5 Last Minute Halloween Treats

There's not much time left so enjoy these last minute Halloween treats that are perfect for your Halloween party or just for hanging out with your family.  These Halloween treats are sure to win over the ghosts and ghouls in your home today.

Happy Halloween!

Today is going to be a fun filled day.  We've got lots of Halloween treats scheduled to be made, lots of treats scheduled to be collected, and lots of treats to be shared.  It's a good thing we need to walk so far to make, collect, and share these because otherwise my jeans are going to be a bit snug tomorrow!

If you are still looking for some last minute Halloween treats to share with the ghosts and ghouls haunting your door tonight, here are five of my favorites from last week's Dare to Share Saturday.

1.  Candy Corn Bars

2. Pumpkin Spice Molasses Filled Cookies

3. Creepy Halloween Cupcakes

4. Pumpkin Spice Iced Pumpkin Cookies

5. Zombie Fingers

Enjoy your Halloween tonight, but don't forget to check out some of these other last minute Halloween tricks that we shared this week.

Skull Chocolate Caramel Apples

Spooky Halloween Candy

Spider Glass and Dishes DIY

Halloween Trick or Treat Bag

And here's Pam's cool Glowing Alien Heads for Halloween! What a quick and unique last minute Halloween decoration.

I hope you're day is filled with lots of fun, treats, and Halloween magic for tomorrow it's on to the work of Christmas, parties, and getting ready for the holidays.

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Make your own Halloween Candy Trick or Treat Bag and Free Printables

Make your own Halloween candy trick or treat bag or container with one of these easy free printables and some simple items you can upcycle from around the house.  You can make a personalized Halloween candy trick or treat bag that matches your costume or wishes your friends a Happy Halloween!

When I first broach the topic of Halloween costumes with the kids in early September, it seems the idea on what they want to be changes by the hour.  As we get closer to Halloween, it seems to change about every week.

When I asked about it last weekend, the ideas seemed to solidify into Harry Potter and Cookie Monster.  I admit that I was really suprised because it seemed the last few years that the kids have gotten into the "Halloween costumes must be scary" phase.  (I HATE that phase!)

But I was thrilled.  So Mini Me and I started researching ideas on Pinterest for how to make a Cookie Monster Halloween Costume.  I had ideas of creating a cute, fun costume, he fell in love with this Cookie Monster pajama set sold on Amazon. (Thanks, whoever posted that one!)  No matter what other ideas I threw out there or showed him, he had his heart set on that.

I finally found a place that had the pajamas and could ship it from China in less than a week.  (I don't recommend it, but I still love Halloween enough to splurge.)

The costume arrived yesterday and we knew we needed to make a matching Halloween candy trick or treat bag.  I looked around but didn't want to spend any more money on the costume, so we decided to make our own Halloween candy trick or treat container.

It turned out pretty easy and Mini Me had a lot of fun decorating the handle.

To make this, you'll need a can of Nestle Hot Chocolate (or other can about 16 inches wide by 5 3/8 inches.)  You can use wrapping paper, cute scrapbook paper, one of our free printables, or create your own printable to match your Halloween costume.

I found a picture of cookies online and added a "cookie jar" graphic to the front.  If you use this, print two of them, and glue them around your can.

Drill a small hole on two alternate sides of the can for the handle.  Use a length of Paracord * to make the handle whatever length you like, and tie a knot inside to keep it secure.

Give your child a bunch of Pony Beads* and let them go to town stringing them on in whatever design they like.  Once done, thread the other end of paracord inside the trick or treat container and enjoy!

Here are a few free printables to choose from if you want to make your own Halloween candy trick or treat bag.

If you like this free printable, sign up for my weekly email updates to get more delivered right to your inbox!

Items I used in the making of Halloween Candy Trick or Treat Bags:

 

Halloween Spider Glass and Dishes DIY

Make your own Halloween glass and dishes to decorate your dinner table.  Using this simple technique, the full moons the limit with your Halloween designs.  I chose a fun spider for my glasses and dishes that made the party a little more creepy!

