2012 Trick or Treating- I went as a pregnant lady.

Because of the bad weather in our area (outskirts of sandy)

Most neighborhoods rescheduled their trick or treating night to saturday.

It was still a little chilly but the rain had stopped!

After a last minute sophie melt down/wardrobe change..we hit the streets! ;)

With a cowboy. bride. snow  princess/bride/who knows

Ben was the fun parent who dressed up with the kids...

I dressed up as a pregnant lady.

One house thought my costume was very realistic!

(I'm not even joking) 

Ben and I were all excited when 30 minutes later sophie says

"I'm done with the houses." haha.

We headed home to pass out candy! She got so excited every

time someone came to the door...

She might have liked it even more than going door to door herself. 

Once the girls went to bed I thoroughly inspected their candy..

making sure to sample a few kitkats.

it's my duty.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.

We officially started Christmas Shopping!! (Target Costume Clearance aisle. ;)

I can't believe halloween is over and we are into november....

That means baby is coming soon!

Our Monster Bash! - A Toddler Friendly Halloween Party

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I thought I would share our Monster Bash Halloween Party we threw this past weekend.

I wanted to host a fun toddler friendly Halloween Party... and working through the back contractions I had the entire day..it came together! It was a fun night..

Hope you enjoy the photos from our budget friendly-toddler approved-Halloween Party.

I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids.. The highlights of the night were seeing everyone arrive in their costumes and watching the kids play with the felt monsters we made!

Maybe next year you'll want to throw your own monster bash! :)

I created and e-mailed out an Invite for the Party..

(I also blogged my Inspiration Board for the party)

The Monster Bash Dessert Table

was a mix of Target Discount Bin Finds,

Michael's Clearance items and things I already had!

My main splurge on this table was the $10 white spider web from Target.

Totally worth it... it made the table! And the girls loved it..

It was something spooky without being weird.

I used my DIY Cement Tube Birch Stands I made for the girls' party last year.

Green Sparkle Pumpkins - Target Discount Bins ($2.50 each)

Orange Sparkle Spider - Target Discount Bin ($1)

Orange Sparkle Leaves - On Sale/With Coupon at Michael's

I spray painted white, the leftover burlap from their vintage circus party,

and wrapped 2 boxes with it for table height.

Being 36 weeks pregnant with back(and regular) contractions limited my baking time...

so we ordered cupcakes from our grocery store and then decorated them!

We had Monster Cupcakes, Owl Cupcakes and Dirt Cupcakes with worms!

I kept catching sienna stealing the worms off the cupcakes...classic.

I made oreo truffles into little monsters! (eyes from JoAnns on sale)

Didn't turn out as "pretty" as I had seen them.........haha.

BUT..they were AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.

(Note to self: Next time use regular chocolate instead of white chocolate.)

I also filled up some dollar store vases I had with pumpkin candy corn

and leftover candy from baking, gummy worms & reese's pieces.

On the Pot luck table I also put out a bowl of Cheese Puffs, Candy Corn and Monster Mix! (Pretzels, Popcorn, Reese's Pieces, Candy Corn and Marshmallows)

DIY FAVOR - FELT MONSTERS

I had made up some Felt Monsters a while back for my girls...

and then my mom gave me the idea of using the same idea but making puppets!

My girls loved them so much that I thought I would make them as favors for the party.

Each monster took one sheet of felt..with the felt being something crazy

like a quarter a sheet, it was a budget friendly favor idea for sure.

Sophie had fun with me choosing what the faces should look like!

And we made up adoption certificates to make it even more fun.

It was sooo fun seeing everyone get into their costumes!

Our little family went as Cowgirls and a Cowboy.

Our costumes are from CostumEexpress.com (posted here)

I kept the decorations simple..

I found this banner at Target for $4. Can't beat that!

The rest was our Fall Decorations that we already had out:

--I had made up a "Keep Calm and Eat Candy" Print

--I had sewed a garland with the leftover burlap and yellow fabric from their Vintage Circus Party..

--and I filled up our empty (non working) fireplace with pumpkins!

--I had also grabbed up a clearance leaf garland from Michael's with a coupon.

(put it across our fireplace mantle)

For something easy and big that we could use on the pot luck table...

I had gathered up some branches from our back yard... spray painted them white...

and then taped on some white leaf/branches I had used in the "enchanted cookie forest" from their Storybook Princess Party last year. I also covered the pot luck table with white linens.. and then black cheese cloth material from the dollar store. (not photographed)

For crafts..we were planning on painting pumpkins...

