Creative Costumes for Halloween
By Amanda Formaro
http://familycorner.com
As the years have
come and gone, parents and children have become more and more
creative in selecting costumes, from the adorable to the unusual.
Here are a few to choose from!
Check out our homemade face paint here!
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Flower
green or brown hooded sweatsuit
2 sheets yellow or white posterboard
green felt
2 plastic headbands
craft glue
small stuffed bumble bee
From posterboard, cut out petals. From green felt, cut out long
leaves.
Glue petals to one headband and glue green felt leaves to the other
headband.
Put petal headband on head and leaf headband around neck. Glue a
small stuffed bumble bee to sweatshirt. You can fashion one from
felt or posterboard.
Fisherman
flannel shirt
blue jeans
lief jacket
rubber boots
fishing pole (real or made from a stick or branch)
floppy fishing hat
cardboard
silver spray paint
black marker
12" piece of yarn
hole punch
Cut four fish out of cardboard. Spray paint silver on both sides,
let dry.
Use marker to draw an "X" in place of the fish's eyes. Punch hole
near mouth of each fish and string from a piece of yarn. Carry
fishing pole in hand and sling fish over shoulder.
Artist
red beret or other hat
cardboard
craft paint in several colors
cape or smock
paint brush
Have child wear hat tipped sideways. Draw on a black mustache with
eyeliner or face paint. Cut out an artist's paint palette from
cardboard.
Paint five or six circles in different colors around palette. Hot
glue paint brush onto palette or hold in hand.
Firefighter
Yellow or red raincoat
rubber boots (yellow, red or basic black)
toy fire hat
cardboard
aluminum foil
stuffed Dalmatian toy
Make an axe out of cardboard and aluminum foil. Get dressed and
carry puppy!
Farmer
flannel shirt
overalls
galoshes
straw hat or baseball cap
plastic pitchfork (or fashion from cardboard)
stuffed pig or chicken
Very simple, just get dressed! Carry pitchfork and stuffed farm
animal.
Tired Woman
well-worn nightgown
well-worn terry bathrobe
big fuzzy slippers
curlers
plastic coffee mug
Get dressed. Put curlers in child's hair. Have her carry a coffee
mug and hang a sign around her neck that says "I'm Not a Morning
Person!"
Pretzel
brown hooded sweatsuit
dark brown tights
cotton batting or old pillow stuffing
hot glue
white packing peanuts
Stuff tights with cotton batting or pillow stuffing. Fold into a
pretzel shape and hot glue in place. Use white packing peanuts as
salt and hot glue on.
Teletubbies
red, blue, yellow or green hooded sweatsuit
2 matching colored chenille sticks
plastic headband
thin cardboard
silver spray paint
Twist chenille sticks onto headband for antennas. Paint child's face
same color as sweatsuit. Cut a tummy sized square of cardboard and
spray one side with silver paint, let dry. Glue to tummy of
sweatsuit.
Pizza Slice
2 sheets of red, yellow or orange poster board
yellow, green, red, and brown construction paper OR craft paint
Cut the posterboard into 2 pie shapes (triangle). Then on one side
of each piece, glue on red circles for pepperoni, brown splotches
for sausage, green squares for green peppers, and yellow strips for
cheese. You can use pieces of posterboard or construction paper, or
you can paint them on.
Then when you are done, use some more posterboard to connect the two
slices, by cutting two long strips and attaching them to the wide
end of the slice and draping them over the child's shoulders
(imagine those signs that people where in the city streets, the
walking billboards of yesteryear). Pizza!
Patch of Dandelions
green sweatpants or leggings
light blue sweat shirt
yellow felt
big yellow buttons
green felt
white pompoms
cotton batting or cotton balls
Cut leaves out of green felt and glue or stitch onto green pants.
Cut yellow felt into circles, slitting them to make fringe around
the edges.
Hand stitch on over green leaves with big yellow buttons. Hand sew
white pompoms on to make dandelions that have gone to seed. Glue
cotton batting or cotton balls onto blue shirt for clouds. Cut a
large
yellow circle from felt for the sun.
Bubble Bath
white sweatsuit
small white balloons
shower cap
bath scrubby (with rope to hang from wrist)
rubber ducky
Pin small white balloons all over shirt. Put on shower cap, hang
bath scrubby from wrist and carry a rubber ducky or glue him to the
shoulder of the shirt.
