He chose not to do this since we had a Date Night together that evening. I think that was the right choice, but if you don't have anywhere else to be, it would be a nice finishing touch.

{Snoopy was a hit with our girl, Ritzy!}

No Tricks, Just a Healthier Halloween Treat

Finding a healthy Halloween treat for Mia's class party turned out to be a tricky proposition. I thought if I just turned to the trusty Internet, I would find TONS of great ideas. Not so, but I did eventually come across this idea for mandarin orange cups made to look like jack-o'-lanterns, which I decided I needed to borrow. It really was the only remotely healthy snack idea I could find. Normally, we don't buy a lot of canned fruits because it is tricky to find them in juice or water instead of syrup, but I decided this was still better than cookies, candies, cupcakes, and so on. I am sure the kids are going to get plenty of those treats on Halloween. Before shopping, I saved all the coupons I could find and then ended up purchasing the Kroger store brand with my catalina coupon since it was the best deal. The best part about this craft is that it's very simple because all you need are mandarin orange cups and a black Sharpie marker. If you can draw a basic jack-o'-lantern face, you can do this project. If you are feeling creative, you can even make different faces for all the mandarin orange cups. If I weren't worried about costs, or if I knew we would have very few trick-or-treaters, I would even consider making these to pass out for Halloween treats. For now, though, I hope Mia's kindergarten friends enjoy their healthier classroom treat.

{I am excited for my healthy and cute classroom treat!}

A Boo-tiful Mind

For the past two years, we have "Boo'd" our neighbors and even though it didn't really spread like I had hoped, I have to keep trying. My husband came home from work yesterday, saw my stuff spread on the counter and said, "Oh, you're doing that again this year?" He laughed when I responded, "Yes, I have this delusion that people will participate if I do it enough!" Really, it has to catch on at some point, right? And if not, then in about 10 more years, I will have given small gifts to everyone in the neighborhood (which is nice, don't you think?)

This year I kept it very simple: brown lunch bags, items from the pantry (fruit snacks, candy left over from the pinata), and a couple items from Dollar Tree (cute candy corn socks, a yellow maple leaf votive holder, and an orange pumpkin scented tea light -- nothing creepy or possibly offensive as far as I could tell; Halloween should be fun for everyone in my opinion.) I put the items in the bag along with the BOO sign, and two more copies of the poem and BOO sign for them to pass along, and just stapled it shut. Then, I affixed the poem to the front of the bag, added a fun stamp and a little medallion that I made on orange card stock using another couple stamps from the same set plus a little bit of jack-o-lantern ribbon. The link for the poem and sign I used last year and the year before didn't seem to work so I searched and found this very cute version, which is in black and white, perfect for saving ink and making it easier for people to share in the fun. Once they were packaged up, I dropped them off in two mailboxes on my way to the dentist. Maybe I am nuts, but I think this is a fun, easy, and inexpensive way to celebrate Halloween and get people in the neighborhood to interact with each other (albeit secretively, but still...), and I am just going to keep doing it in the hopes that other people will join in.

See my previous attempts at spreading joy in our kind of boring, everybody-mind-your-own-business neighborhood:
Year #1 
Year # 2

Mummy Dogs

In the "spirit" of Halloween, I decided to make a version of these mummy dogs for last night's dinner. I only made 5 (instead of 10) because that is how many hot dogs I had that weren't frozen, and I used slices of colby jack deli cheese in place of American cheese slices (which I haven't bought in a long time). I also lined my baking sheet with parchment paper, because we have found this to be very helpful when baking. Other changes I made were cutting the crescent rolls into strips of 8 instead of 10. It just seemed like it would be easier to work with wider strips. I think I was right because I still had strips that tore. As it was, they weren't more than 1/2 inch wide, so I can't imagine how much harder it would be if the strips were any narrower. I used a pizza slicer to cut the strips for the bandages instead of a knife or scissors the directions said to do. This plan worked great. Finally, I skipped the mustard eyes because we didn't have any in the refrigerator.

Overall, my mummy dogs were a success, despite all of the tweaks I made to the recipe. I am not sure how you even get the dough to wrap around 10 hot dogs; 5 seemed like plenty. And 1/2 piece of colby jack per mummy dog seemed about right. The cheese oozed out a bit, but that seems okay for creepy cuisine, right?

Halloween Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

{I decorated these cookies. The one one the right is the last little ball of dough, and I pinched a small stem with my fingers.}

{Cutting out the shapes}

I have been searching for the best sugar cookie recipe for awhile now. I am not sure if this is it, but it is pretty darn close. The dough is a great consistency for making cut-out cookies and the flavor is good. My only confusion is that they taste more like a butter cookie than a sugar cookie, which reminds me of shortbread. I think I will keep looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe, but for now, I will share how these turned out. 

