If you’ve never let your 4 year old have a conversation with your car’s remote locking beeps, I highly recommend it. And I dare you to keep a straight face.
 

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Darth, The Car & The Reason I Became A Parent © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

image by Can Berkol via sxc.hu

For several years we had this awesome little monster bowl that held all of our Halloween goodies as we passed them out to the trick-or-treaters brave enough to come down to our part of the neighborhood. It was blue-ish, it was big … and it was plastic. This would, in most places, not be a problem but we had a long summer of major heat (hello 50+ days over 100?!?) and well, let’s just say plastic doesn’t like attics when it’s over 100 for almost 2 months straight.

So I needed to hunt down a new treat basket for this Halloween. You know, one that won’t melt in my attic. These are my top 5 favorites:

The Hollowed Out Pumpkin

I love the idea of cleaning out a pumpkin, letting it dry out, carving a spooky message into the skin, then placing it on a stand in my entry way to hold all the goodies. Plus, I’d get to use my awesome monster scoop again!

The Fabric Bin

I’m a lover of all bins (especially those that hold candy) and one made with cute trick-or-treat fabric would be an excellent option. Plus, it has uses before the big day as well.

The Feed Me Jack-O-Lantern

Turning the carved Jack O’lantern into a mouth spewing treats? Genius. Just drop the treats into your dried out gourd and let the kiddies reach in there. You want candy? Take it from the pumpkin’s mouth!

The Galvanized Pail

Oh dear me. This hits me in my “little girl playing at Grandma’s farm” place in my heart.  And the fact that it’s not specifically Halloween is even better!

The Prickly Pumpkin

Sticking sucker stems right into the pumpkin makes it both functional and pretty all at the same time. Probably would want to use an awl or other sharp tool to pre-poke those holes, but what a great visual treat holder. Martha’s people think of everything.

Interested in seeing more about these bowls? Then head over to my Pinterest Board to check them out and get links to the Etsy sellers or instructions for making them!

And if you have any great treat bowl ideas that won’t melt I’d love for you to share them in the comments!

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as 5 Creative Trick-or-Treat Candy Basket Ideas © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

image by angood via sxc.hu

My daughter has always planned out her Halloween costumes the year before wearing them. The day after Halloween she proudly declared that she wanted to be Alice in Wonderland next year. She was 3. She has done it every year since and she has never once changed her mind. The Alice declaration was before you could buy an Alice costume anywhere so we had to get creative. We bought as much of the costume as we could at our regular clothing stops so that they could just be added into her wardrobe after Halloween was over. And we did pretty well, though, blue collared dresses with white aprons were a bit hard to come by.

This little excursion was the first of our many Halloween trips to make costumes out of as many “wear again” pieces as we could. So when she proudly declared last year that this year she wanted to be a witch, I knew we could probably get the whole thing as “wear again” pieces. And we did if you don’t count the witch hat (although, the school does hat day during spirit weeks so there may be a use for it yet!)

Here’s what we have so far:

Black Cherokee Ponte skirt (Target)  (Clearance right now for $4.99)
My daughter is always wearing skirts so this plain black pleated skirt will get worn till it meets it thread bare end.
DSigned Shake It Up Girls Peasant Top (Target) (Clearance right now for $11.99)
This top’s wide sleeves made it just the perfect top for our costume. It came with a tank top (it’s warm here still) but we could easily slip a turtleneck or long sleeve tee underneath.
Striped tights from Target ($4.00)
Because this witch must have pink striped stockings. And we’re all about the funky tights around here so these will be another worn-til-worn-out piece.
Already had the buckled black shoes
Witch Hat (from Target but any plain old witch hat will do) ($2.99)
Hot Pink Grosgrain Ribbon (we’re going to add some interest to our plain old black hat) (already have it)

Grand total for this witch Halloween costume was: $24 of which $21 of it will be just added to our regular wardrobe. So only $3 of it is considered “throw away” and even that will probably get used again for a hat day or during play time at home.

What costumes are you DIY-ing this year?

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as The Cheap Witch Costume Your Child Can Wear Again © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

If you have any no carve ideas, I'd love to see them. Feel free to share your ideas and link your posts in the coments below!

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as No Carve Pumpkins Means No Mess! Right? © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

Fall Favorite: Missoni Infinity Scarf from Target

OMG. Love the brightly colored scarf.

I saw the ads, I thought the Missoni collection was cool, but I didn’t camp out in the parking lot at Tar-zhay so I could load a cart full and start my kids college fund by reselling it on eBay (though from all accounts, that might not have been a bad idea). So when it was all gone it was not a life changing disappointment.  But you bet your Spanx I stopped to peruse when our local store had a whole rack of items right up front. At first, my love was focused on the black and white weekender bag but after reading the ginormous tag that said it contained lead(!?) and I should probably wash my hands after each use, we had to part ways.

