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 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 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