Spooky Halloween Invite and Party Ideas

We had a fabulous time at our Halloween party last weekend! So I was brave this year, and we passed out invitations to all 23 kids in my son's first grade class. We also invited some additional family and friends. Of course, no one rsvp's much these days, so I was worried about how many people would actually show up. We ended up having 40 kids there!! With adults, we had almost 90 people in our back yard. I am sure glad we live in the country or we would have never fit.

 

Here are the invites we passed out.

 

 

Your Presence is Requested

October 18th at 6:30

 

Come Hither, Come Forth

To the Greene Residence

To Celebrate Halloween,

We Need Your Presence

 

Please Come Costumed,

To Set the Mood

Enjoy With Us

Games, Crafts, and Snack Food.

 

If You Happen to Feel,

Extra Brave on That Night,

We Will Go On a Hay Ride,

That Might Give You a Fright!

 

I used brown Kraft jewelry boxes I bought on amazon. I took some plastic fingers and tied a black ribbon around them. The top of the box said, You are invited...Don't Forget!

 

I cut a ghost out of plywood for a sucker pull game. If you have not played this before, you have some of the suckers marked with black dots on the back. The kids walk up and pull a sucker. If their sucker has a black dot, they win an additional prize. If not, they just win the sucker still.

 

I also made a simple pumpkin can toss. Who knew it would be their favorite game.

 

 

I also cut out 30 of these candy corns out of plywood, sanded, and painted them. I used a sharpie marker to write the kids names on them as they arrived. They were our party favors along with goody bags full of Halloween treats!

 

 

We had kids crawling all over our playground area.

 

Baseball ghost

 

Statue of Liberty

 

Precious Clown

 

We forgot to bob for apples at the party, so my husband showed them how to do it the next day.

 

My little one was soaked! Cracked me up. They both finally got an apple. I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!!

 

Halloween Decor Ideas and Projects

I love it when this time of year rolls around and I can decorate for the holidays. It is not even October 1st, and I already have a lot of Halloween decorations around my house. Some are DIY Halloween projects, and others I picked up at the store. We are planning a big Halloween kids party this year and my sons are going to invite their whole class. I will share our invitation soon!

 

Here is our mantle and fireplace.

 

 

I bought this vintage postal scale at Antique Alley in Grandview, Texas last weekend. I love it and a pumpkin fit on top of it perfectly. If you have never been to Antique Alley it is twice a year and it is AMAZING!

 

 

Some old black shutters found the perfect new home on my buffet. I found a twisty tree branch outside, painted it black, and filled a mason jar with stones to hold it.

 

I love to place pumpkins around the house in little spots like this chair.

 

If you are looking for some more Halloween inspiration, here are some ideas and projects I created in the past. Surely something will be the perfect project for you!!

 

 

 

Click here to see how to make this fun sign.

 

 

 

Pumpkin bean bag toss click here for instructions

 

 

Monster tags click here for detailed directions

 

 

Witch yard art instructions here

 

 

DIY Monster pillow link here

 

 

Halloween Felt Cookies instructions here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIY Lego Notebooks 4/$1

There is no doubt my boys are in the Lego phase. Of course, my In-To-EVERYTHING 10 month old is a disaster around small pieces such as Legos. Absolutely everything goes in her mouth!! Minus the nightmare choking hazard aspect of Legos in our house...I still let them play with them daily. I can't deny they were possibly one of the best toys created for imaginative play. We rented the Lego Movie tonight and I decided it would be fun to make a craft to go along with it. 

 

 

I had a few old Lego boxes the boys were having trouble parting with. I decided we could repurpose their old Lego boxes into spiral notebooks with some minimal effort.

 

 

I bought a four pack of small spiral notebooks for less then a $1. I bent the ends of the metal spirals and disassembled the notebooks. Then the boys traced the covers of the old notebooks onto the Lego boxes, and we cut them out.

 

 

I lined up the old notebook cover with our new notebook cover, and punched out the holes on top. After threading the metal spiral back through, our notebooks were complete.

 

 

It was the perfect craft for under $1, and we were finally able to get rid of our Lego box collection!

Make Your Own Panning for Gold Adventure Trip

I have been researching all types of fun summer trips to try. They all have one thing in common. They are expensive! One of the trips I was really excited about was the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Kids can actually dig for real diamonds and keep what they find.

 

However, it was Sunday night, and I wanted somewhere I could go Monday while I was off. I was looking for a day trip. I decided to make my own summer adventure trip for only a few dollars.

I went out in our backyard and found three broken tree limbs. Then I hunted down three bandanas from our house for our lunches. I tied them up in Tom Sawyer style. The boys were very entertained by their lunch sacks.

 

 

Next, I found a free river at The Big Rocks Park in Glen Rose, Texas. I am pretty sure most of you can find a creek or something nearby that would suffice for your own gold mining or panning adventure.

