Happy Halloween!

The last couple of days have been a hustle and bustle of Halloween fanfare. Fringe, feathers, beads, straw hats, apples, cards and candy! Last year I stayed so busy with all the preparations that by the time I got to the Ward Halloween party, I was exhausted. I was hoping I wouldn’t overdo my self like that again. I didn’t, but close. Thankfully, Tanner had a Halloween birthday party to attend about a week ago which got his costume made and out of the way. I am pretty sure this will be my last year to decide what Tanner will be for Halloween. (I think I said that last year too.) I kind of just made it and told him what he was going to be and he was cool with it. He did inform me as he was putting on his chaps, vest and cowboy hat that he wanted to be a spider. I told him if he still wanted to be a spider next year for Halloween, I would make it for him. He has been talking about being a spider the rest of the week, but happily and most excitedly, puts on his cowboy costume. What a trooper!

I went to Walmart to see what I could find for fabric for Tanner’s chaps. I found some awesome fake-suede looking stuff that was nice and stiff, but with a little spandex in it for give. Perfect for kids, and only $2.39 a yard. I bought one yard. Then, I found some fringe for $1.29. I bought 2 yards. Viola! I made two set of chaps (one for Tanner and one for Colin) and two vests for $4.97. For Lexie I borrowed a Pocahontas costume from a girl from church. It was missing the headband so I found some of grandma Gloria Ellingson’s ribbon and sewed some feathers into it. She looked darling and I was grateful I didn’t have to make her something.

So, this year for Halloween, I had a cowboy, an Indian and a little buckaroo!

It has been a long time since I have dressed up for Halloween. I was wandering around Target one night late and walked by some orange and black stripped stockings. Perfect witch attire! So, I snatched them up and brought them home. Next, was the hat. Walmart had a fairly fancy one for $9.99 but that was out of my budget. Actually, I don’t have a Halloween budget so it was coming out of my grocery budget and ten bucks was too much. I found a bare-bones plain witch hat for $1, added some black tulle ($1), fringe ($1.43) and then made a sash and big black rose from some scraps of material I had at home.


Our tradition for giving away apples on Halloween continues. I bought 9 bags of apples this year and went through all most all of them just at the Ward Halloween party. I have decided that this is by far a more expensive route than if I were to buy the "good" candy at the store, but I sense they are valued by the comments I get from the children and parents as they walk by, so it is worth splurging for. This year Tanner labeled himself “principal apple stuffer”. He single handedly stuffed all 9 bags of apples into individual sandwich baggies. He also cut up all the little tags we put inside each one, but decided it was mom’s job to stuff those in with the apples and tie them off. It was a fun project to do together. Lexie is still too young to understand what it means to bruise an apple. Though, honestly, I am pretty sure she isn’t too young, I just haven’t taken the time to cut open an apple and show her a bruise. I spent some time yesterday keeping her from throwing the apples around. Glad she likes balls I suppose.