Free Disney Mickey Mouse Halloween Book App For iPad iPhone

Here’s a sweet Halloween treat. If your little one is crazy for the Mouse, download a Mickey Mouse Spooky Night Halloween book app for FREE today. We have the physical book the app is based on, and it is really cute. So I am excited to let K check out the interactive app that includes puzzles.

The app is normally $.99, but today only it is free.  Download the book app here.

Pottery Barn Kids $4.99 Treat Bags + Costume Deals

Pottery Barn Kids has already discounted their Halloween items and is offering free shipping too. If you order by 5:00 PM PT today, your items should arrive in time for Halloween according to their site. Their treat bags are a great deal starting at only $4.99, and costumes starting at $19.99. Even if you already have costumes planned for this year, you might want to pick some items up for next Halloween.

Make sure you get your order in by 5:00 PM PT today to make sure they arrive for Halloween.

Disney Store Halloween Dress Rehearsal Party

The Disney Store will be having another free in-store event this weekend to get your kiddos ready for Halloween with their Halloween Dress Rehearsal Party.

Come celebrate the season early at Disney Store with a spook-tacular event filled with games, special viewing of Rapunzel’s coronation and a costume parade! Kids, ages 3 and up, who wear their favorite costume will receive a FREE gift.*

Friday, October 21 
Session 1 – 4:30 pm 
Session 2 – 6:00 pm 

Saturday, October 22 
Session 1 – 10:30 am 
Session 2 – 12:00 pm 

*Minimum age requirement to receive free gift is 3 years. Limit one per child in costume, while supplies last. Event limited per session based on store capacity. No lineups prior to 30 minutes before event begins. Event subject to change or cancellation without notice. Call your local store for details.

More information can be found on the Disney Store event page here.

DIY Superhero Mask for Halloween

Guest Post

With Halloween fast approaching, it’s sad to say the scariest place in America right now is the New York Stock Exchange. The frights of the financial sector invariably trickle down to Main Street and into our lives, making the potential for a costly holiday extravaganza less and less of a likelihood for most families. There’s Christmas to prepare for after all – it’s not like we can count on free cell phones for stocking stuffers. But an easy solution, would be to simply cut the costs of Halloween by forgoing pricy plastic costumes in favor of cheap alternatives created with love and care.

You might be thinking about how difficult it would be to tell your son he can’t be Captain America for Halloween now. Who says he can’t? That gaudy mask and thin-as-a-wafer excuse for a suit marked up by 30% that he eyed on your last family visit to the department store might appeal to his seven-year-old sensibilities, but with some creative instinct you can easily construct your own Captain America outfit, or any superhero get-up for that matter.  Not only will it be original, it will look more authentic than some store bought version.

The mask might seem like the hardest part, but it would probably the easiest. Find an old newspaper and cut it into ribbons, the lengths of which should not exceed the size of your son’s face. Whip up some homemade plaster with flour, salt, and warm water. Next you blow up a balloon to an approximate proportion equal to your child’s head.

Now all you do is dip the strips into the mix and lay them on one side of the balloon, slowly but surely assembling a mask (make sure to leave plenty of space for the eyes to see and mouth to breathe). When it dries, pop the balloon then paint the mask in accordance to whatever superhero your son wants to be. Voila! With some patient painting and dedication to detail, your kid will have the best mask on the block.

This certainly does not just pertain to the superhero category of costume. Virtually any costume idea that requires a mask can be fitted in this fashion.

Don’t waste your money on overpriced Halloween costumes for the kids, especially when making a mask yourself is as simple as this. The economy might be scary, but with some smart thinking your Halloween budget doesn’t have to be.

Disclosure – Consideration was given to review, edit, and post this article.

Free Halloween Pumpkin Carving Templates

Here a great list I came across of some FREE pumpkin carving templates. Happy Pumpkin Carving!

• Target.com – Four different patterns and some how-tos and other crafts
• Disney Character Patterns
• Martha Stewart – 46 different templates
• Better Homes & Gardens – animals, spooky scenes, faces and more.
• Better Homes & Gardens – even more cool patterns.
• eHow – easy patterns and stencils including monogram templates.
• Hershey’s- A variety of templates categorized by difficulty level.
• Pumpkin Masters – Four free patterns
• History.com – A unique collection of easy and advanced stencils.
• Reader’s Digest – 12 basic patterns
• Disney Family Fun- family friendly patterns
• HGTV (Beginner) - 8 beginner templates
• HGTV (Advanced) - 11 advanced carving templates
• Nick Jr.- Pablo & Uniqua from Backyardigans