Happy Halloween

 Wishing you the spookiest of Halloween evenings!  We are looking forward to our annual Halloween tradition of pizza, friends and trick or treating!

 My oldest found this cookie "recipe" in her kid cookbook and we couldn't resist.  All you need are Famous Chocolate Wafer cookies, store bought icing (white but we only had colored) and plastic spiders.  Wouldn't the red and blue cookies be darling for a Spiderman party?

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3rd Grade Halloween Party

I'm the room parent for my 3rd grade daughter's class which means I'm in charge of planning both class parties - Halloween and Valentine's Day.  I have to say 3rd graders are a bit out of my wheel house.  Yes, I know I have one but I don't have a whole class full!  The highest grade I taught was 2nd, youngest Kindergarten.  I could plan a Kindergarten party with my eyes closed.  Needless to say in putting this party together I needed lots of hand holding from my 3rd grader.

Her teacher mentioned she liked a station format for parties where students rotate between activities.  With that in mind here are the stations I, er I mean we came up with:

Source: annies-eats.com via Varia on Pinterest

Station 1:  Decorating sugar cookies.  Class party standard if you ask me.

Station 2: Spoooky Mad Libs.  Templates found here.

Station 3: Pumpkin estimation - how much does the pumpkin weigh?  What is it's circumference?  Hey,  a little math thrown into the party can't hurt.  This station will also have a beaded pumpkin ornament for kids to make.  Idea found here. Picture by Naturally Educational.

Source: lmnop.com.au via Ingri on Pinterest

Station 4: Potato print skeletons.  I was inspired by these darling shirts.  Kids will print onto black paper.  Will likely have some halved apples there too for pumpkin prints.

Are you planning a class party this year?  Any words of advice? 

Pumpkin Patch

 Last weekend we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with the cousins.  In the rain.  Our first trip in the rain.  The bright side of the rain was that it kept the crowds at home and the pumpkin patch relatively peaceful.  Pumpkins were picked, cousins were silly and lots and lots of mud was hosed off of boots.

 

Finally, a Burst of Creativity!

I owe it all to Ed Emberley and to my oldest for checking his book out of the library.  I felt the charge as the idea came to me.  I turned off my inner nay-sayer, ran upstairs for some fabric and starting cutting.  The result - 5 Halloween shirts! 

 

Silly girls strike a pose -

How do you get out of a rut?  Creative or otherwise.  I think mine was a bit of both.  

 

Happy Halloween

From Gus the Bat Cat
(2 cat posts in a row.  I'm one purple sweatshirt away from being a crazy cat lady) 

Bat wing inspiration found here.

Hilarious Halloween Book

Eva and I read this book together tonight and it was so wonderfully hilarious I had to share it with you.  On each page of the book there is a Halloween themed tongue twister.  And for some reason they are funny.  Giggly funny.  We had quite a laugh trying these out at various speeds.   Our all time favorite - Which witch's britches itch? Try that 5 times fast.

Another great Halloween book here.

Halloweening

I have 2 little girls who have been chopping at the bit (aka harassing their mother) to decorate for Halloween.  Decorating for Halloween is really something we've never done.  Since Halloween isn't celebrated in Luxembourg it made no sense to decorate there and before then, well, it just wasn't in me.  To be fair I still don't really think Halloween decorating is in me.  But with my girls so into it and so vocal about being into it I had to make it happen.

We hung a giant spider web on the front porch and made big, black spiders to hang on the web.  We added a garland of ghosts (made from plastic bags) and our pumpkins from the patch and I do think our house is looking festive and spooky indeed.

Here is how we made our big spiders.  They are nice and light so they don't pull your web down.


Materials:
Large black plastic garbage bag
Clear packing tape
Stuffing (you could also use crumpled newspaper or old packing material)
Paper or newspaper
Scissors

Step 1:
Cut a rough 12X12 inch square from your garbage bag.

Step 2:
Put a handful of stuffing in the middle of the square.  Pull up the edges of the garbage bag around your stuffing and secure with packing tape. This will be your spider's body. 

Step 3:
Cut a rough 5X5 inch square from your garbage bag. Repeat Step 2 with this square.  This will be your spider's head.
Step 4:
Attach the head to the body with packing tape.
Step 5: 
Cut a rough rectangle from your garbage bag of about 12X4 inches.
 
Step 6:
Cut a piece of paper slightly smaller than your rectangle.  Place the paper on top of your garbage bag rectangle.
Step 7:
Roll the paper and garbage bag together.  Secure the end with packing tape. This will be one of your spider's legs.
Step 8:
Repeat steps 5-7 until you have the desired amount of legs. Although spiders have 8 legs we felt that 6 (and four in one case) were enough.  

Step 9:
Attach to spider web with packing tape.



Halloween Posts from Previous Years:

Jack-o-lantern shirts to DYE for
Spooky Food
Halloween Picture Book
Kool-aid Cupcakes
 Halloween Brownie Bites
Noodle Necklaces
Craft Stick Mummies 
Tootsie Pop Ghosts

In Search of the Perfect Pumpkin

An annual outing to the pumpkin patch had always been a tradition we shared with my SIL, BIL and nieces.  We were very happy that the tradition continued upon our return from Luxembourg.  This year we visited Jubilee Farm in Carnation. 