BUT... my mom reality check kicked in... and I realized that would be

entirely too messy for this pregnant mama to handle. AND it was too cold/wet outside.

So instead.... I grabbed up a pack of foam pumpkins from target....

a pack of stickable foam sheets from JoAnns with a coupon.. cut out shapes..

(eyes, lips, hats etc) And let the kids decorate on the floor in the girls' room.

It was a perfect little craft for them!

One of my favorite parts of the party... was the Mac N' Cheese Bake Off!!

It was so fun seeing the variety..and taste testing them all!..I mean all. ;)

I made up some printables to go with the theme.

As you can see...the garland ended up being taped..because...

I felt pregnant that day. haha.

 

Hope you have a wonderful and safe Halloween.

Because of the storm our trick or treating has been postponed...

but I look forward to seeing everyone's trick or treating fun that they blog about...

And I'll be sure to share ours when it actually happens! ;)

Our Family Themed Halloween Costumes & COSTUME GIVEAWAY from CostumeExpress.com

Excited to team up with CostumeExpress.com..

and share our Halloween Party costumes!

Enter to win your own costume below!

(Giveaway Has Ended! :)

We went with a Family Western Theme! The girls LOVED the pink cow girl costumes...

and I was able to find something that worked with my growing bump.

The girls are wearing The Wild West Cutie Toddler Costume (Sizes 3T/4T & 2T)

The costume comes with a pink hat..but sophie liked mama's better... (white felt hat)

and sienna is too much of a wild spirit to wear a hat....

The horse sophie is riding was a birthday present this past year (dollar store!)

The costumes run a little small.. so the girls are wearing

leggings for the coverage and for the cold. (sienna's from old navy sophie's from k-mart)

 

What does a pregnant mama wear to a costume party??

A man's poncho of course! haha. This thing is actually pretty comfy... ;)
It's the Western Authentic Wandering Gunman Adult Costume
Ben and I are wearing the Felt Cowboy Hat in white.

Ben thought a cigar was a much needed touch to his "sheriff costume....tough guy.

We are so excited for our Halloween Party this year!

Still working up some fun little details for the party.. 

I'm just doing a dessert table..and then fun voting cards for the mac n' cheese bake of.

Trying to keep it simple as I'm feeling very pregnant...but I like being kept busy.

and making felt monster puppets as favors

is way more fun than doing dishes. :)

How cute are they?! hehe.

I love how sienna says "giddy up HOR-seeeee".... ;)

Have you figured out what you and your
family are wearing for Halloween??
If you need some ideas check out costumeexpress.com.
And if you want a FREE COSTUME..
enter below to win one at $30 VALUE.

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!

HOW TO ENTER:

GOOD LUCK! 

YOU CAN ENTER UP TO 7 TIMES!

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment for each entry

(with an e-mail if you don't have a google profile or blog)

1. Follow The Busy Budgeting Mama via Google Connect (top right sidebar)

2. Follow Costume Express on Twitter

3. Like The Busy Budgeting Mama on Facebook

4. Follow Costume Express on Facebook

5. Follow The Busy Budgeting Mama via Twitter

@thebusybudgetingma

6. Tweet "I want to win a free Halloween Costume from @Celebr8Express on TheBusyBudgetingMama.com! http://bit.ly/QuLkUm @busybudgetingma"

7. Post about the Giveaway 

(Facebook or Blog.. Just include Link in comment)

The Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 24th at noon.

A winner will be chosen via random.org

I will announce the winner on my blog the afternoon of October 24th

The winner will be contacted via e-mail(if left or available!)

Thank you for entering and good luck!!

Starting to decorate for Halloween...

It's starting to look like

Halloween at our House!

(Well...a cute, not so spooky, more fun and bright Halloween ;)

I have been adding little touches around the place..

still a few things I'm working on before bambino #3 makes it's appearance!

(like hanging those pictures above the fireplace...

it'll happen!.. eventually: that'll be it's own post!)

I'm not a fan of the mushy messy part of carving pumpkins...

so this year we painted pumpkins instead!

I made up a little garland for over the piano.. "peek a boo!"

and a little print to frame that says "keep calm and eat candy."

A little motivation for october days. :)

If you want to grab up the banner and sign printables..

I just added them to my shop!

"PEEK A BOO!" Banner - $5

Keep Calm and Eat Candy Print - $3

Here's some phone shots of the girls and

I painting one night after dinner!