So while admiring the colorful beauty of the scarf and imaging it with my winter-white wool pea coat, I found this …

Fall Favorite: Merona Wool Cloche Hat from Target

Love.

They don’t look like they match at all in the pictures but the vintage styled wool felt cloche hat is about the same shade of deep purple as the scarf shows above. And with an all white coat, they’ll be a nice pop of color.

What about you? Find a great hat you just had to have or a scarf you couldn’t put down? Do tell!

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Fall Favorites: Bring On The Cold! © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

So you can imagine the horror i experience opening a pumpkin and having to dig seeds out of it. That slimy, cold, stringy goop is just not my thing. And no, gloves don’t help. So I was constantly on the look out for something that could make this experience less … gross.

Enter the Monster Scoop (angels singing, lights from the heavens…)

This spoon is made for scooping pumpkin goop. It has serrated edges for scraping away the pulp and a pointed tip to help poke out those tough to release fibers. This is not a tool for the little kiddies though – this sucker is sharp and pointed so “for grownups only” until your kids are old enough to use it. It has a soft orange handle grip and is super simple to use. The company that makes it is called Garden Works and it truly is more like a gardening tool than a kitchen spoon. It works. It really, really works and it takes no time to get the goop out.

I haven’t seen this tool around often so if you’re out and about and spot one of these babies, grab it. Buy it. Take it home and never, ever let it go. It’s my all-time favorite pumpkin carving tool and I can’t live without it.

At least, not without a lot of grossness induced shivers.

UPDATE: Amazon actually does have one similar! You can find it by clicking here.

This is a tool I have actually owned for several years and I truly love it so the links to “The Monster Scoop” are affiliate links. You click, you buy, I get a little bit of money. Like, very little. Like, I could probably find coins laying in a parking ramp that would provide a better income but I just thought you should know what you’re clicking on.

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as The Best Pumpkin Carving Tool EVER © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

Creative Commons Licensed Image from Flickr by denej

If you’re like me, you have every intention of making a delicious homemade treat for your child’s Halloween party. And if you are like me, your good intentions go right out the window when basketball practice gets moved, kids get sick and, well, life happens.  My good intentions are usually replaced by last minute rushes to the store to grab something pre-made and with it, my super-mom self esteem takes a nose dive.

So rather than beat myself up about how I didn’t get the cupcakes homemade this year (again) I’m planning to buy them and give them a little face lift to add a homemade touch. And what better way to do that then with printable cupcake toppers!

I’ve been looking around the web for some cute (and hopefully free) Halloween cupcake decorations and I’ve found several that I love. Cute, Halloween-y and not too scary were the only qualifications. I stashed them up on my Pinterest board. Some are free and some are paid but all are adorable and any of them will add a great personal touch to my assembly line cupcakes.

Now, to choose only 1…

You can see what I grabbed on my Pinterest board here and if you have a favorite, let me know which it is by liking them. I’ll let you know which one I choose later this week!

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Almost Homemade Halloween Cupcakes © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

Have you joined  yet? I did a while ago but didn’t really see a good use for it. It’s basically an online notebook where you can store ideas or projects or whatever you come across online. I have been using Evernote for that purpose for quite some time and LOVE it so I didn’t see a reason for Pinterest.

Until now.

I decided to gather up some pumpkin carving patterns to test out this whole pinning thing. Yeah, we’re that house that doesn’t just hit the 3 triangles and a mouth pumpkin, we go all out. It actually started at a friend’s pumpkin carving party with a bunch of dads trying to outdo one another for their little girls. Men, gourds, power cutting tools, and their daughter’s droopy “please daddy?” eyes – it’s not a good combination. But we can’t let last year’s pumpkin be better than this year’s now can we? So it’s the annual quest for the next, better pumpkin pattern.

Pinning the pumpkin patterns on was so easy by using their Firefox “Pin It” button, though it did conk out on me while trying to add the last few so I wasn’t able to put them all in before writing this. If you’re patient, it makes a great online visual notebook. And I like that you can click the images and go right to the website without any further input (evernote I have to link it all up myself – or, I just don’t know how to do it automatically.  Definitely one of those).

I decided that rather than have a blog post with free pumpkin carving template links galore here – why not hop over to my Pinterest board and have a look for yourself? And while you’re there, sign up for and follow along with all the goodies I’ll be pinning there! More Halloween treats later this week!

And if you become a pin addict, it’s not my fault. You are clicking on your own free will.

I’m not giving up my Evernote anytime soon, but Pinterest has definitely peaked my interest.

Hey, before you go clicking over to Pinterest sign up to get MommyNeedsCake sent directly to your inbox each week!

