Eat, drink, and be scary….

I love holidays. All of ’em. Yes, I have a whole long wall in our shop that is lined with floor to ceiling shelves filled with big plastic tote boxes of holiday decorations, baking pans, serving dishes, and fun stuff. {They’re color coded by holiday, so that they’re easy to find.} Yes, the Mister of the house thinks I’m crazy. But yes, we have a lot of fun! And one of my favorite holidays is Halloween – we decorate the yard super spooky for all of the Trick or Treaters in the neighborhood, I put up a ton of ghosts and pumpkins inside the house, and I love coming up with fun new ideas for treats, activities, crafts, and decor – the bigger Abby gets, the more fun it is to create holiday magic with her.

Trick or Treat, be real sweet, give us tasty treats to eat!

This was Abby’s costume last year – she was the cutest little pink poodle I’ve ever seen. This year she has two costumes – an adorable ladybug outfit with sparkly red wings, and a LaLaLoopsy princess style poofy dress that is totally fun. We have 4 Halloween parties, plus trick or treating on the big day, so I wanted her to have more than one outfit to make it all a little bit more fun. She just turned two in July, so she’s still a bit too little to go for a full night or trick or treating with her big-boy cousins. But I definitely want her to experience the fun of it all. So what we’re doing again this year, just like last, is to go out early while it’s still light to walk around door-to-door in our little cul-de-sac, where it’s safe. Then we’ll head to the church down the road for their big Trunk or Treat event. If you have little ones, I totally recommend finding one of these in your area – you don’t have to be a member of the church, it’s a fun, festive atmosphere where they go trunk to trunk around the parking lot to get candy. Each station is decorated up, it’s super safe since we’re not walking along dark roads, and it’s a lot less ground for little toddler legs to cover. For the next few years, I think this is the way we’ll let Abby go trick or treating.

When witches go riding and black cats are seen, The moon laughs and whispers, Tis near Halloweeen.

After the Trunk or Treat, we head back to the house for the rest of the night, so we can hand out candy to all of the neighbor kids. Abby LOVES to see all of the other kids in their costumes, so this is another great way to let her share in the trick or treating fun, without having her out in the cold and getting too tired. We fill up our big plastic cauldron with everyone’s favorite candies from HERSHEY’S, and spend a couple of hours answering the door. It’s a nice way to get a quick chat in with the neighbors we don’t talk to often enough too.

Spooky HERSHEY’S Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

On Halloween night, after we’ve visited the neighbor houses, and then gotten our candy fix at the Trunk or Treat, and once we’ve run out of candy to hand out – we turn off the porch light, and settle in for family night. We make dinner and some treats, and snuggle up on the couch to watch semi-spooky movies with Abby. She loves Nightmare Before Christmas, Ghostbusters, and or course, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! It’s a great way to wind down after the excitement of the day. This recipe is one of my favorites, and it’s a great way to use up leftover candy. You melt down some chocolate HERSHEY’S bars to coat your crackers with, melt a REECE’S cup in between the crackers, then stick your pretzel legs in between. Super simple, and so much fun. Get the directions here: Spooky HERSHEY’S Spider Cookies. They’re a perfect mix – chocolate and peanut butter, sweet and salty, spooky and cute. You’re kids will love them!

For more fun Halloween ideas and inspiration, visit Celebrate Halloween, HERSHEY’S BOO BLVD. or check out my Trick or Treat Pinterest Board too!

{Disclaimer: I am participating in the HERSHEY’S BOO BLVD. campaign via Mom Bloggers Club. This post was sponsored by HERSHEY’S. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.}