If you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you've probably noticed that I can be a bit obsessive.  When I find an idea I like, I run with it...and run..and run..and run.  I can't seem to let it go.  My obsession with the candy toppers has to have proven that by now.

I seem to be obsessed with the decorating of plates now.  Remember when I showed you my Back to School plates?  I just had to make a set for Halloween too!  (Yea, you'll probably see a Christmas set too so be prepared.)

Spiders seem to be THE scary thing in our house lately. It could be because my husband found this little beauty walking up our front steps the other night.  You can be assured it was several inches across, despite the screaming coming from my husband and kids that it was HUMONGOUS.

So when I started thinking about Halloween themes, I decided to go with Spiders.  Dear Hubby may not appreciate it, but it seemed appropriate.

I started with a goblet from Dollar Tree.  They had lots of different sizes and colors, and as tempted as I was to go with the black stemmed one, I wasn't sure it would show the design to the greatest effect.

I measured around the top of the glass and marked it with a dry erase marker.  I wanted the design to be pretty even at the top.

I drew lines down the sides of the glass to the bottom using a black Sharpie Oil-Based Medium Point Paint Marker.  I wasn't very straight with my lines, but if you catch it VERY quickly, the lines are forgiving.

I followed up by connecting the lines in a large draping shape.

I then drew different sized spiders all around the glass spiderweb.

I finished the glass off by baking it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I also made a set of matching square plates to complete my Halloween tablescape.

I am SUPER excited with how they turned out and the cheap, ease of custom Holiday plates and dishes.

Can't get better than that?!

Easy Halloween Costumes

Looking for a last minute costume for Halloween? Here are 5 Easy Halloween Costumes to help you dress up and have some fun on the sweetest night of the year.

Halloween is one week from today!  Hooray!

I love it all.  The magic.  The dress up.  The colors.  The lights.  The candy.  (Of course.)

But I admit, I haven't even thought about Halloween costumes yet.  I'm so bad about that.  My kids tell me what they want to be, but I don't ever get around to doing anything about it until the few days before.  I'm hoping to actually break my streak and get them done this weekend.  Here's crossing my fingers.

If you're like me and still need to get those Halloween costumes done, here are some awesome and easy ideas from last week's Dare to Share Saturday.

1. Toddler Poodle Skirt

2. Lumpy Space Princess Costume

3. Stormtrooper Costume

4. 10 Non Scary Halloween Costumes for Girls

5. Wii Remote Costume

I hope that gave you a little inspiration so you can get all your Halloween To-Do list projects done, or at least started.  If not, here are a few more projects that I've been working on this week.

Halloween Candy Countdown Calendar DIY

Halloween Kiss Matching Game and Printable

Halloween Pumpkin Silverware/Napkin Holder Pattern

Thrifty Halloween Mantel and free Printable

And don't forget to go see what my co-host tonight's Dare to Share party has been up to.  She shares lots of great features all week, so check to see if you were one.  And don't miss checking out her experience at with a Paint and Pour party she was able to attend. I'm so jealous.  It looks like it was so much fun and would be a great party activity or girls night out!

Be sure to come back tonight at 12:00 EST and share your favorite fall recipe or any other project you've been up to!  We can't wait to see.

If you would like to be emailed when the party goes live each week, subscribe here. (I promise this will only be used to send you a reminder invitation!) 

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Thrifty Halloween Mantel with Spider Banner Free Printable

Decorate your mantel for Halloween with thrift store finds and .  You can make a Thrifty Halloween Mantel that will be scarily cool with this Spider Banner and unique jars found for cheap around your house and neighborhood.  You'll have a fun mantel with a bit of scare.

I'm pretty sure you have all your Halloween decorating done by now.  But if not, I wanted to share my Halloween mantel with you to give you a few ideas on how to decorate on a thrift store budget but a Skeleton King's style.  (See what I did there? I know, I'm a little corny sometimes.)

To start my mantel, I used my three wood pumpkins.  I made these pumpkins years ago out of a cut three limb.  There are three of them cut into different heights and painted orange.  Then I painted happy smiles on the front.  A pretty cheap but cool decoration that I truly love.

