Halloween at Wilkinson

Don't panic if you haven't got your Halloween goodies sorted yet, Wilkinson has it covered.


We were sent some costumes to try out and BG had a blast trying them out. BG was a Funky Punky Fairy and Gothic Fairy and for £8 each they are good value. 


BG preferred the Funky Punky Fairy which came with a head band, wings, wrist cuffs and a choker.  Now my phone currently doesn't want to send photos so I haven't got any to show of out outfits but here are selection of costumes from Wilkinson.

They have a selection of children's and adults costumes plus accessories and party ware. I have seen the cutest Pumpkin outfit for a toddler for a £1 so you won't brake the bank!


So if you are looking for Halloween products don't forget about Wilkinson.

Gingerbread Skeletons

The lovely Emma from Mummy Musing's has kindly shared this recipe for Gingerbread Skeletons. Perfect for Halloween. 

Ingredients:

•   80g unsalted butter, softened
•   50g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
•   60g golden syrup
•  2 medium egg yolks
• 250g plain flour
•  2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Writing icing

Method:

1.    Preheat the oven to 200c

2.    In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda, golden syrup and egg yolks. Sift in the flour, ginger and cinnamon. Using your hands, bring the mixture together to form a ball.

3.    On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of ½cm. Use a 12cm gingerbread man cutter to stamp out 16 biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to the lined baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, then cool on wire rack.

4.    Break off a few ‘limbs’ and use red and white writing icing to decorate.

Spooky Garland

This Halloween why not decorate with a spooky garland, it’s simple to make and will keep the children entertained all morning.

You will need – Card, Pencil, Scissors, Paints/Crayons/Felt Tip Pens, hole punch, string, sticky tape.

• First draw the outline of the spooky shapes you want on your garland, I’ve gone for Pumpkins and ghosts but you can have witches or vampires or even a scary monster.
• Decorate the pictures anyway you like, you can use paint, crayons, felt tips pens or a mixture.
• Once they are coloured in and any paint is dry, cut the shapes out.
• Punch a hole in the top of them and then thread on to the string in any order you like.
• Stick to the wall or ceiling using sticky tape
• You can do a mixture of sizes to make the garland more interesting and if you want the garland to sparkle then add some glitter to your spooky characters.

Make a few spooky garlands to place around the house and scare your family

By Carol 

Spider Cupcakes

You can‘t have a party without cakes, my spider cupcakes are ideal for a spooky Halloween party. 

These are a variation of a cake my Nan made when I was little; she used to make them into mice.

Ingredients (makes 20 cakes)-

• For the cakes-175g soften butter, 175g Caster Sugar, 175g self-raising flour, 2 large eggs lightly beaten and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• For the decoration – 200g Chocolate, 2 ½ packs of Liquorice Catherine wheels,20 Large Marshmallows, 20 small Marshmallows,  two tablespoons of icing sugar, drop of water. Black food colouring or alternately use a tube of back writing icing.

To make the cupcakes-

Children's Halloween Costumes under £10

Not got a Halloween costume for your little one yet? Don't worry you still have plenty of time.


To make your life a little easier I have done some searching for you and here arc some on the best offers on the web (see you don't even have to leave the house)

Try this Instant Cat Set from Fancy Dress Outfitters for just £3.42. It contains ears, tail and bow tie you just need a black outfit underneath. 

Out, About & Things To Do: October Half Term & Halloween

Need something to do this Half Term and Halloween? Here are a few ideas for you.

What: Light to Dusk events at the Galleries of Justice Museum

The Galleries of Justice have a jammed packed Halloween planned including ghost tours, The Trail of the Wicked Witch of Sherwood and Children’s Story Telling.

Where:  The Lace Market, Nottingham,NG1 1HN

When: October 22, 2011 10:30 am to October 30, 2011 4:00 pm

How Much: Price varies, some events are free. Check the site for full details

Website: http://www.galleriesofjustice.org.uk/

3 Copies of Spooky Buddies on DVD to be Won

To celebrate the release of Spooky Buddies on Disney DVD from 10 October, we’re giving away a copy of this great film to 3 lucky winners!

The quintet of irresistible talking puppies, Disney’s lovable “Buddies,” are back for a ghoulish good time in a fantastic all-new Halloween-themed adventure, Spooky Buddies.

Overflowing with trick-or-treat action, the ‘Buddies’ films are favourites of families and kids of all ages.  Spooky Buddies continues the overwhelmingly popular franchise featuring the adorable talking puppies, with action, laughs and fast-paced adventure.  In this latest movie caper, the lovable canine clan find themselves in a mysterious mansion, with no less than the fate of the world hanging in the balance as they must stop a dastardly warlock from his plans for world destruction. 

Packed with fun, excitement and a bag full of bonus features, Spooky Buddies is a spooktacular feature-length movie that treats audiences to a celebration of friendship and teamwork for the whole family.

