For my neighborhood, I typically plan on 300 children. No matter the current sale of the bulk candy bags, it adds up quickly. This year my budget attempts led me away from the candy isle and toward the drug store.

I searched the sale ads from my Sunday paper and found one store that had the most options to avoid driving all over town. Bubbles, pencils, stickers, and fangs are all great options. My girls were by my side assuring me of the wisdom of each purchase. After 50 candies, who doesn’t love your own Halloween bubbles?

So far, I have covered 198 trick-or-treaters, and I spent $7.12 which is less than 4 cents per child! Here are my finds:

To make your money go even further, look to stickers. I purchased these Halloween sticker books for 50 cents.

Each sticker book contained 7 sheets of stickers. If you cut each sheet in half, you have 14 treats from one 50 cent book.

Give you wallet and your trick-or-treaters a surprise and go for an alternative this year. Happy hunting!

What do you usually give to trick-or-treaters? Do you stick with candy or get creative? What’s the most creative item you have given out to kids on Halloween night?

Jessica Caldiero is am a stay at home mom of two beautiful red head girls (9 and 5). Her husband’s career in finance has had them changing locations and companies more times than they ever imagined! The blogging world has allowed her to keep in touch with friends and family no matter where their current location is.

Our first Halloween in Denver, really made me think about how we were going to continue to make Halloween as fun as it was in our last (very flat) neighborhood. Lot’s of places around us do the mall trick or treating and so on but those are pretty heavily attended by the little ones. I have tween and teen boys. We put our heads together and decided that if Carter couldn’t go trick or treating, we would bring the action to him.

And the great haunted house building was born.

I want to be real clear that our neighbors know that we are the ‘scary house’ on the street. They love it but know it can be a bit traumatic for a toddler, so we find that the parents actually like to come up to the door on their behalf. We asked why they just don’t skip us and they said, “No way! Your house is the best.”

Just a word of warning: If you are going to copy some of our ideas, warn your neighbors first.

I have just started getting the decorations going this year. Here are some pictures to give you some ideas to create your own haunted house and bring the fun to your kids if, like us, going out just isn’t an option.

Feeling brave enough to reach in for the mail?

Wonder whats under the rock...

On Halloween night, Carter wears a pirate skeleton costume and Connor goes as a very scary clown. Connor hides behind the porch and very slowly walks up on trick or treaters as they knock on our door. Carter parks himself in a dark corner by the fog machine. We have a halloween spooky sounds cd playing on outdoor speakers and he has a microphone hooked up to scream “boo” at trick or treaters as they pass by. We use glow in the dark liquid to cover all the items.

Watch out for the scary clown sneaking up on you

Legs (using pvc pipe and old clothes/shoes) are stuck under the garage door and covered in ketchup. This looks great if there has been a recent snow.

Have to pass under him to get to the door

If you want to know how to create any of the effects I talked about, leave me a comment here!

Halloween Bags

You don’t have to buy anything new! Cut down on cost and waste by using cloth or canvas bags, or even pillowcases, that you probably already have in your home. Your children can decorate them with fabric paint, markers, or even just stickers that you can take off later.  These types of bags are usually more durable and hold more goodies.

Etsy is a fabulous place to shop around for Eco-Friendly Halloween bags. Several vendors offer products made with organic cotton. Purchasing their bags benefits the environments AND helps out small businesses. I adore Etsy!

Trick or Treat

Looking for a healthy organic treat that uses little plastic and lots of biodegradable packaging? Go to your local health food store or online health store. More and more options are showing up every single year. Also, keep your eye out for Fair Trade options, to support an even better cause.

I love to support local business as much as I can. You can pick up things like root beer or apple cider in kid-size-containers from local farms or farmers’ markets.

Lastly, did you know that millions of pounds of pumpkin waste are dumped in landfills each year, but they don’t break down properly  because of a lack of oxygen. It’s much better to compost your pumpkin after Halloween. If you don’t compost, ask around and see if a family member, neighbor, or friend does. I would welcome any pumpkins to my compost bins in the backyard!

Gather some treats, download and print this special Ghost Door Hanger and you are ready to go. One side lets everyone know you have been booed, the other a fun poem and instructions about how to BOO!

You might also like this unique way to BOO with a decorated plastic pumpkin. “Am I a Cat or Jack Boo Pumpkin” makes a great way to BOO your friends.

Another idea is to make a special BOO! Cone .

If you are into paper crafts a BOO! Sign is a wonderful way to share some Halloween fun!

Let the “BOOING” begin!