Halloween Tips & Treats

Halloween puns are a-plenty around my house. After taking my kids through a lights-on haunted house, my 6-year-old daughter left saying “I had a SPOOKtacular good time, Mom!”.

Here are a few tricks and treats your Mummy would be proud of!

• Vampire-Inspired Decorating Ideas: Let’s face it, the cobwebs on my front porch were up waaaaay before Halloween. In spite of that, you can decorate for Halloween without losing an arm and a leg. Here are some vampire-inspired decorating ideas from Celebrations.com, a new interactive community from 1-800-Flowers. You’ll find expert advice and planning tools for any party with any theme.  Their family of brands include The Popcorn Factory, Fannie May, Harry & London and more.

• Free Fall Meals Recipe Guide: From Ziploc and Taste of Home, receive a free Quick & Easy Fall Meals Online Recipe Guide when you enter two UPC codes from Ziploc products.

• Treats for Grown-ups only: After moving into our new neighborhood 2 years ago, I quickly learned whose houses to be sure to hit on Halloween night. Sure the kids score big with their candy loot, but grown-ups scored too with a few houses offering adult beverages to keep you a little toasted – er, I mean toasty.

If you’d like to join in on the fun with your neighbors, here’s a quick & easy recipe for Jell-o Shots:

Boil 1 cup water, then add 1 (3-oz) package Berry Blue Jell-o and stir until dissolved. Add 1 cup raspberry vodka and stir. Pour into 2-oz plastic shot glasses. Chill until set.

Other variations:  Strawberry Jell-o with Malibu Rum, Pineapple Jell-o with Malibu Rum. Also experiment with reducing boiled water to ½ cup, then add in ½ cup Sprite to alcohol.

• Save those Costumes: The fun of costumes doesn’t have to end after Halloween! Hit the Halloween aisles of Target, Walmart and other retailers the day after Halloween to purchase costumes on clearance and use for your kids to play dress-up all throughout the year!  Consignment stores and Goodwill or other thrift stores are also great resources for Halloween costumes.

While you’re stocking your kids’ dress-up bins, buy a few duplicate costumes and pretend play accessories to put together as a “Dress-up Basket” in your favorite charity’s silent auction.

• Halloween Leftovers: If you have leftover candy bars after Halloween, put them in a freezer storage bag and pop them in the freezer. Next week I’ll share a recipe using your candy bars that will both satisfy your chocolate fix and save you from buying them at full price!