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}

Marble-Painted Spider Web Craft

Here's yet another fun holiday craft idea from our fantastic story time lady, Mrs. D! My little man (who I have mentioned is not hugely into crafts like his big sister) really had a great time creating this project, and I can't blame him. Who doesn't love fun ways of painting? And painting with marbles is definitely fun!

He enjoyed adding the foam spider sticker at the end, but you make a spider from a pom pom and some pipe cleaners like we did here. Or you can just add a plastic spider ring in its place. I'm thinking you could either cut off the plastic ring part and then glue it on, or if that doesn't work, make a slit in the paper, and poke the ring part through and tape it to the back side of the paper.

I'm also feeling inspired to do a string-painting version of this spider web craft... So many spooky possibilities!

{Spider-in-a-Web by Logan, Age 4}

Materials:

• round cake pan or pie tin
• black construction paper
• pencil
• scissors
• white tempera paint (and small bowl/cup to hold it)
• marble/s
• spoon 
• adhesive foam spider sticker (optional)

Directions:

1. Place a piece of black construction paper inside your cake pan or pie tin. Using a pencil, trace around the inside and cut out the paper circle.
2. Lay the construction paper inside the cake pan or pie tin.
3. Place some white paint in a cup or bowl along with a marble or two. Help your child coat the marble/s with paint, using a spoon. Again, using the spoon, help your child place a marble on top of the paper.
4. Have your child gently roll the marble around to make a "web" pattern on the black paper. If desired, put the marble back in the paint to re-coat it.
5. Have your child place a spider sticker in the web and then allow the paint to dry completely before displaying his artwork.

Easiest Ever Pumpkin Craft

I recently learned how to make these at our local library, and I am very pleased with how mine turned out. Really! I am not making this up. This is the easiest pumpkin craft ever, and you need absolutely NO craft skills to pull it off. Also, you barely need any materials, and these pumpkins are really quick to craft. So, it's basically a perfect craft, even for beginners.

If I had any complaint, it would be that this is a little bit more expensive up-front than many other craft projects that I have made. That said, you will have plenty of duct tape left over, so it is really just a general craft investment. (And for the record, I can't complain, because all of my materials were provided by the library. Love!) I am sure I will be making more cool duct tape pumpkins... as soon as the faux pumpkins start going on clearance at the craft stores.

{Happy Halloween Crafting!}

Materials:

• foam pumpkin (I recently saw some small ones at Dollar Tree!)
• 1-2 rolls of decorative duct tape (I have found small rolls in the dollar section of Target.)
• scissors (optional)

Directions:

1. If using more than one roll of decorative duct tape, decide which design/solid color will be used for your stem and which will be used for the body of the pumpkin. Tear (or cut, but honestly, I found it easier to just tear it with my hands) off small sections and cover the stem. You can even tear the tape in half to have easier to work with strips if you stem is on the small side. Don't worry if the base looks messy because you will end up covering it later. Tip: If your stem is too long or awkward to work with, cut it with your scissors. I found this to be really helpful!
2. Now, cover the base of the pumpkin with strips of duct tape. The best way to do this is to start at the top near the stem and then slowly smooth the tape down along the pumpkin. You will want to leave space in between each strip of tape, and then come back later and fill in the gaps. Tip: I decided to tear off several strips and lay them along the edge of the table to make the process go more smoothly. I just eyeballed them to see that they were the approximate length that I needed. Tip: Don't worry about making your pattern (if your tape has one) line up perfectly! I could have made myself insane trying to get those chevron stripes to line up just so, but I saved myself the worry, and it came out fine. The eye just tells me that it lines up (for the most part) even if it really doesn't.
3. Find a place to display your spooktacular pumpkin craft. See, I told you that was easy, right?

Paperback Pumpkins, Apples, and Pears

I learned how to make paperback pumpkins at our local library recently, and I was so excited by the first one that I quickly returned to buy a stack of books to make more pumpkins. Once I knew the basic steps, I was also able to make apples and pears so now I have a total of 7 fruit shapes on top of my kitchen cabinets. They are very festive for fall.