Tractor pulled wagons brought us out to the pumpkin fields and our quest began.  Most of the pumpkins were huge!  This suited Eva just fine.  Audrey found an orange gourd about the size of a tennis ball which she vehemently insisted be her pumpkin. Back at the barn with our pumpkins safely by our sides we watched as a catapult heaved a pumpkin way in the air only to land and be smashed into smithereens.  Children quickly gathered the pieces and fed them to the resident pigs.   In addition to a pumpkin catapult, Jubilee Farm also offered pony rides (for an additional cost) and sold organic produce.

There is something about mucking around in a muddy pumpkin patch in the crisp fresh air that just feels like fall.  Don't you agree? 

Bites of Brownie - Halloween Style

I was instantly enchanted by these Brownie Bites made by, the amazing, Pioneer Woman. Enchanted, mind you, but not made hungry. You see my fantasy surrounding these Brownies had nothing to do with consumption (strangely enough!) When my mind drifted to these Brownies I was not eating them, I was making them. Or just being around them. Admiring their cuteness, their clever toppings. So when my girls had a bake sale at school I knew exactly what I was going to contribute.

I decided to decorate my Brownie Bites for Halloween. I was lucky enough to get the last bag of candy corn for sale at the AWCL. I used brownie mix (also from the AWCL) instead of making them from scratch like PW. I am only a mere mortal after all.

In all honestly this project was terribly frustrating. It had nothing to do with the recipe. I'm sure it was due to the fact that I was following an American recipe but using European ingredients. I couldn't get the chocolate coating right. My first dark chocolate batch started out okay but slowly turned thick, more like frosting. In desperation I melted down a chocolate bar to finish up.

I also attempted to make a white chocolate coating. Ha. That turned out like milk. Was the chocolate different? The cream? Was it the golden syrup I used instead of light corn syrup? Who knows. It was disappointing. But the chocolate half turned out looking alright. The half that was supposed to be coated with white chocolate ended up with a peachy, orangey glaze drizzled over it.

The thing is I'm still thinking about these darn things. Valentines day? Can you picture them with Conversation Hearts? Christmas? Think sugared cranberries on top. Crushed candy cane. Are you with me?

I'll make 'em again. Maybe I'll just wait til I hit U.S. soil again, though.

**Even taking photos of these little cuties was hard! Do you even have those days? Naturally I made them late at night when my kitchen is lit like a cave. I saved 4 to photograph during the day, but those photos didn't turn out much better. Boo hoo. Here are some cave photos if you're interested.

Lollipop Ghosts

A classic, an old stand-by, a no-brainer - The Lollipop Ghost. All you need are lollipops, napkins, string and a marker. These are great as favors, decorations or simple party crafts.

Instead of string you can use twist-ties. Twist-ties are slightly easier for kids although they'll still need your help holding the lollipop. Since Luxembourg is a rather formal country, I gave my ghost a red bow-tie. Think he could use a top hat too.

Look at Jo's Ghostie Pops. Crafty minds think alike :)

Halloween Party

The AWCL is also hosting a Halloween party. It is geared towards the little kiddos, up to age 6. I've helped organize it which has been fun.

One of the crafts we're going to have at the party is making macaroni necklaces. I saw this post on the Crafty Crow and decided to dye our pasta in Halloween colors - Orange, green and purple. The dyeing process called for rubbing alcohol, which at home in the U.S. is no problem. Here, however, it proved to be a bit problematic. After consulting with a few people it seemed I'd have to buy it at a pharmacy where it was sold in little glass bottles for 5,00 euros!! Luckily I found it at the grocery store (next to the band-aids) in slightly bigger bottles for 2,50. Still expensive compared to U.S. standards.

The dyeing directions say to completely cover the pasta in the rubbing alcohol and food coloring mix. Economically, that just wasn't a sane thing for me to do. So, I filled the zip lock bag up enough so that one side of the pasta was soaking in the alcohol when I laid the bag on it's side. I left it over night and flipped the bag over the next morning and left it another day. It worked out just fine. I also used the rubbing alcohol for 2 batches of pasta. After taking out the first batch I just added a few more drops of dye and then put in more pasta to soak.

Bottom line is, you can do this project with much less rubbing alcohol than is called for. Boy, that was a long explanation for something very simple. I'm wordy. It drives me crazy.

I'll tell ya about our other craft tomorrow. It's a classic.

Here are a few Halloween ideas from last year:

Halloween shirts to dye for
Mummies
Kool-aid cupcakes
Spooky Food

Trick or Treat

Tonight was the American Women's Club of Luxemourg's (AWCL) Trick or Treat night. There was a great turn-out. The kids had a wonderful time. Are you wondering how trick or treating works in a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween? This is how: The AWCL supplies Halloween candy to a neighborhood that agrees to participate in the evening. Houses that are giving out candy have a sign and balloons in front of them. Works great!

No, this isn't a travel post - part 2

Just some Halloween cards. Saw this idea on The Crafty Crow, pumpkins from apple prints. It was the perfect rainy afternoon project. Eva loved the process of stamping with the apple but not the result. After each apple print she immediately fixed it with her paintbrush. I love the look of printing and made a few cards my self. We tried printing with a carrot. Apples were more fun.

I love Audrey's jack-o-lantern with ears.