It’s Spooky Time!

Halloween is creeping up on us and all the little goblins, witches, and ghouls will be coming out to scare and spook us.  It is a great fun time of year for family activities and we have put togther some ideas and inspiration for having a great Halloween.

Pumpkin Picking

Instead of grabbing a pumpkin off the shelf at your local supermarket, it is such a fun activity to visit your local pumpkin farm and pick your own.  support local farmers and take a trip and pick your own pumpkin. They come in all shapes and sizes and there are so may different varieties, it is quite a sight to see a whole field of them! So just grab your rain coats an pull on some wellies and get out for the day to show our small people how they grow creeping over the soil and where they come from.

To find somewhere near you just search “pumpking picking near me” or visit “Days Out With The Kids” website for a list of the best pumpkin picking places around the UK.

Pumpkin Carving and Decorating

I absolutely love getting creative with my pumpkin carving each year.  Even now that the kids are older, we all still tend to do a pumpkin each. I usually freestyle and create my own faces, alternatively if you want a bit more ambitious, there are loads of great templates available on the internet.  We particularly love the designs on the “Better Homes and Gardens” website and they have templates that you can download from their website, which will create the real wow factor.

If you really aren’t ready to be up and close with sharp implements then why don’t you try some simple painting and decorating. It doesn’t have to be scary. Just glue or pin anything you fancy to pimp up your pumpkin.  As bakers, we especially love these donut decorated pumpkins, check out this article in Home Beautiful magazine for some great inspiration.

Spooky Trails:

Why not have a fun family day out doing Halloween themed activities.  The National Trust and English Heritage have some great spooky trails and halloween activities plus check out your local farm shops as many hold halloween events.

Garland making:

Something we spotted which is a win for all, is garland making. It is so effective and combines an activity which all members of the family can participate in, resulting in fantastic useable decorations, perfect for a Halloween party.

Creating a garland from leaves can involve a lovely autumnal walk, with kids kicking up and collecting leaves. Spend some time with a hot chocolate, picking the most interesting shapes and colours, then thread them on some string or wire. Use them to create a door wreath or over the fireplace if you have one or just lie on a window sill.

Add some with cobwebs and maybe a few spiders to complete the look.

But remember a garland can be made from lots of things. You could also cut bats, pumpkins or ghosts out of coloured paper or felt. Take a look at this You Tube Video for a great tutorial.

Parties:

Halloween parties are always popular and appeal to all ages and they are a great excuse to get creative with your decorations.  Orange and black decorations are a classic but for a contemporary theme, monochrome is a great choice.  Clean and simple, less is more.  It doesn’t suit everyone’s home, but it certainly puts a focus on creating a amazing display.  It also a great backdrop for orange accents if you  want to add a bit of colour.

Our monsters themed eco friendly party bags are always a big hit and Monsters is always a popular theme for kids parties, so when we saw this Monsters door arch in a Country Living article we thought it was so fab we wanted to share it with you.  It really creates an impression and sets the tone of what’s to come inside. A great way to welcome all your guests whether they are kids or adult. Check out the article for lots more ideas.

Halloween Baking:

Food is always an important part of any Halloween event but also a halloween baking is a great October half term activity.

With Trick or Treat, Halloween is one of the few times of year where parents relax and allow kids to collect and create a sweetie stash. They might even have a few themselves, who doesn’t like to sneak a treat.  Although the usual chocolate bars and sweets are an easy option, it’s lots of fun and certainly much more tasty to get baking and creating and offer a range of goulish treats.

There are lots of ideas online for cakes and biscuits, here are a few that caught our eye…

Chocolate dipped pretzels from Half Baked Harvest are something a bit different. Dip pretzels in white chocolate and decorate with chocolate buttons for eyes to make mummies, or other sweeties and googley eyes.

Create a really gorgy bleeding vampire mouths by folding some cookies in half and filling with icing coloured red butter icing and line with marshmallows for the teeth! if you want to finish them off with fangs use a slither or an almond.

If you have some royal icing roll some out and cut into thin strips. Wrap around around some biscuits and they will soon look like mummies. Finish off with some eyes, use sweets or black icing. you can find the recipe at Olive Magazine.

Of course, as you know, we love a bit of foolproof baking so we have obviously created a our our Halloween range.  Our  Spooky Skeleton Gingerbread kit  is a fun gift or activity and our Halloween shortbread and Double Chocolate Chip Cookie mix boxes make great party favours for your guests.

Alternatively, if you aren’t into baking you can always grab some plain cup cakes or  biscuits (although home baked ones are always nicer) and find some themed icing and decorations.  Cake Decor have some fab products for creating Halloween themed treats easily.  From edible eyes to food colouring and tubes of coloured icing writing and spooky sprinkles. Quick, simple but effective.  Take a look at their website for some great inspiration.

Anyway, whatever you do this Halloween, have fun and enjoy and if you do a bit of baking we would love you to share your creations on instagram.  Just tag us @thekatiebakes.