This is Halloween... Part 7. Dinner is served!

As we usually host parties - we are fanatic about making spooky or Halloween themed food. Now, let me just say, I have a weak stomach and a rather vivid imaginations, so I am not a fan of eating anything that looks too real (we don't do brains, skin, etc), but I love a bit of themed food.

Rolled Halloween Sugar Cookies, Monster Macaroni and Cheese, Dracula Bolognese and Halloween Eggs on Avo Toast

During the week (D is on half term) we made Halloween cookies - we made bats, cats and spiders. We got the cool cookie cutters from a competition hosted by Mo's Cookies, last Halloween.

We used this Rolled Iced Cookies recipe from +BBC Good Food - the boys had great fun cutting out the shapes. We took these along to a friends' house to do some decorating, after an awesome Spooky Tea Party.

On Friday night, we decided to have a bolognese (with a Halloween spin) - however our children were not too thrilled about our creative finesse. I felt quite insulted, as I think thought that Dracula was very cute. Fortunately it was more that he wasn't a fan of Babybel cheese and olives. Phew! ;)

I love making pasta sauces because I can always sneak loads of veggies into the sauce without anyone noticing and it tastes amazing - our bolognese sauce had tinned tomato, celery, carrot and pepper. I puree them before mixing it into the mince.

Last night we had baked macaroni and cheese. I had wanted to cut pumpkins out of carrots and tomatoes however my husband decided that he would rather turn it into a monster. It was a lot less work and the boys weren't bothered by this scary face. I think because it had melted.

This morning we had avo toast (my favourite) with a fried egg made with the Halloween cookie cutters - poor Spider lost a few legs. But they were a huge hit and hubby said that they were egg-cellent! Oh dear! #dadjoke

At previous parties - we have made witches fingers using a cookie recipe and rolling them into finger shapes. We then cut lines along the fingers for knuckles and used sliced almonds as fingernails. They looked amazing and tasted really good too.

Witches Finger Cookies

We also made a delicious red wine sangria and decorated it with strawberry laces and fake eye balls. We love a cocktail (my husband and I met in a cocktail bar - yes, people always sing the song when we tell them the story!) - so always try to have some kind of cocktail at our parties. I really need to throw another Halloween party next year!!!

Spooky Sangria

Some of these other 'delicacies' at our parties. I don't have decent photos, so I have compiled a little collage (crediting their original sources). We also love making hot dog mummies. the 'getting sick' pumpkin, Jack O'Lantern burgers, jam hand sandwiches, hot dog fingers in a bun, banana ghosts and clementine pumpkins.

Witches Hats, Mummy Pizzas, Mummy Oreo Pops, Cream Cheese Bone with Crackers and Sweet Chilli Sauce

There are so many recipes that I have seen that I really want to try next year - people have such fantastic ideas. And this Halloween series has made me realise how much I love hosting Halloween parties - definitely need to do one next year.

Thank you for following my Halloween fun - hope that you will continue to read my stories.

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Did you know? Halloween sweet and chocolate sales have surpassed those of Valentines Day; as such, Halloween is now believed to be the 'sweetest' holiday of the year.

Happy Halloween!

Kalli x

This is Halloween... Part 6. Pumpkin Carving

Our favourite part of Halloween is pumpkin carving - it has become a family tradition and we have turned it into a bit of an annual 'contest'. The boys really enjoy choosing pumpkins for the family and attempt to guide us in what pictures we should all choose to carve into our pumpkins.

Invariably, they will start with the cleaning of the pumpkins and then lose interest (neither of them particularly like messy hands); they will then reappear when carving begins and proceed to tell us (their minions) how to carve their pumpkins. After that, we are left to get creative with our own pumpkins.

Here are some of our past pumpkin carving attempts...

Our last four years of pumpkin carving - some are a little strange (like D's three-eyed pumpkin).

As discussed in This is Halloween... Part 3. Decor, we also get munchkins and turn them into vampire pumpkins (using plastic dracula teeth). Super cute! And we also use pumpkins for decorating and serving food - particularly guacamole and crisps. The children LOVE the 'being sick' pumpkin. Kind of gross.

D decided that this year he would like a Darth Vader pumpkin and A decided on a 'happy smiley pumpkin' (so flipping cute!). Both boys started helping and then decided that it was easier for mum to do their pumpkins - so they became my supervisors instead. After that, D decided that he should be the judge for our annual 'Pumpkin Carving Competition'. He said that we all won - hehe!