{There's no such thing as too much frosting.}

{Don't forget to add lots of sprinkles.}

{You may have to taste-test to ensure that your cookies are edible.}

{Take pride in your work.}

Possibly the best part of this whole experiment was trying out our jack-o'-lantern cookie cutter that I got on clearance at Jo-Ann's last year after Halloween. It's by Wilton and it has several smaller shapes that you can use to make the facial features, which I think is a cute idea instead of plain pumpkin cookies. For frosting, we used this recipe. Again, I am not sure it is the best one available, but it is the best I have tried so far. It is easy to make and easy to spread, and it made enough so that we could divide it up into different containers for making various colors. We left some plain white for the ghosts, and we mixed red and yellow food coloring to make orange for the jack-o'-lanterns. We also attempted (and failed) to make black for some cats (which we didn't even end up cutting out). It was more of a purplish gray, but it all tastes the same, so purple pumpkins were just fine. We also used green sugar sprinkles decorating (I was thinking of stems; the kids had other ideas.) as well as some other Halloween sprinkles. Making and decorating our Halloween cut-out cookies was good family fun, and I think it may become an annual tradition at our house.

Boo to You: Year #2

Last year, I decided to try something new in our neighborhood. We delivered Boo boxes to a couple of neighbors. It was fun, but it didn't spread as far as I hoped. So this year, I am starting with a couple of changes. Instead of giving the first neighbors their treats along with the Boo sign (printed on orange construction paper) and note (printed on regular computer paper), I made enough copies to spread throughout the entire neighborhood and put them in two plastic scrapbook page sleeves. One sleeve goes along with the first Boo box recipient and the other goes to the second recipient. My hope is that by making all the copies in advance, people will have less of an excuse to not keep it going. I also re-typed the directions so that two fit per page, and added that a garage door would also be a good location to display the Boo sign. At the bottom of the notes for my first two recipients, I added a hand-written explanation that for all of the copies, and added that they are the first ones so it's up to them to keep the fun going! My fingers are crossed that this will work (assuming that I choose the first neighbors wisely).

Overall, this year's Boo boxes are cuter than last year's. I again found take-out style containers. They are black paper with cobwebs and bats on them, and I think they came from Michael's or Jo-Ann, but I don't remember which exactly. It was after Halloween last year. I also bought two pumpkin shaped kitchen scrub sponges and two sets of cute wooden candy corn paper clips from Michael's on clearance after Halloween last year. I included some jack-o'-lantern erasers that I got on clearance at Target last year and a small package of peanut butter filled cheese sandwich crackers. Ours are from Sam's Club, but you can get them at any grocery store. There is no candy in this year's Boo boxes because I didn't have any in the house. I cut out the directions using crimping scissors, rolled them up, and tied them with a ribbon. Then I closed up the containers and tied lots of different ribbons onto the handle. They are all "Halloween colors" -- orange, black, green, purple. I am really happy with the results.

Jack-o'-Lantern Pizza

Last night's dinner was a family project.

I saw a picture of something similar made by my friend Katie last year, so I decided we would try making our own jack-o'-lantern pizza for dinner. It turned out pretty cute and tasty.

Materials Needed:

• pizza crust mix (We used Betty Crocker)
• pizza sauce
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• pepperoni
• pizza pan
• kitchen scissors
• flour
• rolling pin (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare pizza dough according to package directions.
2. Flour counter top and hands before working with dough. You may also want to add some flour to the dough so it is easier to work with. (We like to use a floured rolling pin to form the dough into the shape we want, picking dough up often so it doesn't stick to the counter.)
3. Add dough to pizza pan and reshape as desired.
4. Top with pizza sauce.
5. Add shredded cheese. (We use mozzarella, but there are pizza cheese blends you can also try.)
6. Cut pepperoni to look like eyes, nose, and mouth. (We were running short on time and only cut a triangle nose. The rest of the pepperoni we used in its original round shape.)
7. Decorate pizza with pepperoni to form the jack-o'-lantern's face.
8. Bake according to package directions. Enjoy!

Note: If you want to save time, you could use a frozen cheese pizza and add pepperoni.

Boo to You!

I'm trying to start something fun in the neighborhood. The kids and I are "Booing" the neighbors. I filled cute little take-out style containers with goodies and then we delivered them. The containers are green and say "Trick or Treat" all over them, and I found them at the Dollar Store awhile back. In each box, I included some tea lights, candy, a small hand lotions from Bath and Body Works, and a little apple shaped photo frame magnet. It was quick and inexpensive to do since I already had all of this stuff on hand. Next, I printed off signs and poems that I found online and included them in the goodie boxes. I figured there was no point in reinventing the wheel. Here's the link:

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/halloweengames/a/youvebeenbooed.htm

I printed the BOO signs on orange construction paper and the poem on plain computer paper.
Attached to the handle of each take-out goodie box are the following instructions (printed on orange construction paper): 

You have been “Boo’d”!  Please keep it going by following these directions: 

1.    Enjoy your treat! 

2.    Place the BOO sign on your front door or so it’s visible in a window. 

3.    Within 2 days, make 2 treats, 2 copies of this note, and 2 BOO signs. 

4.    Secretly deliver to 2 neighbors without a BOO. 

5.    Keep an eye on nearby front doors to see how far and fast it spreads by Halloween!

I cut these out with crimping shears, affixed an eyelet and a little candy embellishment to each, and then tied them to the handles using raffia (which I had saved from some packaging). Lastly, I clipped on a short length of "Trick or Treat" ribbon with a small black clip. Now, we wait and see who plays along.

 I