by Corey

When I was five, my family went to a “haunted house.” It was supposed to be kid-friendly.

But just steps into the experience, I was so freaked out that my parents convinced a group of witches and ghouls to drop their act and show me that they were real (live) people. Nonetheless, I refused to go any further through.

That was the last time I set foot in a haunted house.

The occasion was supposed to be fun, but for me, it was just awful. I was too young and the acting was too real.

For many kids, the typical “spooky” themes of Halloween can be frightening: the un-dead costumes, the haunted decor, the creaky music, if you are looking for table runners for your Halloween then at CV Linens you will find the best cheap table runner. But there’s no need to limit the fun when there’s so many great alternatives that kids of all ages can enjoy.

Here are 3 not-so-spooky themes for your Halloween celebration:

Credit: Oh The Lovely Things

Harvest

Forget ghosts and goblins and think “Harvest” – perhaps a pumpkin or apple theme. For either, decorate the room with harvest items you have grown, picked or purchased (look for organic and locally grown). Stamp names on mini-pumpkins for place-cards. Turn apples into candle holders (keep out of the reach of children). Play pass-the-pumpkin or dunk-for-apples (or hang apples from strings and see who can get a bite). Turn last year’s saved plastic Easter eggs into little jack-o-lanters. Stuff with healthy goodies. Have a Halloween egg hunt. Roast pumpkin seeds or make pumpkin cookies. Make mini-caramel apples (using all natural/organic caramel). Make (upcycled) pumpkin or apple crafts. Press apples for cider. Send kids home with a packet of pumpkin or apple seeds.

Credit: Fiksd

Owls

Owls are a great nod to the season, without being too spooky. Send a paperless Owl e-invitation. Line the front walk-way with paper-bag luminaries with owl cut-outs, or owl-carved jack-o-lanterns. Decorate the house like a forest. Cover walls with recycled craft paper and paint trees. Make smaller “limbs” from crumpled paper bags. Download Owl calls and forest sounds and play during the party. Make a paper mache owl pinata and fill with healthy goodies. Invite an owl expert to attend. Play pin the owl on the tree. Paint owl faces using natural face paints. Make owl pompoms and send home as the gift.

Credit: Green Baby Guide

Bugs

Creepy crawlies can be – well, creepy – but they don’t have to be. Make giant spider webs with strips of old sheets or cheesecloth. Flatten large cardboard boxes and paint with chalkboard paint (black). Use chalk to draw on spider webs. Let the kids add spiders with colored chalk. Cut spiders out of recycled paper (like snow flakes). Make spiders from old bike tire tubes and hang on a Halloween tree. Serve buggy fare made from fruits, veggies and whole grain crackers. Play Bug, Bug, Spider instead of Duck, Duck, Goose.

Or forgo the “theme” all together and simply use colors to create a festive Halloween ambiance without the fear-factor.

Try black, green and purple for a twist on the usual orange and black. Serve foods in these color schemes, too.

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

by Corey

Check out these eek-o-fabulous tips for greening your Halloween from our friend, organizing expert, Lorie Marrero.

Love what you see? Find more of Lorie’s great ideas for greening your Halloween scene in this article at GoodHousekeeping.com, where Lorie is a contributing blogger.

Even more cool tips at ClutterDiet.com!

About Lorie: Certified Professional Organizer® Lorie Marrero is the bestselling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life. She is also the creator of ClutterDiet.com, an innovative program allowing anyone to get expert help at an affordable price. Her organizing books and products are sold online and in stores nationwide. Lorie is the spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International, and she is a sought-after expert for national media such as CNBC, Family Circle, WGN News and Woman’s Day. She writes weekly as the organizing expert for Good Housekeeping’s Home Style blog. Learn more about Goodwill’s Donate Movement here.

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By Lynn

Last winter, with my husband’s help–OK, OK, all I did was supervise, i.e. tell him what to do–we made a dowel Christmas tree. At the time I thought we could use it for any holiday, but of course, I forgot about most of them until last weekend when we were celebrating my two granddaughters’ birthdays.

I brought out the tree and a mass of pre-used items including:

• bottle caps
• silver foil
• pipe cleaners
• paper
• “jewels”
• wooden beads
• wire
• paperclips
• bolts

..and lots of other odds and ends.

I set everything on the table and the kids (and a few grownups), had a ball making ornaments for the tree.

Here’s the overall result:

And here are just a few of the ornaments:

Everyone had a ball! Even our grandson who isn’t usually into art projects, spent at least an hour hunched over his work and came up with, among other items, the skeleton above.

If you have a Halloween party coming up and you’re thinking about activities, consider something like this. You don’t have to make the tree. Just get a branch, put it in a bucket filled with rocks and start decorating!

Corey did a segment on the news here in Seattle, that included the Halloween tree. And I’m already thinking about repeating this activity for Thanksgiving!

If you have made something similar, we’d love to see pictures!

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of  Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.

I’ve been so excited to hear about all of the people organizing costume swaps. Everywhere I turn, I’m told that neighborhoods, churches, organizations, schools and groups of friends are finding ways to put “Reduce, Reuse & Recycle” into Halloween action.

High-five to everyone.

But it suddenly struck me: Halloween is the second biggest holiday (after Christmas) for consumer spending on decorative items (in 2008 Americans are expected to spend 1.58 billion on decor alone). That’s almost as much as we spend on costumes (2.1 billion). We should be having decor swaps as well!

What do you think of this idea?

Have you done something like this in the past?

Share your opinions about it here (free AND zero-waste).