{The paperback pumpkin that started it all...}

 Materials: 

{Paperback Apple}

• paperback books
• scratch paper
• pencil
• scissors
• sponge (I used an old kitchen sponge cut in half.)
• acrylic paint (I used orange, yellow, red, and green.)
• tray/plate to hold paint
• cup of water
• sticks/twigs
• curling ribbon, twine, or other ribbon
• hot glue gun
• newspaper to protect work surface

Directions: 

1.) Gather some old paperback books, the more beat up the better.

{These teen books were just ten cents each at our library.}

2.) Decide which shape you want to make (apple, pear, pumpkin). Fold a piece of paper in half like a hamburger. (I re-used some printer paper for this.) Draw your shape on one half, cut it out, and unfold it. Make sure it looks the way you want, or make changes if desired. (Note: Definitely be sure that your template will fit the pages of your book.) Now is also a good time to warm up your glue gun.

{Some of the titles are pretty funny: Help! I'm Trapped in My Gym Teacher's Body.}

3.) Tear off the front cover and then begin tracing the template onto the first page using a pencil. Cut out a small section (say 20 pages or so, depending on the sharpness of your scissors and how many pages you can comfortably cut). Continue tracing and cutting small sections until the entire book has been done. Tear off the back cover and any remaining parts of the cover on the spine. (Note: I would start cutting at the bottom, work my way up to the top, and once I got close enough, just tear off the remaining section to the point where it meets the spine, which saves some cutting.)

{Tracing my first pear...}

{Cutting out a pumpkin}

4.) Now for painting. This step takes the longest. First, protect your work surface with newspaper. You may also want to wear old clothes since acrylic paint will stain. Pour some paint onto a tray or plate (I used old Styrofoam meat packaging at home and a paper plate when I made my first one at the library.) Dip you sponge into the cup of water, then dip it into the paint, and dab it onto your tray/plate so that you are applying thin coats only. Sponge paint both sides of each page. I did just outside edges, leaving white space in the centers of each pear, apple, or pumpkin shape. (Note: Thin coats of paint work best because it dries faster and the pages are less likely to stick together. On my first apple, I experimented with a sponge brush in place of a sponge. It worked, but the paint went on much, much wetter and took forever to dry -- over 24 hours and that was with the help of a hair dryer -- so I don't recommend this method because once you start, you want to finish.)

{Sponge painting the pear}

{This apple I painted with a sponge brush, but it was not my preferred method.}

5.) Use a generous amount of hot glue along the spine of the book and then fold the book backward pressing the spine together. The pages should now fan out. Fold parts or individual pages back and forth as needed to get the look you want. (Note: As I made more of these, I just started folding the book back and forth along the binding before even starting the paint process because looser bindings seem to be easier to work with. Sometimes you just have to keep playing with it until it looks the way you want. If it isn't perfect, that's okay, the final step really makes it look finished. Plus, if there are sections pages that lay open and don't look the way you want them to, you can just point this toward the back of your display, unless it is your table centerpiece.) 

 

{A Finished Pear}

6.) Put the finishing touches on your pumpkin, apple, or pear. Add a stick to the center (or wherever you can get it to fit) using hot glue. If needed, glue a page or two around it. Green curling ribbon looks nice for a pumpkin and really makes it look special and finished. I had some wide sparkly green ribbon that I thought would make nice "leaves" for my apples so I just tied that around the stem and cut each end on an angle to resemble stylized leaves (without trying to make them really look like leaves). For my pears, I tied bows with cute green and brown pear ribbon that I happened to have. I thought they turned out cute. For one pumpkin, I used twine instead of curling ribbon to give it a more authentic look. I am not sure if I love it, but it is one option and something different. (Note: My first pumpkin would not stand up straight so I tried trimming the bottom of the pages to make them flatter. When that did not do the trick, I added some cardboard to the bottom, which stabilized it.)

{My First Finished Apple}

{Finished Pumpkin with Wider Curling Ribbon}

{Finished Pumpkin with Twine}

{My Finished Fall Display!}

A Super Simple Pumpkin Craft!

