Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, thanks to my mom. She hand made costumes for my brother and I for years—everything from clowns to KISS (think: Gene Simons) costumes. Not only did she make these costumes for us for hours on end, but she always added her own creativity to any pattern she found as inspiration.
Growing up trick or treating in the 70’s was a blast. Our neighborhood went all out with decorations, candy galore, and even a local haunted house. We never had plastic bags to fill, instead we used a pillow case for our sweet bounty. As I got older, I started making my own costumes (never as good as mom’s), and I loved “dressing up” and being someone else or my own “alter ego” for the night.
I’m happy to say that I passed on my love of Halloween to my own kids. Every Halloween we get together for homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup. Then, we dress up and some of us get ready for a night of doling out candy (my sweat heart and I) to the neighborhood, while others of us head out for a night on the town (my teenagers).
Here are few tricks I have learned over the years to make your Halloween a fun family time (for 5 minutes if you have teens or all night with little ones) without all the waste and plastic taking over.
Candy
There are several sustainable candy companies worth adding to your halloween festivities this year, may favorite is Fair Trade, organic truffles by Alter Eco. They come in plant-based compostable wrappers! Better yet, they taste good.
Alternatively, be choosy about your type of candy and grab ones that come in paper-packaging like Pixie Sticks, Nerds, Junior Mints (my mom’s favorite), Milk Duds for easy recyclability.
Or, you can choose candy that comes in foil-packaging like these Dove Promises or the classic Hershey’s Kisses—who doesn’t want a kiss?!
Maybe you could skip the candy all together and hand out these super cool Halloween-themed pencils, pumpkin erasers, or cute DIY bat bookmarks.
Decorations
Nature is already styling the Earth with the colors of fall, why not bring them inside your home for inspiration? Here are a few ideas to naturally make your home fall-festive:
- Place inside a large glass jar small cutie oranges for a splash of fall color on your dining room table.
- Find a favorite large serving plate or bowl and place a dozen or so fall leaves in different shapes and colors from red, gold, to green for your center piece.
- Spice up your bathroom with seasonal soaps.
Or, splurge a little and get lost on Etsy (good thing you can use these items year after year after year!…
Scary Music
Who doesn’t love “The Monster Mash” or “Thriller” to get into the spirit of Halloween? Its so easy now to ask Alexa to play “Halloween Music” and the tunes fill your house.
Just get into it, dress up, celebrate the harvest, and the changing of light into darkness. Your kids are watching. We need more kiddos to grow up to be creative, Earth lovers. Cherish the night, even if your neighborhood candy comes shooting out of a plastic tube (to keep 6 ft of distance) this COVID Halloween.
BOO!
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