Monthly Archives: September 2020

Creature Feature

Chances are your dog or cat has noticed that you’re home a lot more often than you used to be. While dogs love the idea of their humans being home all the time your cat is probably climbing the walls, literally.

The truth is that our cats were barely putting up with us when we were only home 8 hours a day. My point is that only you can decide if your cat will lower themselves to wearing a costume for Halloween. A dog however just wants to please you so if they think it makes you happy to dress them up for Halloween they really don’t care what costume you’re squeezing them into.

Let’s face it if you don’t have kids you’ve probably been dressing up your pets in costumes for years. If you do have kids then choosing, making or purchasing a Halloween costume for your fluffy friend can be a fun family project. If at all possible try to pick a costume that won’t annoy your pet. They really don’t like things that rub against their ears, come near their eyes or make their feet feel weird. Your pet will be far more likely to get into the Halloween spirit if the costume does not constrict or irritate them.

The coloring, size and type of animal may also help you choose a Halloween costume. For instance a piece of French bread on either side of a wiener dog comes immediately to mind but that might just be because I’m hungry at the moment. Here’s a better example: My golden retriever only needed a fluffy orange mane to look amazingly like a lion. My favorite pet related Halloween costume was a cat dressed like a German soldier (although it was politically incorrect). When you asked the owner what the Halloween costume was, she proudly said, “This is Herr Balls”. It’s absolutely out of date but I think it’s also worth noting that someone dressed up their cat in a military costume with Chinese lettering on it and said, “It was Chairman Meow”.

Adorable Pet Costumes from Halloween Express

Lion Mane Costume

Cat Bat Costume

Find More Pet Costumes

Crave Yard

Going house to house this Halloween is a personal choice but there’s lots of holiday fun to be had at home as well. Not only can you make lots of festive Halloween treats but getting the kids involved in the creative process can fill a day or two with fun holiday activities.
 
In the photo you can see mini hot dogs with the pastry baked to look like mummies but there are literally hundreds of Halloween themed recipes. During the Halloween planning process you can provide ideas for ingredients and with a little guidance the kids can come up with great ideas which will make them extra excited with the process and thrilled with the results.
 
Here are a few unique Halloween ideas:
  • Halloween Cookies with chocolate melted on them to look like Choc-o’-lanterns.
  • Mini marshmallows between two red apple wedges look a mouth with teeth for a wierd Halloween treat (add red food coloring to make them gory).
  • Cut out little faces in American cheese slices and melt them on Halloween sliders to look like pumpkin faces.
    Eyeballs can be made out of marshmallows and M&Ms.
  • Make Halloween popcorn hands by filling clear plastic disposable gloves.
    You can print out custom labels to to put on fruit punch pouches to look like they are blood donations.
  • For a healthy Halloween treat and something the other kids won’t have, super cool jack-o’-lanterns with crazy hair can be made out of whole pineapples.

We found some great holiday resources with recipes and ideas to help you make Halloween treats all throughout October!

Hollow? Who’s This?

The Jack-O’-Lantern tradition started in Ireland in the early 1900’s when people would hollow out and carve scary faces in potatoes and turnips to ward off evil spirits. The most prominent of these spirits was called, “Stingy Jack” and he would come to call on All Hallows Eve.

Although I’m not a strong believer in spirits or demons, I did break up with someone once for always calling me “Pumpkin”. While I knew it was just a term of endearment I couldn’t help but feel like the contents of my head were slowly being scooped out.

In any case if you decide to make a Jack O’Lantern I hope that you and your family will explore the wide range of creative possibilities. With a good set of pumpkin carving tools you can do some very detailed work including recreating celebrities, politicians and historical figures.

My son did an excellent job making a very convincing “Trumpkin”. It certainly didn’t hurt that it was already orange.

Monster Energy

Set the standard for a Virtual Halloween Party with a Virtual Game Night/Costume Party!

Strike up a little competition, get all the generations involved and LET THE GAMES BEGIN! 

PICK YOUR HALLOWEEN GAME NIGHT NOW!

At OVH, game night is serious business and we’re always looking for something fresh and new…and Let’s Roam Virtual Game Night is where it’s at!

Not only can you set it up to play with family members in your home, you can also invite family members and friends who live away to play from a distance.

The path your night takes is up to you…Virtual Game Nights include five rounds of fun online games and you get to choose what categories you play each round. Pick different categories every time you play to make each game night totally unique. 
 
  • Trivia (choose from SO many fun categories!)
  • Impersonations
  • Sing-a-long
  • Virtual Charades
  • Or create a custom night!
 

Piece Treaty

Marshmallows with your cherished photos printed on them. Need we say more? Probably not but we will!

This is a fun treat to send to any and all of your friends and family for Halloween not to mention what a great gift it would make for your nieces nephews or grandchildren.

Cherished photos are uploaded and then printed on custom marshmallows. They make a delicious treat and are the perfect shape and size to be included in s’mores or float on the top of an extremely customized hot cocoa as loved ones gather around the cauldron this year.

Family members will think of you fondly as they gaze upon the pictures and then slowly nibble off the heads of their loved ones.

Order yours now!

 

Boomf - Surprise Them

Scare Mail

Give the grandparents, aunts and uncles who can’t participate in Trick-or-Treat this year a Treat they’ll love and cherish forever! This is a fantastic activity for kids and grand-kids and will result in a great memory and keepsake to bring some levity to Quarantine-Halloween 2020.
 

BONUS: Special deals and other arts and crafts for Halloween at the end! 

 
Imagine their delight when they open the envelope and see that instead of being on the receiving end of a traditional store-bought card, the children have sent them a treat with a designed and colored artistic representation of themselves in their Halloween character. Don’t forget to add the word “BOO! for extra effect. You can even let them know to zoom call when they receive it so your child can watch their reaction when they open it for the first time. They can immediately wrap the hug around themselves and feel connected, appreciated and loved.
 
Here are some simple instructions:
Step 1: If you have a roll of art paper, great! Cut off a 5 ft length. If you don’t have a roll of art paper then glue or tape five pieces of plain paper together end-to-end. Then glue one more piece in the center that will stick up from the rest and go under your child’s head.
Step 2: Have your child lie down on the paper with their arms outstretched and trace their arms, hands, fingers and head.
Step 3: Using colored pencils, crayons, or paints have your child create a beautiful image of themselves.
Step 5: Carefully cut out the image around the original trace lines.
Step 6: Accordion fold the arms inward and then fold the head down over the arms. This will leave you with a blank piece facing up where your child can write a greeting about the hug.
 
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