Martha Stewart has some amazing ideas in her Halloween editions of her magazine. There are many adult ideas that I love, but have not yet got around to trying, however, what really grabbed me were the Halloween craft ideas she had for kids. These have been used year after year and are so simple...
This is the first craft, which involves using a drop of watered down water color, then taking a straw and literally blowing the droplet of paint accross the page! It makes the most spooky, kooky branches! I used a similar technique once to creat cherry blossom branches, using brown paint for the branches, then letting Tobin use his tiny pointer finger to make little red dots all around it. It is such a fun activity, you really can't go wrong!
Another fun idea that will have your little ones drinking their milk for sure, is the ghost glass. To make this, melt down some chocolate, then use a paint brush to paint a spooky ghost face on the inside of your glass. Remember the bowl of chocolate is very hot when you are either microwaving {30 sec at a time} or heating it over a pan of water. I put mine in the freezer when I am done to help the chocolate set up. When you are ready to serve it, just pour in the milk! These ghostly faces really come to life against the white background!
alison
During this time of the year, many neighborhoods and county park systems offer many fun and festive Halloween like activities. Our town offers a spookey "haunted house lantern tour" each year and the park system offered anything from "The creatures of the night" hayride {which sadly, we missed due to rain}, and fun crafts like making this Halloween candy bowl, {which we did not miss!}
I so enjoyed my special "afternoon out" to paint this bowl with my big boy. We used watered down colors for the background, then the teacher taught the class how to use stamps to imprint the design onto the bowl. We could barely wait for the end of the week wehn we couold pick up our fired pottery!
Amazed by what a wonderful job Tobin did on his bowl, I was reminded of crafts that we had done in years past, before he was old enough to participate in any classes. I helped him make this little ghost when he was just 1 year old by using white paint to make an upside down hand print on a piece of black paper. We only made one...and a few others from grandparents, but seeing it now makes me think that if we had made several of them adn cut them out, it would have made an adorable garland; strung together.
This was another baby friendly project made the same year. I just let Tobin make some hand prints, finger paint, whatever you like, on an orange piece of paper. When it was dry, I did the rest of the crafting in drawing around what he had made to make the picture that resembled a pumpkin. I don't think the finished product is as much of the focus during these early years, as is the process of experiencing paints and spending time with an adult that loves you. I know that Tobin and I both enjoy looking at these paintings and still enjoy being creative together.
a.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have really been embracing the upcomming Halloween holiday. All of our favourite Halloween movies are being watched and I have been trying to incporporate a variety of Halloween like things into our meals and crafts.
We picked up some wonderful wooden goodies during our trip to Vermont that the kiddos really enjoyed painting. These little things came out so well and the kids loved decorating the house with things that they made.
Many wooden items can be found in your local craft store and can be painted in any number of ways. I'm a big fan of using a splash of glitter while the paint is still wet {if it is going to be a decoration} , to give it that extra pop. What I really enjoy is being able to take out the decorations from years past and seeing how much my little ones have changed, not only physically, but also in their creative and artistic abilities.
:: An adorable wooden pumpkin painted by Tobin in 2005 that lives in a tree on our nature table during this time of the year.
Happy Halloween painting!
a.
I know I said that with my big boy begining school, feeling tired and pregnant and the business of the autumnn season before me that I would not be able to post as regularly as I did during the summer. I never expected to be away from the computer for this long though! I am happy to report that most of what has been keeping me away has been wonderful things; time spent with family and friends, cooking and enjoying my most favourite season. However, no one could have expected what the universe decided to throw my way last week...
Over the summer, I remember telling you about my wonderful small town and about how the mamas that live near by were friendly and our children played, etc. As you can imagine, even in the best of situations, friends can offend other friends, some hold resentments about past tiff's between thier children {which, ofcourse, the children have long since forgotten about}. I wish I could say that everyone had better things to do than to hold resentments and anger...but stereotypes about women being cliquey and mean do not exist for no reason, and this past week I found myself on the receiving end of some "mama drama" via email, in it's most prominant form.
After the initial days of crying, hurt and trying to figure out how I could put my house up for sale and move away, I somehow managed to put things into some kind of perspective. The awkwardness and hurt are still there, but I am doing my best to move on and make new friendships by initiating other playdates with other mamas that I might not have reached out to before. Living in a small town has it's benefits and disadvantages. A week later, I am disappointed that I allowed the situation to get to me in such a way that I all but lost an entire week of doing the things that I enjoy so much.
I have written this post 2x now, then deleted it, not even wanting to call any more attention to the drama of last week. Instead I will publish this one, then move directly onto celebrating these days leading up to Halloween. I'll do my best to post what we fit into these next few days and then will hopefully find my rhythm as we move into November...
Thanks for being patient with me!
a.
Little ones always seem fascinated by the mini gourds that are often for sale at pumpkin patches...and just about everywhere else this time of year. I'm not sure if it is the bright colors, odd shapes or just the fact that they are so small that attracts my kiddos so, but either way, we end up with many little gourds during this time of the year!
Last year I had our gourds arranged on our dining room table. They did look nice, however, there were really way too many and it was not long before I was finding mini gourds in all kinds of random places where they really did not belong. In a basket, you would not be able to see all of the gourds, however, in this big glass thing you could really see and appreciate all of the unique shapes and colors of the gourds. I know I did not spend much for this class container and it has served as everything from vase to fishbowl since we have had it. So far this year, we still have plenty of room to add more gourds. Having a place to out them all makes it much easier to say yes to my kiddos as they stand there, doe eyed, pleading to buy "the cutest baby pumkin ever! "
As any other picked vegetable or fruit, once off the vine, it does gradually start to "go bad". Keep an eye on your gourds...by the end of the season last year, some of the gourds that were packed underneath looked a bit like they could have been a science experiment! But hey, they were behind glass, and they looked beautiful for the holiday!
Have a great weekend!
a.
I'm a girl living life, being a wife, mama to 3 kiddos, daughter, friend, neighbor, etc. Although I no longer post on this account, I still enjoy sharing the creative ways our family lives. Please visit me at http://monkednfifed.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there!
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