Halloween!

We're actually having a Halloween party this year! Ro has a few little friends (more like I have a few mom friends who have kids Ro's age), and some people from the neighborhood are going to come over. We'll have some snacks, some games for the kiddos, and maybe some liquor for the adults.

Now, we're trying to do this on a budget. (Chris has this whole "If we want to retire when we're 40 you can't buy coffee" sort of mentality right now.) So, to Pinterest it is (I needed a reason?). Also, some of the mommas are a little crunchy, so I'm looking for non-candy things to serve.

First Things First, Costumes:

Ro has been "Roar!"-ing for a few weeks now, so I decided he would enjoy being a monster for Halloween. (At first we had an idea to all be "60's Horror Movie Characters", because he looks like a child from Village of the Damned. I could be Rosemary's Baby, and just wear a nightgown and carry around my weird knitted Childbirth Ed doll, and Chris could be the guy from the Shining. But then I realized that Ro is old enough to 1) know what Halloween is, sort of, and 2) know what things are scary. So I didn't want things to be too scary, and also that I he wouldn't understand the irony of his costume. So Monster/Dinosaur it is.)

Plus this costume idea is relatively free.



1 Sweatshirt (which he needed anyway)
3 Sponges (which we had under the sink)
Additional spots/teeth made of felt (which I had leftover from R's car mat)

And the best part, the sponges are glued to a string that I just pinned to the sweatshirt, so as of November 1, it magically becomes a sweatshirt again (though I may leave the felt teeth).



Still working on mine. Is "Monster Wrangler" a thing?


Snacks:

For munching and mingling ...

Grave-yard 7-layer dip. Adorb.


Sweet Chex Mix with Reese's Pieces. Crack.



Hot ...

Mummies in a Blanket


Witch Fingers (mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce)


Macaroni Jack-o-Lantern. Carve a round loaf like a pumpkin!



To take home, Apple Leather (a.k.a. Healthy Fruit Roll-ups)



Drink:

Apple Cider in the cast-iron "cauldron"
(Maybe a 'Witch's Brew' sign on it?)


Decor:
(again, remember I'm on a budget)

I love these vintagey banners. Banners are so easy to make (just print, cut, tape over a string or piece of yarn, tack to wall. Boom. Decorated).


Spider-Web made from Trash Bag. Genius.


Paper Bats



Treats (for Kids):

A cross between ...


and ...


and you get ...

(Revised pattern and printable here).

They're a little small, which is GREAT for the whole budget thing, because I can only fit a fit a few little treats. Maybe some candy corn and a pack of stickers.


Games:

Monster Bowling

(Ro got these for his birthday from Uncle Josh, and they've been put away for a few months so he'll be super excited to see them again)

Pumpkin Decorating
I'm thinking each kid gets a little gourd, and I'll give them crayons, markers, stickers. I figure they can't do too much damage.

Coloring

This site has all sorts of coloring pages for all different topics/holidays. I'll print out a few and let them go nuts.

I figure those, plus all of Ro's toys (which all the kids will love because they belong to someone else) will keep them entertained for 2 hours.

Origami Goody Bag

In searching for a pattern for a cute Halloween goody bag that did not include the directions, "Take a Paper Bag and ..." (because that involves purchasing paper bags, and not stealing copy paper from my office), I came across this page:



Cute, but two issues: 1) the bag has the folds in the front, which makes drawing/printing a picture on it tricky, and 2) the page is in French. So I had to do a little playing.

In the end it's a really simple design, as long as you fold the paper in the right places FIRST. I've re-created the French directions below, but I also designed a cute printable template. This shows exactly where to fold the paper from the beginning (flat), so once you get all triangular and you know, folded, it's not so hard. It also shows you where to place your picture, if you want a picture.

Here we go:

1) Start with a sheet of 8.5X11" paper (paper with pictures shown below)



2) Fold the lower-right corner up to make a right-triangle. The top edges should be flush. Unfold.




3) Fold the upper-right corner up to make a right-triangle. Bottom edges should be flush. Unfold.




4) Fold the top edge down and the bottom edge up in thirds. Top end should be flush with seam of bottom fold. Unfold. (Later I will cause this crease the "1/3 crease")




5) Turn over and fold paper in half longways (hot-dog).




6) Pinch opposite diagonal folds and bring together. The intersection of the diagonal folds will become a point. Close into a triangle with folded rectangle on left side. (I know, that's the really tricky part. The pictures probably make more sense than my words.)





7) Fold Left flat along the "1/3 crease".




8) Fold right flap along the "1/3 crease".




9) Fold top point down. Unfold.




10) Turn over and repeat steps 7, 8, and 9. (Later I will call these the "1/3 folds".)




11) Fold bottom square up to crease. Unfold. Turn over and repeat.




12) Fold longways (hot-dog) to crease. Unfold. Turn over and repeat.




13) Cut along creases of bottom square.




14) Flatten top point into square, keeping "1/3 folds" together.



15) Fold the "bottom square" of each "1/3 fold" down into box.




16) Fold down flap of final "bottom square".



17) Fold the sides in, bringing the front and back top edges together.




18) Fold flap over.



19) Decorate and fill with goodies (optional, but recommended).





Here is a basic layout of where a picture would go.



Here are some digital layers. Print at 8.5x11" paper.

Fold Lines


Layout for Image



I also have this as a MS Publisher File. If you've come across this and want to edit it yourself, lemme know and I can find a way to upload that as well.

Needs some Halloween gift bags?