31 Days Series: Day 31

 Happy Halloween and I hope you have enjoyed making these crafts and snacks with your kids this month as much as my girls and I did!  One last snack idea...take some of the things you have left from making the snacks this month and throw them together for a quick Halloween snack mix.  (pretzels, candy corn, popcorn, gummy worms, almond slices, M&M's, Reeces Pieces, small pieces of graham crackers, etc.) Great to take to a Halloween get together or just a snack to keep on hand for the kids.  Here's the last craft for this month....enjoy!!

Monster Feet

 This craft is your chance to be as creative as you would like.  Make your monster feet unique as you are! 

Supplies:

-rectangular tissue boxes (2 per child)

-paint (whatever color your want your feet to be)

-sequins, pom poms, fake fur, whatever you like!

-glue

-craft foam for the claws (green or yellow are good choices)

Directions:

1.  paint the tissue boxes (you don't need to paint the bottom)

2.  Let dry.

3. Cut triangle pieces from the foam and glue them on for claws.

4.  Decorate your monster feet however you choose.

5.  Let the glue dry.

6.  Stomp around the house!

Here's how our feet turned out:

I put all kinds of craft stuff on the table and told the girls to have at it :)  I have to say, they were definitely creative!

Here's our Halloween snack mix:

I got the bowl at Dollar General for  $1 - $2.

 Idea from: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/monster_feet_craft.htm 

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31 Days Series: Day 30

 Salty Bones
This would be a great snack or on the buffet table at a party or you could put a Halloween twist on pizza night!

Supplies:
-1 tube of refrigerated breadstick dough
-coarse salt
-marinara dipping sauce

Directions:
1  Open the tube of dough and separate the pieces.
2.  Take one piece of dough and roll it, stretch it out a little.
3.  Using a knife or scissors, cut a 1 1/2 inch slit into the center of both ends.
3.  Shape the ends you cut into knobs.
4.  Put dough on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with some coarse salt.
5. Bake until dough is golden brown, 375 degrees for 10-13 minutes.
6.  Serve with marinara dipping sauce aka "blood"

 I was slightly distracted when I was making these and totally forgot the coarse salt...ahhh darn!

Idea from:  http://spoonful.com/recipes/salty-bones?print=true

31 Days Series: Day 29

 Toliet Paper Bats
 This craft is fun for the kids to make and if you add some little treats inside, they are great to have at parties or share with friends.  If you do not have card stock, use construction paper...that's what we did. *tip: Use chalk or white crayon to draw out your wing pattern.

Supplies:
-toilet roll tube or you can cut a paper towel roll tube into smaller pieces
-grey or black card stock
 -black paint
-string or yarn to hang-you can get black shoe laces (3 pairs per pack) at the dollar store and use them to hang
-wiggle eyes
-double sided tape
-small candies (optional)

Directions:
1.  Paint your toilet paper tube black.
2.  Let dry.
3.  Poke a hole through the top, center of the tube and put your string in so you can hang your bat up.
4.  Cut two wings from your card stock.
5.  Tape your wing to both sides of the tube.
6.  At the ends of the tube, push the sides in so they fold over each other and close the tube up.
7. If you want to share this with friends or have at a party, add some small pieces of candy inside before you close the tube up.

Idea from: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/toilet_roll_bat.htm

31 Days Series: Day 27

 Ghosts Treat Holders

This is about as simple as it gets...yet still super cute!  Great to have at parties to hold some goodies or to give as a Halloween teacher gift.  I got these pots at Wal-Mart for $1.50.

Supplies:

-small white plant pots (or paint another color pot with white paint)

-black permanent marker or paint pen

Directions:

1.  Using your marker or paint pen, draw two eyes and a mouth on the pot.

2.  Optional:  draw on a pink bow to make it a girl ghost :)

31 Days Series: Day 26

 Witch Hats

Very simple snack to make with kids or to have out on the buffet table at a Halloween party.

Supplies:

-Keebler Fudge Strip cookies (1 per hat)

-Hersey kisses (1 per hat)

-orange frosting

Directions:

1.  Unwrap a Hersey kiss.

2.  Add a dollop of orange frosting on the bottom of it.

3.  Place down in the middle of an upside-down Fudge Strip cookie.

 Idea from:  https://pinterest.com/pin/96757091963818394/

31 Days Series: Day 25

 Halloween Candles

This is a fun and easy way to brighten up your Halloween decorations.
You can get glass candle holders in all sorts of shapes and sizes at Dollar Tree.  You can be as creative as you want to with this craft.  It can be as simple as wrapping tissue paper around the glass jar or you can take it a little farther and add Halloween shaped cut outs. Since my kids are 4 & 5 we stuck with the simple version :)

Supplies:
-glass jars (small mason jars or glass candle holders work great)
-tissue paper-white, orange, purple and/or black
-black construction paper
-candles to fit in your jars
-scissors
-glue (we used glue sticks)

Directions:
1.  Wrap your jar in tissue paper (use your glue to make it stick).
2.  Insert a candle.
3.  Light it!

