Simple Party Favor Ideas

I love a simple party favor, don't you? Today I am sharing the cute little loot bags that my son will be handing out at his hockey-themed party next week.

My son played on a hockey team called the "X" Men, so I thought it would be a cute play on words to hand out "Excel" gum with cute tags that say, "Thank you for coming to my party. I hope you had an 'EXCEL'lent time!" Cute, right?

I also made a prize punch (which you can read about here), and I filled the cups with hockey cards. Each of the party guests will have a chance to choose a cup of cards, and then he/she can spend some time at the party trading cards with their friends.

I think my son's friends are going to really like the cute party favors I have put together for them. Do you have a favorite loot bag idea?

♥ 
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Fantastic Ideas for LEFTOVER Halloween Candy

I always buy too much Halloween candy, and my boys bring home a ton of goodies from trick-or-treating. Like other parents, on November 1st, I am always wondering, “What do I do with all the Halloween candy?” Today, I am sharing a few clever ideas for LEFTOVER Halloween Candy.

1) Leave it for the book fairy - Our go-to solution has always been leaving a bunch of candy for the “Book Fairy”. My boys each fill a Ziploc bag with their favorite treats. Then, we leave the rest of the goodies by our front door. In the morning, the treats are gone, and the boys discover that the Book Fairy has left them new books. She has also been known to leave some new costumes for their dress up box. (I imagine that she gets fantastic deals on costumes when they go on sale after Halloween!)

2) Bake with it - You can add Smarties or chopped up chocolate bars to your favorite cookie or banana bread recipe, or try my simple Halloween Candy Bark recipe here.

3) Get rid of it - Donate it, bring it to the office, or share it with friends.

4) Ration it - Hide it and bring it out a little at a time. We often use it for our Friday family movie night, or special school lunch treats. 

5) Celebrate with it - If you have a birthday coming up, it is perfect for party treats, loot bags, or filling a piñata. You can also use it to make a Christmas candy countdown. Fun, right?

6) Learn from it - If your kids have Skittles in their treat bags, you should try this simple (and memorizing) Skittles science experiment. Get the full "how to" here.

Halloween is a fun time of year for kids, but managing the avalanche of candy can be a challenge for parents. I hope these tips are helpful. What do you do with all your leftover Halloween treats?
♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Halloween 2015

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Happy Halloween... and to share a couple of pictures of my cute little goblins and their costumes.

As you can see, I had a ninja, a police officer, and a vampire. My boys had very specific ideas of what they wanted to wear. 

My oldest was obsessed with finding a perfect vampire medallion (which I couldn't find), so I crafted a simple one for him. I printed a picture from the internet, glued it to a piece of a cereal box, and cut it out. Then, I added a scrapbook embellishment, a jewel sticker (from the dollar store), and a piece of red ribbon. You know what they say.... necessity is the mother of invention! :-)

My oldest wanted to be a ninja with red trim and a ninja star belt. I fashioned him exactly what he wanted out of an old shirt and duct tape. You can read all about it here.

And my youngest went with a store bought costume we had in our dress up box. Pretty simple!

The boys had 3 hockey practices and a hockey game today... so after supper, we quickly carved a pumpkin, got dressed and headed out the door.

Needless to say, it was a pretty successful night at our house. It took the boys 40 minutes to do our street, and they came home with way more candy than they need!

I hope you and your little ones had a spooktacular night. Happy Halloween!!

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Encouraging Boys to Read... with a little help from Star Wars

Getting boys to read can be a challenge, but over the years I have found the secret... find books about things they are interested in. All my boys love Star Wars, so when I was sent a bunch of books (from DK Publishing) to review, there was a lot of excitement in our home. Today, I am sharing the details on their favorites!

I love the Star Wars books from DK publishing because there are a variety of books that appeal to kids at various reading levels. All my boys were able to find books that they really enjoyed.

You can find the full Star Wars Boutique here, but each of my boys chose a favorite, and here is what they selected:

My 6 year old (who is an emerging reader) loved the easy readers... especially Star Wars: Ultimate Duels. He was also a big fan of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Stickerscapes (which allows you to create your own amazing Star Wars scenes with over 1000 stickers).

My 8 year old (who finds it hard to sit still long enough to read a book) was captivated by the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia. It has a bunch of information on over 200 Star Wars heroes, villains and other characters. He also really liked Star Wars Rebels: Visual Guide: Epic Battles.

