my post about halloween

halloween always seems to sneak up on me. one minute, school starts, and the next...it's halloween! if you are a mom, then you know how busy this time of year can be--costumes, treats, parties...it all adds up to a lot!

here is my simple halloween door this year:

 i have had the witches brooms forever---i bought them at big lots for $4 about 10 years ago, and it is a miracle that they have lasted through our many moves. they are one of those bulky items that i *almost donate every time we move, but i love them SO much, and i always manage to talk myself into keeping them.
(yep. our exterior door has still not been painted. it's on the short list of things to get done!)


and, in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" category, i am still using this  this easy and very affordable wreath that i made 5 years ago. i love it because it only looks better the more battered and worn it gets!
you can get the low down of how i made the wreath here.

i love halloween!
i try to make the treat we give away at least a little special.

 this year, i made some cute, simple labels to wrap around Hershey's bars.
(i bought the full size bars at costco---they come in a pack of 24)



if you like these wrappers, feel free to grab them and use them!

these would also be great to bring to a halloween party or to give away to your childs classmates!

here is a peek at some gift bags i gave away a few years ago:

seeing these always makes me happy!


you can also get these wrappers that i made two years ago for an assortment of candy bars:




oh, and take a look at the buddy the elf costume that i whipped up from some thrift store finds and a little fake fur and fabric paint!

we started with a sleeveless green mock turtleneck, a black t-shirt, and a black belt, all from the thrift store.

i cut the collar and cuffs from some fake fur (made templates from paper first) and hot glued them in place, and then embellished the green tunic with some gold fabric paint. the leggings were found on ebay.

i made the hat out of three pieces of felt. (i made a paper template and then traced it)

i never actually sew my kids halloween costumes from scratch, but i am pretty darn good at taking a dress or shirt or whatever from the thrift store and transforming it into a costume!  (it always seems like my kids want to be something that is impossible to BUY...!)
here is a look at some of my kids costumes from the past few years:


vicious gladiator + two goddesses.


medusa, a pirate + cleopatra.

medusa make-up closeup.

mummy bride + gangnam style guy. (sigh. my son changed his costume about 5 times last year. this was what he settled on. the night BEFORE halloween!)

teen wolf.


teen wolf (close-up) talking on the phone and WAAAAAAY too busy to take a picture....
(wish you could get the full effect of the creepy red contact lenses! they were expensive, but made all the difference!)

be sure to check out my HALLOWEEN pinterest board--i have all of the goodies from years past, including some scanned images that are some of the most pinned images from my blog!

PS---i have been having some HUGE issues with my pinterest account. about 5 months ago, there was some glitch that stopped the counter going up on my followers, and would not allow certain people to follow me. i kept waiting for them to resolve the issue, and they finally did! so---if you *thought you were following me, and then for some reason you weren't, that is why! try again--all is finally well!
CLICK HERE to follow me. (again.)