They loved it. :) I like how they mixed together the paints I gave them 

(leftover pink, yellow and blue acrylic paints from their party)

and they ended up almost matching our wall color! ;)

I'm working on the mantel still..I have a bunch of leftover burlap I'm thinking of making another garland with and layer it up cute with the one I already made.

Nesting here..... ;)

October & Fall Fun Ideas!

I wanted to do a round up of some

of the past fun our little family has

had that are October and Fall related!

Some are fun craft and gifting ideas...

but most are yummy fall recipes and treat ideas!

Looking forward to adding more to this round up as the month continues. :)

1. Owl Cupcakes

2. Felt Monsters

(almost made puppet versions of the Felt Monsters DIY!

will post about them soon- lots of play time value)

3. Pumpkin Spice Bars OF YOUR DREAMS.

4. Itsy Bitsy Spider Treats

5. Halloween Treat Bags

6. Oatmeal Scotchies

7. DIY Bride Costumes

8. Peek A Boo Pop Up Halloween Card

9. Gifting Halloween Treats

10. Apple Crisp (Family Favorite)

My girls and I just brought in our pumpkins and filled up our

empty stone fireplace with them!

I like them better inside..we can enjoy them.

But I think we need 2 more to fill out the space best.

Glad we found them at Aldi's for $1.99 each. ;)

 (thanks to my blog readers on facebook who gave

me tips on where to find cheap pumpkins!!)

I also saw candles on sale for 3 for $10 at Michael's.. the big kind!

and there are coupons going on right now for 20% off your entire purchase..

I love their cinnamon apple ones. mmmm. smells like fall.

Might stop by there over the weekend to grab up that deal.

Happy Fall everyone!

DIY Toddler Bride Costume

My girls love our photos of "mommy and daddy getting married!"

We have a bunch all over our house... and I think seeing them

all the time has made the girls really into pretending to be a bride like mommy!

They requested "wedding day bride" costumes for our Halloween Party

(They have different costumes for Trick or Treating. details on that soon.)

I wasn't happy with the bride costumes that I saw at the store..

so I was excited to give this DIY a try!

Warning: This is my FIRST attempt at sewing an "outfit."

I am pretty good at sewing crafty things..but this was a bit trickier.

Pretty happy with how it turned out..

I'm sure there were way more sewing savvy ways to do it.

BUT..if you are a newbie like me..this worked out great!

I knew that I wanted the skirt poofy..with a headband veil..

And I wanted the top to be separate from the bottom..because they are growing fast.

Sometimes all you need is a poofy tutu and a bride veil and you are good to go. ;)

I don't have photos for a tutorial..because I feel in no way a sewing expert to do a tutorial..

BUT.. here's some notes on what I did!

(All of the fabric was purchased with coupons and discounts)

BRIDE COSTUME NOTES:

-- The skirt piece is 6 yards of tulle fabric..Folded where they naturally fold the yardage..

I stitched a casing for the elastic...

--I got 2 yards of cheap lining. did the same idea as the tulle except I hemmed the bottom and sewed the sides together so it was more of a finished skirt. (with an elastic top)

--I put the skirts on the girls to knot them at the right width...

and measured them again to trim the tulle.

--I hand stitched the two skirts together around the top (the lining and the tulle)

--The tops are basic tube tops made out of stretchy material..

the cheapest one I could find.

(I wanted a separate top because I thought that if it's cold they

might wear a long sleeve white shirt instead of this top.)

--I hand stitched pretty trim as the straps...

it was elastic with tulle flowers on it..I loved it!

(my splurge.. so I was glad I had a 50% off coupon)

--For the veil I took a yard of tulle and cut in half...

then hand stitched it to a satin headband from Jo-anns.

(I folded an inch and a half and then placed on top of the headband and stitched it that way so that it would puff up a bit around the top...kinda loosely bunching it together)

I hope my notes make sense!

Leave a comment or message

me if you have any questions!

Here's some shots of my day as a Bride..

I feel like walking down memory lane. ;)

I wish I could have worn it more than one day! hehe.

(It was the first dress I tried on..and even though

I kept looking I knew I would go back to that one!)

Fall Treat Bag Tags- "Happy Fall Y'all!"

I'm adding some more fun treat bag tag printables to my Etsy Shop!

Happy Fall Y'all Treat Bag Tag Printables

I love Fall.. and these are the perfect touch for

gift giving this season without the spook.

I had a client fill these with scarecrow crunch. I found a recipe via Pinterest here

I think I'll load up some little ziplock snack bags with some buckeyes we made..

and add these tags to them to gift to some neighbors and friends!

Happy Fall Y'all! ;)