Yep, you're right, it's the middle of April. But I have a question for you about Halloween and I need your answers soon if you'd like the chance to have them published in Quilting Celebrations and to win a great prize!The question is - What's your favorite Halloween Trick or Treat?
Don't blurt out your answer right away. Give it some thought and think like this:
- A "trick" might mean a harmless prank you pull on friends or co-workers. It could be a tip or suggestion you have for giving a ghoulish gift, creating a creepy costume, or staging a spooky soiree.
- A "treat" could be your favorite beggars' night swag when you were a kid or what you like to give the goblins at your door nowadays. Or it might be something as simple as the feeling you get when you see your kids or grandkids in their costumes (perhaps the ones you made for them).
Whatever your thoughts on the subject are, I want to hear them and I think our readers will love to hear what you have to say, too. Tell me - in a single word, a sentence or a paragraph - what your favorite Halloween trick or treat is.
You can post your answer here as a comment. You can also post on my personal Facebook fan page or the Party with Patrick fan page. But please do it on or before Friday, April 23. If you do, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a fat quarter tower of 29 cuts from my Dot-to-Dot collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. That's one of each color offered and over 7 yards of fabric! Any person who submits an answer to the question, whether it's published or not, will be entered in the drawing for the fabric. But be sure your answer is posted here or on one of the fan pages to be qualified. You may also submit as many answers as you'd like but your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
So, get your thoughts in gear and jot down your favorites to submit. I'll be anxious to hear - and share - what you have to say.
Go to it!
Trick - Growing up we would always decorate the path between our house and my neighbors house in a spooky theme. We'd use hidden mats and motion detectors that would make scary sounds when people passed. It was always fun to see people getting startled by things. Of course, if there were some smaller children we'd warn the parents ahead of time so they wouldn't get upset.
ReplyDeleteTreat - My favorite treat at Halloween is Mounds bars. I don't know why I don't buy them year round, but I always give them away and was always my favorite to find in baskets when trick-or-treating.
My favorite treat when I was a kid were the tiny bags of plain, salty potato chips. Of course, they had to be alternated with something sweet and chocolatey for full effect!
ReplyDeleteI have always loved creating costumes for myself, my friends, my nieces and nephews. My favorite treat was probably the time, as a college student, I dressed for the occasion and went trick-or-treating at friends' houses with a wine glass in hand.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if it's a trick or a treat! But it was my wedding! My husband and I got married on October 29th,2000 and we wanted a Halloween wedding - but my mother and his father did not! So we went with Halloween decor. I carved 14 YES, 14 pumpkins as center pieces, not one of them was the same, plus I carved a bride & groom pumpkin - my favors were pumpkin baskets filled with Halloween candy - old style - mary janes, and such. We served hot apple cider, pumpkin soup and made carmel apples.
ReplyDeleteSo when I think of Halloween - I always think of the wedding. People remember three things about my wedding - the pumpkins on the tables, the wedding quilt with all the signatures and the fact that it snowed on my wedding day - that's a whole other story!
OMG...the answers coming in are ALL great. We've got some on each page, too, and I'm reading every one as I have time. I knew you guys were some FUN people! Thanks for sharing and add as much as you'd like :)
ReplyDeleteAs a grandmother this was an easy task. Although I can remember wonderful Halloween's growing up, they pale in comparison to seeing my granddaughters get dressed up and then come by trick or treating. But the best part is when they come over to visit their Grandad and the 3 of them spread plastic on the kitchen floor. Then Grandad gets on his hands and knees and helps the girls carve their pumpkins. He gets all the yukky jobs, like hollowing out the pumpkins, discarding the goop and helping them make the cuts. Afterward we get a great picture of the 3 of them with their creations outside! It sure is a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the costumes I made for my sons from Harry Potter to magician, from clown to space alien. Even the grade school principal asked if I could make one for her the next year (I didn't). Sarah
ReplyDeleteOur favorite trick when we were kids is taking an empty wooden spool from thread and making a "knocker". To make a "knocker" take the spool and cut v shaped notches along both edges, top and bottom. Thread a pencil through both holes to make an axle, and then wind a 15-20 inch piece of string around the spool. Holding the wound spool against a window, pull the string. This creates a "knocking" sound on the window. We would spend all day creating our "knockers" snickering behind our hands on the fright we would give the neighbors, as only children can do. Now that I think about it, we probably didn’t scare anyone!
ReplyDeleteI always loved making my boys their costumes. The one that was the funniest was the year my oldest was a robot. We had a tall skinny box about 4 inches shorter than he was. I wrapped it in aluminum foil, glued on bright colored buttons and cut slots for his arms and eyes. We went to our neighbors Trick or Treating, he rang the door bell, but forgot they had one more short step at their house. He fell face first flat on the last step, when the neighbor opened the door all he could see was a large silver box laying on his step, flailing its arms and mumbling. The box was to long for my other son to be close enough to be seen. I was behind him laughing like crazy falling in a bush. ROFL! Ok, maybe it was funnier if you saw it, but I can still see it after 26 or 27 years.
