My Little Pumpkin

Here's our patient little cutiecake (wearing her costume this year: a handknit beanie, courtesy of grandma...)

Halloween Spider Buddy Cupcake Toppers

Why not top off your cupcakes with some friendly spider buddies? Download these smiling supercuties for free at the always-creative Living Locurto.

NATURE NEWS: And while we're talking spiders, did you hear that scientists recently discovered a new herbivorous spider? It's a jumping spider from South America, and it eats shrubs!

Pumpkin Cheesy

Another cheesy kidlet joke:

Q: "How do you fix a broken pumpkin?"

A: "With a pumpkin patch!"

Fozzie Bear would be proud...

FREE Halloween Giftlet Yummies Box

Visit Jinjerup by October 31, and print out these superduperultracute little foldable boxes for free... they're perfect for favors, bitsy gifts, candy and other random yums (maybe even puppy cookies!) :)

Belmont Shore Halloween Puppy Parade 2009

This year's Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade has been changed to Halloween Day, Saturday, October 31, starting at 2:30 pm. The start/finish is at Livingston Park in Belmont Shore, Long Beach. Pups will parade down and around Second Street for about an hour, then meet back at the park for the float & costume awards (and all sorts of fun puppy-stuff vendors, rescue groups, pet photography & door prize giveaways, too!) There will also be a kid's costume contest this year (yay!) This is a big family event that draws creative kooky sorts from all over... you'll see some of the cutest, strangest, most imaginative costumes ever...so don't forget your camera! Registration is available via the link above (spectating is free!)

Preschool Perfect Halloween Books

Last year I reviewed several of my favorite Halloween books. If you've already read through those (and these, and this one, too), here's a quick list of superpicks for even more slightly-spooky-times enjoyment:

Bone Soup is silly (like Stone Soup, except with toenail clippings and mouse droppings... EWW!)

Bats on the Beach isn't really Halloweenish, but it celebrates the cuteness of bats.

Runaway Mummy is yet another clever parody (for those Runaway Bunny fans.)

Moonlight the Halloween Cat is cozy and sweet (no scary stuff or creepsiness at all, just nocturnal animal buddies and friendly scarecrows with comfy laps.)

Skelly the Skeleton Girl has awesome illustrations and just tidbits of words. And the bone theme works well tying in with lots of naturey topics.

Halloween Coffee Cup Printable

Download Living Locurto's free Halloween beverage sleeves and decorate your favorite grownup's morning cup of coffee, tea, cocoa, or cider... YUM! Now someone bring me donuts...

Spooksy Saturday Silliness

Corny Joke? Yes. Perfect for preschoolers? Double Yes!

Q: "Why was the little ghost crying?"

A: "He had a Boo Boo!"

Neeheeheehaha!...

Artsy Owl Costume Masks

These little paper masks from Bigtimes Online are just perfect for pretend play, and they come in two styles: Barn Owl and Screech Owl. Plus, they're free for the printing :)

40 Handmade Party Favors & Giftlets

Visit The Crafty Crow for tons of links to clever, handmade goodybag/ giftlet ideas. This particular post is resource reference Heaven... be sure to bookmark & save!

FREE Halloween Costume Paper Dolls

Visit the Toymaker for some happy, ready-to-trick-or-treat paperdolls. Not only are they supercute, the dolls come in both girl and boy, and include several ethnicities, too :)

Vintage Halloween Potion Labels

Switch out your normal jar labels for these antiquesy-creepy-cool Halloween ones from the Love Manor flickr page... there's over two dozen spooky labels to choose from (like werewolf fur, vampire fangs, graveyard dust, etc.), and they're all free for the downloading :)

Halloween Activity Countdown Calendar

Celebrate Halloween by sharing a fun daily countdown activity! Visit Family Fun to print out this spooky haunted mansion, and discover all sorts of fall-friendly ideas lurking behind each door.

Matchy Music: The Ghost mp3 (coversong), by Greg Laswell (via somevelvetblog)

Wickedly Witchy Mis Fortune Cookies

Oh these are just too great... visit the Decorated Cookie to learn how to make your very own creepy cookies, complete with wonderfully creative, snarky, Halloween fortunes :)

Usual Reminder for Pet Parents: Please remember that this recipe was created for humans, and that most human food really shouldn't be shared with our furry friends, most especially dogs. This is a good thing (it just means...more deliciousness for YOU!) :)

Sleepy Little Ghosts

Listen up my little yawning buttercups to these nontraditional, Halloweensy-pretty tunes :)

Dead Man's Bones...

... are rather delicious... this is my favorite new discovery of the year. Quirksy-creepy-happy-sadish songs... good, good stuff (and kidlets provide the backup voices!)