If you want to get a little more creative click here for some templates.

Here are some decorative ideas from  Activity Village :
 Pumpkin face - use orange tissue paper and cut out a lantern face before wrapping around the jar.
Spider web - use white tissue paper, having first drawn a spider web onto it with black felt tip pen. You could attach a small plastic spider into the middle of the web for a 3D effect.
Bats - use white tissue paper. Cut a number of small bat shapes out of black construction paper and glue them to the tissue paper randomly.
Witch - use purple tissue paper. Stick on a selection of silver stars and add, towards the bottom of the jar, a black cat cut out of black construction paper.

This is what the girls came up with...a mummy, a witch, a jack-o-lantern and a ghost. Like I said, they are still young but you can be creative if you want to and get a little more decorative with yours!

Idea from:   http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/halloween_candle_jars.htm

31 Days Series: Day 24

 Slimy Jello Snacks

This is a fun after school snack to have ready for the kids or an after dinner treat or a great treat to serve at Halloween parties.

Supplies:

-a box of green Jello (lime or apple)
-a box of another color of Jello: red, blue or purple works well
-8 oz mason jars or similar glass bowl or cup (1 per child)
-gummy worms (4-6 per child)

Directions:
1.  Using the directions on the box, prepare the green Jello.
2.  Divide among your glass containers.  Only fill them halfway up.
3.  Refridgerate them until Jello is firm.
4.  Prepare the second box of Jello.
5.  Before you add the second Jello in the container, put a few gummy worms in the glass and dangle 1-2 over the side.
6.  Pour Jello on top of gummy worms, filling glass to the top.
7.  Refridgerate until top Jello is firm.
8.  Serve!

My girls wanted to try the sour gummy worms so that's what we used this time.

Idea from:  http://www.parenting.com/article/slimy-jell-o-snacks

31 Days Series: Day 23

Terra-Cotta Jack-O-Lanterns

Great party Halloween party favors!  You can get all sizes of pots at Michael's. I got the three smallest sizes and they were $.59, $.69, $.89 a piece.  If you can't find terra-cotta pots you can use small plastic ones.  The paint won't stick as well or show up quite as well but we gave it a try anyway just to see. (pic below)

Supplies:

-mini terra-cotta pots

-yellow craft paint

-fine tip black marker

Directions:

1. Add a Jack-O-Lantern face to your pot with the yellow paint.

2.  Let dry.

3.  Outline the face with your fine tip black marker.

4.  Put some Halloween candies in your Jack-O-Lantern. 
**After some trial and error (that's why only one of the plastic pots got photographed) I found the easiest way for my children (ages 4 & 5) to make the face, was for me to draw it on with the marker first then let them paint inside the lines with the yellow paint.  Then after they painted, I went back over the lines again with the permanent marker. You can decide what's best for your kids depending on their age. 

Here are our terra-cotta pots.

This is the plastic one.

Idea from:  http://crafts.kaboose.com/pumpkin-jack-o-lantern-pots.html

31 Days Series: Day 22

 Hand & Footprint Ghosts

This is fun to do each year so the kids can see how much bigger their "ghosts" are from the last Halloween.  You can even use these ghosts to decorate the front of handmade party invites!  This is a craft that even the littlest member of the family can join in on.

Supplies:

-white paint

-black construction paper

-scissors

-black paint or black permanent marker

-glue stick

Directions:

1. Paint your child's hand or foot with white paint.

2.  Have them place their painted hand or food onto the black construction paper.

3.  Let the paint dry.

4.  Add eyes and maybe a mouth with your black paint or marker.

5.  Cut the "ghost" out and hang it up for a cute Halloween decoration.

I gave my girls the supplies and let them have at it :)

After doing this with my kids, I saw an idea on Pinterest to do this with each child's hand or foot print on a black painted canvas as a Halloween keepsake.  I just had to do it.  Here's how it turned out...