Below my wooden pumpkins, I created a spiderweb banner that says "Happy Halloween".  The original banner has each pennant 4x5 inches tall, so I just printed the PDF with 2 to a page to make them smaller to fit my mantel.

I'm sharing the Spider Banner Happy Halloween free printable here.  If you want the whole alphabet and number pennants, you can find them in my e-store here.

On the left side of my mantel, I have my Monster Halloween Chalkboard Countdown.   This was a gift from my mom a few years ago.  I love countdown calendars, so my family buy unique ones for me whenever they find them.

The candy dish was from Dollar General a few years ago, and I put a small candle in their from Dollar Tree to add a little height and white to the colors.

The pumpkin peekiing out behind the purple and black Halloween Spider Garland*is a mason jar I painted to look like a pumpkin.  He has Christmas lights inside him, so at night, we turn him on  to enjoy a little pumpkin glow with our firelight.

The right side of my mantel has my Magic Mirror from my Snow White party table.  I just love him and find any excuse I can to show him off.  So of course, he had to make an appearance on my Halloween Mantel.  He was super easy to make, so you can check out the directions here if you want to try him.

The Happy Halloween sign was another gift I've had for several years and is used as a little bit of filler in the corner of my mantel.

Throughout the mantel, I have jars of different sizes and styles that I found at thrift stores in my neighborhood.  I am always looking for unique sized jars when I go and browse because they can be used for so many different purposes.  I have filled a few of them up with spiders that I purchased from the dollar store, candy gummi worms, and colored water.  I kept meaning to add a few of the Halloween jar labels that I have seen around the web, but never got around to it.

Above the whole mantel is my Halloween Subway art that I made last year.  I had it blown up at Walgreens during one of their 40% off sales, so it was the most expensive part of my mantel, but since I've used it for two years now and will probably use it for several more, I'm okay with that splurge.

Around the entire mantel, I weaved some black and purple Halloween Spider Garland* into the decorations.  This gave the mantel some dark Halloween color as well as tied the whole mantel together.  I found this garland at Dollar General a while back, so it was pretty cheap and has lasted a while in my decorations rotation too.

If you are going to make your own Thrifty Halloween Mantel, here are some suggestions for you,

• Use the decorations and items that you already have around the house
• Think outside the box.  It may seem like just an oil bottle, but it can be reused into a creepy witch' brew if you have the imagination.
• Check out thrift stores all year long for items that you can use for multiple mantels and parties
• Check the web for great free printables (we have lots here on our blog. Check out the link above!)
• Craft your own decorations out of items you may have around the yard.
• Check out the dollar stores.

Do you have any other ideas for decorations on the cheap? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear!

Plus, don't forget to get your free Spider Banner Printable PDF file.

Halloween Pumpkin Silverware Holder Plastic Canvas Pattern

Decorate your Halloween party in a fun and useful way with this cute Halloween pumpkin to sit on your table and hold your party necessities.  This Plastic canvas pattern can be used as a Silverware holder or as a napkin holder at your party.  Try this quick plastic canvas sew that will make a lot of WOW at your Halloween party.

Halloween Candy Countdown Calendar

Celebrate the coming of Halloween by making an easy Candy Countdown Calendar for your kids. This countdown calendar has Hershey kiss candy marking each day to "Have a Sweet Trick or Treat Halloween".  It's not as hard as it looks and is a sweet way to use candy to countdown the days to the sweetest holiday all year.

I know that Halloween is only 12 days away now.

I know that you are probably past decorating for the sweetest holiday all year and have moved on to worrying about costumes.

But I just had to share this fun Halloween candy countdown calendar that I made this weekend.

It was one of those projects that I've wanted to make for years. (I want one for every holiday after seeing these kiss candy countdown calendars.)  But I always felt like it would be hard to make and out of my crafting league.

But this weekend, I found a board that my sisters had cut for me years ago to make this, and I decided "no more excuses" and so I made this candy countdown calendar.

