Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Happy Halloween!

Halloween greetings card

We had a fun early Halloween, called "Fright Night" on Saturday evening. 

Dozens of houses in our village were set up for the children in the neighbourhood to go trick or treating. We registered as a safe house where the younger children could come trick or treating. Others set up spooky houses for the older children. Then afterwards the children went to watch the film Beetlejuice at the village hall.

Halloween sweets in a basket

I was on a very tight budget, so spent most of it filling a basket with halloween-themed sweets and plastic spider rings. These were placed on a chair that I draped with a metre of black tulle that was decorated with ghosts.

Then I made paper decorations, both 3-D and 2-D, which I found free downloads for online on the Canon Creative Park website. I had great fun with scissors and glue making them.

The decorations were hung on the plant growing in a pot on the front doorstep. And the Halloween picture, that I printed and cut out, was taped to the front door.

I bought a length of glittery orange spider web patterned wired ribbon and decorated the basket and the plant with it. Plus I bought lots of plastic spiders and spread them around the front door.

Front door decorated for Halloween

I dressed up in black and white and wore a large floppy purple witches hat that I bought for $9 at a party shop.

Lots of children visited our house in groups with their parents. One boy said ours was the best house :o) I think that may have been because I let the children have a spider ring as well as sweets! 

One child asked if he could have a big spider, so I said yes, and he put his sweets back in the basket and took a spider lol. I tried to tell him that he could also keep his sweets, but he was too excited about the big spider. It was so cute.

The village that I lived in before didn't have children doing trick or treat because all the houses were on large blocks of land and were spaced far apart down long driveways. Instead they held a party at the local village hall for the children each Halloween.

This is the first time that I have experienced trick or treat at Halloween. Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, I think as much, if not more, than the children.

Do you do anything at Halloween?

See you again soon.

Hugs, Rose

12 comments:

  1. That sounds like a lot of fun. The rule to follow where I live is that if you are happy to receive callers, then you put a lit pumpkin outside your door. I've got mine all ready for this evening. I love to see all the different costumes. Xx

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    1. Hi Jules, we had a great time and the children too. We all tied orange and black balloons to our mailboxes at the end of our drives, and the children had a printed list of the safe and spooky houses that they could visit. Lit pumpkins on the doorstep sound like fun. I hope you had a good evening with lots of children trick or treating. The costumes are fun aren't they! Hugs, Rose x

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  2. It sounds as though your community has the right take on Hallowe'en and everyone had a good time.

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    1. Yes, it was all very organised and a lot of fun for everyone on Fright Night. No children came around on the actual night of Halloween which surprised me. All of the children were very well behaved. Hugs, Rose x

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  3. Here in France, Halloween isn't really a popular festival, and in many places nothing happens at all. However, this year the supermarkets had unpacked a whole host of decorations, special sweets and so on... In my neighbourhood, there aren't many young children. Only two turned up last night. I had some sweets ready for them but there were no other visits.

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    1. Hi Helene, maybe Halloween will become popular now that the supermarkets are selling Halloween sweets and decorations? It is lovely that you were prepared for the two children that visited. Our village is full of young families, so lots of children went trick or treating. The streets were full of little groups with their parents. It was really charming. Hugs, Rose x

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  4. We don't celebrate Halloween here and we have been away on holiday over the last few days. You did a lot of things for the children who live near you to enjoy. I'm sure they had a great time. Love the spooky house on your front door.

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    1. Hi Beverley, thank you, I enjoyed cutting out and assembling the spooky house picture. I will do more next year to decorate the front door. I hope that you had a lovely time on holiday and that the weather was good for you. Hugs, Rose x

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  5. It sounds like you had a great time, and the decorations look terrific! Where we are, we never get trick-or-treaters (just too far from town) so we always took the kids to town where they could go to Grandma's and have fun. Afterward always a bowl of chili to warm them up and some "mummy" hot dogs. I admit I don't like the scary/gory part of Halloween - not my style - but seeing the little ones dressed up and so excited is always the best part...sounds like you had fun!

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    1. Hi Mary, thank you. I had as much fun making the decorations as I did when giving the sweets to the trick-or-treaters :o) That is lovely that you took your children to their Grandma's for some Halloween fun. Chili and mummy hot dogs to warm up afterwards sounds great! I can relate to not having trick-or-treaters in the countryside. For over 40 years we didn't have any. Maybe that is why I enjoyed it so much this year in our new house in the suburbs. I don't really like the scary/gory side either. My teenage nephew loves the spooky side and put fake gravestones in his garden. Just the gentler side for me, that's why I chose to have a safe house for the younger children. Hugs, Rose x

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  6. Lovely pictures and the decorations are fantastic! Love this time of year...
    Titti

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    1. Hi Titti, thank you :o) I love this time of year too. Hugs Rose x

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