Saturday, October 19, 2013

Countdown to Halloween 2013 - Haunted House

Today's theme for the Countdown to Halloween was haunted houses.

Sophia's edible haunted house.

The first thing we did was make breakfast using this pin from Midwest Living for inspiration.

We used brown-sugar flavored toaster pops to create the shape of each of our houses.

Each house took one full toaster pop for the house and 
part of another one for the roof.

We also used:

=> fudge-stick cookies for the chimney and door step,

Sophia placing the toaster pop on top of the 
fudge-stick cookies.

=> pretzel sticks to outline the windows or doors,

My finished house with pretzel pieces outlining a window.
The inside of the window is yellow frosting.

=> graham crackers for the door,

Olivia's finished haunted house with a
graham-cracker door.

=> frosting for the squiggles (we used toothpicks to apply the frosting),

Olivia using a toothpick to apply frosting swirls.

=> yellow and purple frosting for the windows and to attach the roof decorations to the house,

Olivia gluing the parts of her edible haunted house 
together using frosting.

=> petite Halloween candies for added interest. The original image had a ghost and bat. However, I could only find decorator pumpkin candies.

Sophia gluing one of the candy pumpkins onto
her edible haunted house.

We all enjoyed decorating the haunted houses and then eating them.

Sophia decorating the door step of her haunted house.

However, we all agreed that it was probably the least healthiest breakfast we have eaten in a long time. Perhaps tomorrow's activities will lend themselves to healthier eating.

Olivia's watercolor and cut-paper project.

Later in the day, Sophia and Olivia took a look at a pin that of a silhouette of a haunted house on a watercolor painting. It links to That Artist Woman, but the instructions and image aren't there.

At any rate, the girls did some watercolor painting to create the background image. We used a different type of paper that is suitable for watercolors, but not the higher-quality watercolor paper that we normally use.

Sophia painting the background for her scene.


The each wanted to make stars with white crayons and then paint - so the stars would show up in the night sky.

Olivia painting different colors for her scene.


It seemed like almost every pet visited us while Sophia and Olivia were painting.

The girls painting while Eenie walks around the room

 Both the dogs wanted to be in the room.

Cooper and Shadow by Sophia as she paints.

And then Shadow was curious and wanted to be right in the middle of the action. First, he sat behind Olivia and watched her paint.

Olivia peeking out behind Oliva's shoulder
to watch what she is painting.

Then he made himself very comfortable by sitting right on the table and watching the girls paint.

Shadow relaxing on the table while the girls paint.

After they finished their painting, they drew some shapes onto black construction paper - a haunted house, a tree, and a cat.

Sophia drawing her haunted house.

Then they cut out them out.

Olivia cutting out her haunted house.
Montague is resting in the background.

They glued these shapes onto the dried watercolor paintings.The silhouetted images stand out against their watercolor paintings.

Sophia's finished watercolor and paper-cut project.

Later in the afternoon, Sophia and Olivia dressed up in costumes and we went to Camp Ojiketa Regional Park where there was a Falloween event (yes, they spelled it with an  "F" and not an "H.").

Sophia dressed as a witch and 
Olivia as Cleopatra before heading out to
Camp Ojiketa Regional Park.

The event was free in exchange for a donation of a non-perishable item to the food shelf. We brought three items - one for each of us.

Sophia and Olivia near a photo-op setting.

We had not been to Camp Ojiketa before, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see this beautiful park relatively close to where we live.

Sophia and Olivia in the woods and leaf-covered path.
It was a rather chilly day...but very pretty 
with all the fall colors.

Camp Ojiketa was started in 1926 by Campfire Council of Minnesota. It was a girls, and eventually, boys and girls summer camp for many Twin Cities residents. The camp had not been in service for a number of years, so a few years ago the Campfire Council decided to put it up for sale.

A real estate investor wanted to buy it so it could be a retreat and conference center. Instead, past camp staff and alumni put together a group called the Camp Ojiketa Preservation Society.

Two of the cabins at Camp Ojiketa.

The Camp Ojiketa Preservation Society and the Chisago City worked together to preserve the historical camp, buildings, grounds and wild lands. The Trust for Public Land joined them to purchase the property so it could become a regional park.

This was the large gathering hall. 
It was so pretty with all the twinkle lights hanging from the beams.
The girls were having their hair and nails done.

Some of the cabins have been refurbished and are for rent. It may be a fun place to go camping some time next year.

So, the Falloween event had free pumpkins for all of the children and a wide variety of activities. Although it was geared to a younger age group, it was still a fun experience.

This is a touch station. 
Children could touch "witches' fingers" (pickles), eyeballs (huge olives), 
brains (cooked mixed vegetables), guts (cooked spaghetti noodles), and 
Dracula teeth (candy corn).

We enjoyed cookies, lemonade, and make-your-own trail mix.

Sophia and Olivia at the make-your-own trail mix.
These items were also labeled with funny titles.

The girls had their fingernails painted in black and green.

Olivia having her nails done.

Sophia had her hair spray-painted in two different colors.

Sophia having her hair colored.

It's a bit difficult to see in the picture since Sophia has black hair, but there's blue and pink sprayed onto her hair.

Sophia with colored hair.

We visited the child-friendly haunted house. One of the cabins was transformed into a haunted house. There were no lights on, so Olivia was nervous going in.

The cabin that was transformed into a haunted house.

As we walked through the haunted house, each room was decorated.

One of the rooms in the child-friendly haunted house.

No people jumped out and tried to scare us...it was definitely a child-friendly experience.

The highlight for us was a horse-drawn carriage ride. 

The girls in the carriage.

The interior of the carriage had two red-velvet seats. The exterior was decorated in fall foliage.

Sophia and Olivia on velvet seats. 
I think this was their favorite part of the event.

The event and carriage ride certainly were a nice way to end our haunted-house theme day.

1 comment:

Rita said...

I think the horse drawn carriage would be my favorite part, too. The girls are going to be so tickled to be able to go back and see all these posts when they are older!! :)