Fall Decor Ideas

FALL is here and it is time to decorate. I LOVE the FALL it is my favorite time of the year and I love to decorate for it! Here are some ideas to decorate your house for FALL with things I bought at Dollar Tree and Wal-mart.

For my front door I just took some Foam board and a bag of fake leaves (or you can use real leaves) that I got from Dollar Tree to make this letter D wreath. I just cut the foam board in the shape of a D (it doesn't have to be perfect because the the leave are not perfect) and glued the fake leaves on it with Mod Podge glue.

Next to my door is my PUMPKIN tree that I made with things I got at Dollar Tree. I took the little pot at the bottom and put out last name "The Daniels" on it with letter stickers. Then I took a ziplock bag and filled it with sand and taped it to the inside bottom of the pot so the PUMPKIN tree wouldn't move with the wind. Then I taped green foam on top of the sand bag poked the leaves into the green foam to stay in place. Then I bend the leave out over the rim of the pot. Then I put our family's names on the four foam PUMPKINS and connected them together with skewers sticks (the sticks you use for grilling). Then I took another skewers sticks and connect the bottom PUMPKIN to the green foam that is in the pot. Last I made a bow out of ribbon and glued it to the top.

I took some leaves garland wrapped it around the porch.

I also hung some more leaves, HARVEST sign, and a wire PUMPKIN. All from Dollar Tree.

In front of my porch I made a little PUMPKIN patch with foam PUMPKINS and SCARECROWS. All from Dollar Tree.

Inside in my living room I took a leaf wreath and put it on the table and placed a PUMPKIN candy dish in the middle of it. I got both of these from Wal-mart when they went 50% off after the Holidays.

Also in my living room I made this PUMPKIN bouquet go here Dollar Tree Pumpkin Bouquet to see how to make it.

I took some fake PUMPKINS (that I got 50% off at Michael's) and made vines out of black puff paint. Then I took brown wine glasses and filled them with little red/green APPLES and turn them over to created candle holders. Then I tied a bow around the wine glasses.

These are some more Dollar Tree items that I use in my dining room.

There it is my FALL DECOR IDEAS. What have you use to decorate your house?

Jack-O-Lantern Lunch Ideas

I love to make my girls' lunches fun to go with the holidays and themes of the season. My oldest Ari loves to show off her lunch at school to all her friends. So here are some "Jack-O-Lantern" ideas I have made for Ari and Bri for their lunches.

Jack-o-Lantern Grilled Cheese Sandwich

To make this all you need is a pumpkin shape cookie cuter and a sharp knife. Cut two slices of bread and a slice of cheese into a pumpkin shape. Cut a Jack-o-Lantern face out of one of them with the sharp knife.

 Then cook your grilled cheese like you usual would.

That is it!

PB & J / Turkey & Cheese Sandwich

Make your kiddos their favorite sandwich and use pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out the pumpkin shape. Then decorate the sandwich with your child's favorite candy skittles, M&M's, chocolate chips etc.



Jack-o-Lantern Cuties

Decorate a cutie (which are smalls oranges) with a sharpie/black marker creating a Jack-o-Lantern face.

Jack-O-Lantern Fruit Cups

Draw a Jack-O-Lantern face on a peach or orange fruit cups with a sharpie/black marker.

You can also do these ideas for Halloween Parties as well.

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Musical Pumpkins

This learning activity was inspired by a post I read on www.momto2poshlildivas.com titled Musical Alphabet Game. In the post the mom create a game for her little girl by writing the alphabet on index cards and setting them up like a "Musical Chair" game. I thought this idea was a great way to teach Bri the alphabet and so I wanted to try it but with a "Pumpkin Theme" twist on it since I could use my pumpkin foam cutouts that I already had from the Alphabet Pumpkin Hunt game that I create for Bri.

Materials you need:

• Pumpkin Foam cutouts
• Sharpie/ Black marker
• Music

Write the alphabet and numbers on the pumpkins

Put the Pumpkins in a circle.

Start the music and have your child walk on the Pumpkins

When the music stops have your child tell you the letter/number and the sound of the letter they stop on. Bri is still learning her letters/numbers so if she didn't know the letter I would tell her.

Bri enjoyed the game more when there were only a few pumpkins left so she could jump from pumpkin to pumpkin.

Keep going until there is no more pumpkins left.

With this game your child learns letter recognition, letter sounds, number recognition, and also practices their gross motor skills.

