Halloween month! Time for some fun kid crafts. My sister, K,  gave me this idea and it was so much fun.   First, using poster paper or cardstock, make a “mommy” ghost and however many “kid” ghosts you want. Cut out ghosts and glue or tape to small wooden dowels or popsicle sticks so you can use them to tell this story:

It was Halloween night. Mommy ghost told her children that she had to run an errand and that when she got back they were all going to go out spooking and scaring people for Halloween. She told them to be very careful only to snack on foods that are white while she is gone! As soon as Mommy ghost leaves, one of the ghost kids goes out to the garden and sees the carrot patch. He is so hungry that he thinks it won’t hurt to eat just one, so he gobbles it all up, stem and all. (Turn ghost around that has the “carrot” colors of orange and green on the reverse side):

The next ghost went to the fridge and saw a big pitcher of grape juice and was so thirsty that she thought it wouldn’t hurt to take a sip. Oh no! (Turn the ghost around that is colored purple on the back):

The next ghost eats a watermelon slice, the next a chocolate chip cookie,  and the last eats a leftover candy cane from last Christmas. You get the idea:

Anyway, so the mommy ghost comes home in shock that her children are not ready for Halloween night! Luckily, she has an emergency store of milk, marshmallows, and any other white food you can think of, and quickly makes the children eat the white items. Luckily, they all quickly turn back to white (turn ghosts around) and they can all go out for Halloween spooking!

The best part about this story is you can have your kids make their own ghosts afterwards. Just cut out some ghost shapes and have the kids draw whatever color or food item clue on the back of the ghosts they want to. My kids thought it was so funny and had fun thinking of things to color on the back of their ghosts. Then we taped them on popsicle sticks and Voila! They can tell their own “ghost stories” now!  One of my kids thought of this:

(front side of ghosts):

(back side of ghosts):

Her first ghost ate pepperoni pizza, the next orange juice, the next m&ms and her last ghost ate kiwi.  So funny!

A while back my Mom asked me to make some spice jar containers for her friends’ birthdays. She had made some of Emeril’s Essence Creole Seasoning and wanted some cute containers to put it in. I thought it was such a great idea!  All you do is: 1- buy those $1 plastic spice containers at a dollar store or grocery store (preferably spices that are included in the Creole Seasoning recipe), 2-empty contents into a plastic bag or other container, 3-wash out the spice container including taking the outer label off, 4-decorate the front with ribbons, scrapbook paper, silk flowers, plastic jewels, etc, 5-pour in the Creole Seasoning mixture you have made and 6- VOILA!   What a cute gift for friends!

Such a simple idea, but my kids really got excited about making their own “Cookie Jars” and desserts out of paper. I love to see it when their imaginations are working! (click on each image to view larger.)