Halloween USA

Halloween USA style is a lot of fun!  Having grown up  in the United States, I think Halloween is a big holiday for many!  Even though I grew up in a very religious household, we still enjoyed Halloween and made sure to have a lot of fun on one of my favorite holidays.

Many people in the United States enjoy the following activities on Halloween:  wearing costumes, trick or treating, watching horror films, going on hayrides, visiting haunted houses, playing tricks or pranks, going to costume parties, carving jack-o-laterns, bobbing for apples, eating caramel apples, among other fun traditions.

The great thing about Halloween is you can have a lot of fun even if you stay home!  One of my favorite traditions includes watching the old Halloween episode reruns of Roseanne.  I think there are five episodes that are just about Halloween and they are so much fun to watch!  Making your own traditions for Halloween is what being in the USA is all about!

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Halloween is a time for crazy costumes, ghost stories, sugar-buzzed kids and all things that go bump in the night.

While the average American is expected to spend over $70 on Halloween this year, you don’t have to break the bank to have a spooktacularly fun holiday. Here are a few tips to help you create a festive Halloween without sending a chill down your spine.

Quick and easy costumes
While purchasing a costume may be the easiest solution, it can be expensive. Instead, consider making a one-of-a kind costume. All it takes is a little creativity and items likely found around your home.

With a few supplies, a little prep-time and some imagination, paint and scissors can transform a simple box into a robot, a racecar or a kissing-booth. Or, scan your closet for inspiration; a fortune teller, Greek goddess or private detective costume may be lurking amongst the treasures and accessories in your closet.

For hair-raising fun, the folks at Jack Link’s Beef Jerky have made it easy for fans of their iconic “Messin’ With Sasquatch” commercials to create a costume of the elusive Sasquatch. Check out JackLinks.com to download a free, printable Sasquatch mask, iron-on T-shirt transfer, and other fun tips to make an inexpensive, yet ferociously fun Halloween costume this year.

Don’t be tricked by your treats
Between the candy corn, candied apples and popcorn balls, finding a healthier Halloween treat can be a spooky experience for parents. Don’t be tricked; a “fun” sized mini chocolate bar can pack 60 to 80 calories and it’s loaded with sugar.

To avoid a holiday candy coma, choose non-sugary, protein-rich snacks such as roasted pumpkin seeds, low-calorie beef or turkey jerky or fun-to-eat string cheese. In fact, after carving your Halloween pumpkin, roasting the pumpkin seeds is a fun activity to share with your family.

The great pumpkin
Nothing conjures up memories of Halloweens past like carving jack o’ lanterns. This year, test your pumpkin carving skills with a family friendly “carve-off” competition. Choose prizes that will engage the whole family such as a “winner’s choice” family movie night or movie passes to a local theater.

“Everyone likes pumpkins, and carving jack o’ lanterns is a great way to bring people together,” says children’s book author and avid pumpkin and woodblock carver Betsy Bowen. “Youngsters, oldsters and in-betweens can all be creative with a pumpkin.”

If you’re a pumpkin-carving novice, it’s easy to get started. Select a nicely shaped, firm pumpkin and cover your work surface with newspaper. Gather all of the necessary carving tools, such as spoons, toothpicks for marking your pattern and a small carving knife or saw. Get creative and sketch out a unique design, or use a stencil or pattern as your guide. You can download a variety of free patterns online, suitable for all skill levels, including a Sasquatch stencil at JackLinks.com. If you’re not comfortable carving your pumpkin, try painting it instead.

After carving, light each pumpkin by placing a candle, battery-operated tea-light, or glow stick, inside. There is a certain magic in the air when pumpkins are aglow.

For more information on the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Sasquatch o’ Lantern or Sasquatch costume, visit JackLinks.com/Growloween. For more information on Betsy Bowen, visit Woodcut.com.

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- Consider giving out coins, toothbrushes, pencils, or apples instead of candy.

- Make your own costume from scraps, cardboard boxes, and old clothing you may have around the house.

