Some Frugal Trick or Treat Accessories
For sure you and your kids are already preparing for all the Halloween parties you will attend as a family. For kids, the anticipation of the much awaited Trick or Treat may keep them awake all night until the end of October. Here’s a frugal way to stoke the anticipation and make them look forward to the season more… Halloween Costume Accessories!
1. The head gear - Depending on the costume, this could be a head band, a halo or a pair of horns. It could also be something that you have been keeping in your wardrobe for so long, a feathered hat. Whatever head gear you choose for your kids, the thing to consider is how well it will blend with the rest of the costume. You can replace the white feather or lace on the hat with a dyed one.
Fabric dyes are cheap and can be bought in your local grocery.
2. The Halloween Wrist Watch - Trick or Treat adventures can be fun, but your kids should also know when to stop. Is it getting late? What time is it? Some youngsters won’t be wearing watches during Halloween night because the watches just don’t fit their costumes (could a ghoul have stolen a watch from one of his victimes and decided to wear it that night?). Here’s a great way to make sure your kids know what time to stop tricking and getting treats, no excuses!
How to dress up your kid’s watch for Halloween: Take your regular Seiko watches and paste cobwebs on them. These cobwebs may be strips of paper towels dipped in grey poster paint. You can even craft flowers from the same materials by dipping it in red (petals) or green (leaves) poster paint. If you are really pressed for time, simply attach ribbons or a corsage on the watch, prom style.
A little imagination goes a long way, and your Halloween costumes need not be expensive. Turning a mundane costume into something special is what will get people talking for weeks after.
Toddlers and Halloween Trick or Treat: Scary or Fun?
If you opted to stay home for the holidays instead of going on those fabulous Mediterranean cruises, you probably have some plans to go trick or treating with your little ones during Halloween. Trick or treat is traditionally a house to house affair, whether the home owner’s are strangers or friends. There are some risks involved with exposing your toddler to the Halloween tradition too early, but you cannot simply let them miiss all the fun!
The Halloween Party Option
Besides trick or treat, there is the option to take your young one to a halloween party instead. This way, she will only need to “trick or treat” in one house, while she’s still getting used to seeing her siblings and their friends in scarier attires (if she even recognizes them). Whether you are attending a halloween party with your family or out in the streets braving the scary homes, there are a few things you should consider.
What costume should she wear?
These toddlers still don’t grasp the concept enough to decide what costume they want. You will have to choose for her. A cost effective way of going about this costume buying thing is to borrow one from a friend whose toddler has outgrown a halloween costume. When you have an idea what she’s gong to wear, you can buy matching accessories like umbrellas that are in the same color (for her and for you), just in case it rains.
Costume Idea: If she’s a fan of Blue’s Clues, you can make her look like “Blue” for the night, while your husband will dress as Steve. Looking at her reaction in front of the mirror should tell you that she recognizes the costume already and thus graps the concept of Halloween costumes faster.
Don’t make her wear masks
Masks can be very scary, particularly when your face is still too small for proper fittin. These masks may also slip and cover her eyes completely. Face painting is the rage among kids nowadays and will be much more comfortable for your young one.
Consider their shyness and don’t pressure them into saying “trick or treat”
Toddlers have barely learned how to talk and hearing how others say “trick or treat” could make them shy away from saying it. Just teach her to smile when given candy.
More Halloween Ideas for the Family to Enjoy
We (my sister and I) have been discussing a lot about some scary Halloween ideas to expose little tykes to during Halloween, and so far we came up with a few.
A Nature Walk
Taking a walk together through a hiking trail, park or the cemetery during Halloween could be pretty scary. However, most families will be around sharing the scares and the tricks so it could be fun! During your walk, he leaves, twigs, rocks, pine needles and bones (!) you collect could be used to spice up the Halloween scrap books. Nature tripping during Halloween brings back memories of our childhood, and we remember the tiny details of pretending to be princesses and frogs (I, in particular, wanted to be the frog that turns into a… princess. Hey, it’s our story!). These items may also be used as centerpieces during your Halloween dinner (oh yeah, the nature walk should always be in broad daylight).
Paint Pumpkins and other Cucurbits (why discriminate among the cucurbit family right?)
Pumpkin painting will soon replace carving as far as families are concerned. Carving our own pumpkins could be tedious and dangerous. The best compromise would be to buy carved pumpkins and paint them. You can hold Halloween Cucurbit painting contests and be the talk of the town for weeks after.
Have a Wonderful and Scary Halloween Dinner
Halloween is the time for pigging out, so make sure you have a few plans to carry out in terms of losing the “Halloween Treats” Weight (see Tonalin article). Nonetheless, here are a few Halloween Foodstuffs you can consume at will:
Rice Cereal Treats
Drop orange food coloring into the marshmallow or butter mixture as it melts to turn ordinary rice cereal treats into delicious Halloween consumables. Adding one candy to the top of each square will increase the fun and child appeal.
Marshmallow Haystacks
If the above rice cereal treat recipe doesn’t appeal to you you can replace the rice cereal with corn flake cereal. Haystacks can be built from these cereal mixtures, and like the previous recipe, can be spruced up by adding candy as accent.
Diet Dishes for the Holidays: Low Carb, Low Fat
When you’re planning and attending party after party the best way to beat the fat is to exercise daily, avail of safe diet medication like Fentraphen and the best suggestion… suggest low carb and low fat recipes to your clients! This way, you and the moms you work for can diet together. Here are some of the recommended low carb and low fat dishes.
Low Carbohydrate Recipes
Tuna with Lemon Pepper -
Rub or sprinkle both sides of a 3/4 inch or one inch thick tuna with salt and pepper and sear in a nonstick skillet with olive oil. Cook until browned on both sides but pink in the center (3-4 mins on each side). Transfer tuna to platter and pour the sauce.
Lemon sauce recipe -
Boil half cup chicken broth and 1 tb lemon juice in the same skillet, remove from heat and add 1 tb mustard and 1 tb chopped fresh chives.
Other Low Carb Recipes:
Spinach Quiche
Shepherd’s Pie
Low Fat Recipes
Orange Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Grilled Ginger and Lemon Chicken
