Halloween Party Ideas

I threw a little Halloween Bash yesterday for our play group. We had a blast! The food was the most fun to put together.  Most of the ideas for the party were collected around blogland so I've tried to give credit where it's due.  many of the ideas were featured in many different places and in that case I just picked my favorite.  Please excuse some of the pictures.  They are not the best I've ever taken.  We've hit the season of NO natural light but one cannot postpone picture taking on the day of party festivities.

The Munchies:

Mummy Dogs served with blood and boogers.  I had tried to make them with capers for eyes but couldn't get them to stick.  Not sure if the kids would have eaten them that way.

Monster Fingers (Green Apple slices with red cream cheese and a Pecan for the finger nail)

Baked Skeleton Bones (Breadsticks or Pretzel sticks would also work)

Creepy Cakes

Sugar Rolled Pumpkins

Mummy Cupcakes (There were many examples out there.  This link used fondont which looks great but I think tastes nasty.  Several used Sugar eyes which are not found in these parts.  I used white chocolate chips for the eyes and piped the icing bandages  on the flat tip for my pastry bag)

Bat Brains (Popcorn)

And to wash it all down, some Slimy Witches Brew (Lemonade with blue food coloring).

We made with the crafty-crafty.

Crafts:

Hanging TP Roll Bats-Many, many, many different examples out there.  We put several ideas together but my favorite part is the folding of the TP roll to make the ears.  That idea came from Filth Wizardry.  I was originally thinking black cardstock with scrunched up tissue paper for the wings but the accordion fold wings came out just fine and took less time.  Which is important when working with 2-5 year olds.

TP Roll and Gauze Mummies- I just love these mummies.  The idea came from Skip to My Lou.  She'd made her's to be treat containers but I thought it a shame to take it apart to get the candy out.  I think they make adorable decorations.


I way more game ideas than time to play them.  Here's what was on the list.

Games:

Pin the Scar on Frankie- Halloween version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  Could be played with a Costume mask (cover eye holes) instead of blindfold.

I love how these games look after everyone has taken their turn.  

Pass the Pumpkin-Played like Hot Potato only with a pumpkin.  Can be played so that child left with pumpkin is out or pass a hollow pumpkin with treat bags and the one holding the pumpkin picks a prize.

Sadly, I have no plastic halloween pumpkin so we made do with this one made from toilet paper.  FYI, if you are going to do this, glue the fabric and stick.  Rowdy tossing of the pumpkin = pumpkin falling apart.

Monster Freeze Dance- Play music.  Children dance like monsters.  When music stops all contestants must freeze.  If they move they are out.  Last one standing gets to pause the music for the next round.

Ghost Hunt-Hide ghosts around the house for the kids to find.  Can be played two ways.  If you make lollipop ghosts (wrap lollipop in tissue paper, tie with string, and draw on eyes) this is the prize.  If you use paper ghosts, printed from computer graphics, children can turn in the ghost they found for a prize.

We used this image.  I just copied it a few times into a Word document, hit print and cut around the ghosts.

Mummy May I-played just like Mother My I only the "mummy" is wrapped in toilet paper and the contestants must think of different types of "monster" steps.

I'm off to finish cleaning up.  If you missed the announcement yesterday, I've finally hit 100 followers.  If you haven't yet, hop over to yesterday's post to enter the giveaway.  That said, I may be a bit scarce on the e-mail and posting for the next few days.  Our store bought Halloween costumes have yet to arrive (I know, don't laugh, I was trying to save myself some stress.  See how well that turned out.), we have three Halloween events in the next few days, and my mother-in-law arrives tomorrow.  Needless to say, we have a busy schedule this week.

100 Followers

Yahooooooo!  I finally made it to 100 Followers.  Thank you so much for stopping in from time to time to check out what is going on in my world.  I can't tell you how much it means to me that there are people out there who are actually interested in what is going on in my little corner of blog-land.  Your comments are daily encouragement for me to keep this thing going.
I started this blog, just shy of a year ago, as a record of my crafty accomplishments and as a form of "pressuring" me to take some "me" time each day.  I have to say, if it wasn't for the blog, I would probably let myself go weeks without doing anything creative.  I can always come up with some excuse of things that MUST be done for my boys when really, I am a better mom and wife when I've taken a little time out for myself.
So, thank you all for giving me the little push I need.  Please keep commenting and showing me the wonderful things you're cooking up.  I love getting your e-mails and the photos you link up to the Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Flickr Group showing me something you've been inspired make.

