Kill Halloween Like a Millennial Mama

It’s time for ghosts, gouls, goblins, and all things spooky!  It’s that time of the year, and every good and bad witch wants to kill halloween like a millennial mama!  Whether it’s pressure of finding the perfect Halloween themed decor to deck out your Suburban for Trunk or Treat or the most thoughtful family costume (and cleverly including the family pet), October can get a bit stressful.  An article by Compare Cards by Lending Tree noted that Millennials spend on Halloween to “do it for the gram.” They site that nearly half of us admit to purchasing Halloween items to showcase on our socials.  I feel pressure to stunt for the ‘gram – I admit it! But, if you’re reading this, I bet you do too!

Here, I’ll share a few ways to kill halloween like a millennial mama, and don’t worry…  Gen X approves thes suggestions as well!

Costume Clout

Gone are the days of being relegated to your neighborhood superstore to pick out the latest, greatest, and trending costume for your kiddos or yourself.  Costumes are everywhere now.  Just about every store that sells clothing sells costumes, and for that matter, what even is a costume anymore?  If you’re partial to the DIY or even want to run in and grab something off the rack, there’s a store or an app for everyone.

Some moms are partial to getting all decked out for the holiday and others prefer embellishing with simple accessories to achieve their fright night look.  Guess what?  Both are great!  My family has personally done it all when it comes to costuming.  We’ve purchased from Spirit Halloween and decked completely out! And we’ve pulled occasional DIYs.  The important thing with costuming is to let your creativity and personality shine through.  And sell it.

Make it Work

For the #3Paulsinapod, we are always running around like chickens with our heads cut off. (Ahh-haa! Decapitated chickens! Next year’s costume idea on deck!) In that regard, we are usually last minute and in a pinch for costume planning.  However, last year, I was a little bit ahead of the curve with picking up the twins’ Nemo costumes from one of my favorite discount shopping destinations, Dirt Cheap! I found their costumes at a huge discount weeks before the big day, and couldn’t pass up the amazing deal.  They were like less than $5 each.  Alas, what were the rest of us supposed to wear?!

That’s where a little creativity and ingenuity came in.  I remembered the Disney Store near our home, so I called to see if they carried Dory costumes.  They didn’t!  But, that didn’t stop the ingenuity.  I asked what they did have, and I was told about a number of princess getups including Ariel. Ding-ding-ding!  The “Under the Sea” family costume was born. Baby Joie became Ariel.  The twins were Nemo.  I literally hit Academy Sports for a fishing hat and vest for my hubby and asked my dad to “fish” out a rod and reel from the shed. He actually discovered a fishing net which was way cooler!  I transformed into Ursula the Sea Witch with the help of a black leotard, tulle skirt, and purple glittery MAC eyeshadow.  We were DIY’d for the Spirits!

Basically, don’t stress the costuming.  Get a little creative. Put together things from around the house.  Shop a little.  It’s all in good fun.  And unless you’re entering a costume contest with a stack as the cash prize, it’s not that serious!

Sweet Treats:  There’s an Alternative Fact for That

Candy Alternatives

Traditionally, Halloween is all about the candy.  But what about the “granola” families?  Or those who simply want to hand something to the kiddos with more value than cavity induction?  There’s an alternative fact for that!  Wellness Mama serves up a host of candy-free ideas for Halloweenies.  Some of my favorites are:

–Organic juice boxes:  Here’s a bulk stash on Amazon by Honest Kids.  They’ll need to wet their whistle after all of that trick-or-treating!

–Stickers: Duh!  Kids love stickers!

–Fun sticky wall climbers:  Kids love these rubbery, sticky men.  And they come in bulk.  So they’re a great find to add to your give-away stash!

–Halloween novelties:  I mean, every costume is in need of glow in the dark vampire teeth!

–Halloween themed plastic rings and thing-a-ma-bobs:

–Mini flashlights:  How cool are these?  Kids can use these lights while walking around on Halloween night!  And please show me a kid who doesn’t love a flashlight!  Impossible!

-Bubbles:  No explanation needed…

–LED illuminated rings:  Glow-in-the-dark ERRTHANG!

TPP-Treats-Infographic-Download

Teal Pumpkin Project

Not sure if you guys were aware of this or not, but there is “a worldwide movement to create a safer, happier Halloween for all kids” started by FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) called the Teal Pumpkin Project. I think it’s fabulous and I’d personally like to incorporate some of its values into our “Halloweening” in the future.  It basically encourages families to be considerate of those with food allergies.  Families can participate by 1) providing non-food treats for trick-or-treaters and 2) placing a teal pumpkin in front of the home to indicate that non-food treats are available.   Click here for more ideas for non-food treats and how to get involved with the Teal Pumpkin Project!

Trick or Treat

I would guess that it’s been longer than a decade since the Trunk or Treat phenomenon made its mark in America.  Born of the need to provide a safer space for kids to revel on Halloween night, it’s righteously a great concept with all of the “trickery” that can potentially go on when visiting house to house.  For those who feel some type of way  about the old school “house to house” style trick-or-treating, there are many other alternatives these days as well.  And sometimes, Halloween night is inconvenient for parents and caregivers.  That’s where those good-old Millennial mindsets come into play.  It’s all about convenience for Millennial parents, and in today’s culture, it’s also all about the “season.”

Halloween this day in age isn’t relegated to the revelry on October 31st. There are tons of school, church, and neighborhood functions where kids and adults alike are encouraged to dress in costume and live their best, most spookiest lives. Check out your local events calendar for your area, and make a plan to partake in the fall and Halloween events.  Check out some spook-tacular examples of Halloween fun on the MS Gulf Coast here.

And if you’re an el-cheapo, ahem, frugalista like me, think about all of the free, creative ways to entertain the kiddos during the spooky season!  Check out this video of me pranking my kids during a spooktacular afternoon at Spirit Halloween:

<<click here for spooky prank on toddlers video>>

Upcycling FTW

So the big night is said and done and you’re stuck with tons of sugary snacks that you don’t have the first clue of what to do with.  Let’s be constructive people!  Think about who would love to get their hands on all of those treats – the TROOPS!  Round up the kids, round up the candy, and make up care packages for our boys in blue and camo over seas.  Also, Christmas is right around the corner.  You may or may not consider eating candy from October in December as disgusting, but what about crafting with it?  (Then you don’t technically have to eat it, right?)  What better way to decorate your gingerbread house than with already stale, yet perfectly beautiful candy?  Then you won’t waste the ones that your kids refuse to eat, and you don’t have to worry about purchasing candy to be used for decoration (which will be wasted as well).  Millennial conservation score = 100!

October is the beginning of the end – of the year that is!  Why not kill it like a millennial mama and make this year’s halloween one worth howling about!  Want to read more about our Millennial mama thoughts on All Hollow’s Eve?  Check out my article entitled Trick or Treat:  Halloween for Millennials.  Thanks for dropping by.  Don’t be a ghost!  Leave us a comment to let us know you were here and what you thought about the blog!