So here they are... our 2016 Pumpkins:

Darth Vader, Harry Potter and his Patronus, a Creepy Insect/ Bat thing, Happy Pumpkin and Tinkerbell

We love looking up new ideas online and then we enjoy trying them out. This is probably not the greatest idea, as there are so many gorgeous FREE templates these days online; but we like having a bit of artistic freedom.

Have you carved pumpkins? We'd love to see them! Please send us a pic, or comment below.

Did you know? Boston holds the record for the most Jack O'Lanterns lit at the same time. The record is for over 30 000!!!!

Last day of my week of Halloween fun tomorrow - hoping to see you then!

Kalli x

This is Halloween... Part 5. Trick or Treating

Trick or treating is a favourite in our home - my children love sweets and chocolates, and so do I! We have also been fortunate enough to have lived in three different countries and have experienced the way each of them celebrates Halloween.

Photo Source Unknown

In South Africa, up until I was in high school, my parents would take a group of us trick or treating around our area. We would send out letters to our neighbours forewarning them that we would be trick or treating - with the letter, we would supply a sticker that they could use if they were happy to participate.

In fact, one year our interact committee even decided to host a Halloween charity drive. We dressed up and went trick or treating to collect sweets and donations for children in care. We then packaged up what we collected, and delivered them to the very excited children. It was one of my favourite Halloween celebrations, to date.

When D was little it was easier for us to host Halloween parties at home. When he was 1 years old, we moved to Malta. Malta, being a conservative country did not wholly embrace the idea of Halloween; so we continued the tradition of throwing parties instead of trick or treating.

In 2011, we moved to London. Our first Halloween, was very quiet - we were living in a hotel, as we hadn't found a house yet. Shops had very minimal decorations and supplies and we found that people weren't really used to the trick or treating idea - well especially not in the hotel anyway. ;)

After that, we moved to Ewell in Surrey - we moved on Halloween - and our neighbours made us aware that a few of the children in the road would be trick or treating. We quickly put up some decorations and D put on his Fireman Sam costume (I am still not sure why!?) for his first ever proper trick or treating.

Since then, we have been trick or treating every year - we have either gone to friends houses for a party and then been trick or treating or hosted parties and then gone trick or treating locally. Last year, we decided to go trick or treating in Kensington, for something different. We had heard stories about how beautifully decorated the houses were.

And one thing that the people in Kensington REALLY know how to do is Halloween! I have never seen anything like it before. Here are just some of our photos of the awesomeness that was Kensington Halloween.

Trick or Treating in Kensington

This year, we have a party on Sunday and on Halloween and some trick or treating; however I am still tempted to find an area that really do go all out for Halloween (even if it is just to look at their decorations) - anyone have any tips?

Did you know? It is believed that trick or treating may have originated from the Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food for the spirits who roamed the street for Samhain - an ancient sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar.

Not long now... See you tomorrow for more Halloween Fun!

Kalli x

This is Halloween... Part 4. Let's play Dress-Up!

I was in +Sainsbury's today, buying more pumpkins (as you do - you can never have too many); and while I was in there I noticed that they were having their 25% sale on clothing including Halloween costumes. I tried to buy my boys new costumes but they are really adamant on what they are dressing as this year. D wants to be Kylo Ren AGAIN and A wants to go as Marshall from Paw Patrol. So alas, we didn't buy any new costumes but I thought it was worth mentioning the sale to others. You can also still get costumes with delivery this weekend on their website.

Our family love any excuse for a dress up; which is, I think, why we all love Halloween so much. We usually take a long time to decide what we are going to go as and very often our costumes do not go to plan; and sometimes our outfits end up being thrown together very last minute. 

A few years ago, we decided that we were going to go as a family of skeletons. D was 4 and had a skeleton onesie, hubby had found some scary skeleton man costume at a local supermarket, and I (7 months pregnant and unable to find any costumes that would fit) decided to paint an old black t-shirt to look like a pregnant skeleton. A last minute 'brilliant idea'. It wasn't my best artwork but everyone loved it; and it was a sweet way to incorporate A before he was born. 