{The "Finished" Results}

 One thing I love about my new MOPS group is that I always get to do a craft project at the end. (Bonus: I don't even have to come up with it or find the materials to create.) At the last meeting we made this really, really easy pumpkin out of a roll of toilet paper and a piece of fabric. (Yes, you read that correctly. It's a roll of actual toilet paper, not just the cardboard tube. That's a new one, right?) There was batting available for making a fuller pumpkin, but I decided to go with the basic pumpkin. This is so simple even a crafting novice can do it. Put your roll of TP down on your fabric and then bring up all the edges and stuff them into the center of the tube at the top. There were paper leaf shapes available, and we stuck them into the top and called it done. (See photo below.) After a few days of looking at this and thinking it didn't look quite "finished," I decided to add a stick from the yard to make a stem for my pumpkin. I hot glued the paper leaf to it because it kept falling out of my pumpkin. Lastly, I tied a bow with some twine. Raffia would have worked for the country cute look, too, but I had twine so that is what I used. I am happy with how it turned out. This is sitting up high on top of a green glass candle holder atop my kitchen cabinets with my other fall display items (cornucopia, pumpkins, apples, gourds, leaves) and looking just right for fall, however, I know where to look if we are ever running low on toilet paper...

{Before adding the stick and twine... It's just missing a little "something."}

Halloween Craft Reboot

If you have been reading for awhile, you may remember our milk jug ghosts from a couple of years back, when it ended up being a project for me, and not really for kids. Well, I decided to try again this year now that Mia is a bit older and the thought of handing her a permanent marker wasn't quite so scary. 

This project was an ideal way for me to practice letting go, because my five-year-old's ghost jugs don't look the way I would have made them. I would have made sure the eyes and mouths were larger, and I definitely would not have thought to include teeth the way she did. I sat back and let her do her thing and I even tried really, really hard not to cringe when she dropped that Sharpie. (Note: I do recommend old clothes if you are feeling brave enough to let your kids try this.) The results are great, even if they aren't what I would have created. 

Mia was very proud of being able to do it herself. (My contributions were to wash the jugs, cut out the openings in the backs, and put the string of Christmas lights into the openings.) One little change we made this year was to use half-gallon jugs as well as gallon jugs (from milk and cider), mostly because this is what was available and not already crushed and placed in the recycling bin. I think having the different sizes of ghosts makes for a nice display.

{Ghost Jugs by Mia, Age 5}

{A Proud and Happy Girl!}

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!}

Jar-o'-Lanterns

I love these cute glass jack-o'-lanterns from Disney FamilyFun Magazine so much that I wish I had thought of them myself. Here's why: 1) They are quick and easy to make. 2) It's a nice way to re-purpose something that might otherwise get thrown away. 3) If you like to do crafts, you probably have the materials on hand already (glass jars, masking tape, scissors, paintbrush, orange acrylic paint-- or blend your own with yellow and red if you don't have orange). 4) The end result is super cute. (Obviously, this is the most important thing in a craft project.) You and your kids can whip up several of these in time for Halloween.

We attempted fancier faces than the directions suggested, and I think they came out fine. You, of course, can stick with simple triangles if you prefer. Mia told me what she wanted and I did my best to cut the shapes out of masking tape. I think having a variety of sizes and types of jars makes a nice little display, just like real pumpkins (although we haven't even carved ours yet). Not having any of those flameless tea lights available, I used regular tea lights. While the fake kind would probably be safer since they aren't a fire hazard and they wouldn't make the jars get hot, the way I see it, these are glass jars, and I don't plan to keep them where kids can get at them anyway. (This is really my only complaint with this craft; it's intended for small children, and realistically, glass isn't an ideal material for little ones to work with. That said, I know Mia well enough to know she could handle it at age 4 1/2 so I wasn't concerned.) So, for the photo, I took them out to the porch and then put them back on the counter where they have been since Mia made them a few days ago.

Candy Corn Sun Catcher

{By Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• pencil 
• clear tape
• scissors
• clear contact paper
• yellow construction paper
• tissue paper (yellow, orange, white)
• paper trimmer (optional)
• hole punch (optional)
• yarn, string, ribbon, etc. for hanging (optional)

Directions:

{By Logan, Age 2}

1. fold your paper in half like a hot dog before drawing and cutting out your shape. This makes it go a bit faster, and hopefully it creates less frustration, too.  Tip: If you are using two pieces of paper, you will need to make sure they stay together so that you get identical candy corn shapes.
2. Cut two pieces of clear contact paper (I used both a paper trimmer and scissors for this.) so that they are 1/4 inch larger than the construction paper all the way around. Tip: Do not remove backing from contact paper until you are ready to use it.
3. Adhere one piece of paper to the clear contact paper so that there is a border of 1/4 inch all around the paper. Tip: Slowly peel the contact paper away from the backing as you smooth the construction paper down onto the contact paper. This way you don't end up with "bubbles."
4. Have your child stick tissue paper squares onto the contact paper candy corn  shape until it is filled. (Mia has created her own technique for filling in small spaces: crumpling up the tissue paper into balls. It makes the sun catcher a bit bulkier, but it does work, and I think it adds a bit of visual interest to the design.)
5. Layer the second piece of construction paper on top of the first, making sure that the candy corn shapes line up.
6. Add the second piece of contact paper over the top, smoothing it down as you go. Trim away excess if desired, but don't trim too much or the sun catcher will not stay together. 
7. You can display your sun catcher in a window using clear tape. Another option is to use a hole punch to make two holes near the top, thread some ribbon or yarn through the holes, tie it off, and then hang your sun catcher.

Bat Halloween Treat Cup

Bat treat cup by Mia, age 3 1/2

The directions for making this bat treat cup are very similar to those for making the black cat treat cup. Inspiration for this craft comes from this website.

Materials Needed:

• tin can
• black paint
• paint brush
• black construction paper
• glue
• scissors
• clear tape 
• wiggle eyes
• small black paper plate (or regular plate colored black)
• white construction paper

Directions:

1. Paint the outside of a tin can black. We used a foam brush and dabbed it to get into the ridges of the can.
2. While paint is drying, cut out 2 triangles from black construction paper for ears and fangs from white construction paper..
3. Cut a small black paper plate in half.
4. Holding a paper plate half so the curved part is on top, cut scallops on the bottom to resemble a bat's wing. Repeat with the other half of the plate.
5. Glue wiggle eyes, ears, and fangs to the front of the can. (We used Aleene's Tacky Glue.)
6. Using clear tape, adhere wings to the back of the can.
7. Fill with goodies and enjoy. 

Black Cat Halloween Treat Cup

Treat cup decorated by Mia, age 3 1/2

This craft was adapted from one found on this website. The directions for making this treat cup are very similar to the directions for making a bat Halloween treat cup.

Materials Needed:

• tin can
• black paint
• paint brush
• black and pink construction paper
• 2 white pipe cleaners (or yarn)
• pink pipe cleaner (or yarn)
• glue
• scissors
• clear tape (optional)
• wiggle eyes
• black pipe cleaner (optional)

Directions:

1. Paint the outside of a tin can black. We used a foam brush and dabbed it to get into the ridges of the can.
2. While paint is drying, cut out 2 triangles from black construction paper for ears. Then cut 2 slightly smaller triangles from pink construction paper. Glue pink triangles onto black triangles.
3. Cut another pink triangle for the nose.
4. Cut a pink pipe cleaner in half and then bend one half to make the cat's mouth.
5. Cut 2 white pipe cleaners in half and then bend each new length of pipe cleaner in half to make whiskers.
6. Glue wiggle eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and whiskers to the can. (We used Aleene's Tacky Glue and then added some clear tape to secure the pipe cleaners.)
7. You may wish to add a black pipe cleaner to the back of the can and curl it to look like a tail.
8. Fill with goodies and enjoy.

Cheese and Cracker Spider-wich Snack

I adapted this snack idea from spider cookies I found on this website. I wanted to make it a bit healthier, so I used crackers instead of vanilla wafers, spray cheese in place of frosting, raisins instead of candy, and pretzel sticks rather than licorice rope.

Materials Needed:

• round crackers (such as Ritz)
• spray cheese (You might also use cream cheese or peanut butter.)
• pretzel sticks
• raisins

Directions:

1. Spread spray cheese on inside of one round cracker.
2. Insert 8 pretzel sticks to make spider's legs.
3. Top with another cracker. You may wish to add a small amount of spray cheese to help it stick.
4. Using two small dots of spray cheese as "glue," apply raisins for eyes.
5. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Seed Pictures

Materials Needed:

• dry pumpkin seeds
• paint (various colors, depending on your design) 
• paintbrushes (not needed if you use a zippered baggie)
• paper plate or bowl (or zippered baggie) 
• wax paper
• paper
• glue



Witch drawn by Mama and filled in by Mia, age 3 1/2

• pencil

Directions:

1. Paint pumpkin seeds. You can do this on a paper plate or in a shallow bowl. (You could also put the seeds in a zippered baggie along with paint and shake it up. I felt that this was the most efficient and least messy of the ways that we tried.) Lay seeds on wax paper to dry. (We used a separate piece of wax paper for each color, which worked well.)
2. While pumpkin seeds are drying, draw your design on paper.
3. Glue seeds onto paper to fill in the design (in the style of a mosaic).