ReplyDeleteI love to remember when my daughter was little and I made her costumes, but the best Tricks and Treats were when the kids were too old to need us and my neighbor and I started doing a haunted yard. We would switch back and forth each year so we had a different space to work with, it grew better and bigger each year. There is nothing like walking into the store or bank in July and having people ask if you are doing it again this year, or when someone knocks at your door to give you two real coffins. What a great way to get your aggressions out, fake blood and gore and scaring people silly. We always had a ghoul at the gate to warn the actors of young children coming through, since we didn't want to be the topic of conversation at some therapy session later in that childs life. What fun!! Halloween is my favorite holiday.
ReplyDeleteHalloween has always been my favorite holiday.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite TREAT was the birth of my daughter Theresa on Halloween (made it at 14 minutes after midnight). It was always wonderful when she was little to have Halloween themed birthday parties.
My favorite TRICK was and still is popcorn balls.
My mom always made the most fabulous Halloween costumes. My favorites are, hands down, the Rainbow Brite costume of the early 80s and the flapper costume of the early 90s (that I gave new life my freshman year of college!).
ReplyDeleteHmmm. . . I think my favorite Halloween trick is also a treat. We always seem to end up with more pumpkins than we can carve so I slice and bake the leftovers and pureé the insides. I then add the pureé by the cupful to pancakes with a little pie spice. My kids don't know it's there but they'll eat it just the same! I've also added pumpkin or squash pureé into ground beef for extra tender meatloaf and meatballs. A mom will do anything to get fruits and veggies into her kids!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite treat was almond joy!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite trick was hiding my brother's candy!
My favorite TREAT was the Obi Wan Kenobi costume I made for my 8 year old this year... It turned out well so I was feeling pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Halloween costume was the ladybug that I made for my son to wear when he was little. I dressed him in a black leotard with black tights, added some stuffing to the back to make it rounded, and added red felt circles.
ReplyDeleteHe had 6 "arms". His own arms, plus 2 stuffed arms per side, which I attached to his arms with elastic so they moved when he moved his arms. It was very cute and got lots of compliments.
My favorite Treat was October 2005 when I was able to take my boys to Disney and we attended the Not so scary Halloween Party. I made Raggedy Ann & Andy costume for my older son and I and he was a good sport and wore it! What great memories we now have in our scrapbook!
ReplyDeleteI was nine yrs old and my mom dressed me as Aunt Jamamma and my brother took me around and I had a blast. People would say I was so cute.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, my Aunt Norma & Uncle Jim would always host a marshmellow/hot dog roast and fireworks for Halloween... they would also turn their home into a haunted house...... My Aunt would direct us to put out had in the eyeball's (grapes)... or witch's teeth.. (candy corn).. and so on... it was always my favorite way to celebrate...Renee G
ReplyDeleteMy fav part of Halloween is the decorations Patrick. Especially the scarecrows and different types of pumpkins some carved, some not. Recently, I found an embroidery pattern with 1930's type vintage postcards from Halloween. These are way cool, I can't wait to finish them to make into a quilt.
ReplyDeleteMy Halloween treat was a moment frozen in my mind which many parents share: standing and watching my three children wait at a neighbor's front door after ringing the bell. Our representation included a young G I Joe, Snow White and a very young skeleton. The pride I felt seeing their carefully made costumes combined with their innocence resonates in my mind and heart. I stood back with their dad and thought "This is the life." Unforgettable!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I've never been a Halloween person. Then I had kids. From the running down the street yelling, "More candy! More candy!" to her yearlong discussion about what she is going to be for the first, second, and third Halloween my daughter has converted me. Halloween is now about her.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite halloween costume was when my brother dressed up as our Mom. Wig, stuffed bra, skirt and lipstick (the whole nine yards) and took me out trick-n-treating. Everyone thought it was my Mom with me. They kept saying Hi 'June' but it was my brother!! LOL And my favorite Halloween treat was 'Popcorn Balls' (back when it was safe to get homemade halloween candies). Those were the days!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a trick, but I do have the best TREAT ever... my second niece was born on Halloween. She'll be two this year. She TRICKED us all, as she was 10 or so days late.