I also used this idea from Pinterest to paint my canvas:

Put push pins into the back of the canvas so it will be off the counter enough to paint sides and not get paint on the counter.

31 Days Series: Day 21

 Pretzel Skeletons

Let the kids make an edible craft today. The supplies needed are used in several of the snacks so hopefully you will have them all already in your pantry.

Supplies:

-peanut butter/almond butter

-rectangular crackers (we used graham crackers)

-pretzel twists, sticks, rings

-chocolate chips (we used regular and mini)

Directions:

1.  Spread the peanut butter on one of the rectangular crackers.

2.  Using your pretzels, make a skeleton shape on top of the peanut butter.

(You will need to break some of the pretzels into smaller pieces.)

3.  Decorate faces with chocolate chips or other small edible items. 

Adapted from: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/appetizers-snacks/mr-bones/

31 Days Series: Day 20

 Spooky Brownies

Take a regular treat and turn it into something to share for Halloween.

Supplies:

-brownie mix (and the ingredients the box calls for)

-Halloween shaped cookie cutters-from one to as many as you want

*I got a container of 18 Halloween cookie cutters at Wal-Mart for $8.97

-powdered sugar

-small candies or tube of icing

Directions:

1.  Bake the brownies as directed on box.

2.  Let cool.

3. Use cookie cutters to cut brownies into Halloween shapes.

*I did have some trouble getting my cut brownies out of the pan, so make sure you spray your pan with cooking spray and use a butter knife to help pry the brownies out in one piece.

4.  Add eyes, etc and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

We used a cauldron, tombstone, cat, spider and bat cookie cutters.  You can use mini M&M's for the eyes.  I had tube of orange icing so I used that.
**I have definitely gotten my money out of the cookie cutter set because I use them to make my daughter's sandwiches into Halloween shapes for her school lunch. She loves it and can't wait to see what shape she gets in her lunch box that day!

31 Days Series: Day 19

 Paper Plate Ghost

This is a great craft to do at a party.  If your kids are older, they can do everything for themselves.  If you have younger ones, you can pre-cut the face, streamers and arms and they can glue them on. 

Supplies:
-white paper plates (2 per ghost)
-white streamers
-black construction paper
-white construction paper
-ribbon, string or yarn
-hole punch
-scissors
-glue

Directions:
1.  Cut 8 pieces of streamer and 2 arms (from white construction paper).
2.  Glue streamers and arms to the backside of one plate.
3.  Glue the other paper plate to the backside of the first one (covers up with mess).
3.  Cut out two eyes and a mouth from the black construction paper. Glue them on the to make a face.  **If you want to make a two sided ghost, give the other plate face too.

this is my four year olds ghost :)

Idea from: http://cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-party-ideas.html

31 Days Series: Day 18

 Halloween Indoor Smores

This is a fun and easy snack that you won't have to build a camp fire for. 

Supplies:

-graham crackers

-Nutella (or similar chocolate/hazelnut spread)

-marshmallow fluff

-Halloween sprinkles

Directions:

1.  Break graham cracker into squares.

2.  Spread Nutella on one cracker square and fluff on another cracker square.

3.  Put the squares together.

4.  Optional step: Put cracker "sandwich" in microwave for 8-10 seconds.

5.  Dip the sides of the cracker into sprinkles.  You can use orange and black or any Halloween themed sprinkles. (We used black & yellow bugs)

Idea from:  http://www.bhg.com/halloween/recipes/halloween-treats-kids-can-make/#page=17

31 Days Series: Day 16

 Yummy Fingers

A healthy Halloween snack!  Great snack for after school or to have on the buffet table at a party.  Just remember to serve with plenty of baby carrots so your "fingers" won't get eaten!

Supplies:

-You can use store bought ranch dressing/dip or make you own with this easy homemade ranch recipe.

-carrots-washed and peeled (5 for each bowl-4 long ones and 1 slightly shorter one)

-almond slices (1 per finger)

-small bowl

Directions:

1.  Put your ranch dip into the small bowl.

2.  Place 5 carrots in dip, standing up

3. Put a dap of ranch on the ends of the carrots.
4.  Place an almost slice on each dab of ranch.

Idea from:  http://spoonful.com/recipes/carrot-finger-food

31 Days Series: Day 15

 Graveyard Dirt

You might remember this fun treat from your childhood.  You can let your kids help you make this but I made it ahead of time and gave it to my kids for a fun after dinner dessert.  You don't need many supplies for this one so its low cost!

