Not Your Ordinary Halloween Treats

No, this blog is NOT about how to make rice krispy treats that look like Frankenstein's monster, or jack-o-lantern popcorn balls, or shortbread cookies shaped like amputated fingers, or edible ghostly graveyards made of chocolate pudding and mint milano cookies (although those are all awesome). Instead, these are ideas for how to make your pre-packaged, give-them-to-strangers-at-the-door, trick-or-treating treats look extra-spooky and special.

This is probably not an idea for those of you who live in busy areas and get several hundred ToTers every year. It's for those of us like me, who live a bit off the beaten path, who get less than a dozen costumed visitors on Halloween. It's for those of us who'd like to give a little extra reward to the goblins who actually make it to our door. These are ideas for how to dress up pre-packaged treats rather than making homemade ones.

Chocolate Bar Holders

This decoration works for any relatively flat, rectangular candy bar (Hershey bars, Nestle Crunch, Kit Kats, etc.). Lay the bar on a piece of construction paper and cut out the shape of bat wings, a vampire cape, or ghost arms, along with a head and eyes peeking over the top. Add details with a sharpie, cut out pieces of paper, or googly eyes, glue the bar in place, and fold over the wings/cape/arms. 

Frankenstein's Monster Jello Cups 

If you want to give out treats other than candy, lime jello cups can be flipped over and doctored with a sharpie and glued-on googly eyes, feathers, and pom-poms (or just a sharpie) to create a creepy green monster. You can do something similar with orange jello or even mandarin orange or peach slices to make a jack o'lantern. 

Lollipop Ghosts

Lollipop ghosts are super-easy to make using either coffee filters or facial tissue. Simply lay the center of the pop in the center of the filter or tissue, gather around, and secure with a small elastic, yarn, or ribbon, and add two eyes with a marker. (It works equally well on cheap Dum-Dums or big Tootsie Pops.)

Lollipop Spiders

Another fun lollipop option is to make pipe cleaner legs (two standard pipe cleaners, cut in half, make eight legs). Glue on a pair of googly eyes and your spider is ready to crawl right into those treat bags.

Want to go healthier than candy? Mandarin oranges make perfect jack o'lanterns with a few strokes of a Sharpie. 

Mummies

 

You can make a mummy out of nearly any kind of treat, including squeezable applesauce pouches, juice boxes, candy bars of any size and shape, boxes of raisins, granola or breakfast bars, and any kind of candy that comes in a box (e.g., junior mints, Mike and Ikes). Simply wrap the package with white tape (strips of tissues or tissue paper also work; just use glue or a glue stick to tack it down here and there), and draw on a face with a marker. You can also add googly eyes if you like. 

Googly Eyes on Anything

 

Speaking of googly eyes, you can up the creep (or funny) factor of any treat you give out - candy or fruit - by just sticking on a pair of googly eyes! 

Happy Trick or Treating!!

Why I Celebrate Halloween

Halloween, like many other US holidays, has its roots in pagan celebrations and other celebrations that many Christians consider heretical, occultic, or, at the least, unsavory. Its true name is, after all, “All Hallows’ Eve.” It is steeped in folklore about witches, demons, zombies, and ghosts. In many cultures, it is considered a time to contact the dead. But also like many other US holidays, over the years it has taken on a different significance, and the traditions associated with it have come to have very different meanings than they originally may have. So let me share why I celebrate Halloween.

Halloween is a time to dress up and pretend to be something other than what you are. I love Halloween for the same reason that I love theater. It allows me to shed my mild-mannered, introverted persona and take on the personality of someone more exciting and more assertive. Instead of a suburban housewife and mom, I can be a pirate, or a gypsy, or a princess, or a superhero. I can shed my usual jeans and sweater and put on a tiara and chandelier earrings and suddenly become glamorous. I can take a break from saving the change in the bottom of my purse by donning a mask and a cape and saving the world from evil.

Halloween is also one of the few times in our modern society when we go and visit our neighbors. Sure, I chat frequently with the people who live next door, but what about the family down the street or around the corner? I may see them when I’m out walking, but I never have the chance to actually introduce myself and my family. Trick or treating at Halloween gives me the opportunity to meet the people around me. And the neighbors with grown kids love to see how my kids are growing from year to year. Halloween can truly be a community holiday, if you let it.

Halloween is also a chance to splurge on candy. I don’t let my kids have candy very often, and when I do, it’s a very special treat. So getting a whole bag of candy and getting to eat more than one piece at a time makes Halloween a special, fun time for kids and parents alike. I have fond memories of sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace in my parents’ living room, sorting through my bag of Halloween treats and deciding which candy I would eat right away, which I would save for later, and which I would give to my sister. Kit Kats, Three Musketeers, and $100,000 bars were in the first category. M&Ms, Twizzlers, and Tangy Taffy were in the middle category. And anything involving coconut, nuts, or peanut butter always fell into the latter category. My kids aren’t quite old enough to be that discriminating yet, but I look forward to a few years from now when the careful negotiations begin: “I’ll trade you two packs of Nerds and a bite-size Baby Ruth for that full-size Snickers bar.”

And finally, because of its connection with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, Halloween is, to me, a holiday of remembrance. Celebrated by many branches of the Christian church, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are celebrated immediately following All Hallows’ Eve, with prayers for the souls of family and friends who have died. The Mexican celebration of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is also a day to remember, pray for, and celebrate loved ones who have died. These holidays celebrate the dead, not with fear but with affection. So on Halloween, I remember those I have loved and loss. I think of my parents, my grandparents, my brother-in-law Glen, my friend Nancy. I recall all the love and laughter they brought into my life, and I am grateful that I was blessed by knowing each one of them.

So tonight, I’ll happily and without guilt dress my kids up in costumes, take them trick or treating, let them eat candy, and imagine my loved ones looking down on us and enjoying the holiday as much as we are. Because that’s why I celebrate Halloween.