Today was the day. I surprised the kids after school. A kids Halloween party! Decorations. Treats. Games. Family fun! We laughed, we cried (literally one of them did), we made memories. That’s what it’s all about!

Let me start by saying, I love big elaborate ideas done on a small budget in a small amount of time! While I love the things I see and pin on Pinterest, I lack the time and ability to pull these things off. Believe me, I’ve tried! I’m a busy mom. You probably are too. So I take their ideas and simplify!

Decorations –  Hello Dollar General and Dollar Tree! Window clings, a skeleton, spiders webs, pumpkins. I have just continued to add a little bit to my collection of decorations each year. Makes it more manageable to the budget. And I LOVE Pandora for theme music in the background.

Treats – What’s a party without treats?! Our treats consisted of some little orange/green sprinkled cupcakes from Walmart, a bag of little candy bars, and skeleton punch! Crafting in the Rain had a recipe for bat’s brew. I slightly modified to make it skeleton punch…because I had skeleton rings.

I mixed 3 cups of red Hawaiian Punch with 6 cups of Sprite. The night before I washed the skeleton rings and froze them in ice cube trays. Simple! The kids thought it was “so cool”.

Games – See my post on Kids Halloween Games. We did 4 of the 5 activities from that post. For a prize basket, I just bought a handful of items at the dollar store (silly putty, an activity book, stickers, an eraser board, and wacky lips). The big hit was the Halloween Scavenger Hunt Riddles. At the end, they each got a pumpkin with a felt face. Later, when it gets closer to Halloween, we will carve them.

Then I picked up some adhesive mustaches at Walmart ($1). Makes for a great family photo!! For dinner tonight we will be making mummy hot dogs. I’m sure you’ve seen them all over the internet! Cheap. Easy. Fun. They asked if we could do another party tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!