The Back to School gear has finally been cleared away from the supermarket shelves, and a host of pumpkin, ghost, skeleton, monster, witch and vampire regalia has been added to fill the void. It’s that time of year when our thoughts turn away from making sure pencil cases have been replenished with Crayola felt-tipped pens, which at any other time of year seem to be pretty extortionate, and look towards ensuring we have tickets for the Chislehurst Pumpkin Hunt. Yes, Halloween is upon us!
I love Halloween; for me it is one of the many activities that makes autumn autumn, and I look forward to it every year. I love dressing the kids up in fancy dress that isn’t marketed by Disney, making food look inedible on purpose, and doing lots of Halloween-themed crafts! I do, however, find that we end up repeating the same crafts year upon year; I am not very imaginative, and as I have a strict budget I often find we are fairly limited as far as Pinterest goes.
So when one of my favourite crafty bloggers, Kate Williams from Crafts on Sea, wrote her first book, all about Halloween crafts no less, I literally jumped at the chance to review it (I mean literally – nothing like looking keen and all)! Kate, like me, believes in “making kids’ crafts as cheap as humanly possible” and, quite honestly, this book couldn’t have been more perfect for my family if I had written it myself.
The Book…
The book is called ‘30 Halloween Crafts for Kids’ and features 30 “totally achievable” Halloween crafts for kids.
The Best Bits…
All of the crafts are indeed “totally achievable” and do not require any specialist materials (just a rummage round the house for things that you already have). There was such a variety too – from messy crafts, to ones that didn’t make any mess whatsoever (perfect for my mess-phobic boy), and everything in-between.
Most of the ideas come with tips to help you get maximum enjoyment out the particular activity; whether that be tips to help the activity run more smoothly, tips for extending activities for older/more advanced children or simplifying them for younger children, as necessary, or tips for further ideas along the same line of activity (useful if you have warring siblings that insist on making different things)! I found the activities perfectly suited to my 2 and 3 year olds, though I can imagine much older children enjoying them just as much, particularly with the suggested extensions.
The fun and chatty nature of the instructions brought Kate’s real experiences of the crafts to light and made it a joy to read!
So, what did we make?
Well, so far we have attempted most of the book. And, as of yet, I have not had to go out to buy a single item! Granted, we do have a well-stocked craft cupboard for-the-most-part, but even if you just have a bit of card and some paint you can still do a large proportion of the crafts in the book!
Our Favourite Activity…
My favourite activity so far has been the “Bubble Wrap Ghost”, and Kate has kindly given me permission to share our experience of this activity with you!
I loved the idea of this craft for a number of reasons. Firstly, it can be done without making any mess whatsoever, so it is perfect for E (he did happen to be sleeping when I had planned to do it though, so in the end I just did it with A, but I have saved it for him to do on another occasion). Secondly, I got to use my glow in the dark paint (I had some left from an event I ran a while ago and was so happy to get it out again)!
For this activity you will need:
Black card
White paint
Bubble wrap
Glue, scissors, sellotape
(We also added glow in the dark paint – this is just an added extra and not actually needed at all)!
In order to minimise the mess I made a bubble wrap glove for A to wear; I simply wrapped a piece of bubble wrap loosely around her hand and arm, folded it over at the fingertips, and taped it all together.
Then I simply let her loose with the paint; all she had to do was cover the bubble wrap in paint and then print it onto the black card until she got a shape she was happy with. She enjoyed it so much that she ended up making quite a few!
Once the white paint was dry we repeated with a layer of glow in the dark paint on top of the white.
Finally, when all of the paint was dry, we glued on some eyes and a mouth for each ghost (which I had pre-cut using some additional black card) and they were complete!
The results were quite wonderful, particularly in the dark!
We have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it really has been eye-opening seeing how much can be done with just a few simple household materials!
‘30 Halloween Crafts for Kids’ is available to buy on Amazon now!
Disclosure: we were kindly given a pdf copy of the book for the purposes of this review; however, all opinions are my own.
Chocolate and Wine and I'll be Fine... 
I am so IN LOVE with your review! Thank you so much, I am so glad A enjoyed it 🙂 And yes we totally raided the recycling to make a lot of the crafts in it!!
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Aww thank you so much 🙂 thank you for letting me review it, it was awesome!
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This looks like a really fun craft. Great review!
#TriedTested
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Thank you! It is a really great craft!
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Great review! I love those ghosts they came out fab! #FamilyFun
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Thank you!
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This looks awesome and the ghosts are really effective. I am looking forward to when my little is a bit bigger so I can do craft with him. Thanks for linking up to #familyfun 😀
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Hehe I know, I remember being desperate for mine to get to an age where they were able to do crafts!
