Halloween Party Supplies {Etsy}

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If you love hosting Halloween parties, Etsy has SO many fun ideas!! I've compiled a few ideas to make your party a success - treats, decor, printables, costumes, and more. ( I'm wishing I had a baby girl right now just to dress her up like a Cabbage Patch Kid!)

Happy Shopping!

Chocolate Haunted House Kit

Cookie Rolling Pin

Ghost Cookies

Invitation

Party Printables

Photo Props

Bugs & Kisses Party Favor Printable

Boo Sign

Tassel Garland

Peanuts Yard Art

Baby Twins Costume

Cabbage Patch Hats

Group Costumes

This post contains affiliate links. I make a small commission for purchases made through the links in this post. Thank you!

Literacy Musing Mondays Linkup: Approaching Halloween as a Christian Mom

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How Should Christian Moms Approach Halloween?

So, today is Halloween. Christians are certainly divided on the subject of should we celebrate it or not, aren't we?

Well, I'm not going to tell you exactly how you should approach Halloween. Because I really don't know. I'm pretty confident, however, that we shouldn't celebrate evil or make light of it either. I think the question with which we wrestle is this: Is participating in anything "Halloween related" wrong? In my opinion, it's just not as black and white as we'd all like for it to be. Halloween, and really any holiday, can get kind of complicated. Am I right?

Throwback Thursday ~ Halloween Punk Rocker Fail

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Oh yes, the 80s. Legwarmers, Cindy Lauper, Madonna, black lace fingerless gloves  . . . there's a lot to love from that era. (Insert sarcasm) Oh wait, I almost forgot about Pac Man - I still love that game! ;)



Anyway, I was 80s all the way. I hate to admit it, but Cindy Lauper and Madonna were a couple of my favorite singers back then. Seems like yesterday I was singing "Material World" at the top of my lungs and walking the catwalk to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

Which brings me to a few more of my old Halloween costumes. I remember trying to dress up as a punk rocker lots of times. However, I'm going to have to say my attempts rank as epic fails. (Which is probably a good thing.)

Pretty tame punk rocker as a 4th grader here. Picture is very fuzzy, but I am wearing a lace glove on one hand and my hair has hot pink washable dye in it. Blows my mind that my own daughter is the same age now as I was then. THANKFULLY she has zero desire to dress up as a punk rocker or any other super star.

I think I'm in 6th grade here. Except for the too-short skirt, still pretty tame. Hideous perm days. Bleh.

I think I am in 7th grade here. I really have no idea what image I was going for. Looks like a throw-something-together-at-the-last-minute costume. I'm noticing now that my clown sister was this close to smearing lipstick on my jean jacket!

I do think dressing up is fun. I would've loved to dress up alongside my kids over the years, but dressing up costs $! (And I didn't have a lot of time or energy to be frugally creative.) It was more important to me that my kids were having fun. If I had some elf ears right now though, I could probably pull off going to our harvest festival as a LOTR elf. Well, I'd probably need this, too. :)

Image credits go to the web.

TBT: A Few of My Old Halloween Costumes

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Yes, I grew up dressing up and trick-or-treating on October 31st, otherwise known as Halloween, every single year. Candy? I'm there, people! ;)

 

Apparently because I looked more like a boy than a girl at the tender age of 1 1/2, my parents decided to just go with it - Mickey instead of Minnie.

 

 

And a few years later after my hair finally grew, I got to upgrade to the girl mouse! Yea. My mom was obviously a frugal mom and saved the Mickey costume for any siblings bound to come along. I bet you anything if the Minnie costume had come first, my brother wouldn't have had to wear that!

 

By this age, I had definitely blossomed into a girly girl. Looks like I had some amazing makeup skills for sure! Anything look familiar, here? Yep, my sister's like, "Awww, I gotta wear Brandi's old costume?" Well, at least she didn't have to be Mickey. ;)

That's all for this week. Next week I will share a few I-think-I-am-trying-to-be-a-punk-rocker pics.

In Which a Mouse and Two Creepy Guys Pay Me a Visit

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Also known as . . . MY CHILDREN.

And these are their Halloween costumes: a mouse, a goofy guy, and Jeffrey Dallas. Don't know who Jeffrey Dallas is? Well, here ya go . . .



Somehow our boys found out about this guy and entertained us with tons of videos. Mullin learned to play that cornfield song on his keyboard, too. :) Lots more on YouTube if you care to watch. We think they are pretty funny, but the sense of humor isn't for everyone.

Anyway, we haven't been putting a lot of financial effort into the kids' costumes the past few years, so they've had to get a little creative. Shiloh desperately wanted to be a monkey for some reason, but I couldn't really find anything there. And I don't sew. I was beside myself when we found an adorable, little mouse accessory set at Target for $5. She compromised and loved it! And Lincoln, well, he has a fondness for those funny glasses. Totally him. ;)

This year we didn't Trick-or-Treat; we helped our church put on their first Harvest Festival located right in our pastor's neighborhood. Blocked off part of the street; set up games, bounce houses, and dunk tank; and had a blast!

Until next year!

Halloween Flashback (and a few other side notes)

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Halloween for me is a take-it-or-leave-it kind of "holiday." There's so much controversy over it, I could chuck it and be fine. However, my husband and I have let our kids dress up over the years, collect as much candy as possible (so they wouldn't notice when mom and dad "borrowed" some), and participate in church harvest festivals. This year, our church is putting on its very first harvest festival, and it is our hope that we will be harvesting more important things besides candy!

