Happy Halloween

The word Halloween is of Christian origin and it dates back to about 1745. It means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening".

Typical Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, bobbing for apples, watching horror films, attending costume parties, decorating, lighting bonfires, telling scary stories, playing pranks and visiting haunted houses.

As a family, it's important to do things together, to create lasting memories. Halloween is a great opportunity to do just that. With a little creativity, teamwork and maybe even a little elbow grease you can help to create a ghoulishly good time for your entire family.

Halloween costumes can be made with little or no money – some examples include:

All white clothing = angel

All white clothing with a yellow circle on your shirt = Egg

All Black clothing = black cat or a bat

All Red clothing = devil, red M&M or skittle (use tape for the M on the shirt!)

Jeans and a flannel shirt = A cowboy

Pajamas = a baby

Sports uniforms and equipment – basketball, hockey, soccer, golf, soft ball or baseball player

Branches, brown paper bags, string, glue – scary Halloween Tree

You could also set up a costume swap with friends and neighbors, or take a trip to your local Salvation Army, Goodwill or thrift store.

Of course Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without the treats. Below are some fun treats you can make with your family.

Melon Brain

What you'll need

1 small seedless watermelon

How to make it

1. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the entire green rind, exposing the inner white rind.

2. Slice off the bottom of the melon to create a flat base that will keep it from rolling. With a toothpick, outline squiggly furrows that resemble the folded surface of a brain.

3. Finally, carve narrow channels along the tracings with a sharp paring knife (a parent's job) to expose the pink fruit beneath the rind.

Cheesy Fingers

What you'll need

Mozzarella string cheese

Green bell pepper

Cream cheese

How to make it

1. Wearing plastic gloves or sandwich bags over your hands to keep the cheese as smudge-free as possible, use a paring knife (parents only) to cut each string in half and then carve a shallow area for a fingernail just below the rounded end of each half.

2. Mark the joint right below the nail as well as the knuckle joint by carving out tiny horizontal wedges of cheese, as pictured.

3. For the fingernails, slice a green bell pepper into 3/8-inch-wide strips. Set the strips skin side down on your work surface and trim the pulp so that it's about half as thick. Then cut the strips into ragged-topped nail shapes and stick them in place at the ends of the fingers with dabs of cream cheese.

Crescent Mummy Dogs

Ingredients

1 Can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet

2 ½ slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)

10 large hot dogs

Cooking spray

Mustard or ketchup, if desired

Steps

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.

3. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).

4. Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like "bandages." Make sure to stretch the dough to completely cover the hot dog. Approximately a 1/2 inch from the end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so the hot dog shows through for the "face". Place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down) on an ungreased large cookie sheet. Spray dough lightly with cooking spray.

5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. Use mustard to draw facial features.