Just three more days and Trunk-or-Treat ideas

Each day, Maren counts down the days until Halloween and squeals as it's getting closer--and I want to squeal right along with her! I've got work to do this weekend to put the last touches on our costumes, and I still need to hit a few thrift stores to see if I can find shoes for mine. We're going as a coordinated group again this year and I think our costumes will be really fun! For any new readers, here's how we dressed up last year:

Our church traditionally has a Trunk-or-Treat event on Halloween, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand--I know there are people that go and distribute all of their candy during the Trunk-or-Treat and then go home and turn off their lights, which I think is NO FUN at all! I happen to think that one of the fun parts of Halloween and trick-or-treating is getting to know your neighbors, and you can't get to know your neighbors if you won't open your door! On the other hand, the Trunk-or-Treat is usually held early enough that the kids can still go out trick-or-treating in their neighborhood, so double the candy--yay!

I know some churches have car decorating contests and I wish ours would start doing that--I think it would make the whole event more fun because right now, it's little more than an organized but crowded grab for candy. I found this awesome car on Pinterest

Original source

and I think I might be making a run to the store this weekend for white poster board! The rest of the car is made to look like a giant whale to go with the family's costumes, but I think I'll just stick with the big scary teeth.

Last year at our Trunk-or-Treat there was one person who went all out and made a Honeyduke's Sweet Shop in the back of her van. We didn't get there until it was almost empty, but I still got a few snaps so I could remember how clever it was!

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them so you can see the neat tags she made with the candy names. It would seem like filling all those jars of candy would cost a fortune, but most of the candy was inexpensive (salt water taffy) or homemade (toffee) or store-bought candy, gussied up (Licorice Wands were individual Twizzlers dipped in candy melts & sprinkles, Acid Pops were sour Dots on a sucker stick).

The key to this was the presentation--all of the candies were individually wrapped in little bags and each jar had its own label, printed in the Harry Potter font. The car owner made a shelf with a piece of painted board that was held up on either end by a large gold-painted book. The whole effect was really impressive! Maybe she'll be back again this year and I can get some photos when the jars are all filled up.

And just in case you haven't settled on a costume yet, let me leave you with a few of my favorites from last year's Trunk-or-Treat:

Incredible papier mache Mike from Monster's Inc.

The blue shirt was an XXL thrift store find and he stuffed the front with fiberfill. Hat was made from felt-by-the-yard from JoAnn's.

My friend's two-year-old as a Toddlers and Tiaras winner. Hilarious!

Have a fun weekend! Are you doing anything fun to get ready for Halloween?