Brook's Halloween Art.
Okay, I know I am bragging, but she drew this all on her own! I asked her if it was a picture of her with her Jack o’Lantern and she told me that it wasn’t her, but it was a pumpkin in a pumpkin patch with a scarecrow protecting it.
I totally see it!
This year we chose to try to get out of the heat of Phoenix and go up North to a Pumpkin Farm. I found a couple in Chino Valley which is near Prescott and while it was cooler, it was still not very “Autumn” like. We were going to go to Freeman Farms, which actually is a pumpkin farm, but they were no longer letting you go out into the pumpkin field to pick your own pumpkin and that was the only draw to that farm in my opinion. So, instead we went to the Windmill Farm Pumpkin Festival and we had a blast! They are actually a nursery and event facility, but they do a really nice job transforming their property to a Harvest Festival.
Brook in the Pumpkin Area of Windmill Farms
They had an area where you could buy food and sit and listen to some live music and toss some horseshoes…
The Live Music and Windmill Farms
Brook and Travis Playing Horseshoes
Blake had fun discovering what pumpkins were and understanding the texture of hay…
Blake in the Pumpkin Patch
We tried to get a good family photo in the pumpkin patch, but with two kids, it’s kind of hard…
The Newman's Picking Pumpkins
They had a hay ride, a “train ride” and pony rides…Notice Brook and her cowgirl hat…I tell you she has gone Country 
Brook on the "Train" Ride
People Getting Off the Hayride
Brook Riding the Pony
All in all it was a great family day and a great first pumpkin patch experience for Blake. I will admit that the Midwest is a much better place for the Harvest Festivals, but this one was great and it was very rustic, country, cowboy Arizona like.
It was worth the drive and I can see us trying to go even further up North next year…maybe Flagstaff?
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Blake and I at the Pumpkin Festival
I guess a while back Brook told Grams that she wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween…
So, needless to say that a couple of days ago, in our mail this showed up…
Brook as a Cowgirl
Brook has since changed her mind and decided that The Little Mermaid would be a better costume for her, but she was ecstatic to put this outfit on and play around for awhile.
Brook Loving Her Cowgirl Side
We cannot get that hat off of her…she loves it!
So, Grams, thanks for making a little girl really happy and…
Dad – See there is a little Pope inside of my children…a little bit of cowgirl just for you. The Newman’s are not entirely all city.
Two weeks ago across the street, I saw some awesome homemade ghosts in our neighbors tree. I went over to see how they made them and I was surprised to find that they were only handkerchiefs, cotton and string. I thought this would be a great craft to do with Brook, so I promptly went to JoAnn Fabrics to get the material.
Brook's Ghosts Hanging In Our Tree
While at JoAnn’s, I picked up some styrofoam balls for the heads and some white floral wire for hanging, but the didn’t have any handkerchiefs…
Here is where my stupid shows up…
I proceeded to spend the next two days driving around town trying to find handkerchiefs for this project. Why did I have to have handkerchiefs? Well, because I had a one track mind…stupid.
I went to Khols, Target, Marshall’s, Michaels, TJ Max, Ross, Sears and I went…CRAZY!!!
Finally, I started to think outside of the handkerchief box when Travis suggested I buy a sheet and cut it up…Yeah, couldn’t find a cheap enough sheet…That is another day of running around…See my stupid is really showing now!
So, have you figured out my solution yet? On the third day my brain decided it was sick of being stupid and the light bulb came on (don’t worry, my brain is now being ran on eco-friendly CFL light bulbs)…
Ready for this? JoAnn’s sells fabric by the yard!
WHO KNEW?
Not me obviously! So, I went back to the very first place this whole quest started and bought 3 yards of white fabric for a whopping $2.99 a yard. Oh and the $40 of gas that I spent to run around town and figure out my solution was underneath my nose. Unfortunately, the gas was not so eco-friendly…crap!
Was it worth it?
Yes! Brook loved the project and now you can learn from my mistake…you can get everything you need at the craft store and it’s actually really inexpensive to do and the little ghosts look so good outside hanging on the tree.
Brook loved making different faces and she could twist tie the styrofoam balls in place too.
One of Brook's Scary Ghosts In Our Tree
So, here is the the supplies and instructions for making Halloween Ghosts…
Halloween Ghosts
18 – 2 1/2 inch Styrofoam balls
3 yards of White Fabric
18 pieces of 20 Gauge White Floral Wire – 18 or more inches
Scissors
Sharpie Pen Thin Tip
1 – Cut out 12″x12″ squares out of the White Cloth (or whatever size you want)
2 – Put the Styrofoam Ball in the center of the cloth and pinch the cloth around the ball.
3 – Secure the ball in the cloth by twist tying the Floral Wire around (see picture)
4 – Use Sharpie to make Ghost Faces
5 – Hang in a tree or anywhere you want using the remainder of the floral wire after twisting it around the bottom of the Styrofoam Ball.
As always, go and make some memories with your kids and Happy Crafting!
Brook Tying a Ghost to the Tree
