No-Stress Halloween Fun!

As October approaches, it’s time to start planning for Halloween activities! Whether it’s a delicious treat to make and enjoy the week before, or an activity to complete at home instead of going door to door on the day of, we’ve got some recipes and examples below on how you can have a spooky and fun time without extensive planning – or an expensive price tag! 

These three ingredient Halloween treats from Chelsea’s Messy Apron are perfect for all the right reasons. Not only do they truly embody the spirit of Halloween, but they are adaptable for any situation. Use either pre-made ingredients for the bases or homemade treats for an extra activity, these treats mean Halloween can be fun without being too complicated. Cookie decorating is another simple Halloween treat that can be economical and relatively simple to put together. This activity doesn’t require much planning – the only thing that you need to do ahead of time is bake the cookies! Veronika’s Kitchen has a recipe for cookies and instructions on how to decorate them with a Halloween spin. However, you can easily pick-up pre-made sugar cookies at your local grocery store. For decorations, you can make and dye your own icing or find other sprinkles and decorations at the dollar store or online.

For craft activities, there are many different ideas that can utilize items you may already have at home. These Paper Plate Monsters from Simply Everyday Mom only require paper plates, googly eyes, glue, paint and construction paper. For these Toilet Paper Roll Halloween Crafts from The Best Ideas for Kids, start collecting your empty toilet paper rolls, and together with a few other craft items like paint, coloured paper, and glue, you can have a collection of Halloween monsters to decorate your home. You can also check out Michaels Canada for Halloween-themed kid craft kits that can be ordered online or picked-up curb side.

Halloween may not be quite the same this year, but there are still many different ways you can enjoy the occasion with your family! Share your Halloween crafts and treats with us in the comments or our social media.

Get ready for Spring!

It may have taken a long time for the snow to finally leave, but it's safe to say that spring is finally here! The weather isn't quite warm enough for outdoor activities, but there are plenty of other indoor activities that can still help celebrate the upcoming season.

To help get you and your family ready for spring, why not try out one of these seasonal activities that can easily be done with a few household ingredients:

Baking

• Use up your leftovers: Do you have a lot of Easter chocolate leftover, and aren't sure what to do with it? This recipe from Bake. Eat. Repeat. uses popular Easter egg candies on top of a haystack to make a festive treat! Not only is it easy to make, this recipe requires no baking at all, and is easy for children of any age to help with.
• Snacks that are healthy and fun: Strawberries are a versatile fruit, and a great snack for kids to take to lunch or have at home. This spring, why not add a little something extra? Consider trying these pastel-coloured strawberries from Salt & Lavender that are covered in chocolate for a fun treat or dessert. Kids can easily help out by dipping them into sprinkles or dipping the strawberries themselves. For something simpler, Kid Friendly Things to Do has a recipe for lady-bug themed strawberries that only require some melted chocolate and mini-marshmallows.
• Butterfly pretzels: It may be too soon to see a real butterfly, but consider decorating your cupcakes with chocolate covered pretzels and round candies to resemble a colourful butterfly like this one from Who Needs a Cape. Or, you can use your creative skills to assemble these pretzel butterflies from Butter with a Side of Bread with a variety of colourful candy melts and plenty of sprinkles!

Arts and crafts

• Garden decor: This craft is easy for children to help with, and after it's done it can be used to spruce up your garden or flower bed. All you need are a few rocks, a brush and outdoor paint! Check out the full instructions at Crafts by Amanda.
• Food into art: Bow-tie noodles have another use besides a meal option - they can be used to make a variety of springtime objects for an artistic rendering of spring. Crafty Morning shows how you can use these noodles, a few markers and glue to create butterflies, flowers and more.
• Bird feeders: Bird seeds, water, and gelatine make for a fun craft from Messy Little Monsters. Use whatever cookie cutters you have to make the seeds into fun shapes, and hang them with coloured ribbon. This is also a great activity for kids to get involved in - not only can they enjoy making the bird treats, they can also have fun waiting to see who eats them as well!

There are many different activities that you and your family can do to celebrate the season without having to break the bank or buy extra materials. While these activities are spring-themed, they can easily be pulled out throughout the spring and summer whenever bad weather hits the city!