My 9 year old (who loves to read) was most interested in Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's a 200 page reference book filled with Star Wars facts and trivia.

It makes me happy to find books that my boys are enthusiastic about reading. I encourage you to check out this Star Wars collection. Christmas is coming... and I am sure your little ones would enjoy finding some of these fantastic books under the tree.

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Disclosure: I was provided with these products (free of charge) for reviewing purposes. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are 100% my own. 

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link, and purchase a product, you will be supporting this blog. Thank you!

DIY Costumes Made from Old T-Shirts

Homemade costumes are original, fun, and a lot cheaper than store-bought alternatives. Today, I am sharing a collection of DIY costumes made from old shirts (or new shirts from the dollar store). You just need a pair of scissors and a little imagination.

Superhero Cape - My boys and I love these superhero capes made from dollar store t-shirts. I cut them, and my boys decorated them with stickers. Soooo easy and cute! Find the full tutorial here.

Mad Scientist - A white t-shirt becomes a lab coat when you cut it down the middle. Check out all the elements of this fun costume here. 

Doctor - A white t-shirt can easily become a doctor's coat with a pair of scissors and a Sharpie. Check it out here.

Ninja - The secret to this t-shirt transformation is duct tape! You can find all the DIY details here. 

Clown - A white shirt becomes a perfect clown costume with the addition of colourful foam circle buttons paired with dollar store accessories. Cute, right?

Peter Pan - A green t-shirt becomes a perfect Peter Pan tunic with a few simple cuts. I absolutely love this simple costume, and you can find the step-by-step tutorial here. 

These DIY costumes are fantastic options for Halloween, but they are also wonderful (and easy) additions to dress up bins. Is there anything better than seeing a child "pretend" and use his/her imagination?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

PS - You can find more easy and inexpensive Halloween ideas here.

Easy Black Ninja Costume (no sewing required)

Last year my middle son decided that he wanted to be the white ninja from LEGO Ninjago, and this year he wants to be a black ninja. In order to give him the look he desired, I used duct tape to create a simple no-sew black ninja costume.

Didn't it turn out cute?

To make the ninja shirt, I took one of my old black shirts and I added red duct tape (see below). Then, I drew a ninja star onto an old cereal box, cut it out, and covered it with grey duct tape. I used hot glue to attach the ninja star to a piece of red ribbon to create a belt.

To make the hood, I used the same method I used when my son was a white ninja.

1) I started with a plain black turtleneck. 

2) I pulled the turtleneck over my son's head until it was covering his ears and nose.

3) I pulled the back of the shirt up over his forehead.

4) I tied the arms around the back of his head.

5) I adjusted the hood until it had the desired look.

I love a simple DIY costume, and this one was really inexpensive and easy to make. My 8 year old is super-excited about his black ninja costume, and I am happy that he is so pleased with it... and that I didn't have to sew anything!

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

You can find more no-sew costume ideas here.

You can find more easy and inexpensive Halloween ideas here.

Halloween Paper Crafts

I love paper crafts because they are easy to make, and you always have all the supplies you need. Today I am sharing three adorable and simple Halloween paper crafts that are perfect for preschoolers (and fun for older kids too)!

To make a torn paper pumpkin:

1) Draw a circle on a piece of card stock.
2) Rip orange construction paper into pieces.
3) Glue the torn pieces of paper onto the paper until the circle is filled. (I used a glue stick, but white glue would work too.)
4) Cut out a stem and face (from construction paper), and glue the pieces onto the pumpkin.

To make the spider headband:

1) Download the spider template here. 
2) Color and cut out the spider, and glue on googly eyes.
3) Make a headband by taping 1 inch strips of paper together.
4) Attach spider to the headband with tape.

To make a spooky name plate:

1) Write and color the child's name.
2) Decorate with Halloween stickers.

And how cute are these simple paper puppets? Simply draw some Halloween shapes (pumpkins, ghosts, and bats) on cardstock, decorate, and tape popsicle sticks to the back.

All of these Halloween paper crafts are delightful, fun, and easy to make. They are fantastic for working on fine motor skills, and a great way to celebrate Halloween. Enjoy!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

PS - If you like simple paper Halloween crafts, you might want to check out these older posts too!

Ghost Mask - Get the FREE template here.

Pumpkin Headband - See the step-by-step tutorial here.