Fall Time Fun

It's October! It's been a crazy Fall so far. Just a week ago we were in shorts, sweating at the soccer field. Tonight, there is a frost warning. However, despite the often gray rainy days and Fall allergies, I love the Fall. I love wearing my jeans again, going to the pumpkin patch with friends, and seeing the leaves start to change colors. Although I did get some indoor decorations up, I haven't made many fun treats yet. To help motivate myself, I thought I would pull up some of my favorite posts that are great for Fall. I've got some new ideas too, so I'll post when I finally get to try them!

FOOD:

• SOUPS/CHILI
• White Chicken Chili
• Bean Soup
• Pumpkin Soup

• BREAKFAST
• Apple Cider Donuts (Baked!)
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

• LUNCH/DINNER
• Meatloaf
• Slow Cooker Pulled Beef Sandwiches
• Bacon Dogs
• Apple Sandwiches
• Cinnamon Apple Pork Chops 
• Stuffed Zucchini 
• Honey & Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin 

• SNACKS
• Orange Pumpkin Snacks

• DESSERT, DIPS
• Fall Pie Cookies
• Baked Apples
• Pumpkin Dip
• Apple Ice Cream Cups, Apple Pie Cups
• Applesauce, Apple Crisp
• Pumpkin Oreos (this link is to my Halloween post, but for Fall, simply draw on the stem and leave off the jack o'lantern face!)
• DRINKS
• Have Your Cider And Eat The Cup Too

ACTIVITIES:

• Fall Tic Tac Toe
• Apple Picking
• Pumpkin Picking
• Fall Scavenger Hunt Card
• Fall Word Find
• Leaf Puzzle

CRAFTS:

• Pine Cone Firestarters
• Gourd Lighting
• Easy Leaf Stained Glass
• Fall Recipe Card Holder
• Wind Chime
• Simple Fall Vase
• Handy Wreath
• Paper Bag Scarecrow
• Monsters In The Bath
• Fall Napkin Ring
• Leaves and Contact Paper Fun
• Pumpkin Pots 
• Pumpkin Stained Glass
• Pumpkin Cards  
• Erasable Pumpkin (We made this chalkboard pumpkin for Halloween, but it can work for Fall as well.)  
• Pumpkin Boats (Made these for Talk Like a Pirate Day. Boat instructions towards the bottom of post. If you make the sail with a pumpkin or leaf sticker, it fits in great for Fall theme! For Halloween, add a ghost/jack o' lantern/vampire/witch/etc. sticker to the sail. Have mini Halloween type figures sailing the boat.)

Halloween is Coming!

It's getting closer to Halloween! I love this time of year: the leaves are changing and falling, decorations, and fun food. I love everything except horror movies and haunted houses. I know, it's weird to love Halloween and hate those two things.

The boys are once again really excited, although no costume decisions have been made. I also do not have any decorations up. What?! I really need to get on that. We recently adopted a new dog. She is an amazing retired racing greyhound. I'm trying to convince the boys to do themed costumes with her. We'll see if I succeed. 

I have gotten a few things for the Boo bags, but haven't Boo'd anyone yet. We still have to go to the pumpkin patch, get costumes, put up decorations, carve the pumpkins, and roast the seeds. Oh, and buy lots of candy! If you need any Halloween ideas, I have a bunch below!
 
ACTIVITIES:

• It's Time To Boo! (Boo Bags). Also has non-food ideas which are great for The Teal Pumpkin Project!
• Halloween Tic Tac Toe.
• Feed The Monster Game (also a craft).
• Spooky Storytimes. Many local libraries and bookstores have Halloween themed story times! The link has some of my favorite Halloween books so you can make your own story time too!
• Scare Up Some Cookies. We had a friend over to decorate Halloween cookies. It was lots of fun.
• It's A Spooky Glow Party. Halloween cookies that glow in the dark!
• Halloween Bingo. Great for when you are the one stuck at home handing out the candy!
• Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkin Picking. Every year we go with friends to the pumpkin patch and let the kids pick out a pumpkin. We usually end up at the farm's store eating apple fritters or apple cider donuts. It's a great time! (See Food below for my apple cider donuts recipe!) 
• Haunted Gingerbread House. Why should Christmas have all the fun?
• Halloween Scavenger Hunt.
• Halloween Crossword Puzzle. 
• Halloween Word Find.
• Halloween Mazes:
• Candy Time
• Monster Time
• Pumpkin
• Maze