Supplies:
-instant chocolate pudding
-crushed cookie part of an Oreo (or we used chocolate graham crackers)
-gummy worms
-small clear plastic or glass cups

Directions:
1.  Make pudding according to package.
2.  Spoon it into your small plastic or glass cup.
Place gummy worms in pudding, sticking out of the top.
4.  Put cookies/graham crackers in a baggie and crush them.
5.  Sprinkle cookies/graham crackers on top.

31 Days Series: Day 14

 Lollipop Ghosts
Super easy craft and treat rolled into one.  These are great little things to let your kids make for their friends or for Halloween parties.

Supplies:
-lollipops (1 per ghost)
-tissue (1 per ghost)
-dental floss or white twist tie (we used dental floss)
-black permanent marker

Directions:
1.  Place tissue over the sucker.
2.  At base of the sucker, use floss or twist tie to secure tissue in place.
3.  Draw eyes and mouth on ghost.
4.  Share with friends.

31 Days Series: Day 13

 Snack-O-Lantern

A healthy snack with a Halloween twist!  
Goes great as a side dish to the Mummy dogs!

Supplies:

-Navel Orange

-Fresh cut-up fruit

Directions:

1.  Cut the top off of the orange and cut the inside fruit out.

2.  Cut up the orange slices you cut out and mix it with other fresh fruit pieces.

3.  Cut a little jack-o-lantern face into one side of the orange skin.

4.  Fill the hallowed out orange up with the fresh cut up fruit.

Recipe from: http://spoonful.com/recipes/snack-o-lantern

31 Days Series: Day 12

 Broomstick Bookmarks
 Cute craft for kids to make and give to friends or to make at a Halloween party.  I couldn't find the wide popsicle sticks at the dollar store but they were at Wal-Mart...$2.47 for 75. 

Supplies:
-wide popsicle stick
-brown craft foam
-cord, string, small ribbon
-sticky foam letters or stickers
-glue

Directions:
1.  Cut the shape (below) out of foam.
2.  Glue the shape onto the popsicle stick. Let dry.
3.  Cut "bristles" into the foam.
4. Stick foam letters or stickers onto the broom handle.  

The pack of foam we bought didn't have any brown in it so I let my girls choose from other "Halloween colors."  Palmer was set on brown so I just used construction paper for hers.  Here's what they came up with...

Craft from: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/broomstick_bookmark.htm

31 Days Series: Day 11

 Sock Bats

This is something I learned to make when I was student teaching under an awesome first grade teacher.  For the stuffing, my girls and I used tissues from the tissue boxes we needed for the Monster Feet craft.  That way I didn't feel like we were wasting tissues.  Most of this stuff you probably already have around the house so it should be a pretty cheap craft!

Supplies:

-black dress socks (1 per bat)

-something to use as stuffing (tissue, paper towels, newspaper, etc)

-buttons or wiggle eyes (2 per bat)

-red puff paint

-black construction paper

-string

-white glue

Directions:

1.  Stuff the black dress sock with tissues or some other kind of stuffing. Don't stuff it all the way full...leave some room to tie the sock off so the stuffing won't fall out.

2.  Tie the sock with your string.  We had some black balloon string from some birthday balloons so we used that.

3.  Take two buttons and glue them on for the eyes.

4.  Use the red puff paint to draw on a mouth and fangs.

5.  Cut out some wings from the black construction paper.  To draw a pattern, fold black paper in half, draw a pattern with white chalk and cut it out.  When you are done cutting, you will have two matching wings.

6.  Glue the wings onto the back of your bat with the white glue.

7.  After the glue dries, you can hang your bat (upside down of course) from a curtain rod, suction cup hook, etc.

31 Days Series: Day 10

 Monster Hands

This is snack you may remember making when you were a kid.  I remember making it back in elementary school.  This is an easy idea for kids to make and enjoy after school or to have or make at Halloween parties.

Supplies:

-clear plastic gloves aka "lunch lady gloves"

-popcorn

-candy corn (5 per hand)

-twist tie

Directions:

1. Put a piece of candy corn (with the point in first) in each finger of the glove.

2.  Fill the glove up with popcorn, but not too full so you can close it up.

3.  Put a twist tie on so the popcorn won't fall out.

Not sure if you can see but the hands have a Halloween ring on the ring finger.  They are cheap...you can get a whole bag of them at the dollar store.  Great little addition if you will be having these at a party.

I found these "gloves" left over from my teaching days so we used them but the clear gloves will work just fine!! You will actually be able to see the candy corn "fingernails" better with clear gloves.