trunk or treat times two • Mid Century Mom

It took me a really long time to get on board with trunk or treats; I’m not going to lie. I think we can all agree that trick or treating on foot is slowly (and sadly) moving over into the category of “the good ole days.”

I remember going up and down the sidewalks of the neighborhood then ending up at my grandma’s house with all of my cousins to count out and sort our candy and begin the great candy swap that was about to ensue.

4 boxes of Dots for 2 Reese’s. DEAL.

While I’m on the subject… this whole “change Halloween to the last Saturday” fiasco and also the people pushing for towns to change Halloween around due to weather forecasts really have me thinking about
Halloweens growing up.

This may not be the most popular opinion…but I am in the camp of: Halloween is on Halloween. And here is why:

I get it. I have kids and I agree that it would be much more convenient to go out in 75 degree weather with clear skies over a Halloween when it’s calling for thunderstorms.

And for those on team “move Halloween to the last Saturday of Oct”—I get that too. We are full time working parents and weeknight Halloweens are a rushed experience, no doubt.

But here’s where I’m coming from—that’s life!

Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows ( Halloween 1993! I was a red M&M.), sometimes its 90 degrees and sometimes you have to ruin your costume with a pesky coat.

Such is life.

But I don’t mean that in old, Grinchy “oh that’s life and you have to suffer mwahaha” kind of way.

I just mean that things pop up in life and things come along that change your plans. You can either whine about it, or make the most of it. You often find that the outcome is a happy surprise. Better than planned!

I personally think that those few stormy or snowy Halloweens make for the best memories.

Maybe you can only stand the rain for two houses so you throw an impromptu party for all the neighbors inside – cue The Monster Mash, please.

It might have to be that one Halloween night you all sit around a table and play card games in your costumes or tell ghost stories in the candlelight or cozy up with Hocus Pocus and chili.

My bet is, you actually may look back over a lifetime of Halloweens and remember these “less than perfect” nights even above all the rest. Because you were forced to do something different, something memorable.

If nothing else, I’m okay with my kids learning the life lesson of being disappointed, but making lemonade out of life’s lemons!

I am one to talk because I am super type A and have a hard time letting plans go or accepting that something isn’t going to go as planned, but it IS something I work on.

I figure if all we do is change the date for them to make it easier…what are we teaching them about unexpected difficulties in life?

I digress…

So, as I said, Trunk or Treat isn’t necessarily my pick, but they are becoming the norm in my boys’ day so I’m trying to rock it because that’s life.

We participated in two this week and we will probably attend 2 or 3 more on Halloween! Whew!

I went all out for the trunk or treat at Sam’s school. So much so that I wasn’t feeling too inspired for my other trunk or treat (which took place first, otherwise I would have used the same stuff twice, it just wasn’t ready yet).

I still wanted to share our two outcomes in case it inspires any of you.
You’ll see the crafty version that takes some time and some hot glue and some glitter. And you’ll see the 5 minute version that turned out just fine!

The Wizard of Oz trunk or treat supplies can probably be found in your own home. Look how much of this I had lying around! You do have to spend some time putting it together, but this isn’t an expensive trunk by any means.

A large box (had on hand)
Green paint (had on hand, judging by the can it has lived in our home much longer than we have)
Green glitter ($5 ish at Walmart. Tom spilled on himself in the store, oh joy)
Yellow trash bags (had on hand)
Construction paper (had on hand)
Wooden post for sign (had leftover from my DIY shower curtain art)
Red shoes (had on hand)
Striped fabric (had on hand)
Foam or something to be the legs (had on hand)
Dowel rods or skewers (had on hand)
Green fabric (used my mom’s tree skirt, so she had on hand)
Optional: Field of poppies photo shoot wall (had on hand from sister’s wedding, lol)

I had fun with the candy options–Hershey’s kisses as “tin man hats,” a green assortment as “Emerald City Candy,” and big rainbow lollipops “courtesy of The Lollipop Guild.”

IF you desire to dress up along with the trunk, there are SO many Wizard of Oz character options that are easy to whip up.

I personally wanted my crazy boys to be the flying monkeys (because, fitting) and made their wings from painted fairy wings and hot glued feathers.

Finally, there is the trunk you can make from your own current front porch décor! I loaded up all of our pumpkins, my lanterns, and a mum as well as the green tree skirt used above and a string of battery- operated lights from the play room.

I DID add a sign that said “Welcome Great Pumpkin” because I am a sucker for all Peanuts holiday specials, but it fell flat without a few ghosts or a moon or snoopy. Oh well. We had a participating trunk!

I found so many ideas for trunk or treats that I am looking forward to doing it again! I may be coming around to the idea after all.

I hope everyone has a happy Halloween! If it rains on us, I hope we all find the silver lining!