• Coloring Page.
• Pumpkin Soccer or Bowling. Use a small pie pumpkin as the ball. 
• Soccer: Split into two teams and create goals (small plastic cones work well). Have kids spider walk (aka crab walk) and kick the pumpkin soccer ball with their feet.
• Bowling: Make pins from rolls of toilet paper.
• Ghost pins: Decorate rolls with black paper eyes and mouth.
• Mummy: Wrap a piece of toilet paper around a roll and add eyes.
• Witch: Wrap in green tissue paper, add construction paper eyes/nose/mouth, and top with paper hat.
• Vampire: Add fangs/mouth/eyes, and a black paper cape.
•  Frankenstein: Wrap in green tissue paper, draw with sharpie or add black paper stitch marks/scars. Add eyes/nose/mouth.

FOOD:

• SNACKS & DESSERTS:
• Apple Cider Donuts.
• Witchy Pretzels.
• Pumpkin Oreo Cookies.
• Candy Corn Jello.
• Ghost Brownies.
• Jello Worms.
• Cookies and Monster Donuts. (Frankenstein, Eyes, and Spider cookies)
• Candy Corn Brownies.
• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. We roast the seeds every year after carving the pumpkins. The kids love eating them!
• Frankenstein Cups. Super cute Frankenstein snack holders made from green ice cream cones, pretzels and candy!
• Rice Cereal Ghosts, Frankensteins, and Mummies! Great if you love Halloween and Rice Cereal Treats!
• Haunted Parfaits.
• Monster Apples. These are a great snack! For an extra sweet tooth, add a fruit roll-up or fruit leather tongue. You could also dip in chocolate and add candy eyes. (TIP: slice apples, soak in lemon water for a few minutes, dry off really well. Dip in chocolate, place on wax paper to let chocolate set. If you are going to store them in the refrigerator, let them set up in the fridge as the chocolate will harden faster.
• Caramel Apples.
• Jack O'Fruit Bowls.
• Pumpkin Dip. Great at Thanksgiving, but works well with pumpkin theme at Halloween too!
• Rainbow Cupcakes. We made these for St. Patrick's Day, but they will work great for a Candy Corn Halloween cupcake too! Use a white cake mix/recipe. Divide batter into 3 bowls. Color 1/3 of batter yellow, 1/3 orange, leave 1/3 white. Layer the different colors in the cupcake pan and bake according to box/recipe directions. (Link to post has more detailed directions.)
• Spider Suckers.
• Monster Eggs.
• Orange and Pepper Pumpkins.
• Candy Corn Spiral Cookies. See my Christmas Swirl Cookies post for directions. Instead of using red coloring or Christmas, use orange or yellow food coloring in half the dough. If you are really ambitious, divide the dough in thirds and color 1/3 yellow, 1/3 orange, and leave 1/3 white. Or use fun colors like purple, lime green, black, and orange and make Tie Dye cookies.