Bag of Jelly Beans (or gumballs)
clear plastic bag (dry cleaning bags are great)
balloons, several different colors
bright colored scarf
white posterboard
black marker
craft glue
Have child step into bag to make holes for the legs and arms. Fill
bag with balloons use a bright scarf to tie around the top of the
bag.
Cut a square of posterboard to create a sign that says "Jelly Beans
5¢".
Glue it to the front of the bag.
M&M
black sweatsuit
2 pieces of cardboard
craft or spray paint, any color of M&M's
black craft paint or markers
heavy duty string
Cut two large circles out of cardboard. Paint. Draw or paint on
"m&m" onto both circles. Use heavy duty string to attach the 2
pieces together and hang over shoulders, sign style.
Table for One
cardboard
red checkerboard table cloth
play dishes
play food
silk flowers
plastic headband
Cut cardboard into a circle, cut out a hold for your head. Put head
into hole and rest on your shoulders. Cover with a red checkerboard
tablecloth.
Make your head into a centerpiece by gluing silk flowers to the
headband.
Glue play dishes and play food onto the table, add accessories (salt
and pepper shakers, napkins, menu, etc.).
Mr. Potato Head
black sweatsuit
burlap bag
old shirt or rags
white felt
black felt
red felt
peach felt
brown felt
Velcro fasteners
fiber fill
red clown shoes
white gloves
Fill the burlap bag with old shirts or rags. Using felt, cut out the
eyes (black and white), nose (peach), mouth (red), and mustache
(brown).
Attach Velcro to the backs of the pieces of felt. Use fiberfill to
stuff each parts. Attach the Velcro backs to the suit.
King & Queen of Hearts
4 pieces of white posterboard
2 pieces of cardboard (from nylon package)
gold spray paint
red lipstick
Draw the King of Hearts face on one side of the white posterboard,
then just hearts on back side. Put a strap (scrap of material)
stapling the two posters to fit over child's head on to their
shoulder. Make gold crown out
of nylon cardboard. Put a heart of lipstick on child's cheek. Repeat
for the Queen.
Grapes
purple or green sweatsuit
purple or green balloons
double-sided tape or adhesive Velcro circles
chenille sticks or raffia
Stick balloons to clothing. If using tape, twist it around tied-off
end of balloon and crimp tightly onto clothing. Velcro circles come
apart. Each half can be attached to a balloon and the clothing. Make
a "stem" by twisting together brown and green pipe cleaners or
raffia and attach to hat. This works best as an indoor party outfit
and should not be worn by children under five -- balloons are a
choking hazard.
Grape Vine
brown sweatsuit
brown shoes
double sided tape
purple balloons
Cover your body with double sided sticky tape. Then fill up purple
balloons and attach the balloons to the double sided tape. You may
use a garbage bag tie to attach the balloon to the double sided
tape. This is preferred if
you are going outside in the wind.
A Highway
black sweatsuit
yellow craft paint or yellow tape
small plastic toy cars
Paint two solid yellow lines down the middle of the shirt, or use 2
inch pieces of yellow tape. Glue on plastic cars.
Laundry Basket
hooded sweatsuit, any color
small round laundry basket
string
odd socks
armful of clothing
empty detergent bottle
empty fabric softener bottle
Cut a hole in the bottom of the laundry basket to fit to child's
body. Attach twin strings to act as suspenders to hold the basket
up. Fill it with clothes and empty detergent bottles.
Static Cling
Mismatched clothes
safety pins
dryer sheets
socks
small towels
hair gel
Wear any kind of mismatched clothes, pin one pant leg up, pin dryer
sheets on you as well as socks, small towels, etc. Use hair gel to
make your hair look like
it has static.
Punk rocker
black pants
leather jacket
colored hair spray
sunglasses
hair gel
hair spray
Use hair gel and hair spray to tease hair into crazy spikes. Color.
Priest
black pants
black button-down shirt
black shoes
white posterboard
rosary
bible
Create a priest's collar from white posterboard and insert into
front collar area of shirt. Works best if you use a shirt that has
the same type of self-faced
collar as priests wear, or you could tuck under the collar points
for a similar effect. Add rosary and bible. Especially a cute
costume for a boy who is
constantly in trouble!
