Tric or Treat?

I know, I know – we live in the Netherlands where children (and adults) celebrate St. Martin’s Day and Halloween (and all that it entails: trick-or-treating, dressing up, bonfires, decorating the house, playing tricks and pranks) is an American tradition, which nobody here really thinks (or dare I say cares) about…. Well, my three boys do and they ask me to go all-out to celebrate this most American of holidays in full grandeur. And I, having grown up with Halloween as one of the more lucrative days of the year (after all you come home with bags full of sweets and treats), am on this occasion more than happy to please my boys.

Yes I go all out: I buy and carve pumpkins – note not one or two, but a “few”. I prepare costumes for the boys (usually a old bed sheet with some holes cut in). We bake and decorate cupcakes in ghostly or pumpkin shapes. And of course we decorate the house. After searching high and low for ghosts, witches and pumpkins, I ended up purchasing quite a few decorations from Xenos- for some odd reason they seem to be just as enthralled with Halloween as we are and sell the largest selection of frightening and ghoulish decorations and treats. But this year, in an effort to involve the boys a bit more (and thanks to the wonders of Pinterest), we have decided to make some of the decorations ourselves.

Caught by the Halloween bug and feeling inspired, here are a few pins and links that may get you in the spirit.

Not sure how to carve a pumpkin? Martha Stewart will tell you how.