Candy, costumes, and creative decorations … oh my!

Written by Katie Peterson

It’s that time of year again! Fall is upon us, and the kids are already on premature sugar rushes; it’s time for Halloween! Your kids are mentally prepared, but are you? We’ve compiled the most useful and creative things to know so you’re ready for anything this Halloween season.

Candy

Candy always seems to be a stressor on Halloween. What if you leave a bowl out and the neighborhood kids take too much? What if you run out? What if your kids eat way too much while they’re out trick-or-treating? A really great way to save yourself from worrying about candy on Halloween is to be as prepared as you can.

Buy more candy than you think you’ll need and keep the receipts! You can return whatever you don’t end up using later.

If you can’t be home to pass out candy, placing a bowl out with one of these cute reminders should help encourage the trick-or-treaters to help you ration your candy for a while:

• Roses are red. Violets are blue. We’re out trick-or-treating just like you! Please take one treat!
• Take a treat! But leave the rest for other boys and ghouls!
• Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, please take just one sweet to eat!
• Although we’re not home to give you a scare, here’s a bowl of tricks and treats, take one … if you dare!

After Halloween is over, take full advantage of the candy on sale at the stores and begin stocking up for next year (assuming the candy isn’t the type to go stale). You’ll thank yourself when the prices rise again right before the holiday.

Costumes

Costumes can cause unwanted stress without the proper preparation. With these tips in mind, your kids will be safe, and you will be stress-free.

Depending on where you live, encourage costumes for your kids that will look good while still keeping warm. For instance, a genie outfit with high heels might not work out so well on a cold night of walking. And if you can help it, you don’t want your cute costumes (and the kids inside them) to be covered up with big coats while out for the night. A good solution for making your costume warmer is to layer turtle necks and leggings of the same color underneath.

For Halloween safety, fasten reflective tape to candy bags and add it as an accent to your child’s costume. No need to go overboard with this one, but as long as your child can be seen by cars in the dark, the tape will be worth it. Another good thing to keep in mind, utilize all sidewalks or walkways to avoid walking close to traffic. Be sure to keep an eye on your little ones and have them by your side to avoid any accidents.

To avoid last-minute stress before going out, be sure your kids try on their costumes a few weeks before Halloween to double check there aren’t any last minute adjustments or accessories needed. Make sure everything fits and isn’t broken beforehand so you have extra time to rebound if you find a problem.

 

Creative decorations

One of the best parts of Halloween is the decorating, but it can also be one of the most stressful and expensive. You’ve got to round up all the boxes from the attic, untangle the lights (and end up buying more when you find all the bulbs broken), and there never seems to be enough money in the budget for all the ready-made decorations at the store. Whether you are the house on your block to “Deck the Halloween Halls” or not, we’ve gathered some of our favorite DIY decorations that might scare the kids, but certainly not your wallet or gumption to decorate.

Photo courtesy of http://www.woohome.com

Use the light from inside your house to create window decorations:

Grab big pieces of black construction paper, colored crepe paper, and scissors, and you’ve got all you need for this creative and easy decoration hack. The light from the room behind the paper is all the illumination you need to make a big statement on your street.

Reuse milk cartons to make a lit pathway for trick-or-treaters:

Photo courtesy of http://www.eighteen25.com

All you’ll need for this one are milk cartons, a craft knife, sharpie marker, and lights. Draw the ghost eyes and mouth on the empty milk carton, and cut a small round hole in the back for the lights to go in. After that, you’re all set to line them up and plug the lights in! (Just make sure the plug side ends up somewhere near an outlet or extension cord).

Photo courtesy of http://www.coolmompicks.com

Make your door a monster with whatever crafts you have lying around:

The best part about this DIY is, whether you have time to go all out with spider webs and sparkles or you just slap on streamers and eyeballs, the door monster will still come to life!

Create hanging ghosts:

Photo courtesy of http://www.simplydesigning.porch.com

All you need for this project are a few Styrofoam  orbs from the craft store, cheese cloth, eye-hooks, string for hanging, and black craft paint for the ghost’s eyes. Just drape the cheesecloth over the orbs after you’ve painted on the eyes and start shredding the ends. A few of the ghosts grouped and hanging on your porch or from trees makes for some cute (and cheap) Halloween decorations.

Utilizing these creative DIY’s and tips this Halloween will save you money and stress so you can focus on what really matters… enjoying the holiday, however you’ll be celebrating! Have fun this year, and remember, this is a day when too much candy is the goal, as long as the majority is saved and shared rather than eaten!

What are your favorite Halloween tips and DIY’s? We’d like to hear them! Like us on Facebook for more helpful tips and updates. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is the first and largest franchised moving company in the United States. Let us help move you forward!