Spooky Buddies is available on Disney DVD from 10 October 2011, order your copy today on Amazon

Also available 10 October is the Buddies Pack which includes all 5 adventures; Air Buddies, Space Buddies, Snow Buddies, Santa Buddies and Spooky Buddies.

To be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize, just fill in the form below answer the following question:

Which of the following is not a film from the Buddies series?

    a)Spooky Buddies

               b)Air Buddies

          c) Mountain Buddies

© 2011 Disney

Closing Date: 21st October 


Good Luck


*One Entry per household
*No cash alternative offered
*Open to residents of the UK only 

Tried & Tested: Halloween Party and Children Products

Here at New Mummy's Tips we have been testing out some of the Halloween ranges out for you. 


Aldi’s Halloween Baking and Party Range

• Ice Cube Trays
• Pumpkin and Skull Cake Tins
• Silicone Jelly/Cake moulds shaped like Ghosts and Pumpkins
• Paper Plates
• Cups
• Table Cloth

Price:  £1.99 Each for Baking Rang, 99p each for Party ware 


Available from:  Aldi while stocks last.


Initial Reaction: Lots of products to get the party started. I couldn’t wait to start baking

Halloween On A Budget

Halloween seems to get more and more popular in the UK every year and when something becomes popular it can start to get expensive.

Here are my tips on how to have Halloween on a budget:-

Don’t buy expensive costumes have some fun with face paints instead. You can have any scary design that you want then. Facepaintdesigns.co.uk has some step by step guides and videos on how to create your spooky design. The best deal I’ve found on face paints is Wilkinson’s Face Painting Kit for £2.50!! 

Make your own Halloween mask. You make one using a paper plate or cut out the shape from a cereal box, decorate anyway you like and secure with some string or elastic. Alternatively print off some readymade masks and colour them in, I found some great ones on Womansday.com.

Making Halloween crafts are a great way to while away the afternoon.  Make some spooky paper chains to decorate the house or collect some conkers and make conker monsters. 

Get younger children to colour in Halloween pictures, you can find free colouring sheets online. I find these for you (I know I’m too good to you), Colouring.ws, coloringpages.net , raisingourkids.com and freecoloringpages.com .

Get cooking, make some Halloween inspired food together and have a little tea party. Why not try Cherished By Me’s Butternut Squash Muffins, or these recipes on using up your Halloween Pumpkin on Savings Advice  or these amazing recipes on Je Cook or even these Spooky Spider Cakes

If you want something really low key, they my favourite thing to do is snuggle on the sofa, with popcorn and a hot chocolate and watch a spooky family move.  I’ve found some on Amazon super cheap. Casper the Friendly Ghost is £2.99, Witches is also £2.99 and my personal favourite Hocus Pocus is £3.43 and they all have free P&P.

If you have any other tips or posts to share please do. I’ve got a linky below for you to add your posts.  

NM X 

Halloween Goodies

It will soon be Halloween and its one of my favourite time of the year. I love the chill in the air, the chance to digg out my thick woolly jumpers and eat yummy stews and soups!

But best of all its a great excuse to get dressed up and be a big child and even better this year I have BG to dress up!!

If you having a party this year (it falls on a Saturday) or are just looking for somthing to entertain the kids, well I've got some great ranges for you, what ever your budget!

Asda

Have a collection of costumes starting at £6 they include a Glow in the dark Skeleton £6, Hero Spider Witch Costume £6, and a Caped Vampire Costume £10.

They also have some cool themed t-shirts and wellies! starting from £3.

For the party they have selected party food 2 for £3 plus a selection of great spooky biscuits and cakes form thier bakery, for more details see here and checkout their fab halloween partywear selection prices start from £1, my favorite is the Creepy Champagne Flutes!

Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's have a small collection of costumes including a Cat, witch and skeleton they are all £9. They also have a collection decorations instore including a spooky CD!

They do have some great recipes and ideas for you to try including Halloween Ghosts and a Spooky Swamp Monster!

Tesco

Tesco are currently offering their halloween costumes at a introductory price, they have both children and adult costumes including this cute Pumpkin costume and this Teen Ghost Pirate Costume .

They have also got some great offers for Halloween and some fab recipes

Matalan

Matalan have one of the best ranges I have seen, prices range from £2 for a pair of strippy tights to £50 for a adult Werewolfs Costume, which looks awesome!

Check out their full range of costumes here, which include this cute Spider Tabard £6 and this girls sleepsuit £5

M&S

Have a great collection of adult and kids costumes starting from £2 they include this fab Baby Witch Outfit £9.50 (I've actually got this for BG) and this Mummy Cuddles T-shirt £2

Instore

Have 3 for 2 on their Halloween range, and with hats and broomsticks at 99p you can't go wrong!
To help make you life at little easier The Great Toy Guide have some great reviews on the latest Halloween costumes, these are real reviews by real parents!

And lastly Viloet Posey is holding a Halloween party over at her blog so be sure to check that out!

Whatever you are doing have a great time

NM X