Since this blog would be nothing without you, my loyal readers, it is time . . . . da, da, daaaaaaan . . . for a giveaway.  One lucky winner will receive a Scrap Buster Pillow Sham in your choice of color.

I'll use Random. com to choose a winner next Tuesday. Gain one entry by becoming a follower with Google Friend Connect or reminding me that you are already. Since the pillow style is beginning to have a plethora of colors, it needs a name.  To gain another entry, leave a comment below with your idea for the pillow name.  And for a third entry, click over on the side bar to LIKE the new Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy! Facebook page.

Halloween Cupcakes

Okay, it is official.  I'm a totally last minute creative procrastinator.  We're having a huge Halloween Bash here tomorrow for the play group that I coordinate.  The decorations are all done.  The games are planned but not finished and I can't decide which cupcakes to make.

I thought I was all set.  I had my mind made up.  I was going to make some seemingly easy ghost cupcakes.

And then I saw these:

Pumpkin Cupcakes

And these (which I'm leaning towards but don't think I can find the adorable beady eyes)

Mummy Cupcakes

And these, dare I saw adorable, Skull Cupcakes

Yikes!  What's a girl to do.  Help me out and take a vote.  Which do you think 2-5 year olds would like best?

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

I'm getting so close to 100 followers which is very exciting for all of YOU because it means giveaway time.  I guess I better get working on the prize.

I also spent some time working to get my Facebook page up and running.  There is a quick link on the side bar.  Go ahead and hit the "Like" button.  I've been known to be a bit of a Facebook junkie so it's a great way to keep in touch and up-to-date if you're like me and spend more time on there than in your blog Reader.

I love to bake.  It's a curse because I have no willpower.  These are my all time favorite "Fall" cookies to  make.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups flour
1 1/3 cup Quick Oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened (I use Butter flavored Crisco)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips, walnuts, raisins or cranberries (We prefer chocolate chips in this house)

Mix ingredients together.  Drop rounded Tbsp sized mounds onto greased cookie sheet (or skip this step and use baking paper).  Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes or until lightly  browned.

The sun is actually out today so I'm heading out to enjoy it.  Have a wonderful weekend!

What NOT To Do

It's confession time.  Please feel free to laugh at my expense.  No, really.  It's okay.  This post is going to read like an episode of "What Not to Wear".  If you're faint of crafty-heart, you might want to sit this one out.

I have a big sewing project that needs to be done by Christmas.  Now that the rest of my fabrics arrived last week, I was all set to begin.  Before I knew it I had all of my strip cut and THEN it dawned on me.  I never threw the fabrics into the wash with the others.

Here's where I get really stupid and my parallel to the above named TV show begins.  I knew better.  Just like all of those poor fashion victims.  Every women knows you don't wear leggings or skinny jeans if you have wide hips or a generous rump.  We know it and we yet we still slide them on one leg at a time, knowing full well they are going to call attention to our not so dainty parts.

With this very clear thought, "These are probably going to fray a bit."  I threw the strips into the washer.  I know.  Cringe away.  I can't even say, "What was I thinking?" because I KNOW.  Ugh.

So here it is.

The fruit of my stupidity.  My giant rat's nest of frayed Anna Maria Horner fabric.  Garden Party no less.  Please don't tell her.  She might not allow me to ever again buy her beautiful fabric.  I'll be blacklisted forever.  It's like crafty sacrilage.  It was so tightly wound, I'm sure you can't even believe it's enough fabric to produce a quilt.

After hours of unraveling, untangling, and pressing vigorously, I'm at least happy to report that not all is lost.  I'll need to spend some more time trimming up the sides of each strip, which means losing some fabric.  I'm just hoping that's enough to end the fraying and it's not money down the drain.

Dumb.    Dumb.    Dumb.   Dumb.    Dumb.   Dumb.   Here ends the confession.

Blogger, Blogger, Blogger!

