Painting: PAINT A TWIN
Use a long piece of Butcher’s paper or use the backside of a roll of inexpensive shelf paper to make a piece of paper a littler taller than the child. (Poster board or lightweight cardboard also work). The child lays down on the paper and someone traces around him/her. Paint the twin and after it is dry, cut it out, then add colored construction or material for the clothing, yarn for the hair, bows, buttons, etc. If your child prefers not to make a twin or already has one, then suggest a storybook character.

Construction Paper: Strip Art
Colored construction paper cut into strips can become a bird, bug or imaginary creature. Bend or roll the strips into a shape and use staples or glue to hold them together.

Sculpture: Cookie Cutter Art
Break up several old candles and remove their wicks. Melt them in the microwave oven, adding a crayon if you want colored wax. (You can also paint your finished wax project with a mixture of one part tempera paint and one part white glue). Lay a piece of waxed paper or newspaper on top of a bread board. Grease the inside of a cookie cutter and place it on the waxed paper. Slowly pour the melted wax into the cookie cutter and let it dry for 24 hours till it hardens completely. (If you want candles, a wick needs to be added before pouring in the melted wax).

Wood: Hammer and Nail Picture
Draw a picture on a piece of wood. Pound nails along the pencil lines, about one-half-inch apart. paint the wood and nails if you wish. Then wind spool wire or yard around the picture from nail to nail. A simple picture can be made by following the outline of the nails. You get more interesting effects by winding spokes or zigzags. You can fill in the picture with different types of nails instead of yarn or wire.

Cloth Material: Doll Clothes
This is the easiest possible way to make a doll dress. First, put the doll on a sheet of paper and draw around her, from shoulders to ankles, marking off where the dress would be on the legs. Mark a neck hole so the dress can be pulled over the doll’s head. Cut out the paper pattern. Fold a piece of material and put the pattern on it, with the top of the pattern on the fold. Draw around it and cut it out. Put the dress on the doll without sewing, use another piece of material to make a belt or sash. Use scraps of lace for collars, buttons, bows, etc.

Cardboard: Bowling Pins
Make a set of bowling pins by using empty paper towel rolls. Put a rock or two inside each for weight. Seal the ends with tape. Paint the pins if you wish. Make as many pins as you can — doesn’t have to be ten of them. Bowl with a rubber ball, scoring one point for each pin knocked over.

Cooking: Cookies
Using prepared cookie dough from the grocery store, cut into slices. Using small cutters or patterns, cut out cookie shapes, saving scraps to roll together to make more cookies. Frost the cookies or even more fun, let the kids paint their cookies with “EDIBLE” marking pens — click on Cookie Fun.

Paper-Mache: Jewelry
Cut a drinking straw into several pieces. Cover each piece with paper-mache, leaving the ends open. After the beads dry, decorate them string them on a piece of yarn. For smaller beads, roll up balls of paper-mache. Push them onto a knitting needle or a nail. When they dry, paint, then shellac them. Remove the knitting needles or nails and string the beads with a needle and thread. Use elastic thread if you want a bracelet that stretches to fit over your hand. You can make a bracelet over a tin can. First tape waxed paper or foil over the can. Then old the paper-mache around it. This can be as wide as you wish, but should be at least one-fourth-inch thick. After a day or two, carefully remove the bracelet from the can. Let it dry for another few days, then decorate it. And for a ring, put a blob of wet paper-mache over the jewel on an old dime-store ring and let it dry. Earrings can be made the same way, using old earrings or new earring backs (called fittings) which you can buy at a hobby shop.

ART BOX:
A good idea is to have a boxful of basic materials, such as scissors, glue, pencils, pens, rulers, crayons, tape, staples, paper clips, rubber bands, stencils, glitter, sequins, buttons, various pasta shapes, watercolors, tempera paint, different size brushes, white paper, colored construction paper.

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One of the alternate activities we participate in is our local elementary school fall festival. The kids are allowed to dress up (there is even a costume contest), plus their are booths set up where children can exchange their tickets to play a fun game. Everyone always wins — candy and other goodies!

Another yearly activity in our family is decorating our home for the Autumn season and for Halloween. We have decided to forgo the “scary” decor for more seasonal decorations: scarecrows, pumpkins, fall leaf garland, and other delightful signs of fall. Our family also has great fun cooking up fun Halloween or Autumn themed meals, snacks, and sweets during this time of the year. And, like many families, we also enjoy visiting our local pumpkin patch and picking out our own pumpkins and then bringing them home for carving and pumpkin seeds!

Yet another enjoyable tradition in our family is watching the less-scary Halloween movies and cartoons. Even though my children are getting older, every year we still watch “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. It has become a family tradition that I am sure will continue for many, many years.

If you are looking for even more fun Halloween traditions to start with your family, try these! Your children will love doing this, as I am sure you will too!

The Pumpkin Phantom
When you go out pumpkin picking, pick out an extra pumpkin to surprise someone with! You can surprise a senior citizen, a teacher, a single person, or just about anyone! Next you must get a note or card ready to give with the pumpkin. Since you will do this in secret, make sure you choose a method, such as your computer or cutting out letters from magazines or newspapers, so that the receiver won’t be able to recognize your writing. Your message could say something like this:

Dear _____________________ Happy Halloween from the Pumpkin Phantom!!!

Then that night put your kids in the car and drive to the home of the person you are giving it too. Have one or more of your children sneak up to the home and place the pumpkin on the steps and ring the doorbell (or knock) and run like crazy back to the car! It is a lot of fun and a great way to do something fun for someone else!*

The Fun & Sneaky Family
Here is a variation of the above idea, but this is done with candy and a poem. The intention is to start a chain reaction of sneaky families!

Decorate a paper bag (or use a basket if you wish), and put in the bag a paper pumpkin, a bunch of candy or other goodies or treats, and a note that says:

Happy Halloween!
A fun & sneaky family has come to town To leave you some goodies that we see you have found If you do not wish to disappoint all Continue this greeting, this “sneaky family call” Buy or make some treats, 2 paper pumpkins, and two notes like this Deliver them to 2 neighbors who may have been missed Don’t let them see you, be sneaky, no doubt And make sure they put their paper pumpkin out. Next, you have only one day to act, so be quick Leave it at doors where a sneaky family hasn’t hit Deliver at dark, where there is no light Ring the doorbell and run, and stay out of sight Last but not least, come join in the season Don’t worry, be happy — you need no good reason Be cool, have fun, and remember don’t be seen Share the spirit of Halloween! (Don’t forget to hang your paper pumpkin on a door or window so other sneaky families will know you’ve already been visited.)

Have a Happy Halloween!

By Brandie Valenzuela

About The Author: Brandie is a freelance writing mother of three children. She is also the editor of the Family First Newsletter and a scrapbook artist. To find out more about Brandie’s creations, visit: http://www.bmvcreations.com

Also, check out her latest scrapbook & home related auctions: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/bmvcreations/

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Quick Easy CHEAP Cake Recipe

• 1 cup shortening

• 3/4 cup oil

• 1 cup flour

Mix well, store in an airtight container.

When you are ready to use it simply use a pastry brush and brush it into your pan like you would if you were greasing it and then flouring.

Then add your cake mix and bake.

No need to flour your pan because the flour is in the mix.

Does NOT need to be refrigerated.

So, next time you’re a little low on dough, try out this dollar-saving mix and dress up all your kitchen creations!

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