Tag: ghosts

Squash Spirits

Leave a comment

Use butternut squash to make this adorable family of ghosts for your front porch this Halloween season! The novel shape is a fun twist on a standard round pumpkin.

Since butternut squash come in a pale peach color, though, first we needed to make them a ghostly white. Veronika loved helping paint the “baby” squash while I painted two larger ones. Just use caution, as you will need to use acrylic paint for this project rather than washable tempera paint.

We let the paint dry before adding a second coat of white, then let dry completely again.

To set up the squash squad, one received a top hat to wear and another got glasses. (Note: Our accessories were care of Mr. Potato Head, but doll accessories would work, too!). Finally, Baby Squash got eyes with permanent black marker, and the family was ready to haunt our steps.

BOO!

Boo Mobile

Leave a comment

Boo Mobile (5).JPG

The spooky decor continues! On the heels of eerie snack cups, Travis helped make a mobile to hang in the house this Halloween.

First, wrap 2 dowels in orange. Thick yarn would have made quicker work of this step but since I only had orange needlepoint thread, so I was proud of Travis sticking with it.

Boo Mobile (1)

Secure the thread with tape. Tie the two dowels crosswise to each other with more thread.

Boo Mobile (2)

For decorations, we cut simple ghost shapes from white craft foam. Travis loved adding their spooky faces, including one with “fangs”.

Boo Mobile (3)

I also cut the letters B-O-O from orange craft foam. Attach these decorations to more thread with tape, and tie each thread to one end of the dowels. Hang with a final piece of thread, whether in black or orange.

Boo Mobile (4)

Boo!

Boo Mobile (6)

Toasty Fall Treats

Leave a comment

Toasty Fall (4)

These adorable little toasts, the recipe in our October High Five magazine, make a great snack – simply vary the shape to make them appropriate throughout the entire fall!

For our first toasts, Travis chose pumpkin- and leaf-shaped cookie cutters. Adults: toast 1 slice of bread per each shape.

Toasty Fall (1)

Travis loved helping press the cookie cutters into the bread, and seeing the shapes pop out.

Toasty Fall (2)

Next came spreading them with red-pepper hummus, giving a nice autumnal hue to our snacks.

Toasty Fall (3)

I cut up small strips of red and yellow peppers for him to arrange on the toasts as decoration, including red color for our pumpkin’s stem.

Okay, the leaf veins were care of mama.

Toasty Fall (5)

Closer to Halloween, make a ghost toast! Use a ghost-shaped cookie cutter and spread with non-dairy cream cheese. Add eyes and a mouth from cut black olives.

Toasty Fall (6)

Once we’re into November, consider a turkey version. We spread with red-pepper hummus again, and used bell pepper pieces for tail feathers and a beak.

Toasty Turkey (2)

Happy snacking!

Toasty Turkey (1)

Dancing Bats and Ghosts

Leave a comment

Dancing Ghost (7)

What is it with playground slides and static electricity? Travis was fascinated the other day when he kept picking up a shock each time he went down the slide and then touched the railing on the stairs back up. So we turned it into a teachable moment – minus the shock! – with this little lesson on static electricity at home. You can cut any shape you want into tissue paper, but since it’s Halloween, we had to go with bats and ghosts of course.

Dancing Ghost (1)

I didn’t trust myself to cut tissue paper free-hand, so downloaded templates of a bat and ghost, and traced onto the paper before cutting out.

Dancing Ghost (2)

Tape the shapes to a tabletop or similar surface; set aside.

Dancing Ghost (3)

To create the static, blow up a balloon (a spooky black was the perfect shade for today), and rub in your hair (or on a sweater). Hold the balloon over the tissue paper, and the static will make the ghosts and bats lift up and dance!

Dancing Ghost (6)

Travis loved every element of this experiment, including making static from his own hair…

Dancing Ghost (5)

…And seeing if he could make the tissue paper rise up.

Dancing Ghost (4)

Of course you also could just create static and the tissue paper will stick directly to the balloon, but taping our tissue paper spookies to the table turned it into a hokey Halloween jig.

Dancing Ghost (8)