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as 16 Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns & Stencils © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

]]> http://www.mommyneedscake.com/2011/10/16-free-pumpkin-carving-patterns-stencils/feed/ 0 http://www.mommyneedscake.com/2011/10/fall-favorites-the-sweet-smell-of-pumpkin/ http://www.mommyneedscake.com/2011/10/fall-favorites-the-sweet-smell-of-pumpkin/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000 Kristen http://www.mommyneedscake.com/?p=1695 This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Fall Favorites: The Sweet Smell Of Pumpkin © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

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When you grow up in the Midwest, you don’t realize how in tune your body is with the changing seasons. You just kind of go through them and adjust your wardrobe as needed but it never occurs to you that you crave the seasonal changes. That you need the changes so that the world feels “right”. You’re just annoyed that it’s snowing again for the 8 jillionth day in a row and you’re going to have to shovel it. Until one day, in a postpartum fit of rage induced by 30 days without sun your husband calls and says “How do you feel about Los Angeles? Too far?”

Tip: never ask a 6-week postpartum woman who hasn’t seen the sun in 30 days if it’s a good idea to move across the country unless you really really want to do it.

So we loaded up the truck and we moved to Beverly …

 

Well, his office did, we moved into an 800 sq. ft. post WWII house in the valley. Like, totally.

And it. was. blissful. Sun, flowers, more sun, more flowers. It was perpetual summer. I loved every single minute of it until about mid-November when it was time to cook a turkey and it was still sunny. And flowery. And warm.

And wrong.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be cold, gray, rainy and miserable. I mean, it’s a family gathering time. You can’t have sun and happiness!

So in an effort to convince myself that it was fall, somewhere, I began buying pumpkin spice scented candles to cover up the odor of blooming roses and oleander wafting through my open windows. And now, it’s not fall without the scent of spicy cinnamon pumpkins. It’s become my portable season in a jar.

Is there anything that you just HAVE to have to make it seem like fall at your house?

 

 

This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Fall Favorites: The Sweet Smell Of Pumpkin © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

]]> http://www.mommyneedscake.com/2011/10/fall-favorites-the-sweet-smell-of-pumpkin/feed/ 0 http://www.mommyneedscake.com/2011/10/class-moms-guide-book-5-fall-party-activities/ http://www.mommyneedscake.com/2011/10/class-moms-guide-book-5-fall-party-activities/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000 Kristen http://www.mommyneedscake.com/?p=1696 This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Class Moms Guide Book: 5 Fall Party Activities For Kids © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

]]> So you’ve volunteered to help plan the kids’ fall party but haven’t a clue what to do? Been there. With schools now being more sensitive to the variety of cultural and religious beliefs in the building, the days of costume parties and Halloween parades from our childhood are waning. So what’s a class mom to do when it comes to keeping the kids busy?  These five inexpensive activities should really keep the party rolling.

Pumpkin Ring Toss
Head out to the pumpkin patch and grab 3 pumpkins with good long stems and some rustic rope.  Make rings by tying the rope into small loops about 8-10 inches in diameter. Divide the class into 3 teams and let each child take turns tossing the ropes onto the pumpkin stems. (For the little ones, use hula hoops instead of rope).  You can award prizes for getting certain rings on or just give a prize to everyone that tries.

Mummy Wrapping Race
A classic Halloween party game! You’ll need a pack of TP with enough rolls for every kid in the room. (This is a great item to ask parents to send in with their child!) Divide your class into teams of 5 or 6 kids each and have them select one person to be “the mummy”.   The Mummy stands in the middle and holds the loose end of each team members’ roll.  When you say go, the kids wrap the mummy as quickly as they can. Just be sure someone is there to set your mummy free at the end.

Costume Dress-up
Before you drop those old clothes at the donation box, use them for the class party.  Divide your class into teams and make a pile of costume pieces for each team. The first team to have all their pieces on wins. Or, you can do it as a relay – have the kids put on some pieces and then carry a spoonful of candy corn to the other end of the room (no dropping or they come back). They drop the corn into a jar, race back, remove the costume pieces and hand the spoon to the next person. This game is best if you can be outside or if you have a room with enough space for them to move freely.

Guessing Jar
Fill a great glass jar with fall items – pumpkin seeds, acorns, leaves, candy corn, cookies or candy pumpkins.  Have the kids each estimate (ooh, the teacher will love you for that word!) the number of items in the jar. The winner can either take it home or you can divide it all up among the class as a party treat.

Decorate Masks
This is another good activity for parents to send in supplies. You can set up stations and the kids can get creative with their own party mask.  You can use the usual craft supplies or get really into fall and use leaves, acorns & other found natural objects. Just be sure to ask the teacher if you’ll have enough time for this one.

The best way to wrap up your fall party is to make sure everyone wins in the end.   A small treat bag, fall pencil or even those silly plastic spider rings puts a nice ending on a fun afternoon.

 
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This post published at MommyNeedsCake as Class Moms Guide Book: 5 Fall Party Activities For Kids © 2011 All Rights Reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission, however, feel free to tell as many people as you like about it by linking them back to MommyNeedsCake.

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