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How to Make a Coffee Bag Jack o’ Lantern

October 26, 2011 0

Spending a weekday afternoon crafting spooky decor to entertain your friends, family and neighbors is much more fun than taking a trip to the Halloween store. Luckily, DIY crafts don’t have to be complex to be cool. Take these simple Halloween Jack o’ Lanterns for example. You can make them with items that you already have in your home, helping to save the planet, while building memories with your children. And, you can whip these up in no time to be ready for Halloween night. Read on to learn how to make these spooky lights using an empty coffee bag, Eben and I had a blast making ours.

Hebron Rock Colony | Bouldering in Boone, North Carolina

October 25, 2011 0

We are back from our Fall Family Trip to North Carolina – we had a fantastic time. One of the main activities that we planned for our trip was hiking. We made sure to do at least a couple of hikes every day. Some of the hikes were leisurely strolls through the mountains, others were more intense – like the bouldering we did at Hebron Rock Colony in Boone. Bouldering is Eben’s favorite type of rock climbing and I have to admit it is very high on my list.

Hebron Rock Colony is the perfect place to take active children since it is great for crawling, jumping and climbing. Hebron Rock Colony offers a long slope of giant boulders embedded in the river – this creates numerous small waterfalls and swimming holes. [It was definitely too cold to swim on this trip.] Hebron Rock Colony is well off the beaten path, it isn’t a hike that tourists know about – so you most likely will not see that many people there. When we went we were the only people there the entire day – it was great!

We didn’t realize this hike was going to be as intense as it was, it was a little tough to maneuver with Noodles [our Pug] and my camera. Note: Noodles loves to hike, however she did NOT appreciate this hike – she had a look of horror [above] on her face the entire time and we had to carry her for most of it.

If you are an active family with children old enough to climb on their own, this would be the perfect bouldering hike for you. It is a little dangerous, so I wouldn’t recommend very young children, elderly folks or anyone who doesn’t have at least a small amount of hiking experience. Also, make sure to wear excellent hiking boots with great traction – you will need it.

How to get there:

Take Highway 105 from Boone and turn left at Hound Ears Club on Shull’s Mill Road. You will see a fantastic old church on the left, take a right on Old Turnpike Road. Take the gravel road for about 7 minutes, if you are not looking for the trail head you will miss it. Park along the road where it curves sharply to the right. Follow the trail into the woods to the right, it is about a 10 minute walk to the river. 20 feet before the river, you will see a small path cutting up the hill through thick underbrush, it’s a difficult trail along the side of the mountain, in about 10 minutes, you will come out at the boulder field in the river. 

HOW TO: Make A Halloween Pirate Costume From Thrift Store Finds

October 24, 2011 0
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Eben attends a LEED certified, green Montessori school and instead of celebrating Halloween they’re having a pirate feast to go along with their class unit on piracy. Each child has been spending weeks studying, researching and writing about their favorite real-life pirate. All of their hard work will culminate when they dress up as their favorite pirate and present their projects at the pirate feast on Halloween. Eben and I decided to create his pirate costume using only pieces that we either already had on hand or could pick up at our favorite thrift store. Check out my photo step-by-step instuctions to learn how we assembled this fun pirate costume for only $5! If your little one wants to be a pirate for Halloween, you can put this costume together in an afternoon for a similarly low price.

HOW TO: Make Flying Ghosts From An Upcycled Sheet For Halloween

October 24, 2011 0
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When it comes to Halloween decorations, if it moves, flies, howls or lights up – children are immediately drawn to it. Add a little spooky, flying fun to your Halloween decorations this year by making a set of four flying upcycled Halloween ghosts using supplies that you probably already have on hand. Check out my step-by-step instructions to learn how to get started making a set of ghosts for your home.

UNICEF: Trick Or Treat For A Great Cause

October 21, 2011 0

Halloween is sneaking up on us – while you are finishing up on the costumes, decorations and party planning, don’t forget to be charitable too. UNICEF is back with their annual Trick-or-Treat box program, your children can register for their own UNICEF trick-or-treat box to help children in need. You can also register a larger group – I plan to pass out UNICEF trick-or-treat boxes at our Halloween party, encouraging our guests to be charitable too.

I remember the first time that I ever heard about UNICEF, I was reading Blubber by Judy Blume in 3rd grade. Did you read it? I remember the main character saying that she was packing her Trick-or-Treating supplies – silly string, flashlight, toilet paper and her UNICEF collection box. I love that while she plans to wreck havoc all Halloween night long – she will still collect funds for charity!

To register your children, click here. Once your child has collected their donations in their UNICEF trick-or-treat box, you send the money to UNICEF via online credit card submission, phone, check, money order or you can text the donation.

Do your children collect money for UNICEF while trick or treating? 

photo credit UNICEF

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