Posts Tagged ‘Halloween’

I have one simple question for you today, lovelies.

Would you take your coworker seriously if she was dressed like this at the office?

That's me! Senior web editor Jen Melo, embracing the Halloween spirit at Canadian Living offices today.

And what if she wore these?

Yes, these are WAY more comfortable than office-appropriate high heels.

Hoppy Halloween!

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is becoming or has already become a very popular and celebrated event.

Image via Wikipedia

The costumes.

The treats.

The decorations.

The parties, and all the scary stuff.

Has it gone too far? And too expensive? Keep it simple and cheap.

Costumes :

• Re-vamp some old clothes in the basement. Remember your spouses old football jersey or current hockey shirt, your high school cheerleader uniform (not mine) or a lifeguard tank.
• Ask your family and friends for used costumes their children used and no longer fit.
• Face-painting - adorable clown, army camouflaged face, fun lion or tiger face.

The Decor:

• Bring the outside in.  Leaves decorate well, use your Christmas lights - Candle light sets the mood.
• Old fishnet stockings as webs across your front door.
• Ice sculptures in a witches brew.

Food:

• Use your cookbooks, search on-line for suggestions, make it yourself scary cakes and cupcakes,  bundt pans make a perfect pumpkin shape, Jello in scary moulds.
• Candy - Don't buy it too early.  Most of it will disappear and you're going to have to re-stock for the trick-or-treaters.  Candy seems to just vanish into the air. Poof!  Huh?  What? Me?

The trick of the evening is to control the treats.

After careful inspection of your kids goodies, enjoy them in moderation.  I guess like everything else.

I'm not that strong, I'm bringing most of the candy to work and let my co-workers enjoy.

So all you witches, ghosts, vampires, goblins....BOO!

Have a safe Halloween.

My son had just turned 11 when he asked if he could go trick-or-treating on his own.

Hummmmm.
I had to think about it.
I contemplated my decision:

1. He was planning on going with a group of friends I knew well.
2. He'd been walking to and from school on his own for over a year.
3. He was very familiar with the neighbourhood (ohhhh, the cycling adventures).
4. He seemed responsible enough.

I felt confident he was ready.

There was only thing that had me feeling a little uneasy... he'd never been out after dark on his own.

Going that extra step in allowing our kids to roam the streets after dark can be a daunting one.

But sometimes, I think we are our own worst enemy.

We envision all that could go wrong and we want to protect our children from the evils of the world. We're afraid to just let them be and in the process are not allowing them to be their free-thinking, carefree selves.

I'm not saying that we should just send them out there and hope for the best.

They need to be prepared.

We need to talk to them about looking both ways before crossing the street, to beware of strangers, to always walk with a buddy and to trust in their own instincts.

But eventually we have to have faith in our children, hope that our words did not go unheard and let them go out there and experience it for themselves.

We have to allow them the opportunity to be able to make their own decisions (right or wrong) and to problem solve on the fly. We have to hope that we've done our job well and that they can handle themselves and situations with confidence.

And what better night to test the waters than on Halloween.
The streets are filled with little ghosts and goblins. There are parents on every corner. The porch lights are on, the candy is overflowing and the neighbourhood has never been more inviting.

So, very confidently, I let him go.

I had nothing to fear.

What do you feel is the right age to let your child trick-or-treat on their own?

Image via Wikipedia

Some of the most popular relationships articles on CanadianLiving.com are also some of the scariest.

In the spirit of Halloween, here are some of our top picks:

How to spot an emotional vampire
Is someone you know sucking the life right out of you? Here's the run down on how to deal with the toxic people in your life.

How to let go of a toxic relationship
Learn to recognize the signs of a bad relationship, plus how to move on and seek emotional support if you're involved in one.

Porn addicts
How to handle his porn obsession.

How to spot a psychopath
Psychopaths aren’t always easy to spot. Here’s how to find them – and how to avoid being a victim.

Quiz: Is your marriage heading for a breakup?
The "for better" part is usually easy. But will you and your partner be able to weather the "for worse"?

Is your relationship a horror story or a romantic comedy? Leave a comment and let us know.

Will you use your whole pumpkin?

With Thanksgiving behind us, we are now able to fully focus on Halloween. How can you not be all about Halloween when those tempting mini chocolate bars are lining the aisles at the grocery store?

I bet you all have your pumpkin, sitting out there on your porch ready to be carved. When you carve your pumpkin sometime in the coming weeks, I challenge you to use the entire thing. Think of how many things you can do with the seeds? They'll be no good sitting in a landfill, anyway!

Salvage all the seeds and give our Jack-Be-Spicy Pumpkin Seeds a try.

And when your done with your uncarved pumpkins you use for decor, use them for a Honey Pumpkin Pie.

Looking for more Halloween ideas? Check out Canadian Living's Complete guide to ultimate Halloween fun!

Also, don't forget to enter my contest for your chance to win a copy of Almost Green. I'll be announcing four winners on Monday, October 19!

It's probably pretty easy to forget about being green on Halloween. I mean, the day comes upon us so quickly and then ends just as fast. All we have left to show for it is mounds of itty bitty chocolate bar wrappers in the garbage bin under our desks (I'm extra guilty of that one) and a long-lasting sugar high. But just because Halloween is a one-day event, it doesn't mean you have to let go of your eco-conscious ways. There are many ways to practice being green, and I recommend you start with you kids.

National Geographic's Green Guide explains that the Halloween makeup kits your kids use contain (more...)