I made my jack-o'-lantern on black paper and skipped filling in the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Note: We tried coloring the seeds with markers instead of paint for a less messy option, but regular markers did not work well on the seeds. Permanent markers may work better, but we didn't try this.
This craft was inspired by this site.

Mummy Jack-o'-Lantern

I found this idea in a book called Halloween Pumpkins & Parties: 101 Spooktacular Ideas, published by "Better Homes and Gardens."

Materials:

• smooth white pumpkin
• carving tools (or knife and spoon/ice cream scoop)
• 2 black marbles
• 2 flat toothpicks
• pen (I used a pencil)
• adhesive that will work on glass
• candle
• newspaper (optional)

Directions:

1. Set pumpkin on newspaper and cut off top of pumpkin.
2. Scoop out seeds. If desired, save for roasting or another project.
3. Cut two eyes, making sure they are large enough to hold the marbles. Cut a nose and a mouth. Working your way around the pumpkin, carve additional curvy pieces to look like mummy wrappings. (If you are concerned about getting your design right, draw it with a pencil or pen before starting to carve the pumpkin.)
4. Insert a toothpick into each eye hole. (Mine were too long, so I shortened them by breaking them.)
5. Using a strong adhesive (I used Super Glue), glue a black marble to each toothpick, making the eyeballs. (I didn't have black marbles so I used clear glass pebbles, which I colored the back side of using a permanent black marker. I think these might have been better, anyway, since they have a flat side, which made them easy to glue to the toothpick. You can get these at any craft store.)
6. Add a candle (or flameless "candle"), replace the top of the pumpkin, and you are set to spook some trick-or-treaters! (Use caution if using a candle.) 

Hand Print and Foot Print Ghosts

Hand Print and Foot Print Ghosts by Mia, Age 3 1/2

Here is a very quick, very simple project for your little ghouls and goblins to make.

Materials Needed:

• white paper
• pencil
• black paint, crayon, colored pencil, or marker
• scissors

Directions:

1. Trace child's hand (or foot) onto white paper.
2. Cut out hand print (or foot print). 
3. Draw or paint eyes and mouth. (We used black dimensional paint.)

Note: Another option for this craft is to paint child's hand with white paint, press onto black construction paper, allow paint to dry, and then draw/paint on face.

Dum Dum Sucker Spiders

This craft is easy and inexpensive to mass produce. We did 20+ assembly line style for Story Time treats, each one taking only a minute or two in total. They would be cute to hand out to trick-or-treaters or as party favors. I modified this idea from http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/spider-pops-661131/ which calls for Tootsie Pops. I used the Dum Dums because I already had them. Since they are smaller than Tootsie Pops, I decided to cut the pipe cleaners in half instead of using four whole pipe cleaners (which also saved money on materials.) I bought two packages of 25 black pipe cleaners at Walmart for 77 cents each.
 

Materials Needed:

• Dum Dum sucker
• 2 black pipe cleaners
• glue
• wiggly eyes

Directions:

1. Cut two pipe cleaners in half.
2. Holding all four pieces of pipe cleaner together, twist up around base of Dum Dum sucker. You now have four legs on either side of the sucker, which becomes the body of the spider.
3. Bend and arrange pipe cleaners as desired to form the legs.
4. Glue wiggly eyes onto center of pipe cleaners to form the head of the spider.

Finger Puppet Bats

This project would be perfect for an elementary class, scouting group, or any Halloween gathering with kids. It would be easy to cut out several bats in advance and let the kids decorate them. I found this project idea here: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/batty-finger-puppets-664771/

Materials Needed:

• bat template 
• black construction paper
• pencil
• white crayon
• scissors
• glue
• pom pom
• wiggly eyes
• circular punch (optional)

Directions:

1. Print off bat template.
2. Cut out bat template.
3. Trace bat onto black construction paper using template.
4. Cut out construction paper bat.
5. Use scissors or circular punch to make finger holes.
6. Glue pom pom below bat ears and above finger holes to make the bat's head.
7. Glue on wiggly eyes. Allow to dry.
8. To make the wings stand out, you can accordion fold them and then highlight the folds with a white crayon.