WHAAAAT?  Something on my blog hasn't been working correctly?  I'm shocked.  

Hey all, just wanted to stop in and say, thanks to a very nice reader, Sand to Pearl, I've now fixed the "Followers" problem.  Not sure how long it's been going on but it is now fixed.  So . . . if you were trying to become a follower . . . now you can.  If you want.  No pressure of course, but we are getting super close to that 100 Followers mark which means a big giveaway.  And it just makes it so much easier to get back to your comments.  And give you stuff.  For cheering me on when I do well.  And laughing with me when it all just goes South (and if you want a good one of those, check back tomorrow).

And since I'm so much in awe of the fact that there is anyone out there even reading my gibberish,

here's a kiss for you.  Nice and sloppy.  Just how we like them in this house full of boys.

Around the World This Week-Photo Link Party

Cold.  Rainy.  Not much more to say about what life has been like around here this week.  Monday was our only decent day.  We've lived here long enough to know, when the sun shines, you go out.

The boys played while I tried to rake as fast as possible, knowing there's nothing worse than raking and bagging wet leaves.

 I'm a New England girl at heart.  I missed the Fall colors while we lived in Greece.

While they can't compare to the red, orange, and vibrant yellows that are in my memory,

 they're enough to make me pause, in awe.

The world is filled with so much beauty.

What does your world look like this week?

Wednesday's Wickedly Awesome- Colors Not Yet Invented

Shel Silverstein has always been one of my favorite children's poets.  He's right up there with Jack Prelutsky for making kids laugh, love poetry, and infusing a world's worth of meaning in a few short lines.  Have you read Colors by Shel Silverstein?  It's one of my favorites.

But today's blog is not about them and their incredibly creative, written awesomeness.  Today I'm talking about Amanda and her crafty blog  Colors Not Yet Invented.  She references Shel's poem in her header and for good reason.  Her crafting is made up of the sentiment of things yet to be discovered.

Here's what's grabbed my attention:

 Adorable name and quote tags for the inside of pencil pouches.

 A birthday count down board and balloon wreath.  What mother does not need one of these to keep her child's constant questioning at bay?

 Festive Halloween Boo Bags.  If you don't know about "Booing" be sure to stop over and read about it.  Such an adorable twist on the ring and run idea.

Love, love, love this mailbox cover tutorial.  I never would have thought to do that.

A Pottery Barn inspired growth chart.  So simple.  So darling.  I want to make me one now.

Keep an eye on this one, folks.

Halloween Scrabble Art

One  piece of wood from the scrap bin of the local hardware store = 1.00

One can of black spray paint I had from a previous project = Free

Three pieces of orange copy paper from scrap paper pile = Free

Put that all together and you get an almost free Halloween craft.

I started with the word Halloween and  hand wrote a Scrabble type template.  I then typed the words in different fonts and sizes.  For the vertical words I used the "Word Art" feature on Microsoft Office.

I later decided this step was a bit unneccesary as I ended up cutting words apart and rearranging them to fit the board.  I Mod Podged the words and letters onto the board and gave it all a final coat to seal it together.  I think this year's Halloween decorations are now complete.  But you know me, something else will most likely catch my eye and I won't be able to sleep until it's made.

Linkin' Up Here:

Ghost Bottle Halloween Decorations

We keep a small bar.  Each of the seven bottles which sit upon this bar have remained on top for at least the last 6 years.  My husband and I are not big liquor drinkers.  I enjoy a frosty margarita from time to time.  My husband, a sweet rum and coke or gin and tonic.  The rest have been gifts from visitors.  The bottles remain mostly full.  Awaiting the company of someone who prefers a hot toddy or stiff drink.

As the Halloween crafting season came along this year, I found this house seriously lacking in the mantel/crafty display area.  So, I decided to spice up the bar.

These spirits (sorry, I couldn't resist) are super easy to make.

Drape your bottle with white fabric.  Line up your ruler and cut.

Cut 1 X 10 inch strips to tie the draped fabric.

Add googly eyes and use black acrylic paint to paint a howling mouth.

And there you have it.  A group of ghosts who will haunt your house without leaving the cupboards open.

Party over here:






Get Your Craft On with