Healthy Halloween Treats for Kids

Our kids are overloaded with sugar this time of year, so for school/friend Halloween treats, we took a ‘healthier’ route. I know Halloween is 2 days away – where does the time go? These are super simple treats you can do in an hour or two…even if it’s the night before your kid’s school Halloween party….like me.

Cutie Pumpkin

How To:
Buy a bag of clementines.
Use a black sharpie to draw pumpkin faces on the pumpkin.
Wrap a toothpick with a green Pipe Cleaner, leaving a nail-length space on the bottom to insert in the top of the Clementine.
Stick the toothpick in the top of the Clementine.

Halloween BOOty
{get it…BOO-ty with actual Pirate’s Booty?}

How To:
Buy small cellophane bags, twine/ribbon and bag of Pirate’s Booty {if you haven’t tried Pirate’s Booty before…you are missing out on this gluten-free goodness – GO BUY IT}.
Print off our Halloween BOOty labels, by the one and only Jenna, of Fleur de Lis, a paperie.
Go here to download them for FREE.
Fill the cellophane bag with BOOty.
Wrap the bag with twine, and attach label.

 {images via Tutto Bella}

last minute

…it’s my style. No matter how much I try to prepare, I am always doing things at the last-minute. So Halloween is no different this year for me. Here’s some last-minute Halloween ideas that you can easily do, and still impress your guests, or kids. Some can even lengthen the ‘fall’ holidays {Halloween and Thanksgiving}, because the idea may be relevant for both occasions.

Pumpkin Punch, Honestly Yum

Fang Napkin Holders, Food Network

Pumpkin and Ghost Sharpie Balloons, Pinterest

Spider Ice Cubes, Love This Pic

Pumpkin Cooler, Southern Living

Mummy Door, Honey and Fitz

In the Fun Lane, Ravens and Driftwood
I love the idea of using branches or driftwood with Halloween decor…and I love the candles too 

{images via Southern Living, Honestly YumPinterest, Food Network, Love This Pic, Honey and Fitz and In the Fun Lane}

honey bear

This is the cutest honey bear I’ve ever seen! Seriously, it’s so creative, and sweet! This would be darling decor during the month of October or at Thanksgiving.

My sister-in-law’s friend Molly shared a tutorial of this adorable project with us today. She was inspired by a similar honey bear she saw in her PT clinic in North Carolina. Thank you, Molly, for sharing it with us.

Here’s her inspiration…

And, here’s her ‘take’ on it. Job well done, Molly.

From Molly…I bought three large pumpkins.  One for the Honey pot.  Two for the bear. For the honey pot, you can see how I carved a top out and then obviously scooped out the “guts.”  I wrote HONEY with a pencil and then took various tools–mostly different screw drivers to carve each letter.  Make sure to leave enough room in between so the letters can be fairly thick. You can fill the honey pot with candy (in a bag). 

The bottom part of the bear–I just cut off the stem of that pumpkin because it was a fairly flat pumpkin, and then I placed the top pumpkin on top of the bottom one.  I thought it might fall off, but it never did.  I didn’t want to cut the bottom one for risk of rotting.  I cut the stem off the top pumpkin also.  The ears are just small-sized pumpkin that I sliced off part of each one so it would fit against the head.  I actually used heavy-duty toothpicks to stick into the ears and into the head.  I did the same thing for the nose.  The eyes were made of a different pumpkin and on those I actually cut off the end and them scraped them out.  I only stuck a toothpick into the head and just let the eyes rest on it.
The feet are a type of squash that I just laid at the base of the bottom pumpkin.  The arms were a little difficult in that toothpicks would not hold them so I used very small dowel rods and put them into the large pumpkin, and then into the arms.  A scarf was placed around the head and body.  I finished it off with pinecones and colored leaves.
Tip from Molly: I googled how to “preserve” a pumpkin but did not have success.  I tried to clorox the first honey pot, and then added shellac on it, but it still rotted after about 5 days.  I’m sure it would do great outdoors or in cooler weather. 
{images via Molly}

diy halloween

In addition to the DIY hot glue gun spider webs, I wanted to add a little Halloween touch to our table. I like the colors of the original candy corn, but can’t stand the taste, so with a little yarn, paint and some diy tips, this simple Halloween table came to life in an afternoon, without having to eat a single candy corn.

I found the best way to make yarn pom poms was to follow Creature Comforts video tutorial. She explains it so well, and you will be addicted! Very easy and cute! I used yarn to tie them to one another to make a ‘yarn chandelier’.

As far as the BOO treat station, as we call it, I bought wood letters from Hobby Lobby, and wrapped them in yellow, orange and white yarn {inspired by the candy corn}. I didn’t follow a tutorial, just did it as I went along, but My Sister’s Suitcase has a similar approach to the one I took, and they provide a great tutorial. I took a piece of raw wood from the garage, painted it white, and used a circle-shaped brush to add black polka dots to it. Once dry, I used a hot glue gun to glue the letters and candy container in place. It was simple, and the kids love it…as it’s their favorite spot to stop at the end of the day for a treat.

{images via Tutto Bella}

pumpkin dip

If you’re looking for that easy, no-bake, semi-healthy appetizer for this year’s Thanksgiving party, snack for the kiddos or even a treat to share at the office this week, look no further. This pumpkin dip is delish.

Pumpkin Dip
recipe adapted from friend and former colleague, Elizabeth

1 8oz package cream cheese
1 can {15 oz} pumpkin puree
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ginger

 Serve with ginger snaps, apples, graham crackers and pears.

{images via Tutto Bella}