Pregnant Skeleton - please excuse the quality

Looking through Halloween costumes made me realise that I haven't even thought about my costume yet (typical) - so when I got home I decided to try out some quick 'last minute' make up ideas. While I enjoyed trying these out (I think my children think that I am crazy), I am quite keen to try a Pop Art photo that I saw a while ago (on +Pinterest, I think. Obviously). Will post a photo after Halloween if I do end up doing the Pop Art idea. 

Last Minute Halloween Ideas - Day of the Dead, a Witch, Creepy Ragdoll; and of course, the lady of the hour, Harley Quinn.

Other last minute costume ideas that you could try at home:

• A Mummy - either a sleep deprived, child-bearing one or an Egyptian one. For the Egyptian one you just need bandages or long strips of white material or toilet paper (but I wouldn't suggest going out like that, especially if you are based in the UK. Rainy days, and all that). 
• An Old-School Ghost - white sheet, holes for your eyes. I still love this idea. 
• Zombie - dirty, messy clothing and scary make up. 
• Where's Wally/ Wanda - Blue trousers/ skirt and a stripy red and white top. A white/ red beanie would be great too. And of course, reading glasses. 
• A Pirate - Torn jeans, an old smart shirt (possibly cut or torn), lots of bling, maybe a black tooth and a bottle of rum (or really any alcohol).
• Bride of Frankenstein - hair pulled up into a bun, pale make up with drawn on 'stitches' and a black smart dress. 

Did you know? People used to believe that if they dressed up as ghosts on Halloween, they would become hidden among the dead and wouldn't be noticed. 

Only four more sleeps until Halloween - yippee! See you tomorrow for more fun! 

Kalli x

This Halloween... Part 3. Decor.

Before our children, my husband and I would host Halloween parties for our friends (and everyone would dress up too). The parties would consist of scary decorations, some food and interesting drinks. 

These days, our Halloween parties are a lot more child-friendly. Some of our old Halloween decorations had to be ditched, as we were concerned that they might be too scary for the children. So we now have a lot of bats, pumpkins, cartoon ghosts and spider webs (which my husband is not thrilled about, as he isn't a big fan of spiders). 

We really wanted to do a Halloween Tree - love this one from All That Glitters. Isn't it cute? But we have been invited to Halloween parties this year - so aren't hosting any festivities and as a result will probably only decorate our door and entrance hall. I have also battled to find our Halloween decorations in our garage, and have absolutely no idea where our Christmas tree is, so this will have to be a project for next year. 

Halloween Tree from All That Glitters

While looking online for decorations - I came across a fantastic Halloween Offer on +Ocado for pumpkins, decorations, sweets and costumes. Who doesn't like 50% off deals, 3-for-2 and buy 1 and get 1 free on fun-size sweets - I really need to stock up on those (they are my favourite treat - for the trick or treaters, of course)! 

When decorating for Halloween. These are the things that I really focus on to make my house ready for Spooky Fun.

I absolutely love using pumpkins to decorate. We carve pumpkins every year - I will give details of our pumpkin carving 'competition' later in the week; but I also love having pumpkins on display. My favourite pumpkins are the little munchkin ones (especially when you put dracula fangs into them and turn them into Vampire Pumpkins) and I also love the slightly odd looking ones. 

This year, it has become quite vogue to paint your pumpkins, instead of carving them. I like the idea but I really love this idea that I saw online - Crayon Drip Art Pumpkins. So pretty. 

Crayon Drip Pumpkin from The Swell Designer

I tend to love an orange and black theme - those colours are, after all, the traditional Halloween colours. It is also really cheap to order plain coloured party decorations; and they look really effective. I am not a huge fan of 'branded' or designed party decorations. Other colour themes that I have seen that also look lovely are antique-like (browns and blacks etc), black and white, green and black, and adding some purple into the orange and black.

Spider Webs are great to make any area look spooky and are another VERY cheap decor item and they look great. You can also get really realistic looking spiders or, as is the case in our house, very fake looking spiders! 

I have always wanted to go all out on our house for Halloween, however Halloween is still not as popular in the UK as it is in America; and we live on a rather quiet cul-de-sac, so chances are, nobody would ever see it. We have, however, decided that we will be decorating our door this year - or rather turning it into a monster. I will post an updated photo tomorrow on Instagram and Facebook.

We also usually stick up cut-out bats, use candelabra on our dinner table, we have an awful foam gravestone set (that we have used for ages) that we put up and we 'bury' the foam skeleton parts nearby - it really is awful but everyone loves it. We also have a massive 3D paper spider that we put up. 

