Easy Halloween Costumes and Treats

What’s not to love about a holiday that includes treats? There are so many great ideas for do it yourself costumes and fun recipes floating around the internet. If you have children or are one of the many adults that have never actually lost their love for Halloween here are some spooky ideas to get you into the spirit of things. Sorry… I can’t help myself!

Costumes

1. Mummy – This is such a simple idea and a truly spooky one. Wrap up in bandages (white gauze). If you want to achieve the “been in the grave for awhile” look then you can soak the gauze in tea and it will give it that antiqued look. You can either wrap it all the way around your head with the eyes and mouth uncovered or a thin piece of gauze for those areas. If you want to leave the eyes and mouth uncovered then use white makeup with age lines painted on. Put a little green mold here and there and voila, you are a mummy. Make sure you have the stiff gate in your walk to top it off!

2. Bunch of Grapes – You can choose purple or green for this costume. Get tights and leotards or sweats in one of these colors, and matching balloons. Blow them up and tack or pin them on in an upside down triangle shape, like a bunch of grapes! Do this on front and back. If you don’t want too many balloons then three on top, two in the middle, and one on the bottom. I think the more the merrier but then you have to think about whether or not you will be sitting down. You can add a felt green stem hat to make it complete

3. Japanese Doll – I love the sound of this one for a young girl or it could be pumped up to a sexy Geisha! You need a kimono type dress, some thong type slippers, and put your hair up in a bun or buns. Paint your face white with rosy red cheeks and lips. If you check out some of the pictures online they also have their eyebrows drawn on pretty dramatically and have combs in their hair. Some have what looks like small chop sticks sticking through the buns in their hair. How sweet would this be?

4. Bunny or Mouse – My daughter was a mouse one year and either the bunny or the mouse are so very cute with just a bit of effort. The bunny can be white or pink (or whatever kind of bunny you like). Just get tights and matching leotards and buy a pom pom tail at the craft store. Many times you can find bunny ears for sale at the discount stores but they aren’t really hard to make. You can use some thin craft wire to form the shape of the ears and attach them to a plastic headband. Get a piece of remnant material and cover the wire or you could even use pink or white crepe paper to wrap around and tape with clear tape. Paint the end of the nose with a pink or black circle and add some painted on whiskers. The same can be done for the mouse with brown tights, just add a long brown tail. When I was making the mouse I decided the mouse needed to be inside some cheese. So I took a couple of triangleshaped pieces of yellow felt type material and cut “Swiss cheese” holes in itsewed it together and put it over her head. A brown nose and whiskers with the homemade ears and she was the cutest mouse ever!

Halloween Treat Ideas

1. Mummy Dogs – You can use hot dogs cut in half or even sausages. Cut crescent rolls in strips and wrap around the weenie body and head leaving a small area free for the eyes. Use a dab of mustard or ketchup for the eyes. Bake according to crescent roll directions.

2. Bones n’ Blood – Make your bones out of breadsticks, either store bought or homemade. Cut bread sticks into strips and cut into each end with scissors and curl around to make it into the bone shape. Add parmesan and garlic to flavor if you’d like. With a bowl of marinara (the blood) on the side for dipping.

3. Cheesy Fingers – These are so cute and super easy. Cut cheese sticks in half to make them bite sized, shave a little cheese off one end for finger tip, and glue on an almond with cream cheese. Take the blunt side of knife and make the knuckle marks. I’ve also seen the fingers done with bread sticks and almonds for fingernails baked in.

4. Dirt n’ Worms – This is an old favorite. First you layer chocolate pudding on the bottom for the “mud”, then a layer of crushed Oreos on top for the “dirt”. Add some gummy worms crawling out from underground and you get that creepy crawly Halloween look!

5. Nutty Ghosts – Nutter Butter cookies already have a ghostly shape and when dipped in almond bark or white chocolate they are not only spooky but yummy! Add two mini chocolate chips for their eyes right after dipping.

6. Witches Wands – Start with the large pretzel sticks and dip them in white chocolate then sprinkle with edible glitter. You can buy small buckets or jars at the dollar store and fill with candy corn to stand them up in. Not only do you have a great treat but a great table decoration.

7. Witch Hats – Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies turned upside down with a Hershey’s Kiss on top. Use the little tubes of icing you can buy in the store and pipe some icing around the outside edge of the bottom of the kiss and press it down. It will ooze out the sides and add a bow with your icing and you’re done.

8. Candy Corn Cupcakes (http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/10/tutorial-how-to-frost-cupcakes-plus-candy-corn-cupcakes/) – Here’s a really cute cupcake idea that’s really easy to make. It starts with a white cake mix with and the normal additions but then they add sour cream and almond extract. You divide the batter equally into two bowls and add yellow and orange food coloring. Top with a little frosting and add a piece of candy corn. It’s such a cute and very tasty cupcake. Follow the blog link for full instructions.

9. Mummy Cupcakes (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Mummy-Cupcakes) – Not so scary but oh so cute cupcakes. It does require a pastry tip but if you don’t have a pastry bag and tips I’ve seen the tubes of icing in the store that comes with tips. You need white icing for the mummy wrap along with a tube of blue and a tube of black decorating gel.

10. Back Bone Roll Ups (http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Backbone-Roll-Ups) – Tortilla shells with spreadable cheese, ham, salami, spinach, green and red pepper rolled up. Cut into thick slices and stack to look like a back bone. You could use other toppings and change it up. I’ve made these with cream cheese, ham or salami, green onion, and black olives. You could use refried beans, sour cream, and hamburger with a salsa dip on the side. There are a lot of variations for this one.

11. Bat Cupcakes (http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Bat-Cupcakes) – Here’s another recipe that uses the fudge stripe cookies, this time they are made into bat wings. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and a Hershey’s Kiss for the face, add a little red decorating gel for the eyes and there you go!

Hopefully I have given you some frightfully good ideas for this Halloween. There are so many creative ideas out there from people all over the country. As I was looking for costumes, treats, and recipes ideas it was almost inexhaustible! I hope you have a Halloween that is hauntingly memorable!

Author Bio:

Paul and his wife Julie both spend quite a bit of time coming up with ideas, blogging, and researching all things related to childcare. They take care of all the necessary information related to “babysittingjobs.com/”. He personally thinks his blog will help finding information on all things related to a babysitter.

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