A trip to your local grocery or home goods store will make you think that summer is already over, and the seasons have rolled into autumn. In anticipation of cooler weather and spookier festivities, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite Halloween activities, crafts and recipes for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
At the end of this summer, my young son was diagnosed with Alpha Gal Syndrome (AGS). People with this tick-born disease exhibit of range of symptoms and allergies, and because we are at the beginning of figuring out what he can safely eat, we’re proceeding with caution. Even though he hasn’t shown reactions to dairy, this ingredient is still being limited. What we know for sure is that he reacts to mammal meat and by products (which seem to be in everything). On the heels of drastically changing his regular diet, and with the holiday season fast approaching, I was thrilled to find an allergy-safe alternative to the classic holiday tradition of decorating gingerbread houses: The Tomte Cake set.
With a young son recently diagnosed with the disease, Jackie Richardson makes an Alpha Gal friendly cake, using safe ingredients, in her new Tomte Cake pan. Click here for the tutorial.
I’m always looking for fun crafts to do with my little grands, ages 5 and 3. I noticed, on Instagram and then, on Pinterest, a project that used air dry clay and dried flowers, turning the clay into ghosts – or ghosts(es) – as my grands call them.
I like the feminine touch that the flowers add to these miniature ghosts, and they will look sweet on a table runner, or mantle or display cabinet or even Granny’s dresser.
Our Babbs takes you into the world of Mod Podge and air dry clay ghosts, decorated with dried flowers, for this week’s craft – one that she did with her little grands for Halloween décor. Click here for the tutorial.
It’s common to associate burying grounds with creepy stories and Halloween decorations, and it’s easy to see why. Many cemeteries are all but abandoned, leaving the headstones made to remember the dead to sink into the ground and be forgotten. Some old headstones are still cleaned and preserved because people care, which means that cemeteries and graveyards are havens for historical and genealogical information. There are burying grounds in America that still have stones dating from before the birth of our nation. It’s amazing to think that some American headstones have survived for more than 250 years, and in some cases are still legible. In many cases though, the carvings on grave markers wear away from exposure to the elements. There’s still a way to preserve the information on the marker, however, and there’s no better way to become familiar with the dead: Grave rubbing.
Our favorite teenager, Madeleine, spent time grave rubbing in old cemeteries in New York. To find out how to do this interesting and revealing task, click here.
Here’s a quick and easy way to get your kids to eat fruit. I saw this on Facebook, and don’t recall to whom to give the credit. During the Halloween run-up, you might want to create these jack-o’-lantern fruit cups.
Babbs whips up some nutritious Jack-O-Lantern fruit cups with the grands, and also highlights past Halloween crafts you can do with your kids. Click here for the recipe.
Now that the holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed, some of us are finding ourselves with leftover … pumpkins. What better way to fully use these decorative delights than to use them for target practice? Hence, we conducted the “Great Pumpkin Shoot” of 2021, using a Taurus TX 22.
Find out how Babbs and her guys went plinking on pumpkins with a Taurus TX 22. Click here to learn more about this fun activity.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I tried the viral Halloween ghost painting trend, as seen on TikTok and other social media platforms. I picked up two framed pieces of “art” at my local thrift store, and we used paints that we already had at home. All-in-all, this was a cheap and entertaining date night activity. We added snacks and a couple of adult beverages to round out the evening. If you would like to create your own versions, keep reading to find the steps we used to make Halloween ghost paintings.
Jackie Richardson and her husband try the viral Halloween ghost painting trend as a cheap and entertaining activity for date night. Click here for the tutorial.
Looking for an alternative to the traditional carved pumpkin or a thoughtful and unique hostess gift? Check out this simple DIY concrete jack-o-lantern. Grab a plastic pumpkin bucket or two, and the rest of the materials for this fun craft, and make unique Halloween decor.
Our designer got busy this month and found this DIY project for cute concrete pumpkins. Could you turn them around for Thanksgiving outdoor decorations? We think so. Click here for the tutorial.
Jackie Baird Richardson is an interior designer, editor at The WON and avid junker. Watch for her design tips and occasional crafting ideas, bringing the outdoors indoors. View all posts by Jackie Richardson