ReplyDeleteShe got the cutest ever knitted hat too. Makes me smile to think someone made that especially for a baby born that day.
http://quiltinggallery.com/2008/11/01/im-an-auntie-times-two/
greatest treat ever = making my daughter a Belle (Beauty and the Beast) dress and enjoying her joy...that's a beauty beyond measure
ReplyDeleteMy favorite treat was the year I gave out inexpensive little whistles--the parents didn't like me but it warmed my heart to hear the whistle all up and down the street the rest of the night.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Halloween treat was making the costumes that my kids had picked out. The decided to dress up as genies. so I made one for my son and one for my daughter. They looked so adorable and it has become my favorite memory!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite trick has become an ongoing prank. My boys won a treat bag decorating contest one Halloween when they were small. The prize was a large, ugly, plastic rat. They started hiding the rat in places they knew that I'd find it, in the dryer, the freezer, etc. It did scare me at first, but every time I found it, I would hide it someplace I thought it might surprise them. Their backpacks, the shower. To this day, and the boys are now 18 & 20, that rat pops up every couple of months in a new hiding spot!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Halloween treat? We always make beef stew in a pumpkin shell, and bake the same cut out cookies that my mom made for us when I was a child, ......
My favorite memory is of my niece's Halloween birthday party - my sister cooked a hamburger hash in a pumpkin, and tried to serve it to ten little kids - they all went running and screaming! She thought it would be a treat, and they thought it was a trick...good times!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite treat is when my little nephew comes. His first year he came as a skunk, second year he was "Goofy"(my absolute favourite Disney character) and last year he came as a spider. Now he has a baby sister, so I can hardly wait to see both this coming Hallowe'en.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite treat was the corn mazes in and around Phoenix during the Halloween season, they were always a hoot and I loved seeing what each farm had designed. My favorite trick? Dropping treats into a blow up balloon and then letting the air out prior to passing them out...you have to work to get to it and it was a harmless and fun trick!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite treat when I was young was the popcorn balls that my mother made. She would make over a hundred of these and wrap them all up for the trick or treaters and we always ran out of them - there were that many children who came to our door. My brother and I were lucky if we were allowed one each!
ReplyDeleteI've thought of my response to this question for several days. I'm sure this answer is a little odd, but I keep coming back to this response. The real treat for me at Halloween is the innocent excitement I see in my young children when it comes time to dress up and get candy/treats for Halloween. I seem to recall that when I was a child Halloween was something kids could get excited about too ... for no other reason than for dressing up for fun and getting and eating as much candy as one could. There doesn't seem to be many opportunties for children these days to that 'innocent excitement' that they do at Halloween. What a treat!
ReplyDeleteI have many fond memories of Halloween growing up. Back in the day we could go door to door by ourselves and trick or treat. Always had an old pillowcase for my treats. Now I get to watch my son and his dad carve pumpkins and Spencer not happy that the eyes were cut out of the pumpkin!! And watching him run around in his costume, handmade of course. Growing up we had a neighbor who would sit on the porch and you would think it was a statue ---- until you got close!! She always livened up the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI love Halloween.....My Hubby and I were married on Halloween 17 years ago. The best halloween we had was when our kids were young and my Hubby had his flatbed wreaker. we piled all the kids onto the back with a couple of adults to keep an eye on them then went though the neighborhoods with the lights flashing we would stop in the middle of the street and all you would see was the kids pouring off the back of the truck, it was so cool. The kids ended up with so much candy they were throwing it away because they didn't want to carry it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThat is the best Halloween I can remember.
Huggs,
Cleary K.
Growing up in a large family of six children, our usual (and least-expensive)costumes were "hobo" and "gypsy". We rounded up Dad's old jeans, some bandanas, colorful tablecloths (for skirts)...whatever we could find that seemed exotic enough for our imagined characters...and then went on the hunt for theatrical "makeup". We raided Mom's cosmetic drawer and her jewelry box (with her permission), purloined the black shoe polish and "borrowed" the jar of Dippity-Do, all to aid us in making our transformations. Such fun! The only drawback was that, occasionally, we had to wear the remnants of our masquerade to school the next day. Sometimes that shoe polish just wouldn't give in to good 'ol soap and water!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday even though I love fall. My favorite trick is also a treat- when I was a little girl my mother made me a pioneer girl dress and hat for a costume. It was adorable and I carried a small basket for my candy. The basket was so small I could only have a few candies in it at a time, so I had a bag tucked under my skirt for the overflow. Everyone thought I wasn't getting as many candies as my friends so they would give me extra at every house I want to! I made out like a bandit!
ReplyDeleteI love the celebration of autumn that comes with Halloween - Harvest Fairs and Carnivals replete with golden leaves and hay bales, corn mazes and corn on the cob, caramel apples and chilly air. As I've grown older, the "spooky" aspects of Halloween appeal less and less to me, but there are plenty of ways to have a good time and enjoy the season without giving way to fear.
ReplyDeletetrick - sew a quilt during the feast
ReplyDeletetreat - the same thing :)
My favorite treat to give is all the Happy Meal toys that we save all year long. The look on the kids faces are the best when they get to pick a toy and some candy. They can't believe it and it takes so long for them to choose.
ReplyDelete