Since it wasn't as hard to make as I thought, I decided to share it with you to give you the courage to go make a project that you've been thinking about for a while, or to even join me in counting down the days to Halloween with candy kisses.

Start with a piece of MDF board (or these Chipboard Sheets* could work great too!) that is cut in a twelve inch square.  My sisters were kind enough to route the edges for me, so that made it extra stylish, but you can just use a regular square piece of leftover board.

Spray paint the board black.

While the board is drying, save and print the kiss labels and Frankenstein monster from the printable at the bottom of the page.

Place the Frankenstein on the board in the position you desire.

Use a pencil and ruler to mark out the spots for the Hershey Kiss candies.  I marked my spots every inch (since the drill bit is 5/8 of an inch it worked perfect.)

Use a 5/8-Inch Spade Drill Bit * (I found mine in the tool department at Walmart) to  drill the holds into your MDF board for your candy countdown.

It was pretty easy to place the tip of the bit on the lines I had created to make even holes.

If you want all 31 days, then make 31 holes in the desired formation. I used 5 holes with a space between 4 and 5 (HAVE A), 5 holes (SWEET), 5 holes (TRICK), 2 holes (OR), 5 holes (TREAT), 5 holes (HALLO), and 4 holes (WEEN).

If you only want 12 days, then you can just use 5 holes (TRICK), 2 holes (OR), and 5 holes (TREAT).

When you are done drilling your holes, use some homemade Modge Podge to paint the back of your Frankenstein graphic to secure him to your countdown board.  You can also paint the front so it will be sealed and safe from "kid elements" and dirty fingers.

While your Modge Podge is drying, use a 0.75 Circle Punch* to cut out the kiss letters.  Then glue the letters onto the bottom of each Hershey kiss. 

I found I needed to put a small glue dot on the inside edge of each hole to keep the kisses stable and not flying out every time the calendar was bumped.

Add your kisses to your countdown calendar.  

Now each day through Halloween, you can enjoy one Hershey kiss as you use the candy to countdown your way to the sweetest holiday of the year!

If you make this, would you mind sharing it with me on our Facebook page? I would love to see how it turns out for you!

Here are the items I used to make the Halloween Candy Countdown Calendar:

       

5 Fall Recipes for an Easy Dinner

The weather is getting colder and the days shorter, so what to cook for an easy dinner when all you want to do is cuddle by the warm fire? Here are five fall recipes to help you make an easy dinner that will warm your insides and satisfy your palette.

We are still neck deep in football season here at the Kandy Kreations house.  In fact, we actually had the whole football team over for dinner last night (#SoGladToBeASeniorsMom), so we are really feeling the team spirit today.

And tonight we'll be standing out in the cold, rooting those boys along.  So before we go, I have been looking at all the great projects you shared last week on Dare to Share Saturday and found some great fall recipes to help me make an easy dinner for the family.

Thanks so much for sharing these! I'm so excited to give them a try over the next few weeks as the weather changes and we enjoy fall in all it's color and beauty splendor.

1. Crockpot Mac and Cheese

2. Pantry Chili

3. Slow Cooker Hawaiian Haystacks

4. Cranberry Barley Vegetarian Casserole

5. Crunchy Chicken and Rice Bake

What is your favorite fall recipe to cook for an easy dinner? Link it up tonight at Dare to Share Saturday! Pam and I would love to see.

In the meantime, while I'm out partying with the football team, check out these great projects that I shared this week:

Rest in Pieces Free Printable

Pumpkin Chocolate Covered Cherries Recipe

Answers to the Mormon Family Feud

Bleeding Brain Cake Balls

and be sure not to miss what my co-host Pam's been up to! I just love this Olaf Pumpkin that she made. Isn't he the cutest? If you have a Frozen princess in your house, I'm sure she'd be happy to give this snowman a warm hug!

Be sure to come back tonight at 12:00 EST and share your favorite fall recipe or any other project you've been up to!  We can't wait to see.

If you would like to be emailed when the party goes live each week, subscribe here. (I promise this will only be used to send you a reminder invitation!) 

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