 

Supplies:

Tin foil pans with holes poked in the bottom

Plastic gems

Gold Painted rocks (gold nuggets)

Treasure bags

 

Upon arrival at our "gold panning site," we let the boys use skewer sticks to poke holes in the their tin foil sleuce. I had prepared ziplock bags with dirt and treasures hidden inside.

 

I poured a bag in each child's handmade sleuce, and they got to work! Hopefully you can see the gold rocks in the pan above. They knew it was fake and they were still excited by their discoveries.

 

My youngest thought he hit the jack pot!

 

I also created small bags to hook on to their belts, for additional treasures they found. I got the idea from this months Family Fun Magazine. Click here for directions on their Explorer Bag. It is made out of a produce sack and duck tape. I made ours smaller, and then put clips on them, so the boys could wear them in the water without losing them. It made the perfect treasure pouch.

 

Even the little princess enjoyed the morning activities.

 

 

Sweet brothers! (No they don't always get along that well!) I think they truly enjoyed our day trip adventure!! Good luck planning your own.

 

 

Melon Jello Fruit Boats

I made one my favorite summer treats again last night. I guess it had been so long since I made them last that my boys thought it was a new treat again! That of course was an extra plus. These melon creations are the perfect way to get your little ones to consume a large quantity of fruit. I think my kiddos would have eaten every slice in the first sitting if I would have let them.

 

Ingredients: 1 melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, or small seedless watermelon)
2 (3 oz) packages of flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup sliced fresh fruit

Directions:
Begin by cutting your melon in half and carefully scooping out the seeds. Shave a thin slice off the bottom of the melon so it will sit flat during preparation.

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water and then stir in the applesauce and fresh fruit. Divide the gelatin mixture equally into both melon halves.



I used blue gelatin with fresh strawberries and blackberries

 Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Cut into slices just before serving.

Place in Fridge

 

Slice into pieces and enjoy

The fruit flavors and jello combinations are endless. Enjoy! We sure did!

 

 

 

Watermelon-Cucumber Salad

I must admit this is the most refreshing salad I have had in a long time! My kids even liked it! I have seen similar recipes for a few months, and I finally tried a variation of a recipe from Country Living Magazine. It was the perfect compliment to our dinner tonight.

 

I think it would be perfect for parties, baby showers, or any potluck event. I am always looking for something I can whip up last minute to bring to one of our family events. I think this watermelon-cucumber salad would be a real crowd pleaser.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups diced watermelon

1 thinly sliced cucumber

1 tbsp olive oil

Scant amount of Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Feta Cheese

 

Directions:

 

1.Combine the first 6 ingredients and top with feta cheese

2. Enjoy!!

 

 

Here are our two new precious goats born this week. They are sweethearts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chick-fil-a Cow Appreciation Day *Free Meal*

For those of you that don't already know...today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a July 2014.

Click here for the official website. We have had several cow associated related costumes and attire in the past. This year, I made some simple capes for my three super heroes. I sewed a lightning bolt on the back, and attached some ribbon to tie around their neck. However, you could just as easily use press in tape or adhesive to whip up some of these capes!

 

 

Q: What is Cow Appreciation Day?

A: For one day only, black and white spots, cow bells and furry ears will be appropriate attire in the nation's second largest chicken chain. In celebration of July 11, Cow Appreciation Day, an unofficial – yet nationally recognized holiday, Chick-fil-A will award a free combo meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) to any customer who comes to one of the chain's 1,200-plus restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

 

Q: What does "fully dressed as a cow" really mean?

A: "Fully dressed like a cow" means effort to be dressed like a cow from head to toe. "Partial cow attire" means just a cow accessory, such as a cow-printed hat, vest or purse.

 

Here are some of our past projects...

 

 

We just glued some black felt on a white t-shirt.

 

 

This was a fancier version of the cape we made in the past. I can't seem to find it though after our move 6 months ago!

 

 

Either way, the point is you can score some free Chick-fil-a today! They even have free printables on their website to make it really simple.

 

 

Good luck with your cow costumes! We must fly off now to Chick-fil-a to celebrate this special day!!

 

Vintage Ticket Booth Stand for a Carnival

Planning a carnival party or celebration? (P.S. If you are not...you should. It was the best party I have had yet. I will share more later!) This ticket booth was a simple and fast DIY creation. It proved perfect to greet our guests and hand out their favor sack with tickets to spend! I love all things vintage, because I don't have to be a perfectionist.

One of the birthday boys...in our homemade ticket booth.
 

 

 

It started when I saw a small section of fence leaning against our barn wall. It happened to have a worn out coat of white paint on it. I begged my husband to make a few small adjustments to turn it into a ticket window.

 

 

He cut out a window at child height for the boys. He framed it with 2x4's to support it. I think the easiest way to explain is with this picture of the back.

 

 

 

 

Next, my boys helped paint some red on the ticket booth. Remember, no need to be neat when you are going for a vintage look. The actual counter on the ticket booth was painted yellow by me.

 

 

Almost done...

 

This cute little sign attached to the front finished it off!

 

 

 

Welcome to the Carnival!! Enjoy!!