Ghoulish grub and bone rattling crafts for Halloween

Get into the spirit of Halloween whether it’s at home, at work, at school, or for a party. Making a craft or baking a spooky treat is simple and easy to do, and doesn’t require much more work than a regular recipe or activity would require. The best part is you don’t have to break the bank to participate in Halloween fun! Below, we’ve found some great recipes and craft ideas that anyone can take part in during the Halloween weekend that won’t take much time or effort on your part.

Trick or treating and wearing a costume are only one part of Halloween – make your own spooktacular decorations for your home or cook-up some wickedly good desserts for a party! [INSERT TWEET THIS LINK].

For a super-simple Halloween themed snack idea or party treat, try these Witch Brooms from Couponing to Disney. They’re really quick and easy to make, and you can add your own little designs and decorations to them! The amount of supplies you will need will depend on how many you want to make.

Ingredients:

• Pretzel sticks
• Peanut butter cup treats
• Assorted decorations (optional)

Note: these ingredients can be purchased as gluten-free options.

Instructions:

• Unwrap the peanut butter cups and place them upside down, so the narrower end is facing up
• Insert the pretzel sticks into the peanut butter cups so the will resemble a witch’s broom standing up
• If you want to add some flair to the broom sticks, you can alternatively use icing, sprinkles, and other baking decorations to the peanut butter cups.

Another great dessert idea that can also be made with gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and nut-free options, are these Frankenstein Rice Krispie treats from Big Bear’s Wife.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 10 ounces marshmallows
• 6 cups rice krispie cereal
• 10 drops yellow food coloring
• 10 drops blue food coloring
• Melted Chocolate/Candy Coating
•  Candy Eyes

Instructions:

• Melt the butter in a large pot and add the marshmallows. Stir until they are all melted!
•  Add in the food coloring and stir until it turns green.
• Add rice krispie cereal a little bit at a time and stir to combine.
•  Press rice krispie cereal into a buttered 9 x 13 pan. Press flat and let cool.
•  Let rice krispie treats sit for about 30 minutes.
•  Remove from pan and cut into squares.
• Melt chocolate according the package directions. Dip the tops of the Rice Krispie Treats into the melted chocolate.
• Lay on a sheet of wax paper (or a plate).
• Use some of the melted chocolate and “glue” on the candy eyes.
•  Fill a ziplock bag with some of the melted chocolate, snip an end off and pipe a stitch mouth onto Frankenstein.
• Let the Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats sit for about 20 minutes undisturbed or until the chocolate had hardened.

If you’re feeling crafty, these Witchy Pinecone Owls from All Free Kids Crafts requires minimal materials – and they look really cute!

Materials:

•  1 pinecone
• Black craft felt
• Colored craft foam
•  Scissors
• Glue
•  Ribbon

Instructions:

• Gather a pinecone from your yard.
•   Cut out a triangular piece of black craft foam. Round the edges.
•  Cut slits in the piece on the rounded side.
•   Cut out two doughnut-shaped circles of black craft felt.
•  Fold triangle into a cone. Slide cone into one doughnut piece. Flip up slits to the underside of the hat.
• Glue slits to the underside of the hat. Glue second doughnut piece to cover up slits.
• Glue colored ribbon around hat.
• Cut out small diamond shape from craft foam in whatever color you like and glue onto pinecone.
•  Cut out two small black circles and two larger colored circles from craft foam.
• Glue smaller circles inside larger ones and glue onto pinecone.

Read more here.

However, if you’re looking for a little more complex craft – this one is sure to light up Halloween night! A Little Claireification has a great DIY Mummy Mason Jar Luminaries that is not only fun to make but will look great around your home afterwards.

Materials:

• Mason Jars
• 1″ Gauze Bandage
•  Googly Eyes
• Flameless Votive Candles

Instructions:

• Take a mason jar and wrap it with some gauze bandage tape.
• Hot glue on a couple of googly eyes
• Add in a little flameless votive candle (or a regular votive if these will be attended at all times) and boom! 

Happy Halloween!