Crayon
any color sweatsuit
matching color construction paper or posterboard
black marker
Paint the word "crayon" sideways in black, and use the same color
construction paper to make your pointed hat. Staple a string on it
and tie it under your neck
to keep it secure, you can paint your face the same color too.
Amanda Formaro, President
Phone 702-433-6009 * Fax 702-433-2040
FamilyCorner.com Magazine, Inc.
http://www.familycorner.com
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Pickled Pumpkin Recipe
Have you
ever wondered what to do with all those pumpkins after Halloween?
Here is a solution: pickle them. This recipe for Sweet Pickled
Pumpkin came out of a Canadiana Collection of Recipes by Mme. Jehane
Benoit. This recipe was listed under New Brunswick.
PICKLED PUMPKINS
Pumpkin makes an interesting sweet pickle,
particularly good with tasty New Brunswick pork and poultry dishes
or as a garnish for fruit salad.
Ingredients:
5-6lbs.Pumpkin,pared
1 tablespoon cinnamon sticks, broken
1 pint of cider vinegar
I teaspoon whole cloves
3 lbs. sugar
2 pieces crystallized ginger
Directions:
Cut the pumpkin into 1-inch cubes. Combine the
vinegar and sugar, bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar is
dissolved. Place the cloves, cinnamon and ginger in a J-cloth and
tie shut.
Add to the syrup and boil for 5 minutes.
Add the pumpkin
and bring the mixture back to a fast boil.
Boil over low heat
exactly 25 minutes, stirring often.
Remove the spice bag.
Put the
pumpkin into sterilized jars, pour the vinegar syrup on top to
completely cover and seal.
This yields 5 to 6 pints of pickles.
Store for 2 months before using.
-Thanks
to Henry Sator
Have a Fun, Frugal Halloween!
by Cyndi Roberts
For children (and
the young at heart!) Halloween seems to be even more fun than
Christmas. Maybe it's because theyget to dress up and pretend to be
the character of their dreams--or maybe it's just all the treats!
However, all those treats, decorations and costumes can be a
drain on the budget. So here are a few ideas to get you started
thinking creatively about ways to save this
Halloween season.
If you need a favor to take to the whole class at school,
here's a quick, easy idea that won't hurt your pocketbook too much:
Take a round lollipop, such as a Tootsie Roll Pop, and drape a white
Kleenex over it. Tie it on with orange or black yarn, ribbon,
raffia, or if you like, use a twist tie.
Then dot 2 eyes with a black magic marker and you have a ghost!
If you live in an area where you get lots of
trick-or-treaters, it's easy to go broke buying candy. The stores
really encourage us to buy the individually wrapped sugary stuff,
but why not do something different this year?
A box of sandwich bags costs about $1.00 for 150 or so, and these
can be filled with all kinds of things. I like to buy the foldover
kind because they are cheaper and I tie them closed with yarn.
Try filling the bags with peanuts in the shell; sugarless
gum; small rings, pencils or other toys you can buy at your local $
Store.
If you are making treats for children you know, homemade
treats are the best! Make rice krispies treats, using store brand
krispies, of course, and add a little orange food coloring.
Then decorate with candy corn, red hots, etc.
And don't forget those gummy worms! Put them in pudding, or
on top of frosted cupcakes--they're always a hit!
Are your kids begging for a costume every time you visit the
local discount store? While these costumes are pretty cheap
sometimes, why not make your own? Your daughter
can be a gypsy, just by wearing a full skirt and a frilly blouse
with loads of jewelry. Tie a scarf around her head and she's
thrilled! Girls love to have a chance to wear Mom's makeup and
jewelry!
Or make her a cardboard crown, with gold paint and glitter,
and she's a fairy princess. Dress up your son in boots, jeans,
cowboy
hat and bandanna and he's a Western cowhand! Sew some patches on
those jeans, hang some raffia out his shirt sleeves and pants legs,
add a straw hat, and he's a scarecrow!
One year I made a black cape, because my son wanted to be
Dracula. The next year, the same black cape was a witch's cape
for my daughter. Another year it was a cape for a magician, still
another time it was Zorro's cape.
You get the idea--use your imagination and you and your
family can have the best Halloween ever!
