Just Heather
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What’s the Opposite of Trick or Treating?
Oct 06, 2009 | Filed Under: Party Girl

2007-10-167Growing up, we went Trick or Treating year after year, but never to strangers or neighbors. My parents shuttled us around town to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends. Halloween was not just for candy. We had the chance to visit too! Of course, it had to be a scheduled affair to be sure the family we wanted to visit wasn’t trying to visit us at the same time—but I didn’t realize that as a child. The process is a lot more difficult now that I am a mother since we don’t live in the same town as our families. Yet, we continued the tradition.

We drove all over one night to visit the hubby’s family. Then, traveled to my parents to Trick or Treat in my hometown. As the years went on, and we added children to our collection, I became more and more disenchanted with the process. It was no longer a fun night of visiting family. It was a stressful weekend of coordinating schedules and trying to squeeze in time with people we don’t get to see often. Not to mention multiple food allergies eliminating most of the candy options anyway.

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Then, the party planner in me stumbled on a new idea. Why don’t we get them to come to us?! Two years ago, with an out of town wedding over the weekend preventing Trick or Treating, we hosted our first Halloween Open House. We invited friends & family to visit our girls in costume instead. It allowed us to spend more time with the family who attends, instead of mere minutes as we blow out the door for our next stop.

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And, naturally, the girls don’t miss out on the treats—I’ll take any excuse to make fun, party food! With Halloween on a Saturday this year, I’m looking forward to more of an actual party. We’ll let the girls invite their friends as well as our families for an afternoon event, leaving plenty of time for those who prefer the traditional version of Trick or Treating. I’ll get another chance to make Frankenstein pudding cups, spider cracker sandwiches and strawberry ghosts.

Can a bag full of candy they probably can’t eat even compare to a graveyard cake?

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This post is part of Show and Tell Tuesday at Mom’s Marbles. Join us every Tuesday for a new topic and link up with smart moms sharing even more great ideas! (Also, don’t forget to stop by on Monday when I contribute Money Saving Mondays—ideas for living your life Inexpensively.)

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Party Like a Truck Driver
Sep 29, 2009 | Filed Under: Growing Kids, Party Girl

When Sarah first announced that this week’s Show & Tell theme was Things That Go, my thoughts went immediately to my youngest daughter. Lorelai is a big fan of all things that go—trucks and trains, especially. She even chose a train theme for her bedroom—no frilly butterflies or fairies for my little girl!
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Last year’s birthday was a construction truck theme. This year, she has her sights set on a marshmallow party. I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I do know there will be s’mores. Inspiration for the cake and decorations still eludes me. Her 3rd birthday was much easier to plan. Yellow and black balloons tied to orange cones from the soccer equipment along with trucks we already had (The cupcakes were housed in the back of a Tonka dump truck.) spruced up the place.
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For her cake, I went super simple. Wilton was not at all involved! Dirt mounds should be messy so I didn’t even have to try that hard to smooth the chocolate frosting. Just add toy trucks and our construction scene was complete. I bought the construction hats at a party store, added a truck sticker and wrote each child’s name on it. Kids love dressing up so it’s always fun to find a way to work that into a birthday party.
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The kids played some digging games to unearth a truck in a tub of birdseed. They raced their trucks in the next game, then got to take them home in lieu of goody bags. The trucks from the cake, and the leftovers from the digging game, were Lorelai’s to keep. She still plays with them to this day. The set I bought had even come with a toolbox carrying case for storage. (At the party, we used it to hold the napkins and silverware!) It was one of the easiest and least expensive parties we’ve had in a long time. I should have anticipated this kind of payback. A marshmallow party! Seriously?

Planning birthday parties is kind of my thing. I’ll just have to get a bit more creative this time around.

showtell2
This post is part of Show and Tell Tuesday at Mom’s Marbles. Join us every Tuesday for a new topic and link up with smart moms sharing even more great ideas! (Also, don’t forget to stop by on Monday when I contribute Money Saving Mondays—ideas for living your life Inexpensively.)

Read the comments.