• DRINKS:
• Have your Cider and eat the cup too! Use an apple to create an edible cup!
• Mommy's Little Helper. WARNING: This is an alcoholic drink. BONUS: It looks super spooky with dry ice!
• Witches Potion.
• Eyeball Ice Cubes.
•  MEAL IDEAS:
• Breakfast: 
• Ghostly Toast. Check out my Egg in Toast post, but use egg whites instead of a regular egg. Use a ghost cookie cutter to cut out the shape to make it Halloween themed! If you don't have a ghost cutter, scramble an egg, and use a pumpkin cookie cutter!
• Pumpkin Face Pancakes. Easy Halloween themed breakfast: decorate pancakes with whipped cream, berries, and candy corn.
• Pumpkin Face Oatmeal. Easy Halloween themed breakfast: Add banana slices and blueberries for eyes, candy corn for teeth.
•  If you don't feel like making breakfast, IHOP has their Scary Face pancakes going on right now. Kids get a free pancake 10/31 from 7am to 10 pm! (See link for locations and details.)
• Lunch or Dinner:
• Haunted Shepherd's Pie.
• Ghoul Burgers.
• Mummified Hot Dogs.
• What's For Dinner Mummy? Mummy meatloaf, with recipe.
• Mummy Mini Pizzas. Super easy to make with English Muffins!
• The Not So Spooky Lunch. You can carve a jack o' lantern face into almost anything (apple halves, radishes). If you have a ton of extra time, cut large carrot into round slices. Trim the top to form a pumpkin with a stem.
• Pumpkin Soup.
• Attack of the Monster Veggies.
• Pumpkin Sloppy Joes.

• Dog Treats: Pumpkin Dog Treats (I'm going to make a batch of these for J and use a pumpkin cookie cutter.)

CRAFTS:

• Erasable Pumpkin (Chalkboard Paint).
• Feed The Monster Game.
• Spider Web Placemats.
• Toilet Paper Witches Boot.
• Attack of The Play-Doh Spiders. A little time consuming, but a bit hit. Great for school parties or Halloween goodie bags!
• Ghosts and Spiders using egg cartons.
• Pumpkin Pots. Easy pumpkin decorations using a clay pot and a sharpie. If you have green pipe cleaners, it just adds to the fun!
• Pumpkin Stained Glass. Easy craft with tissue paper and contact paper.
• Ghostly Handprints. Great for a craft or a card to send to family!
• Pumpkin cards.
• Pumpkin Boats. We made these for Talk Like a Pirate Day, but they work for Halloween too!
• Pumpkin Carving Alternatives.
• Sweep Your Way Into A Snack. Broomstick bags: great for decorations or goodie bags!
• Gourd Lighting (a pumpkin candle holder).
• Toilet Paper Roll Monster.
• Pumpkin Toilet Paper Roll.
• Monster Time Craft.
• Homemade Tombstones. I am not good at cutting out shapes from wood, so I used cardboard. These are not waterproof though!
• Spooky Bushes! Cut eye shapes in the side of an empty toilet paper roll. Cover one open end completely with a dark tape to keep the light from escaping out the sides. Duct tape works great. Insert activated glow stick. Tape open end closed. Place in yard for Halloween spooky effects. Last year I placed in the bushes and by the gravestones. TIP: Use the thicker glow sticks to get the most light. I used a few glow bracelets and they did not work as well.
• Easy Halloween Luminaries (stencils included). 

TIPS:

• My list of Best and Worst Halloween Treats.
• Trick or Treat, Halloween Safety.
• For an easy Halloween treat, push suckers into a pumpkin (or drill holes into a craft pumpkin to reuse again). Kids can take the one they want and you simply refill when it gets low.

Some of my Fall Fun links work great for Halloween too!

OTHER FUN LINKS: (Links are external links, not to DailyMesses.)

• Directions for a BB8 pumpkin.
• Pumpkin Stencils from PicMonkey. (I love this photo editing site!)
• Leaf Ghosts. 
• Edible Jack O'Lantern Ice Cream Bowls. (I really want to try these!)
• Marble Mini Pumpkins (with nail polish)
• Spider Webs (made from black trash bags!) 
• What are some of your fun ideas/traditions for Halloween? Share in Comments!

