About a month ago a new shop opened in our town. A Poundworld Plus. To say that Belle was excited is putting it mildly – discount shops are on of her very favourite things, alongside delivered pizza, shows about vampires and chocolate chip brioche.
One of the first things we bought in our new Poundworld was cat harnesses. Basically Belle wants a dog, but I don’t want a dog, so she’s convinced that she’ll be able to take the kittens for walks, if only she can get them excited about wearing a harness. Unfortunately, as we discovered when we got home, it’s actually very hard to get a cat excited about wearing a harness, especially when at first you put it on wrong, and they can’t walk properly.
That said, they were probably more excited about it than they were when Belle tried to get them interested in going for a walk in a kitty carrier.
Have you ever seen a cat look less impressed?
The most exciting trip to Poundworld to date though has been the one that Belle made with the rest of the prom committee from school. They are organising a year 7 Halloween party to raise money for prom, and it coincided with Poundworld asking if we wanted to check out the Halloween collection in store, and well – how perfect?? The rest of the committee were VERY excited to have a decorations budget, and so off they went.
I have to say, that I was genuinely impressed by the Halloween range in our Poundworld store. Normally with these kind of things you get maybe half an aisle, with the usual slimy spiders and pumpkin shaped baskets for trick or treating, but the selection was VAST. There must have been a good 20 metres of shelf space taken up with Halloween things, and loads of stuff that I hadn’t seen anywhere else. Plenty to get the (year 7 ) party started. View Post
Belle, now 14, has always been massively in to Halloween. I think it’s something to do with the creativity of it. She really likes dressing up (remember last year she won that competition by dressing as a cereal killer?) and she loves doing make-up. I mean she really loves it. She has a massive make-up collection and she is the appointed make-up artist for this year’s school scary tours. (It’s a bit like a school show, but you walk around the school in small guided groups and spooky stuff happens to you. Kind of like a ghost train but you don’t get to sit down.)
She’s ace at it too.
She did my Halloween make-up last year, and every time I look at the photo I forget that I have my eyes shut. Seriously, I just typed that, so I should know, but I still looked and saw big open eyes:
One of her other very favourite things is watching TV, and so, today, I bring you…
Six spooky Halloween things to watch on the DisneyLife app!
See how smoothly I did that?
In case you’ve forgotten, we’re DisneyLife ambassadors, and we’re excellent ones at that. We all genuinely love Disney and apps. So it’s a no-brainer. Duh! The DisneyLife app has absolutely masses of content – it’s the best of Disney all in one place, and it’s only £9.99 a month. Even better, you can try it for free, so if you want to give it a go over half-term, then just sign up now.
Where was I? Oh yes, spooky shows on DisneyLife. Presumably you’ve just gone and signed up for the free trial (such is my power and influence). Excellent. Now you’re all set to check out our top six Halloween picks. I picked out the films and Bee, who is now 21 but still a massive Disney fan, picked out a couple of Halloween-themed episodes from her favourite Disney TV shows. (The app is multi-generational you guys!)
Wizards of Waverly Place – Season 3 episode 2
“The Wizards of Waverly Place Halloween episode is great because they have to design a haunted house,” says Bee, “so it gets you in the Halloween mood. It’s really funny, as well as there being a couple of jumpy parts to try and scare you. If you like ghosts and trick-or-treating, then definitely watch this episode for tips on how to get enough sweets to last you a whole year!”
Hocus Pocus
A classic Disney Halloween film if ever there was one. Belle has never seen this so it will definitely be on our half-term playlist. It stars the likes of Bette Midler and Sarah-Jessica Parker. It has to be said, the make-up and wardrobe is slightly less subtle than in Sex and the City.
Toy Story of Terror
Toy Story has to be one of my favourite ever film series. I went to see Toy Story 3 three times at the cinema and I cried every single time. The characters feel like they are an actual part of my life. Honestly. I don’t know what it is about Toy Story, but there is a real connection there.
Toy Story of Terror is a short film, exclusive to DisneyLife. I’d tell you what happens, but you already signed up remember? So you can watch it and see for yourself.
Frankenweenie
Nobody does creepy quite like Tim Burton. Expect some classic Tim Burton animation in this spooky tale about a boy who brings his dog back to life. Hilarity ensues, as I’m sure you can imagine.
Also on the DisneyLife app you’ll find a short behind the scenes film about the making of Frankenweenie.
JONAS – Season 1 episode 17
“In the Jonas Halloween episode,” says Bee, “as well as loads of cheesy Halloween jokes and funny moments, the handheld camera shots make it really spooky and the plot twist at the end is totally worth watching the whole episode for. This episode is one of the best in the series and even though it’s quite light-hearted, there are a few jumpy moments, so it’s perfect to watch on Halloween night.”
And finally…
Mom’s Got A Date With A Vampire
I’ve been on my fair share of bad dates. Like that guy who twiddled the hair on his mole – remember him? He would make a pretty good Halloween short film. As far as I know, though, I’ve never been on a date with an actual vampire. Mom’s Got a Date With a Vampire is a film about two kids, desperate to get their mum out of the house, but it turns out they’re not the only one dying to get her on a date…
(See what I did there?)
Definitely worth a half-term watch.
What are your family’s favourite Halloween TV shows or films?
Skeleton image –Burhan Bunardi Xie/shutterstock. I am a DisneyLife Brand Ambassador and this post was created in partnership with DisneyLife who have provided me with a free 12 month DisneyLife membership.
It would be fair to say I’m not a natural crafter. I try really hard, but I lack finesse. Even when I put a lot of thought into something, it tends to end up looking like a small child has made it.
And this is why I have children!
