halloween Archives - Darling Darleen | A Lifestyle Design Blog

Best Halloween Costumes for Family and Kids

Best Halloween Costumes for Family and Kids

Happy Halloween week! I thought I would begin this Monday by sharing some Halloween pasts of the Best Halloween costumes for family and kids. I’ve enlisted a few of my friends who always have the best Halloween costumes every year, and they agreed to letting me share their awesome costumes with you. They take Halloween pretty seriously and hand make all their costumes. Impressive! A few of them somehow always can pull off the family halloween costume theme. I could never convince my children to do a theme, so I’m always impressed with families that can pull it off. But you know how we love Halloween and always try and dress up each year. What are you dressing up as this year? Here are the best Halloween costumes for family and kids.

Little Red Riding Hood. You can see how Stella used this cute costume when she was about Chloe’s age.

Amelia Earhart flying in an airplane

Hot Air Balloon

Snow White Family Theme

Peter Pan Family Theme

Sleeping Beauty Family Theme

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

Beastie Boys

Bob Marley

Tooth Fairy, Pocahontas, Little Red Riding Hood

Chiquita Banana Lady and Fortune Teller

Hope you enjoyed the Best Halloween Costumes for Family and Kids!

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Halloween Party Decorations + FREE PRINTABLES

Halloween Party Decorations + FREE PRINTABLE

BOO! Halloween is right around the corner, and I am sharing just a few pictures of our Adult Only Halloween Party Decorations from last year! Honestly, I didn’t take all the pictures I wanted and the quality of the pictures are not very good. But if you’ve entertained before in your home, you know who crazy prepping the house can be and taking pictures sometimes gets put on the back burner. We did the classic Halloween party decorations of bats, skulls, mice and ravens. Lots of black and white draped around the house. I listed some of the simple easy halloween party decorations in this Halloween post from last year. So many budget-friendly decorating ideas. The Halloween printables were a hit at the party and definitely helped with the theme. I had a photobooth sign along with a costume “cast your vote” with ballots and food tags. We had a fortune teller at the party so the printables include a fortune teller sign to get your fortune read! I love how the Halloween printables have a vintage style and a simple black and white look. Good news for you! You can download the entire Halloween printable below. Here are some additional easy Halloween party decorations that I forgot to mention:

Dim the lights and place battery-operated candles on table tops. Flame candles should be placed high above on a stable table or shelf that won’t cause any obstruction.
Ask guests to bring a Halloween-themed dish. You’ll be surprised how many people get into it, like the skull meat and cheese tray below!
Take black dry eraser marker and write scary words or quote Edgar Allan Poe on a large mirror. This always catches guest’s eyes and have them questioning what it says.
Use black chalkboards for Photo Booths or also use as a sign for table tops. Get creative with the font design on the chalkboards
Spray paint a twig wreath black and then hot glue black fake leaves and snakes, skulls or tiny mice.

D O W N L O A D T H E P R I N T A B L E H E R E

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Easy Halloween Decorations

Easy Halloween Decorations

This is the first year that I am actually throwing a Halloween party. The past few years I’ve planned our neighborhood Halloween party but it’s usually for the neighborhood kids and all outdoor games like cake walk, donut on a string, mummy bowling. But this year is my first Halloween adult costume party so I am excited. There are so many decorating options, but I wanted to do easy Halloween decorations to keep money cost down and also not to make everything look so cluttered and over the top. Halloween can do that! Many of my Halloween decorations were broken from not being stored properly (oops!) but most were still in good conditions like my Halloween glass cloches. But really I didn’t have as many decorations as I thought I did, so many brain was thinking how to keep costs down but set up easy Halloween decorations. Here are a few easy Halloween decorations ideas I came up with. The party is this weekend so many of the decorations I am setting up the day of the party, but this is kind of an idea of what we have currently set up in the house.

