A few years ago for Peyton’s gotcha day he said he wanted to have a pumpkin decorating party with some of our friends. It has become a little tradition with our friends the Blaums. Well this and decorating cookies each year at Christmas.

I updated this post for a few reasons. First, I added a candy grazing board this year and it was so much fun. Second, I know people are still trying to figure out what they want to do for Halloween this year and this could be a great option if you are not going to trick or treat.

So let me tell you about the candy grazing board…

I originally planned to make a board just like I would with meat and cheese but then I remembered I had the brown butcher paper and I decided to roll that out. It turned out perfect and the kids loved having full access to their favorite candies.

I used this recipe for the pumpkin cheesecake which was also a fan favorite.

10/18/18

Halloween is such a fun holiday and it always bums me out just a little when it falls on a week day.  Now that the boys are older I really look forward to being able to have a Halloween party and trick or treating at our house.  But that is just hard to do on a weeknight.

October is usually a pretty wonderful month in the south.  Not only is there a lot to do but the humidity is usually low which means you can really enjoy outdoor events.  Halloween related events are usually our favorite.  Last year the boys got introduced to the glory of face paint and wanted me to paint their faces each day after school.  Luckily this year they haven’t brought that up again but they do want to wear costumes everywhere we go.

Last year for Peyton’s gotcha day he asked to have a pumpkin decorating party with a few people.  It really turned into a fun event!  My parents came over along with his friend Zach and we decorated pumpkins, ate cupcakes and made caramel apples….

Just so you know this party was a last minute request and I was able to pull it together easily.  Many of the items that I used are at Michaels and Target currently and on sale.  I picked up several of the pumpkin decorating kits for an event I am working on at the end of the month.   They were about $1.50 each.

We bought something called a pumpkin tattoo that was not easy to use so I would suggest staying away from those.  We also really loved the kits with the eyeballs and bats that had adhesive backs.  Glue worked but the adhesive items were better.

Pumpkin Decorating Items:

• Pumpkins
• Stickers
• Pumpkin Decorating Kits – Target and Michaels
• Eyes
• Glue
• Pom Poms
• Plastic Spiders

Caramel Apples:

These were easy!  I found little crab apples at Whole Foods the week before.  I melted caramel candy down and added a 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a sauce pan.  Dipped the apples and topped with coconut, peanuts, chocolate chips and more.  Set about 5 to 10 minutes to cool on the counter.

In a few simple steps you can really make something basic really fun.  It didn’t involve invitations or anything big and fancy for everyone to enjoy themselves!

XO,

Tiffany

{Editors Note: This post was originally published on 10/18/18. It was updated 10/11/2020}