- Think about different ways you can reuse your costume. White sheets can be used as a wall hanging or decoration for next year’s Halloween.

- Don’t drive your kids from house to house. Either walk with them or drive them to a neighbourhood where the houses are closer together.

- Use leftover makeup for crafts or for your dress up box.

- Make sure to put your jack o’ lantern in the compost.

Donate your costume to a secondhand store. If you decide to sell it, use the money to support an organization that practices environmental initiatives like Christian Children’s Fund of Canada www.ccfcanada.ca. You can help a farmer plant a garden or educate children to care for their environment.

www.newscanada.com

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It’s that spooky time of year again when skeletons, spider webs and gravestones make a style statement! Whether you prefer family-friendly Halloween décor for your home or want to turn your front yard into the scariest place in the neighbourhood, Canadian Tire has everything you need to plan a fun-filled Halloween for your family and friends.

Spooky front yard makeover tips

• Animated rising ghosts or skulls with spooky sounds and LED red flashing eyes are sure to thrill trick-or-treaters.

• A wide assortment of hanging ghouls and friendly fiends from Canadian Tire can give your home and yard the perfect haunted look.

• Decorate trees or plants with string lights featuring spiders or bats for that perfect creepy touch.

• A great addition to your Halloween décor is an indoor projector that allows you to project scary, haunting images on your walls and windows with spooky sound effects.

Family-friendly décor

Halloween doesn’t always have to be about scary and gruesome. Buying family-friendly décor can be a fun activity to do with the kids.

• Plan a trip to your nearest Canadian Tire store and have some fun picking out Disney decor to match your costume!

• Creating a decorative Halloween walkway in your front yard is a great way to add to your outdoor décor while ensuring a safe, well-lit path for trick-or-treating kids.

www.newscanada.com

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Take plenty of candid shots to capture the real magic

It’s the time of the year when costume party and trick-or-treating memories are made, but are you taking the best photos to share with friends and family? If you feel like an amateur behind the lens and your pictures stay trapped on your camera, these tips will help you take photos you’ll be proud to share with others.

Here are five cool tricks to make your photos a treat:

Tip 1: Use the flash indoors and out
For the best outcome, always use the flash when taking photos outdoors. The flash will lighten the shadows on the subject’s face caused by the sun. This applies to photos taken outside – no matter what the season.

Tip 2: Take plenty of candid shots to capture the real magic
Take a combination of posed and candid shots to capture the spirit of Halloween. Record meaningful moments such as your family trick-or-treating or children carving a jack-o’-lantern. Try following a child and capturing candid shots at their height-level. Don’t be shy in snapping the shutter; taking several photos will make sure you catch the magic of the evening.

Tip 3: Practice the rule of thirds
Add personality and balance to your photos by dividing the frame into three equal parts. Imagine two imaginary horizontal and two vertical lines in your viewfinder. Some cameras offer a setting to automatically place these lines to make it easier. Position the subject at one of the four points where the lines intersect. Composing your shot using this rule of thumb will create a nicely-balanced, eye-pleasing photo.

Tip 4: Make photo sharing effortless by adding wireless to the camera you already own
Imagine sharing photos of your favorite Halloween moment before you even hand out the last fistful of candy. By using Eye-Fi’s wireless SD memory card, you can turn the camera you already own into a wireless camera. Eye-Fi will automatically upload photos from your camera to your home computer and favorite online photo sharing site like Shutterfly or Kodak Gallery. Plus, storing photos online will keep them safe in case you lose your photo albums in a fire or if your computer is ever stolen or infected by a virus.

Tip 5: Organize your photos with “geotagging”
Geotagging, or adding a “tag” to your photo with the location of where it was taken, helps keep your images organized within your online photo sharing site. As photo memories accumulate within your gallery, you can organize them by location and provide context that will last for years to come. The Eye-Fi Explore wireless memory card automatically tags photos with location information, eliminating the time and hassle of manually doing it yourself. You can also use this information to help plot your photos on a map to record your Halloween travels.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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