Pre-Halloween Party and Invitation

On the day of Halloween there’s always a strange time when the kids want to get dressed up and collect their goods but have to wait until it’s ‘time’ to go trick-or-treating. And nobody ever seems to know when that ‘time’ starts. A great way to fill this waiting period is to throw a party.

Invite over the neighborhood kids and parents for a pre trick-or-treating bash. Keep the food simple- order a few sandwich and veggie trays. A small treat bag or simple cookie with a great gift tag allows both parents to go trick-or-treating later since everyone on the block will have already gotten a goodie.

Try some classic games like bobbing for apples or pass the apple or pumpkin (be sure the stem is removed.) Decorate some small pumpkins with paint or markers. A game of musical chairs is always fun and has no clean up. Good scary music options are; Night on Bald Mountain, The Monster Mash, or Thriller.

If the weather permits have the party outside or in your garage. There’s always lots of excitement when costumes are involved. This way the kids get to hang out longer in their costume and best of all, when the party breaks up- everyone will know that’s it officially time to trick or treat!

Here is an invitation idea for a pre-Halloween party using stamps from our Halloween collection. 

We started with a flat notecard, cobblestone ink and our spider web accent stamp. We simply rotated the stamp around to create a handcrafted pattern.

Then we printed the text on a piece of yellow vellum that we found at an office supply store, and trimmed to the same size as our flat notecard. This is a great trick if you don't have a fancy color printer that prints on a range of papers easily. Most black ink jet printers can easily print on vellum.

Next we folded a sheet of our juicy orange paper to make a jacket and our boo! accent stamp to create another pattern. We used orange ink as the majority of the pattern and one cobblestone stamping for a little extra fun.

For the cute tie around the jacket we use Divine Twine. As you can see from our other Halloween ideas it worked great for everything. It was always the right amount of color and playfulness, without any extra bulk.

Finally, we end where your guest begins- at the envelope. The boo! accent stamp is sold on its own but is also part of our ghost stamp set. It's always wonderful to be able to set the tone of the party with the first glance of the envelope.

Remember to use your stamps to decorate game prize bags, treat bags or gift tags. And have a fun and safe Halloween.

A Month of Halloween

What used to be a single night of spookiness and sugar highs has turned in to a month long celebration of treats, decorations and parties. What would you do with a personalized Halloween stamp? More than you realize.

Fall is an amazing time to bake and share. Welcome crisp, cooler air by turning the oven on again. Filling your house with delicious smells can make packing away your cute sandals feel ok. The fall harvest lets you bake in quantities to share, whether it’s from your own garden or the farmers’ market. Zucchini bread for your neighbors, pumpkin cookies for the play group and an apple pie as a hostess gift. Give all of them a finishing touch with a personalized rubber stamp on a gift tag.

Then there are the parties. Children’s parties, adult parties and pre trick-or-treating parties. If you throw a Halloween party then a personalized Halloween stamp will cover all kinds of usages. Invitations, prize bags, treat bags, gift tags and thank you notes. And the best part of using a rubber stamp is you can reuse it every year and create a new look by changing the paper, ink and layout. If you have friends that host a Halloween party every year- a personalized Halloween stamp makes a great hostess gift.

If you have a special treat for your favorite neighborhood kids or know a child that is forbidden to have sugar, then the stamps work great to create packaging for a unique little gift. A simple stamp can transform even a brown paper bag.

If you send a store bought Halloween card, then a stamp on the back can give it more personality. If you scrapbook, try creating your own line of Halloween cards and finish them off with a stamping on the back of the card. And if you are a crazed mother with no time to make a card, let alone stand in an isle and pick a card, then get out the art supplies and your stamp and let your kids make some Halloween cards. This should give you a half hour to figure our where you put their trick-or-treating baskets.

Halloween Collection

Our Halloween collection of personalized rubber stamps and accent stamps is now available in our Etsy shop.

This is a great time of year for baking, crafting, parties and gift giving. A personalized rubber stamp is a wonderful way to give everything you do this fall, a personal touch. We have so many great usage ideas to come in future posts please check back soon!