Last year, I also bought some paper light shades, that stayed up until June - I had obviously gotten so used to them. So embarrassing! We also had a 'help yourself to treats' counter, which was amazing. I own a lot of glass jars and bottles, but managed to source loads more from charity shops and got some really cool ones from Poundland!!! 

I have only just started taking proper photos of all of our events - so here are some from the past. Please excuse the quality. 

Some of our Halloween decor from previous years. We really do enjoy Halloween, as you can see. 

What great decorating tips do you have for Halloween? Please let me know in the comments below. 

Did you know? We use Orange and Black colours for Halloween because the orange signifies Autumn and harvest. The black is the connection to the dark and the Day of the Dead  that is celebrated by many cultures and is often associated with Halloween.

Hope that you will join me tomorrow for more Halloween fun! 

Kalli x

This is Halloween!... Part 2. Halloween Crafts

I am so sorry for such a late blog post tonight - we went to +Garsons Esher to pick Pumpkins (and a lot of other vegetables - my boys REALLY loved it!!!) and then spent the day with friends; so dinner, bath and bedtime was somewhat delayed.

Tomorrow, D has asked if we can do some Halloween crafts. Now I do enjoy crafts, but I also always regret agreeing to them. Mainly because I know that I will end up setting up, doing them (which I don't mind - I enjoy that part) and then clearing up. At some point one of the boys will get bored. Then A (the 2 year old) will get paint or ink or something that stains the table or carpet or himself. And at some point there will be tears - either because A has got involved in D's artwork or because D isn't happy with the outcome.

In the past, we have cut out LOADS of bats and stuck them all over our lounge; we have also made lollipop spiders using pipe cleaners and googly eyes (those were my favourite); Halloween paper lanterns with tealight candles (best to use the battery operated ones); spooky eyes, to hide in the garden, using toilet rolls and glow sticks; and paper pumpkins. I love +Pinterest  - a lot of the time our art projects don't turn out to be "Pinterest perfect", but we do have a lot of fun trying them out anyway. If you like to pin, pop over to my Pinterest account to see more of my Halloween inspiration.

Our Halloween Arts and Crafts for 2016! Fingerprint Bat Cards, Puffy Ghosts and Paper Pumpkins

This year D has asked if we can make puffy ghosts using cotton wool, I'd like to see if we can make better (Pinterest perfect) paper pumpkins. Haha! And I also thought it would be cute to make fingerprint bat cards - these would be great for party invitations.

If you'd would like info on how any of these crafts were made, please leave me a comment, and I'd be happy to walk you through it.

Did you know? The original Jack O'Lantern was actually made from TURNIPS!

I didn't even see any turnips at Garsons today... and also, surely, they must have been REALLY difficult to carve???

See you tomorrow for more Halloween Fun!

Kalli x

This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween...

7 Day How-to-Guide for Celebrating Halloween - photo credit PublicDomainPictures

Halloween has always been one of my favourite times of the year -  I really do love any opportunity to celebrate! I remember my first Halloween like it was yesterday - my teenage aunt persuaded me into dressing up as a mummy for her school's annual Halloween parade. I was about 5 at the time and remember being devastated that I had to walk around in JUST bandages. I think I would be pretty gutted if anyone expected me to do that these days too.

Thankfully, I wasn't scared off after that; and I still love dressing up - albeit my costumes are a lot more 'conventional' and are generally shop bought now. And these days, this mummy likes being a witch (usually only for Halloween).

As it is only 7 days until Halloween - I thought it would be fun to do a little how-to-guide for celebrating a truly SPOOKY Halloween. 

The reason that our family loves Halloween is because it is a fun evening for us to dress up, have a party with some friends and it is the one day in the year that my children are allowed to go a little sugar crazy!

Did you know? Halloween is believed to have originated from British and Irish pagan Harvest Festivals. These festivals were then made Christian by dedicating the celebration to saints, martyrs and dearly beloved passed members of the community. Halloween is derived from the Holy Eve, the night that precedes All Saints Day. Saints are also often referred to as Hallows. The Scottish people refer to the night before All Saints Day as Allhallow-even (the Eve of All Saints) and this is believed to have been shortened to just Halloween.  

I hope that you will join me for the next 7 days of my Halloween preparations. 

See you tomorrow! 

Kalli x