Cyndi Roberts is the editor of the bi-weekly newsletter
"1 Frugal Friend 2 Another", bringing you practical,
money-saving tips, recipes and ideas. Visit her online at
http://www.cynroberts.com to subscribe and receive the
Free e-course, "Taming the Monster Grocery Bill".
Pumpkin Pie
From http://www.CanadianCountryGifts.com
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup mashed cooked pumpkin (or canned)
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp white sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Beat the first 8 ingredients with a beater.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Pour into pie shell. Bake
until a silver knife can be poked in 1 inch & come out clean.
Bake for 45 - 55 minutes.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
By Brandie Valenzuela
For the best family
time, bring your kids into the kitchen to help you make this
delicious, Autumn inspired recipe.
WHO CAN DO WHAT
--Everyone: Gather tools and ingredients
--Young Children: Stir and pour measured ingredients into bowl. Fill
muffin cups
--Older Children: Measure ingredients, plus any of the above
--Teens/Adults: Heat oven; put in oven; remove from oven; plus
any of the above.
TOOLS
Mixing Bowl
Measuring Spoons
Measuring Cups
Muffin Pan
Paper Baking Cups
Mixing Spoon
Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 pkg. cream cheese (3 ounces)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 F.
2. Line muffin pan with paper baking cups.
3. In a medium sized bowl combine the egg, milk, pumpkin, and oil.
4. Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg
into the pumpkin mixture.
5. Fill cups about 1/2 full (keep the leftover in the bowl).
6. Divide cream cheese into 12 pieces and place one on top of the
batter in each cup.
7. Top each cup with more batter, filling 2/3 full, covering the
piece of cream cheese.
8. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. Remove from oven.
9. For a special treat, serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
Save Time! Make the mess only once! Double or even triple this
recipe; freeze your extras for later.
About the Author:
Brandie Valenzuela is a wife and homeschooling mom of three, who
loves scrapbooking, cooking, and spending time with her family.
In her spare time, she publishes "HomeMade Living", a popular weblog
for mothers, at http://homemadeliving.blogspot.com
Quick And Easy
HalloweenDecorations
by Colleen Moulding
There is no need
to spend lots of money decorating your house for Halloween. These
quick and easy decorations use items you may well have around the
home.
Large hanging ghosts that will sway spookily in the breeze
outside can be made easily by draping a white sheet, tablecloth or
pillowcase over a balloon and tying below the head.
Small ones for indoors can be made from white paper napkins
or kitchen paper tied over any small ball or crumpled tissue paper
or stuffed sock secured with string or thread and a face drawn on
with marker pens.
Scarecrows to decorate the party room, trees, patio or porch can be
put together cheaply by stuffing old clothes with rags or rolled up
newspapers tied at elbow and knee to look jointed.
Faces can be made from the back of old shirts or tee shirts
tied over a ball or balloon and hair can be stuck on made from straw
from a pet supplies shop, raffia, yarn or strips of fabric poking
out from beneath an old hat.
Creepy looking headstones can be fashioned from painted
cardboard or wood and joke shop spiders and flies can be stuck on to
windows and doors with sticky tack. Spiders
and flies are also good for decorating
sandwiches and the table, but not if there are very young children
around who may actually try to eat them!
Children will enjoy cutting cats from black paper and
sticking on large eyes made from kitchen foil or making bats to hang
from the ceiling by folding an oblong of black paper in half,
drawing half of a bat shape and cutting away the excess.
Even very young children can paint or colour in huge orange
paper pumpkins using bright yellow to represent the light shining
through the eyes and mouth.
Any old Ghostbuster toys that you have around can be fun
decorations for the table and an inexpensive centrepiece can be made
by using a dollar store/pound shop black plant cauldron with a large
bowl inside it, or just a large bowl covered with black tissue paper
and filled with cola or blackcurrant cordial plus a few grapes,
cubes of pineapple or pieces of apple floating around for a gruesome
looking witches brew.
Have Fun!
Copyright Colleen Moulding
Colleen Moulding is owner/editor of http://www.allthatwomenwant.com
a magazine and web guide for women everywhere. Visit our Christmas
pages at http://www.allthatwomenwant.com/xmasindex.htm where you can check out Colleen's new Christmas ebook full of
decorating and gift ideas, foodie treats and printable wish lists,
place cards and a printable letter from Santa.
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