Creative Halloween Costumes, Cooking, and Crafts For Kids At Halloween

The only bad Halloween craft project is the halloween craft project that takes too long. You know the ones. The craft projects that have so many steps that you've lost the attention of your kids before step 2.

Give these easy Halloween craft ideas a try. They're short; they're sweet; they're fun and the end results are spooktacular.

1. Antenna Characters

These adorable characters look great at the top of your automobile antenna. Hey, if your house is dressed up for Halloween, why shouldn't your car? With various Halloween-themed colors of flat fun foam (orange, black, white, green), draw a light outline of a pumpkin, ghost, spider or Frankenstein head, approximately 4-inches tall and 3-inches wide. Cut out the shapes and with a single hole punch, punch two holes in each shape, one approximately one inch from the top of the shape and another hole approximately one inch from the bottom of the shape.

With glitter glue or permanent markers, decorate the shape with facial features, an outline or anything you'd like. Allow to dry thoroughly. Once dried, you can attach to your automobile antenna by placing the antenna through the bottom hole from the back of the shape to the front. Then place the antenna through the top hole, front to back. The Antenna Character should be secure and should withstand normal driving conditions.

2. Halloween Mosaics

Mosaic art using tiles is very popular nowadays. Kids can duplicate this popular craft using construction paper instead of tiles or glass.

Prior to gathering the children around the table, cut small squares of various colors of paper, orange, red, blue, yellow, white, black, green, etc.

On a piece of heavy stock, white paper, draw the outline of a pumpkin, Frankenstein or other Halloween character.

With a small dab of all-purpose glue on the back of each square, kids can mosaic their way to a uniquely creative masterpiece that can be framed and hung on the wall for many Halloween seasons to come.

3.Pumpkin Painting 

In less than one hour, you and your child can create the most adorable pumpkin craft ready to proudly display in your home. Pumpkin Painting is the perfect activity for little goblins who aren't old enough to handle the jack-o-lantern carving duties.

With simple supplies like acrylic paints, markers, newspaper and sealer, kids can paint whimsical, silly faces on their pumpkins. Or they can paint their favorite cartoon character, Halloween motif or harvest design. Painted pumpkins do not rot near as quickly as carved pumpkins so it is much more economical to paint pumpkins rather than carving them and it's also much safer and more hands-on for toddlers since there is no knife involved.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, cubed
8 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 bags fun size candy bars, chopped into small pieces

Instructions:

Melt butter. Remove from heat and add semisweet chocolate. Cover and let sit until chocolate is meted (3 to 5 minutes approximately) then stir to smooth. Gradually and carefully add in the heavy cream while stirring, keep stirring while you pour, chocolate will lose it's shine. Refrigerate about 25 minutes to gain firmness. Roll globs of the chocolate into round balls in the palm of your hand, then roll them in the chopped up candy bars pressing so that it sticks to the edges.

A great way to get creative with the Halloween candy haul after trick or treating or for a great handout at your party. Remember not to give trick or treaters homemade candies, most parents will throw it away.

Ingredients:

CAKE:
3 ounces orange Jell-O mix
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
1 package white cake mix

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 envelope dream whip topping
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 handful of candy corn

Instructions:

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add cold water and stir until mixed and set aside until ready to use. Prepare cake following the package directions for a 13x9 pan sized cake. Let the cake cool for some time. Using a meat fork or a bamboo skewer "poke" holes to the bottom of the cake about an inch apart, you can do it at random or in a pattern it's up to you. Pour the liquid gelatin into the holes! Beat together the topping ingredients until stiff peaks begin to form, add food coloring if desired. Frost your Halloween poke cake, sprinkle with candy corn for decoration. Allow to chill so that gelatin sets. This recipe can be altered for other holidays and themes as well but changing the flavor of gelatin and adding food coloring to the frosting.

Autumn and the Halloween season offer so many options for families to spend quality time together. Here are just a few ideas.

1. Visit A Local Pumpkin Farm.

During the month of October, pumpkin farms usually have attractions like live music, hayrides, and crafts, not to mention the opportunity to hand select your very own pumpkin right off the vine.

2. Write A Halloween Story Together.

This is a great activity to make an annual family tradition. The entire family gets to choose the characters, sometimes making inanimate objects like pumpkins and candy corn come alive. Once you create the characters, the setting and the story line, you'll be surprised how much each family member wants to contribute to the story. Save each year's story in a scrapbook and read the stories from past seasons. It's a great memory maker.

3. Watch Halloween Movies Together.

Share an annual movie night together by renting "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," "Bednobs & Broomsticks," "Monsters Inc.," or "Nightmare Before Christmas." Make some popcorn with orange popcorn salt. Serve it with an orange drink. You could even put orange or black light bulbs in the lamps just for the special occasion.

4. Go On A Nature Walk.

Take a walk together through a hiking trail or park. As you walk, collect leaves, rocks, pinecones and other bits of nature to bring home and display in a large glass bowl. It makes a gorgeous and memorable centerpiece.

5. Have A Monster Mash Dance Party.

There are many Halloween-themed CDs available during this time of year. Have an all-family Halloween Dance Party and dance to all the popular Halloween songs. Your kids will watch you dance and think they have crazy parents, but maybe without admitting it, they'll also have the time of their lives.

6. Play "Clue".

Since Halloween is all about mystery, playing the game of Clue will reinforce the season and provide a lot of family fun at the same time.

7. Paint Pumpkins.

Pumpkin Painting is the newest range in Halloween crafts. Carving jack-o-lanterns is a Halloween tradition, but the process is messy, dangerous and the jack-o-lanterns only last a few days after Halloween night. Painting
Pumpkins is an activity everyone in the family can enjoy, even the littlest goblins. By having each family member paint their own pumpkin, you will have a fun and memorable family of pumpkins to proudly display in your home or on your front porch.

