While summer is hands down my favorite season, fall is a VERY close second. Apples, fresh cider and doughnuts, pumpkins, warm days and cool nights, colorful leaves, a cozy fall wardrobe, football, and my very favorite: Halloween!!
I love decorating the house for fall and it's an easy transition to the Halloween decorations which come out Oct. 1st of every year. I leave up my fall decor and just add the spooky spiders, web, bats, mice, etc. to the mix. The extent of Halloween decor depends upon if we are hosting a party that year or not. This year we were not, so I kept it simple.
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| The orange lights provided a fun glow at night |
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When I asked the boys that year what they wanted to be for Halloween they responded with "bulldozer" and "excavator." No lie! Hmmm...well we did have the construction hats and vests from their Birthday party. I began brainstorming and decided I could make small boxes worn around their waists into construction vehicles and all I had to do was add the straps and construction gear and we were good to go!
I found two boxes that fit around the boys perfectly and cut off the flaps so I had two square boxes with four connecting sides. Next I punched four small holes (two in the front of the box and two in the back) to string the black elastic straps through. I then covered the boxes entirely with yellow poster paper and poked the elastic string through the holes while knotting the ends securely to make the straps. I had the boys try them on but the straps were slipping off their shoulders. With the boys wearing them, I tied the front and back straps together with a twisty tie which did the trick. I knew I could make the bulldozer with cardboard but I was stumped on how to make a shovel for the digging arm. This is when I called in help from my mom. She came over with a box of supplies and in the end, we decided that a crane with a Styrofoam wrecking ball would be more feasible. The crane itself consisted of multiple layers of black construction paper rolled up into a cylinder, black string, black electrical tape, and a Styrofoam ball spray painted black.
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| My little crane |
The tracks were made out of black corrugated paper and fastened on with duct tape which was colored with marker to blend in. Lastly, I added the paper details.
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| My little bulldozer |
The blade of the bulldozer was made out of cardboard and brown paper, real sand and rocks were added to make it look more realistic. The results were a big hit at all three of the costume events we attended leading up to Halloween!
One of our traditions has been attending our zoo's annual Halloween party where there is trick or treating, face painting, arts and crafts, and special treats for the animals. We have been doing this since the boys' second Halloween with a group of friends.
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| My sister and niece's first time at the zoo boo |
During the month of October our family also gets together for my mom's annual adult Halloween party, we make a trip or two to the amazing apple orchard and bakery up the street, visit our favorite pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins, and on Halloween we all gather at my sister's house for a delicious dinner and trick or treating in their neighborhood. Many of the houses in her neighborhood are decked out in lights and decorations galore. It's always a fun night for the kids and adults.
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| Dessert table at my sister's house on Halloween night |
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After a fun month celebrating all things fall and Halloween it's time to go home, get some rest, and start planning for our next adventure.
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