Scavenger Hunts, Mazes, Puzzles, & Tic Tac Toe

Ok, so I may have gotten a little carried away with organizing posts. Here is another post with links to all the Scavenger Hunts, Tic Tac Toes, Puzzles, and Mazes I've made.

SCAVENGER HUNTS:

• HOLIDAY & SEASONS:
• Easter
• Summer
• Fall
• Halloween
• Christmas

• EVENTS/MISC.:
• Car Rides
• Indoor Scavenger Hunt 
• Going On A Walk

MAZES:

• HOLIDAY & SEASONS:
• St. Patrick's Day (Leprechaun)
• Halloween:
• Candy Time 
• Monster
• Pumpkin
• Halloween Themed

TIC TAC TOE:

• HOLIDAY & SEASONS:
• Fall
• Halloween

• EVENTS:
• How To Make Your Own Tic Tac Toe 

PUZZLES:

• Leaves
• Icy 

Fall Time Fun

It's almost October! I love seeing the leaves start to change. I thought I would pull up some of my favorite posts that are great for Fall.

FOOD:

• SOUPS/CHILI
• White Chicken Chili
• Bean Soup
• Pumpkin Soup

• BREAKFAST
• Apple Cider Donuts (Baked!)
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

• LUNCH/DINNER
• Meatloaf
• Slow Cooker Pulled Beef Sandwiches
• Bacon Dogs
• Apple Sandwiches
• Cinnamon Apple Pork Chops 
• Stuffed Zucchini 

• SNACKS
• Orange Pumpkin Snacks 

• DESSERT, DIPS
• Fall Pie Cookies
• Baked Apples
• Pumpkin Dip
• Apple Ice Cream Cups, Apple Pie Cups
• Applesauce, Apple Crisp
• DRINKS
• Have Your Cider And Eat The Cup Too

ACTIVITIES:

• Fall Tic Tac Toe
• Apple Picking
• Pumpkin Picking
• Fall Scavenger Hunt Card
• Fall Word Find
• Leaf Puzzle

CRAFTS:

• Pine Cone Firestarters
• Gourd Lighting
• Easy Leaf Stained Glass
• Fall Recipe Card Holder
• Wind Chime
• Simple Fall Vase
• Handy Wreath
• Paper Bag Scarecrow
• Monsters In The Bath
• Fall Napkin Ring
• Leaves and Contact Paper Fun 

Halloween Links

It's getting closer to Halloween! We carved our pumpkin last night and roasted the seeds (so yummy!). If you need any last minute Halloween ideas, here are some ideas :) 

ACTIVITIES:

• Feed The Monster Game
• Halloween Tic Tac Toe
• Boo Bags/You've Been Boo'd!
• It's A Spooky Glow Party (This year's Halloween cookie decorating, including glow-in-the-dark cookies!)
• Scare Up Some Cookies We had a cookie decorating play-date and the boys had a blast.
• Spooky Storytimes Many local libraries and bookstores have Halloween themed storytimes! I included some favorite Halloween books so you can make your own storytime too!
• Halloween BINGO This is great if you are stuck at home handing out the candy.
• Pumpkin Picking (Pumpkin Patch) Every year we go with friends to the pumpkin patch and let the kids pick out a pumpkin. We usually end up at the farm's store eating apple fritters or donuts and drinking apple cider. It's a great time and I look forward to it each year.
• Haunted Gingerbread House We decorate a gingerbread house at Christmas as a family and last year we started decorating a Haunted Gingerbread House for Halloween. It's lots of fun!
• Halloween Scavenger Hunt Card Now that we walk to the bus stop, I am really looking forward to using these again.
• Halloween Time Fun: A Crossword Puzzle
• Halloween: A Word Find
• Halloween Maze: Candy Time
• Halloween Maze: Monster Time
• Halloween Maze: Pumpkin
• Halloween Coloring Page

FOOD:

• SNACKS/DESSERTS:
• Witchy Pretzels
• Pumpkin Oreo Cookies
• Candy Corn Jello
• My Brownies Have Turned Into Ghosts!
• Are You Going To Eat That Worm? (Jello Worms)
• Brownie Candy Corns 
• Pumpkin Seeds I love roasting pumpkin seeds. My kids love them and I don't feel bad giving them this snack. 
• Frankenstein Cups Create super cute Frankenstein snack holders out of pretzels, candy, icing, and green ice cream cones.
• Rice Cereal Ghosts, Frankenstein, and Mummies! Love Halloween? Love rice cereal treats? Then these are the snack for you!
• Haunted Parfaits
• Monster Apples These are a great snack!
• Jack O'Fruit Bowls
• I LOVE October Making caramel apples.
• Pumpkin Dip This is great at Thanksgiving, but it works well with the pumpkin time of Halloween too!
• Rainbow Cupcakes These were a St. Patrick's Day hit, but it can be used to create a candy corn cupcake too! Use a white cake mix and color 1/3 of the batter yellow, 1/3 orange, and leave a 1/3 white. Layer the different mixes in the cupcake pan and bake according to box directions. (If you need extra instruction, click on the post link.)
• Spider suckers
• Monster Eggs
• Orange/Pepper Pumpkin

• DRINKS: 
• Have Your Cider and Eat The Cup Too! Use an apple to create an instant cup for apple cider.
• Mommy's Little Helper: Warp Corp Breach WARNING: This is an alcoholic drink. BONUS: It looks super spooky with dry ice and might help you get through sitting and handing out candy.
• Eyeball Icecubes
• Witches Potion
• MEAL IDEAS:
• Haunted Shepherd's Pie
• Ghoul Burgers
• Mummified Hot Dogs Have hot dogs and dough...will make mummies.
• What's For Dinner Mummy? Mummy shaped meatloaf (including my meatloaf recipe).
• Mummy Muffin Pizzas Super easy to make mummy mini pizzas using English Muffins.
• The Not So Spooky Lunch Easy to make ghost cups and Halloween themed lunch.
• Pumpkin Soup
• Attack of the Monster Veggies
• Pumpkin Sloppy Joes

CRAFT:

• The Erasable Pumpkin (Chalkboard Paint Pumpkin)
• Feed The Monster Game
• Spider Web Placemats
• Toilet Paper Witches Boot
• Attack of the Play-Doh Spiders! These were one of my favorite crafts last year. They are a little time consuming, but a huge hit with the kids. These are a perfect treat to bring into school if you have food restrictions, because who doesn't love Play-Doh!?
• Eerie Spiders and Ghosts Reuse old egg cartons and make spooky little spiders and ghosts.
• Pumpkin Pots If you have a clay pot, a sharpie, maybe some green pipe cleaners, you can make a quick and easy Halloween decoration!
• Ghostly Handprints These make a cute craft or Halloween card to send to Grandma/Grandpa.
• Pumpkin Cards With a little paint, some paper, and the right shaped leaf, you can create a great Halloween card.
• Pumpkin Stained Glass
• Easy Halloween Luminaries
• Pumpkin Boats. We made these for Pirate Day, but they work well at Halloween too!
• Pumpkin Alternatives If you don't want to deal with the mess of carving pumpkins, here are some alternatives. Pumpkin Coloring Page at the bottom of the post.
• Sweep Your Way Into Snacks: Broomstick Bags These make a great decoration or favor bag for a Halloween party!
• Gourd Lighting (aka Pumpkin Candle Holder). I had this as a Fall and Thanksgiving idea last year, but it also fits well with Halloween.
• Help! The Toilet Paper Roll Turned Into A Monster Easy to make monsters using toilet paper rolls.
• Pumpkin Toilet Roll
• Monster Time Craft
• Homemade Tombstones

TIPS:

• Trick Or Treat: Halloween Safety Some of my safety tips and ideas for trick or treating.
• My List of Top and Worse Halloween Treats for Kids