No Tricks, Just Treats!

Once again, Halloween has totally snuck up on me. I could have sworn it was just August! 

Well, sneaky or not, here it is. And here I am frantically turning snow pants and duct tape into astronaut pants and cardboard and spray paint into weaponry. Thankfully, the littlest guy opted for Batman this year. Phew! Thank you, Amazon, for checking that one off the list for me!

Honestly, between the outfits and the parties, Halloween might actually rank right up there on the stress-o-meter next to Christmas! Of course, the stress might also have something to do with my tendency to bite off more than I can chew or because celebrating holidays is my number one addiction (uhmm... aside from Doctor Who and Vampire Diaries - fangirl alert!). Probably both.

Me being me, I really want to share some fun treats with my kids (and maybe a few dozen of their nearest and dearest) but I'm not willing to break the bank or give up a week's worth of sleep just to have a little fun (although, the sleep part isn't completely unheard of around here). So, I've put together some spook-tacular treats that won't take long to make (you probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen right now) and a few simple ways to dress up the table!

                Ready...

                                    Set...

  BOO!

Tru Moo Orange Scream Creamsicle Milk (or just add some food coloring to your regular milk!)

Paper straws and some glittered embellishments bring this Halloween milk from fun to on fleek!
*embellishments found at Wal-Mart in seasonal department
* striped paper straws from Outside the Box Papers

A strip of double sided tape or some glue tape on the back of the embellishments
is all that's needed to keep them in place but you may want to just use a 
strip of regular tape to secure it.

Monkey- Approved!

These spooky banana & mini chocolate chip ghosts are a great healthy option to add to your table!

Yay for healthy options!

A couple recommendations:

1. Refrigerate the bananas before you add the chips and again until you are ready to serve them  

2. Use a toothpick to "pre-drill" the chocolate chip holes to avoid

the mess I made around the chips oops!

Monster Eyeballs! Chocolate Donut Holes + Wilton Bloodshot Eyeballs = Gruesome Goodies!

Marshmallow fluff makes the perfect eyeball glue ;-)

My boys LOVE Marshmallow Pops. I mean, what kid wouldn't? 
They're marshmallows covered in sprinkles. 
Sugar on sugar isn't something I normally encourage in this already cray-cray house 
but every once in awhile, why not?!

For these Marshmallow Pops, I took the easy way out... no dipping in chocolate, just a little water on the marshmallow and a roll in some black sugar crystals! Before I coated them, I used a toothpick to "pre-drill" the straw hole, inserted the straw and used it as a handle while wetting and coating it. Then, I simply added another glittery embellishment and set them on inside-out Halloween cupcake wrappers. 

Yes, these mini "Jack-O-Lanterns" are just as easy to make as you think... 
Clementine (or full-size orange) + black Sharpie marker = instant cute, healthy treat! 
And no, the marker does not soak through the peel but, it can rub off on little hands.

Spooky String Cheese Ghosts. This is one that works best, I think, for small groups when you can make them shortly before serving them. I opened and cut string cheese in half and used black Wilton Sparkle Gel for the eyes and mouth. I know, I know... frosting for string cheese? I wasn't sure what to use and happened to have this gel in my baking stash, unopened so I thought I'd give it a shot. Not bad actually :-) I do recommend shaking it well before opening and squeezing out a bit to get the water-y stuff out first. And, as I learned later, if you don't want to leave the gel on the cheese, if you simply leave it on for a bit, while refrigerating them, you can wipe the gel off and there will be a "shadow" stained into the white cheese.

Mini pumpkins + glitter embellishment = Halloween perfection!

After I'd already photographed all these fun party details, a package arrived with these super cute 3-D cardstock spiders along with some other goodies for the wee ones! Aren't they great?! Apparently, my Mom snagged them at Wal-Mart (Thanks, Mom!)
They each have a pre-punched hole for hanging on the black twine they came with. These are going to be perfect for hanging and just tossing onto the table wherever I need a little somethin' somethin'! 

 And here are a few other ideas not included in this party but still fun and easy...

I hope you found a few ideas today to spark your creativity and give the kids in your house (big & small!) something spooky to smile about this Halloween!

Me, I found this idea - dress Little Man in a monkey costume (minus the hat) and he'll nap with no fuss! Win!

Now, back to duct taping that astronaut suit! *sigh*