Dinky Blog and News

If your little monsters are anything like ours, the build up has already started; yes we’re talking about Halloween - the Marmite of celebrations. What used to be a one day gig has become a month long orangefest, slightly in danger of overtaking Crimbo. Celebrating Halloween is actually a little strange when you think about it... “Hey kids, let’s just pop out to remember the dead and all those evil spirits lurking out there.  Wait, why are you crying Jemima?” Ok, probably best to stick to “Who wants to go out and get free sweets??”

Despite the slightly odd, ancient customs it has developed from, Halloween has become a huge event, depending on your view this may be a good or a very bad thing. Some parents embrace it with open ‘sewing kit/craft box’ filled arms, ready to whizz up little Johnny’s killer clown outfit (too soon?) The other camp (which I am fully paid up member of) dreads the month of October and the constant costume demands and make up requests that the wardrobe department of Strictly would struggle to handle.

You can’t run from Halloween though, there’s no point trying – and the kids LOVE it!!  So, here’s our 3 top tips to help you get through the month of Halloween ;-)

• 1)  Plan those costumes in advance, if you’re not an expert sewer, sweet talk granny - she may love the challenge! No crafty people in your family? Ask friends with older children if they have any in the bottom of the dressing up box, remember there are people who have been there, done this before, stayed up late gluing on eyeballs so you don’t have to. Use your contacts parents.
•  

1. 2)  Pumpkins. Don’t leave it until the 31st, you’ll just be left the uglies. Grab one a couple of days before, check it over, make sure it doesn’t wobble when you put it down. If your son or daughter has grand designs for this pumpkin, the bigger the better – it’s hard to create a masterpiece on a squash. Don’t waste money on carving kits either, grab a good old ice cream scoop and get stuck in!
2.  
3. 3)  So you’ve been out ‘Trick or Treating’, the kids have enough chocolate and sweets to stock a small newsagents and you’re exhausted. So to handle the later crowd that may come a-knockin’, leave a basket of sweets on the step with a little note saying ‘Happy Halloween - help yourself to a sweet, our little witches/zombies are fast asleep’. Blowing out the candles in your pumpkin helps too. Or just shut down the entire electrical supply to the house.

It’s easy to moan about Halloween and the work that goes into making it a happy one but we must remember that our little monsters aren’t that little for long. Before we know it, they’ll be big, hormonal monsters (and I don’t mean in the Halloween sense now either) interested only in Fright Nights and watching films that will scare the living daylights out of them. So this Halloween, don’t be scared mums and dads, you can do this – and the grown-ups’ celebrations of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner ;-)

If you want a reminder of just how little they once were, check out the gorgeous range of keepsakes that are available from the Dinky Fingerprint Company.