Ingredients:

2 cups orange juice
2 cups milk
2 pint orange sherbet
4 ripe bananas
2 cups whipped topping
miniature chocolate chips

Instructions:

Blend together orange juice, milk, sherbert and bananas until smooooooth. Pour into party glasses. Fill a decorator pastry bag with whipped topping (or fill a ziploc and cut off a corner tip) and squeeze out ghost like shapes on top of each drink just before serving. Use chocolate chips for eyes.

by Halloween Costumes

You can find a large variety of
Halloween costumes available at stores in your neighborhood. However, when you consider the cost and lack of originality, homemade costumes are a more fun and oftentimes more cost-effective option. Plus, if you involve your children in creating the homemade costumes, the results will be worth more than any store-bought costume in any store.

Here are some inexpensive, homemade Halloween costume ideas that will cost little money and show lots of imagination.

Soda Can:
Find an inexpensive plastic barrel and cut a hole in the bottom. Paint the entire barrel the colors and design of your favorite brand of soda in a can. With holes for arms and your head, a simple barrel can transform your child into a soda can.

Ghost:
Ghosts are an old stand-by that never goes out of style. Use an old white sheet with holes cut for the eyes and sew a simple treat bag out of a scrap of material or a worn out pillow case. You can dress your ghost up a bit by making lips out of red lipstick and a few false eyelashes. Or you could color a beard and moustache with markers. You may want to create a colorful ghost by using a sheet covered with polka dots or one that is brightly colored.

Clown:
You can quickly create a great clown with sweat clothes that are a bit to large decorated with fabric paint or markers. Sew on some pom poms, use an inexpensive wig with a large, colorful hat, and you could even stuff the clothing with tissue (although the tissue will be a problem if the need for a restroom break arises).

Scarecrow:
An over-sized flannel shirt, some straw, and faded jeans with patches will make a great scarecrow. Stuff the jeans and shirt with plastic grocery bags and leave a little straw hanging out of the shirt and jeans. A little makeup will complete your scarecrow costume.

Hippy:
You can become a hippy from the 1960s with a tie-dye shirt and faded jeans with holes in the knees. Combine this with a headband, a ponytail wig, and a jacket or vest covered in fringe and you will have the most authentic looking hippy costume of all time.

Nerd:
Halloween is the time to dress like something completely out of character. You can dress your child as a typical nerd, complete with white shirt, pocket protectors, pants that are too short, horn-rimmed glasses, while socks and black dress shoes. Don't forget to tape one corner of the glasses for a true nerd appearance. Make sure you use plenty of hair gel to slick back the hair and a few overly large fake teeth will be a great addition.

Your child can be the hit of your block or at the neighborhood Halloween party if you use a little imagination and create special homemade costumes out of inexpensive, household items.

Like the commercials say "The memory of your child in a costume you made together" ... priceless.

Would you like to quickly make creative Halloween costumes that you and your children will be proud of -- for a fraction of the price of store-bought? Nicole Dean has co-authored a book to show you how -- no sewing involved. Visit

ILoveHalloweenCostumes.com to learn more.

Article Source: http://www.freeaffiliatearticles.com/directory

by Halloween Costumes

A Halloween cake is not only the perfect dessert for any Halloween party and a must have for someone with a birthday on or around October 31st, but also makes a great center piece for your food table if you are throwing any type of Halloween party. Here are two simple, yet impressive Halloween cakes that you can try this year.

Pumpkin Cake

No, we are not taking about a pumpkin flavored cake, but a light colored cake that looks like a pumpkin when you're finished decorating it.

You will need 3 box mixes of white or yellow cake mix along with the additional ingredients like oil and eggs the box calls for. Prepare the batter as directed. Pour it into two bunt pans and bake according to the package directions. Allow the cake to cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine two to three cans of vanilla frosting in a bowl. You can probably make do with two cans, but if you prefer being able to work out any unevenness, or fix fingerprints made in there by little hands (what child can resist tasting frosting?), go with three cans.

Add enough red and yellow food coloring to the frosting mixture to turn it bright orange. Spread some of the frosting only on the flat side one of the cooled bunt cakes. Set the other one on top of it flat side down. You have a pumpkin shape. Use the rest of frosting mixture to frost the entire cake.

Use black icing to draw a carved pumpkin design on the cake. Some triangular shapes for the eyes and nose, as well as a large half moon shape will do the trick.

Spider Cake

Start with a boxed mix of devil's food cake (or your favorite chocolate cake mix). Prepare the batter and bake it in two round pans according to the package instructions. Let it cool on a rack.

Scoop 2 cans of vanilla frosting into a large bowl and add enough green and yellow food coloring to turn it into a nice spooky green color. Spread a layer of frosting in between the two cake rounds. Use the rest to frost the entire outside of the cake.

Use black icing to draw a spider web on the top of the cake. Start by drawing lines across the top. Imagine the top of the cake is a clock. Draw a line from 12 to 6, then one from 9 to 3. Fill in the spaces with two more lines each. Then start working on the circles starting in the center of the cake and working your way out toward the edges of the cake.

Take a chocolate muffin, cut off the bottom and frost the entire top of it with chocolate frosting. Roll it frosted side down in chocolate sprinkles and place it in the center of the spider web on the cake. Add four pieces of black licorice to each side as legs.

Now all you'll need is a spooky costume and you will be ready for an impressive Halloween party.

Would you like to quickly make creative Halloween costumes that you and your children will be proud of -- for a fraction of the price of store-bought? Susanne Myers has co-authored a book to show you how -- no sewing involved. Visit ILoveHalloweenCostumes.com to learn more.

Article Source: http://www.freeaffiliatearticles.com/directory

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