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Wow that bubble wrap ghost is such a fab idea and it must be a real hit with the little ones! I think mine are a little young to get the most out of crafts but this time next year I think I too will need s fully stocked craft cuboard and will be looking to my lovely bloggers for inspiration. Thanks for sharing this at #familyfun
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Hehe I remember feeling like that! For my eldest’s first birthday I bought her so much craft stuff (for her obviously, not me)!
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I love your ghosts! Going to have to try these with The Boy! #familyfun
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Thank you! It was a lovely simple craft!
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These ghosts are so cute! A really clever idea…I love how great bubble wrap is for crafting and the use of glow in the dark paint gave it an extra dimension of interest for the children! I’d just be tempted to chuck a load of glitter at it!! #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
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Oo I love that idea! I didn’t think to add glitter! Next time…
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This book sounds great. I’m not a big Halloween fan, but I’m always on the look out for books with simple crafts in! My eldest loves crafts and I don’t consider myself creative in the slightest so I find it really difficult to come up with ideas. This book sounds like just the job! #FamilyFun
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It is really great, and some can be adapted to be non-Halloweeny if that isn’t your thing!
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Sounds like a great book! We’re off to find a copy now! Love the ghost idea…so easy to do with kids! #triedtested xx
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So easy, and so effective! Yes go and get one 🙂
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This looks good and I like that it doesn’t involve buying half the comments of Hobby craft! #sharingthebloglove
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I know, that for me is the main thing!
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Great review. The ghosts look amazing so effective. If this activity worked so well the others must be fab too! Thank you for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime 🎉
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They really are – it was tough choosing one to show off!
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Wow, well done you for having attempted nearly all the crafts in the book! I love the ghosts, they’re amazingly simple but look fab! Love the fact that it’s all stuff you have lying around at home too. Thanks so much for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
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Hehe we are little obsessed with crafts here, and coupled with a child who doesn’t stop ever (she’s onto the next one before I have even had time to clear up the last)!
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That looks so cute! Love the ideaa of adding glow in the dark paint also! x #picnmix
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It is really effective isn’t it? I adore glow in the dark paint!
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This looks fun and it’s great that you already had the stuff around the house!
#picknmix
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Oh wow that book sounds amazing, and definitely right up my street. I am only just starting to do crafts with Zach, so will remember this one for next year! #TriedTested
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Ooh Flump is having a little Halloween party and I’m on the lookout for some crafty things to do so this sounds perfect! Thanks x #picknmix
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Oh this whole book would be perfect for use at a party! For the activities during the party and for things to make beforehand t display at the party 🙂
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This sounds like a great book to share with my grandchildren. It’s always good when you can use the recycling rather than having to go out and buy expensive craft supplies.
I’m not a fan of hallowe’en but this looks like a book that can be used any time of the year.
Loved this review 🙂
#PicknMix
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Thank you! It is a great book for any time of the year – so many of the crafts could be adapted to make them non-Halloweeny!
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Sounds like a great book! It’s great you use things that you would have in your house. Those ghosts look brilliant, Alice would love making these. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove X
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They are great aren’t they?! Such a clever simple idea. I wish I could take the credit 😛
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This book looks like a lot of fun and your bubblewrap ghosts are adorable. Thank you for sharing #halloweenlinky x
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Thank you! The book is great, such simple and effective ideas!
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Hi Sam, this book sounds a good investment for families with children. I can imagine it being dragged out year upon year at the beginning of October, in the same fashion as Christmas books are dragged out and dusted off every December!
The bubble wrap ghost looked like fun to make and glow in the dark is always fun!
#ablogginggoodtime
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Yes it is totally that sort of book, and great because there are so many you wouldn’t have to do them all in one go! You could save the more complex ones for later years!
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Excellent idea! Looks like there are so many wonderful crafts too! The bubble wrap ghosts are awesome.Thanks so much for sharing at #KCACOLS hope to see you back next time.
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That book looks fab! I love Halloween too and those bubble wrap ghosts are so simple yet so effective!
#KCACOLS
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I am sorting Halloween crafts now for half term at Coombe Mill, Kate has a great book there,the ghosts are fab #KCACOLS
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They’re really great! There are so many in this book that would be perfect for you!
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This book looks brilliant! And I love how your ghosts turned out – thanks for sharing x #sharingthebloglove
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Thank you! I think the glow in the dark paint was really effective!
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Kate is a crafting genius! I love those ghosts, what a simple but clever idea, I never would have thought of that. Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
Stevie x
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She really is, I love her, it was quite an honour to review this book! So many of the crafts are so simple yet I would never have been able to come up with them myself!
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My boys are super excited about Halloween – I love the bubble wrap ghost, such a great idea! #KCACOLS
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This is adorable! I love the ghosties, and the book itself looks fantastic!
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