Decorate with candles. I am planning to have flameless and some real candles all around the house on the day of the party. Turn the lights down and let the spooks come out.
Use white flat sheets to cover furniture. This will make the room appear instantly neglected. Add “moth-eaten” or cheese cloth to curtains for the perfect finishing touch.
Spray paint glass bottles black, and add white candles for a cheap and easy Halloween decoration for your table centerpiece. The white wax will melt on the black bottles creating antique affect.
Spray paint branches black and add dead flowers for another cheap and easy Halloween centerpiece. Add Spanish moss to the bottom of the urn and fake Skeleton heads from the dollar store.
Take black cheesecloth sheets from the dollar store and cover over chandeliers and tabletops to create a creepy room that is a sure sign that ghouls have taken over.
Take heavy duty black garbage bag and with scissors cut vertical strips from the bottom and stopping a few inches from the top to make a tattered, twisted curtain. Hang from a room entrance for a haunting entrance.
Have fun decorating with spider webs. They are cheap and easy to spookify a room! Add little plastic spiders.

DIY Fabric Pumpkin

DIY Fabric Pumpkin with Real Stem

Eeekk! Pumpkin decor for Halloween is always a festive away to get into the spooky season. Pumpkins are also an easy way to then transition right into Thanksgiving. I keep my pumpkins up all throughout October and November. So, it’s nice to have pumpkin decor that will last, well, forever! And fabric can easily do that trick! This DIY fabric pumpkin tutorial is so, so easy! If you don’t know how to sew, there is no excuse because this is a great beginner project! Also, if you have children who want to learn how to sew, this is also a great project for them to take on. Easy like learning how to tie a shoe. This DIY fabric pumpkins are also so cute! You can really get creative on the fabric choices. I had the black and white fabric laying around so I decided to stick with those fabrics and go with a more modern approach to making the pumpkins. The pumpkins are then finished off with a real pumpkin stems so it gives it a cute creative twist and brings them more to life.

DIY Fabric Pumpkin How To

Supplies for DIY Fabric Pumpkin

fabric–cotton, velvet works great too. Not too heavy of fabric

pumpkin stems

rice or beans

fiber filler

scissors

needles

thread

hot glue

Instructions for DIY Fabric Pumpkin

Cut a 9″ or greater circle out of your choice of fabric. I used a plate for my guide. Use anything circular to trace, but I suggest not to go smaller than 9″ (unless you want a really small pumpkin). The smaller pumpkins pictured are made from a 9″ circle. The larger ones are made from a 12″ circle.
Cut a long piece of thread, then thread your needle bringing the ends together. Double knot the two ends together. This will make the stitching a stronger hold.

3. Taking your circle fabric, you will baste stitch all around the edge of the circle, making long stitches. To baste stitch, you pull the needle and thread through the fabric, so there is a knot on one side and all the thread is on the opposite side of the fabric. Then insert your needle in the fabric to the underside and then bring the needle back up to the front side, like pictured. Then pull and the thread will follow through the stitch. Repeat until you have baste stitch all around the edge of the circle.

4. Now you may see that the stitch is trying to pull. Cinch the fabric together so you get a good gathering of fabric. Keep the thread and needle attached!

5. Leave the end open and fill about 2/3 with rice or beans. With the rest of the space, fill with fiberfill until you get a good plump pumpkin.

6. Once filled, pull the thread and needle tightly together, closing up the end. Stitch the edges together, stitching back and forth until the end is tightly close. Then tight a knot in the thread, but don’t cut the thread and needle off quite yet. If you want a round, plumper pumpkin, you are pretty much done and could cut the thread and needle off. But if you want more of an oval shaped pumpkin, follow the next two steps.

7. Take the remaining attached thread and needle and push the needle from the top of the pumpkin and thread to the bottom of the center part pumpkin. Pull through tightly so there is a depression in the center.

8. Go up and down a few times until you get the desired results. Then knot the thread and cut off the last of the thread and needle.

9. Then take your hot glue and glue on the pumpkin stem in the middle, holding in place until it sticks.

You are done! See how simple and easy that is creating these cute DIY fabric pumpkin? You can make a whole little pumpkin family in just a few minutes.