You can do this game with numbers, shapes, or even site words.

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Jack-o-Lantern Pizza

This recipe is easy and cheap to make and the kiddos can help make it! This is a "Pumpkin Themed" twist on a favorite pizza recipe that I grew up eating. My dad was in the army and my mom was a stay at home mom to three kids so she had to be creative on how to stretch the money in the household. Back in the day it wasn't so easy as it is now to save on food so my mom had to get creative with leftovers and what we had on hand to make meals. Just like other kids me and my siblings LOVED pizza but of course pizza wasn't so cheap to buy for a family of five so my mom would create her own "Pizza" with the things we had at home. Here is how to make it.

Ingredients:

• Sliced bread
• Left over spaghetti sauce
• sliced cheese
• Turkey/Ham lunch meat

 First cut the bread into a pumpkin shape using a cookie cutter and put the spaghetti sauce on the bread.

Then cut the slice cheese into a pumpkin shape with the cookie cutter and put it on top of the spaghetti sauce. Chop the ham/turkey lunch meat into pieces and then use the lunch meat to create your Jack-o-Lantern face.

Put the pizza into the oven @350 until the pizza is toasted and cheese is melted about 5-7 minutes.

That is it!! So easy and cheap to make!

This pizza recipe was a favorite for my siblings and I growing up. Both my girls ate all of their pizza and wanted more. Even Bri (who doesn't like pizza) loved this recipe. You could also add any other topping you want to this pizza and make it to your own liking.

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Jack O Lantern Cheese Quesadilla

This recipe is easy and fun to make for you and your kiddos.

Ingredients:

• Flour Tortilla
• Olive Oil Spray
• Mexican Mix Shredded cheese
• Edible Color Markers (you can find this in the cake decorating sections)

Have your child make a Jack o Lantern face on one tortilla with the edible marker. If you have little ones you can do this step yourself or just help them. I helped Bri make her shapes on her face.

While you are cutting out the face (that the children drew) have them add the cheese to the other tortilla.

Then have the children put the face tortilla on the tortilla that has cheese on it.

Put it in the oven @350 for 5-7 minutes on the bottom rack and then 5-7 minutes on the top rack to toast it on both side. All oven are different so keep an eye on the tortilla because some might bake faster than other.

Bri's tortilla is on the left and Ari's tortilla is on the right.

The girls really like being able to make their own food.



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Easy Pumpkin Spice Play-doh

So this week is all about Pumpkins at my house so I wanted to make a Play-doh recipe to go with the Pumpkin theme. At first of course I looked on Pinterest for some Pumpkin play-doh recipes and I did find some good ones but a lot of them were edible ones that used pumpkin puree and other things and I really didn't feel like going out and buying ingredients to make a play-doh recipes. So I decide I would just use what I have at home and make a recipe. I always have the ingredients to make Homemade Play-doh so I decide I would just make that color it orange and add Pumpkin Pie Spice to the dry ingredients because I had that on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Salt
• 2 teaspoons cream of tarter (found this in the spice isle)
• 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (or you can just mix cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger together)
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon oil
•  Orange food coloring (or mix yellow and red food coloring together)

 Bri is always excited when she gets to help cook!



The children can help with the first steps. Mix together the first four ingredients (dry ingredients) in the pan. (With the stove off)

Mix the last three ingredients (wet ingredients) in a separate bowl together. When adding the food coloring add two drops at first and if you want the color darker then add one more drop at a time until you reach the color you want. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix it well until smooth. (I poured the wet ingredients in while Bri mix it all together)

 Next remove your child away from the stove and  cook the mixture over medium heat. (An Adult should do this part).  While cooking keep stirring the play-doh until it forms into a ball.( I used a wooden spoon to stir because the mixture gets thick and the wooden spoons holds up to the mixing).

 

 Once it has formed into a ball take the play-doh off the heat and knead the doh until smooth( it will be hot so be careful and let it cool down for a while).

 Now it is time to Play. Set the materials out for your child to play. I also put out the letter C and number 3 cookie cutter out because we are also focusing on those two letter and number this week.

Bri couldn't stop smelling the play-doh! LOL

This was a fun Sensory project that is easy to make and bring out anytime!

 To keep the play-doh just store it in a zip-lock baggy or food storage container. This play-doh last a long time and is easy for the children to play with than store bought play-doh.

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