Sep 25, 2025
Safe & Sweet Trick-or-Treating
Halloween brings costumes, candy, and moonlit strolls, but safety matters too. Keep it fun and worry-free with these quick tips:
- Stick to Lit Areas: Skip dark houses and choose festive, well-lit neighborhoods.
- Make Costumes Visible: Use glow sticks, reflective tape, or bright colors. Face paint beats vision-blocking masks.
- Supervise Young Kids: Under 12? Go with an adult. Older kids should stay in groups and follow a planned route.
- Use Street Smarts: Cross at corners, not between cars. Make eye contact with drivers before crossing.
Trick Out Your Pumpkins: Quick Guide to the Perfect Jack O’ Lantern
- Pumpkin Scoop or Scraper: Removes seeds and pulp. Serrated edges help clean thoroughly.
- Carving Saw or Serrated Knife: Cuts through thick pumpkin walls. Use small tools for detailed areas.
- Detailing Tools: Adds texture and fine lines. Perfect for teeth, wrinkles, and fur effects.
- Stencil Kit or Printed Designs: Tape on your design and trace with a poking tool for precision.
- Pumpkin Punchers: Cookie-cutter-style shapes that are safe for kids and create clean lines.
- LED Lights or Tea Candles: Illuminate your creation. LED lights are safer and last longer.
- Bonus Accessories: Scraper glove, rubber mallet, and steel carving kit for serious carvers.
Pumpkin Masters® App
Tired of the same old Jack-o’-Lantern faces? Turn your selfies—yes, even your pet’s—into custom pumpkin designs with the Pumpkin Masters® App. It’s fun, easy, and FREE on the Apple Store and Google Play.
Mummy in the Moonlight Tree Craft
Turn any tree into a spooky showstopper with streamers, googly eyes, and a little imagination. It’s quick, kid-friendly, and perfect for porch or yard displays.
- White streamers, gauze, or cheesecloth
- Googly eyes, paper plate eyes, or a mask
- Tape or clothespins
- Optional: LED lights, plastic spiders, bats, speech bubbles
How-To:
- Prepare the Tree: Select a visible trunk and wipe it down.
- Wrap It Up: Spiral streamers upward, overlapping for a bandaged look.
- Add Eyes: Stick on eyes with personality—silly, spooky, or sleepy.
- Light It Up: Tuck in LED lights for a nighttime glow.
- Decorate: Add spiders, bats, and fun signs like “Mummy needs coffee!
- Use fresh oranges or tangerines.
- Draw fun or spooky faces with a permanent marker.
- Display in a bowl, line them on a windowsill, or tuck them into lunchboxes for a Halloween surprise!
- Paper Mask- Craft a clown, cat, or owl face from paper. Hot glue it to the pumpkin or tie it on with twine.
- Ribbon Wrap- Glue long ribbon strips around the stem and notch the ends. For extra flair, fold short pieces into loops and glue them around the base.
- Thumbtack Ghost- Use white pushpins to outline a ghost shape. Add black pushpins for eyes and a mouth.
- 8 cups popcorn
- 4 cups mini pretzels
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp corn syrup
- 1 cup of marshmallows
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 cups mini chocolate PB cups
- 1 cup of candy corn
- Spread popcorn and pretzels on a parchment-lined tray.
- Melt butter, sugar, and syrup in a pan until bubbling.
- Stir in marshmallows and salt until smooth.
- Pour over popcorn mix. Top with candy and PB cups.
- Cool, break into clusters, and serve!
- Add edible googly eyes for extra monster vibes!
Orange You Spooky? Great no-sugar option!
Skip the carving—grab a black marker and turn oranges into mini-Jack-o’-Lanterns!
How-To:
Street Chic Witch Hat
Spray-paint a plastic traffic cone black (hardware store find). Add a buckle cut from yellow glitter sticker paper and top it off with a few creepy-crawly spiders around the opening. No sewing, just instant spooky charm!
Trio of Easy Pumpkins
Monster Munch
Sweet, salty, and spooky—perfect for movie night!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Recipe courtesy of Popcorn.org