Hear more Dead Man's Bones goodness at:
Captain Obvious (PaPaPower mp3) and
Citizen Dick (My Body's A Zombie For You mp3)

...then go buybuybuy the whole freakin' album on itunes, and you, too, can wander the house singing "my body's a zombie FOR YOU!"

Mini Ghost Cupcakes

These little cuties are simply spooktacular (and ohsoeasy to whip up... especially if you use storebought cupcakes...all you need is coolwhip and chocolate chips!) Click over to My Recipes for all the yummy details :)

* Usual Reminder for Pet Parents: Please remember that this recipe was created for humans, and that most human food really shouldn't be shared with our furry friends, most especially dogs. This is a good thing (it just means...more deliciousness for YOU!) :)

Matchy Music: A Ghost mp3, by Landon Pigg (via Knox Road)

Where The Wild Things Are Parties

Take a peek at these creative Wild Things party ideas from Party Perfect , Kitchen DoughDough, and Se7en...

...and visit Toy-A-Day for supercute paper box freebie printables of Moshi and Max.

Easy Lunchbox Jack-O-Lanterns

Make lunch a little more festive with these silly orange pumpkin buddies. Just gussy-up your citrus with some artfully applied electrical tape. Visit Obsessively Stitching for all the details (and even more cute Halloweensy ideas, too!)

* Usual Reminder for Pet Parents: Please remember that this treat was created for humans, and that most human food really shouldn't be shared with our furry friends, most especially dogs. This is a good thing (it just means...more deliciousness for YOU!) :)

Halloween Doggie Dress-Up Printables

These paperdollsy pups are too teensy for preschoolish hands, but postK kids will lovelovelove um! Visit Living Locurto for the free adorable downloadable :)

Kidlet-Cute Halloween Party Invites

Throwing a Trick-or-Treat party? Take a looksee at these free, cheerful, kidlet-friendly little invites from Oliebollen.

Student Symphony

ahh... another wonderful school recital...

Mini Spider Web Pizzas

How cute are these darling little snacks (made with string cheese and olives!) Visit Woman's Day for all the adorable & EASY dets :)

* Usual Reminder for Pet Parents: Please remember that this recipe was created for humans, and that most human food really shouldn't be shared with our furry friends, most especially dogs. This is a good thing (it just means...more deliciousness for YOU!) :)

Spooky Strawberries

Woohoo! Little Ant Design has come up with a creative and clever excuse to consume more chocolate: these spooky strawberry buddies are the perfect octobery treat (and easy-to-make, too; instead of aiming for usual "chocolate coating perfection," just drizzle-glob out ghostly blobtacular shapes!)

* Usual Reminder for Pet Parents: Please remember that this recipe was created for humans, and that most human food really shouldn't be shared with our furry friends, most especially dogs. This is a good thing (it just means...more deliciousness for YOU!) :)


Matchy Music: Phantom Don't Go mp3, by Jookabox (via Consequence of Sound.)

Disney Haunted Mansion Printables

Who doesn't love the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland? In celebration of Halloween, Disney has bunches of supercute (and FREE!) downloadable thingys including cheeky-fantastic stretching elevator bookmarks, hitchhiking ghostmasks, and gravestone cupcake toppers!

National Parks: America's Best Idea

This is a wonderful PBS series by Ken Burns. If you're a nature nerd, you'll find it truly, truly lovely. The history of our national parks system is an inspiring study of appreciation, determination, conservation, leadership, and the thoughtful use of wealth. This youtube clip gives you a snippet of footage from each chapter:

Your Coffee Table Wants This Book

Glamour Dogs, by Catherine Ledner

*Don't forget, today is Blessing of The Animals Day!

Martha's Halloweensy Spooktacular

Be sure to visit the Martha Stewart site for tons of fun little Halloween how-to ideas like these black cat favor boxes, ghostly trick-or-treat bags, and creepy creeping mice staircases. You can even sign up for her handy holiday email workshops and take a wonderfully useless quiz to find out which type of Halloween candy you are (I'm a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup...)

Supersimple Ghostly Pancakes

Check out the always-inspiring Gourmet Mom On-The-Go for tons of creative (and easy!) Halloweensy yummies, like these tasty little breakfast ghost guys (pour out ghostly pankcake shapes instead of circley ones, and add chocolate chips for face parts!) Deeelicious!

* Usual Reminder for Pet Parents: Please remember that this recipe was created for humans, and that most human food really shouldn't be shared with our furry friends, most especially dogs. This is a good thing (it just means...more deliciousness for YOU!) :)


Matchy Music: Realize The Ghost mp3, by Silver Swans (via Exitfare.)