Here are some other fabric and velvet pumpkins:

Halloween Recap 2014

Halloween was cold and wet this year. So I’m kind of kicking myself because I didn’t get all the pictures I wanted…like a family one with us all dressed up in our costumes or even one of the kids together. We all worn black. And I think this was the first year we ALL dressed up ON Halloween.

We had a neighborhood Halloween block party prior to trick or treating. We had a blast, minus the cold, playing Halloween carnival games like donut-on-a-string, cake walk, mummy bowling, witch’s brew touch game and monster bash. The kids love it! I wish I snapped pictures of all the activities, but I was so busy running around that it completely slipped my mind.

Halloween Around the House

Halloween has arrived at our house. We are in full swing festivities! The kids have boo’d almost the entire neighborhood…everyday. I have now explained to them the difference between boo’ing and doorbell ditching. (Want to boo someone? Here is a cute boo printable). My Stella is sewing like a mad lady making Halloween costumes. She’s going to be a pro after this holiday. We’ve got spooky, creepy crawlies climbing up my walls. And lot’s of black around the house. Pumpkin seems to be in our daily diet. I think we are set! Here are some of our past Halloween house decor.

See something you like?

Halloween Boo Tags

We got boo’d this year. First time. By a neighbor. Yup. We’ve been initiated into the boo club. The kids were ecstatic. Why not…I can understand. It’s fun to get doorbell ditched and end up with a bag of Halloween goodies–not knowing the mystery person. And its even more fun being sly and doorbell ditching someone else and jumping into an escape car.

Well, we thought we were all special getting boo’d until we found out that it’s a Halloween trend many people do. So I was excited when Carmen shared with me this darling Halloween boo tag she designed for booing her neighbor friends. The frightful little boo ghost will give you a giggle. Carmen is generous to share the FREE printable so you can have fun booing your neighbors.

Owl Halloween Costume

DIY: Owl Halloween Costume. My baby is still at that age where she just goes with the flow and lets her mommy dress her the way her mommy wants and is happy and content with whatever her mommy chooses for her. So, I’ve taken advantage of my opportunity! I seen owl costumes around the web and I thought that would be a fun, easy Halloween costume to put together. This owl Halloween costume is a no-sew or a sew costume. You could choose either glue or thread to assemble. Hot gluing felt to felt creates a strong bond or fabric glue works too if you plan to wash the costume. But I choose to sew the costume because it was actually quickly than gluing each individual feather.

Materials Needed: four colors of felt fabric, scissors, pins, paper, plain shirt (target or old navy), hot glue or fabric glue (optional: sewing machine), ribbon (use if you plan to make an owl cape)

1.Cut a 3″x3″ square out of paper then cut two of the sides down so it comes to a point and one side has a straight edge. This will be your pattern for making the owl feathers.

2. Take your paper feather pattern and cut out about 40 feathers per each color (this is if you plan to make a cape and a shirt). Adjust the amount if you need more or less.

3. To make a cape–measure your child’s chest. Using a pencil free-hand a cape pattern on one of your felt fabric–the smallest width would be the chest size and then flair out so it make a cape.

4. Take your felt feathers and starting at the bottom and working you way up to the top of the shirt/or cape, create rows of alternating felt colors.

5. Pin down. Then glue for a quick finish (or sew). Take pins out once all the feathers are intact.

6. The owl hat was a little more tricky. I free-handed another hat pattern out of paper with flaps then used the pattern to cut the felt out–one for the front and one for the back. Then sewed them right sides together (or you can glue but you have to wait to dry before turning it right sides out). Then turn the hat so the right sides are now out and the seam is now inside the hat. Cut additional felt to make the eyes and beak.

7. To make the owl ears, take one of the owl feathers and put the corners together from the straight edge. Secure and intact behind the owl eyes.

8. If you plan to do a cape, you can kind of see how I cut the shape out of the felt. Once you completed your rows, you then secure ribbon on the edges to be able to tie on the child.

Have a Happy Owlween!

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