I did share some of my feelings in this post on Halloween a while back. I completely respect and understand anyone who chooses to have absolutely nothing to do with Halloween because there is so much evil that seems to be encouraged and celebrated on this day. The actual name, Halloween, isn't really evil in and of itself, though. Hallow means "to make holy." Some synonyms are sanctify, bless, and consecrate. The een part of Halloween is the contraction e'en for the word evening. So, I guess literally speaking, it means "to make holy evening." I think All Hallows Eve was the day before the day set aside to remember the dead, specifically saints, martyrs, and other deceased Christians.

Anyway, as believers, we have sort of been forced to make a big to-do over the whole thing. My take is this: Halloween should be no different than any other day for us, and we should all strive to "whether in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17) Mind you, I am not perfect on this day nor any other day. We don't always get it just right. We mess up.

This year, I do feel confident that God would have us help out with our church's first harvest festival. I have no doubt whatsoever that our pastor's and the rest of our congregation's heart is that the lost would be saved.

Now to the Halloween Flashback part . . .

Costumes Past

It's kind of been a rule that our kids have had to choose costumes that wouldn't frighten other children. Hmmm, maybe Darth Vader is pushing it? And one kid in particular came out of the bathroom one Halloween evening dressed as a zombie. Rarely do things go unnoticed by me, but I have to admit on this one that I was clueless. Mama wasn't thrilled, but I will leave it at that.

And now that I am looking back, wow, maybe a pirate wasn't the best option either. Seriously, not all pirates were like Lyle the Kindly Viking, right?! Even fairies have evil roots, though I have to say my little fairy looks far too innocent and beautiful. ;) If I am completely honest, I even think it would be fun to dress up as someone "bad." I'd make a good witch with my straight nose and pointy chin. If I called myself the Witch of Endor, I wonder if that would be okay since she is a character in the Bible? Okay, I am rambling. I will get on with Halloween Flashback . . .

Pumpkins Past

I know we carved way more pumpkins than these over the years, but I just couldn't seem to find the pics. Oh well.

This year Mullin carved his own pumpkin - a profile. Any guesses as to who it turned out to be? Lincoln carved Shiloh's little pumpkins for her, and Dad carved a pumpkin, too, while I cleaned up dinner and washed pumpkin seeds.

Looking forward to our harvest party tomorrow. Shiloh is so excited she won't be dressing up as a princess. ;)

Alien Sandwiches

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Here is a very simple way to make eating sandwiches fun! Make sandwiches into aliens with just a couple of supplies.

Ingredients:

• Sandwiches
• Toothpicks
• Eyes (olives, grapes, grape tomatoes, etc.)

Directions:

First, just make your kids' sandwiches like you normally would, or let them help. Then, let your kids stick 1 or 2 toothpicks into the tops of their sandwiches. Last, add the "eyes." We used green olives and black grapes. This would be a great Halloween lunch. :)

Simple and fun. That worked for me!

*These pics were snapped over 7 years ago. So hard to believe that my alien-sandwich-making days are pretty much over. :( Maybe I could make them for grandkids one day!


Linked to:
Try a New Recipe Tuesday
Works for me Wednesday
Mommy Monday Blog Hop
Tasty Tuesdays

What Do a Fairy and a Nerd Have in Common?

Pin It Now! They both have a blue-haired crazy kid for a brother!

My kids had to get a little creative with costumes since we weren't buying any this year. Mullin went as the nerd, obviously. Shiloh went as a fairy. Ballerina outfit was given to her and so were the fairy wings. And . . . poor Lincoln still hadn't come up with an idea that worked, and it was Saturday already.

While I was at Wal-Mart picking up a few items in between football games, I spotted those cans of hair dye for $2. I couldn't resist. So, he went as the crazy blue-haired guy. Kinda looks like a mad scientist. :)

Shiloh, the beautiful, pastel fairy. Oh how I love that she likes to pose for the camera!!!

And Let the Candy Trading Begin

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Okay, how many times are my kids going to dump out their candy buckets to make trades with each other and the neighbor kids????

Did y’all ever do that as a kid?  I know I did. :)  To get more CHOCOLATE!  I haven’t changed a bit.

My kiddos didn’t think they would get as much candy at a “Harvest Festival”, but to their delight, they did!  AND, they had a blast being helpers with me at the Ring Toss booth and hanging out with their friends.  They can’t wait to go again next year.

A kind neighbor friend loaned Mullin his Boba Fett costume, Shiloh decided to be a “ballerina”, and Lincoln went as a pirate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiloh was over the moon about winning a cake!!  Mark said she went round and round the cake walk for 20 minutes until she won. :)

Rockin' the Pumpkin!

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Dad decided to get creative with the pumpkin this year!! Looks great--much better than my Tow Mater a couple of years ago!!

2 Star Wars Characters and a Beautiful Princess

Pin It Now! The kids were so excited about getting candy! Lincoln got a little upset right before we left, so he didn't fully cooperate for the group photo. Hmmm, seems like there are quite a few of these types of pictures in our files.
Shiloh was such a good girl and the boys took very good care of her. If she was too scared to go to the door, Lincoln would bring back a piece of candy for her.
Just look at her--she is gorgeous. She loved the bucket that I let her use for trick-or-treating.
After searching for peanut candy in Lincoln's bucket, any off limits candy due to Mullin's braces, and finally any and all candy that wasn't fit for a 2 year old, they got the green light to dig in.