Notes:

• If you don't want to make finger puppets, you can skip the holes and use fishing line to hang several bats for decoration. 
• You could also glue two bats together, leaving an opening at the bottom wide enough to use as a finger puppet or attach a craft stick for a handle.
• The original craft directions said to use black pom poms. We didn't have black, so we used various colors, which I think look fine.

S'ghetti Skeletons

Craft idea from: /http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/halloween/pastaskeleton/

I used scissors to cut spaghetti and fettuccine for the fingers, toes, and spine.

Materials Needed:

• black construction paper
• glue (We used Aleene's Tacky Glue.)
• different types of pasta  (spaghetti, fettuccine, spiral, tube, shell, macaroni, bow tie, wagon wheel, etc.)
• dried beans (optional)
• pencil or white crayon
• scissors (optional)

Directions:

Skeleton by Mia, Age 3 1/2

1. Draw skeleton onto black construction paper using a pencil or white crayon.
2. Lay out pasta or dried beans and arrange to form the skeleton. (Note: If you want your pasta to be white, put it in a zippered baggie with white paint, shake until pasta is covered with paint, remove coated pasta from bag, and allow to dry on wax paper.) You could use a wagon wheel for the head, dried beans for the pelvis, macaroni for the ribs, small shells for the knee caps/wrists/elbows, tube or spiral pasta for the arms and legs, spaghetti for the fingers and toes, or any other combination you come up with.
3. When you are happy with the arrangement, glue pasta to the paper and allow to dry.

   

   Mia chose to use only bow tie pasta for this skeleton.
   
   

   
   

Ghostly Greeters Craft

Here is a super simple craft (not recommended for younger children, however) that you can do with very few supplies. Soon you'll have a row of ghosts to greet your trick-or-treaters! I got this idea from: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/spirit-jugs-673388/

Materials Needed:

• plastic milk jugs
• black permanent marker
• scissors (or craft knife)
• string of low wattage holiday lights

Directions:

1. Using a black permanent marker, draw faces on plastic milk jugs. Keeping the cap on makes it easier to do this without denting the jug. (All of our jugs have inset circles on the front, so I tried to work with these to make the mouths.)
2. Cut a hole in the back side of the jug (about 1 1/2 -2 inches in diameter). I used scissors to do this, but you could also use a craft knife. Again, keeping the cap on the jug makes it easier to do this.
3. Set finished jugs near each other and string them together by pushing several bulbs into each milk jug. (I used purple and clear Christmas lights, but you could use any color. I have even seen strings of lights with Halloween shapes such as candy corn, which may be cute.

Spooky Spider in a Web Craft

Materials Needed for Spider Web:

• black paper plate (or plain plate colored with black crayon, marker, or paint)
• hole punch
• black yarn (or thread or string)
• scissors

Directions for Spider Web:

1. If using a plain paper plate, turn over and paint or color black. Allow to dry, if needed.
2. Use hole punch to make holes around the outside of the plate.
3. Cut a length of yarn, thread through a hole, and knot on the back (Use as many knots as needed to secure the yarn so that it won't come through the hole.)
4. Lace yarn through holes to form spider web. You will go over the plate and under the plate alternately.
5. When you are close to the end of the yarn, tie it to a piece of the web. Start over with a new length of yarn, if desired. (You can cut more yarn and go through holes repeatedly until you get the web the way you want it. Just be sure to knot the ends of the yarn when stopping and starting each length.)

Materials Needed for Pom Pom Spider:

• scissors
• glue
• 2 pipe cleaners (We used black.)
• large pom pom (We used neon colors.)
• wiggle eyes

Directions for Pom Pom Spider:

Mia's Spider in a Web

1. Cut two pipe cleaners if half.
2. Lay the four pieces of pipe cleaner side by side.
3. Twist pipe cleaners in the middle so that they are all connected. (You now have four legs on each side.)
4. Glue pom pom to center of pipe cleaners.
5. Glue wiggle eyes to pom pom.
6. Allow glue to dry completely.
7. Bend pipe cleaners to form the legs.

This idea comes from: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/paper-plate-spider-web.htm