If my craft attempts turn out a little squiffy, I can just say that Belle made them. So today, ‘Belle’ has been making Halloween trick or treat balloons! Seriously though, we did actually make these together and I would suggest that they are exactly the sort of wholesome Halloween craft activity that would be ideal to do as a family. Belle even got a friend from next door over to help, and they had a lot of fun playing with the Balloon Time helium canister and decorating the balloons.
The idea behind them is to have something actually exciting to give out to trick or treaters when they come to call, rather than just chucking them a couple of bags of Haribo and sending them on their way. The trick or treat balloons are filled with helium, and weighed down with a spooky home made box. Inside the box is either a treat – like a Screme Egg – or a trick – like a plastic cockroach. The unsuspecting trick or treater has to choose a balloon and accept the consequences!
I remember one particularly ill-prepared Halloween; I had forgotten completely that it was October 31st and the house was definitely not well-stocked with suitably spooky sweet treats. Blissfully unaware of the ghouls that would be waiting for me, I happily opened the door when the doorbell rung.
Fortunately it was one of those groups of pre-teens who see Halloween as an excuse to wear a black coat and hassle vulnerable people for sweets rather than a collection of adorable five year old witches, so I didn’t feel so bad when I came back from my rummaging in the kitchen with a handful of apples. They did not look like the sort of children who considered fruit a ‘treat’.
Still, at least I made the effort to give them something. According to a recent survey from Webloyalty, over half of you aren’t going to even open the door. Worse than that, there are a small proportion of people who will actually open the door, get their visitors’ hopes up and then crossly send them away! Shame on you.
Alongside their extensive research into the nation’s Halloween plans, Webloyalty has produced this fun animation highlighting some of the most interesting findings.
I’d love to know what your plans are for Halloween. Will you be thoughtfully carving a pumpkin and fashioning yourself a hand-crafted costume or will you be of the 50+% of people closing the curtains tight and pretending not to be home?
This year I’ve decided I’m definitely going to be better prepared. I’ve bought apples and bananas.
Don’t forget – you still have until Monday to enter Webloyalty’s quick competition to win £50 to spend on Halloween fancy dress so go and enter now!
In the next two weeks, ecommerce partner Webloyalty will be releasing fresh research which looks at what the UK is planning for Halloween this year, and how it has evolved. The research will also look at our attitudes towards trick or treating, pumpkins, and how much we plan to spend.
As part of the lead-up to the research being released, Webloyalty is running a competition to reveal the most popular Halloween costumes.
Now as a child I have to confess that our Halloween costumes were very much bin bag inspired. More often than not we could be found at around 5pm on October 31st with a pot of tippex or tin of white paint, drawing star and moon shapes onto a bin liner with holes cut for a head and arms.
Classy.
Nowadays of course you can’t take a trip to a supermarket without having to hack your way through a forest of spooky outfits, with nothing at all left to the imagination. Sure they look much more professional, but I do sometimes think fondly back to the bin bag days and wonder if we haven’t stifled our children’s creativity a little.
This year we have a puppy to dress up. We know she isn’t adverse to a costume as recently we have been dressing her up like a crayon:
Pets at Home had a vast array of costumes when we were browsing at the weekend and while I do quite fancy the idea of Margaux in a black and orange tutu and scary pumpkin hat I can’t help but wish I had four dogs so that I could create this look: View Post
Will you be throwing a Halloween party for your children this year? If so, then you’ve come to the right place. It’s almost like I planned this just for you.
Last weekend Belle and I hosted a small spooky gathering for five friends and their children. I say small – I did have to shift the furniture about to get everyone in, but then my house is pretty teeny. It has been a while since I had a house full of so many young children and have got rather used to Belle just sitting quietly watching Poirot or doing a spot of colouring, so I was probably unprepared for the amount of noise even a small number of boys can make. Still, it is Halloween, it’s supposed to be scary. View Post
Today Belle is guest posting for me with the beginnings of a spooky Halloween story, written all by herself. Belle has written her story as part of a competition being hosted by Asda, and inspired by her Asda Corpse Bride Halloween costume. The story that gets the most comments will win a prize so if you like Belle’s story, please do say so!
….
One dark stormy night two children set out trick or treating, but what they didn’t know was that this would be no ordinary night, it would be the night when the unusual thing happened…
As Baxter and Bliss stepped out the creaky door a shroud of darkness awaited them because this was the time of night when the known became unknown, the ghosts and ghouls came out of their dark, dingy hiding places, when zombies and vampires came looking for juicy children to snack on, skeletons and devils clattered and crawled out of their caves, witches made potions and werewolves prowled along the cobbled alleyways and grimy streets.
Bliss and Baxter wandered aimlessly down the slimy shortcuts and shadowy back alleys. They searched for houses without orange “no trick or treating ” signs up in the window or ones with lots of pumpkins. Finally they came to a house with lots of pumpkins and decorations saying stuff like ‘come in if you dare’ or ‘enter in at your own risk’ – stuff like that.
“Ha ha,” said Baxter laughing “I’m not scared of that rubbish, come on Bliss.” A wobble in his voice now.
Bliss whimpered.
“Don’t be such a baby, come on” They knocked on the wooden door and it slowly creaked open….
There’s less than a week to go until Halloween. Are you feeling spooky yet?
To get her in the mood, Belle has been reading some scary Halloween stories this week from Miles Kelly. They are aimed at 6-9 year olds, beautifully illustrated and each book includes four or five individual stories. They include a mixture of classic stories with a creepy twist, plus lots of lesser known tales that have been imaginatively retold for children.
To win your own set of three books, which includes The Wicked Witch of the West, Jack the Giant Killer and The Little Mermaid, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me what your favourite book was as a child.
