Printable Halloween Countdown

I've been sneaking in a lot more Halloween posts into September than usual.  Maybe it's because I know at some point next month this little baby will be born, and blogging may take a backseat for awhile.  But I hate to not get some fun Halloween content posted, so I'm getting it done now.

Click to Print

And today's printable is actually a time-sensitive one.  A simple Halloween countdown.  It is a bit last-minute, but luckily it can be printed out with the click of a button, and you'll be all ready to go for the big countdown starting tomorrow.  I love that Halloween is the very last day of the month.  That means lots of days to do fun activities, and anticipate the big day!

Let the spooky countdown begin!

DIY Recycled Toilet Paper Roll Halloween Advent Countdown

This is the other countdown that will be beginning at our house tomorrow.  A simple toilet paper roll covered in cute paper with a little treat and activity inside for each day.  My boys LOVE doing this every year, and so do I!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Free Halloween Images from PicMonkey

This is an exciting week!  October begins on Wednesday.  I'm always excited for October to begin because it means Halloween and all three of my boys' birthdays.  But this year it's extra exciting because baby boy number four will be joining us.  We're down to weeks here, and the anticipation is 

definitely building!

I've been sharing a few of my favorite FREE Halloween images from PicMonkey for the last few Mondays, and with October beginning in just a few days, it's really time to start getting all your decorations, activities, treats, etc... ready to go.  So, I have yet another fabulous spooky PicMonkey find to share today.

All these classic creepies are available for you to use for FREE over at PicMonkey.  I used them last year in my Halloween Bing post over at Or So She Says.  There are so many great ones to choose from!

If you've been here the past two Mondays, then you know the drill.  I am adding one new step, which is the screen shot you see above.  This is PicMonkey's home page (don't you love Simian?).  When you arrive at the homepage, simply click on the Edit icon at the top of the page.  Then you can choose what image or canvas you wan to edit.  I often start with a plain white canvas.  I simply save a plain white document I made in my word processing program to my desktop, and use that.

Then you'll see this toolbar appear on the left-hand side of your canvas you are editing.  Click on the apple icon in the bottom left corner.

PicMonkey has a TON of themes, but we're using the 'Trick or Treat' one for today.  Just scroll down a bit, and you'll see it.

Once you've clicked on the 'Trick or Treat' theme, you'll see lots of items appear.  We want to use some of the Overlays.  I used the 'Classic Creepies' and the 'Pumpkins'.

Here are all the free 'Classic Creepies' you can use for whatever Halloween project you might be working on.

And here are the 'Pumpkins' you can choose from.  

Once you've decided which your overlays you like, simply click on them, and they'll appear on your blank canvas.  Then you can edit as you wish, adjusting size color, position, etc...

As I mentioned, these were perfect for creating a Halloween Bingo, and I'm sure you could think of a million other ways to use them!

And just in case you missed the past two Monday's posts, here are some other great Halloween freebies PicMonkey offers.

Free Halloween Garlands

Free Bat Images

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Brownie Cookies

Well, I'm a day late, and as you can plainly see this is not an apple recipe.  My days have been a bit busy this week, so we're going in a different direction.  But please don't be disappointed!  In fact, this recipe gets more raves than the apple one I had in mind, so you're actually getting the better end of the stick!

Back in July, I shared my favorite homemade chocolate  frosting, and I mentioned it came from this brownie cookie recipe that I saw on Studio 5 a LONG time ago.  So, if you saw the frosting post, then you already have a start on this recipe.

You just need to make the batter (click here for the recipe), cook, add a half-cut marshmallow to the top, cook a few minutes more, then cool and frost.  

BTW, the frosting on the recipe link is different from the one I use (not sure why, that's where I got it in the first place).  Click here for the frosting recipe that I use.

These are absolutely AMAZING!  Just like a brownie, but in cookie form.   They do take a bit longer than a pan of brownies, but it's nice to have individual cookies when serving, I think.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Autumn Tree Printable

Just a quick post today with a fall printable to share.  My brother-in-law is getting married on Friday, and we have some family coming to town today, so it will probably be a busy week from here on out!  But hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with one last apple recipe to share for the month of September.

Click to Print

I know I keep saying this over and over lately, but I'm a complete believer in simplicity.  Even more so than I used to be.  So a lot of my printables reflect that, as you can see with today's.  A simple autumn (the name I would have used if baby four would have been a girl) tree with one single word.  Simplicity to a tee.  I love it, and hopeful you will too.  Oh, and today's printable is square instead of the majority of my 

8 x 10 printables.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Free Halloween Bat Images from PicMonkey

Last week I shared some of PicMonkey's free Halloween garlands with you, and apparently I'm not the only one who loves a free Halloween image.  So, today I thought I'd stick with that same theme, and share a few more free Halloween goodies from PicMonkey.  Today, we're talking bats.

Bats of all kinds!  There are 8 different free bat images you can use.  Some may look the same at first glance, but each one is slightly different from the other, mostly in the shape and curvature of the wings.  I love how simple these bat images are!  They're perfect for an easy Halloween garland, cupcake toppers, anything!

So, just like with the Halloween garlands last week, you'll need to click on the 'Themes' icon when you begin editing in PicMonkey.  It's the apple image in the bottom left corner of the toolbar.

When you click on the apple, you'll see a whole list of themes appear.  School U will be first, and then you'll see all of the Halloween themes directly under that.  You'll want to click on the top theme 'Vampires'.

After you've clicked on 'Vampires' you'll need to scroll down a bit to find the 'Overlays'.

When you click on the 'Bats' overlay, these bat images will appear.  The top 8 bat images are free.  The bottom 4 require you to pay the Royale fee of $4.99/ month, or $33/year. 

Here are a few Halloween Printables I've made with the bats.

Happy Halloween Printable

Trick or Treat Printable

And in case you missed last week's PicMonkey find, here are the Halloween garlands I shared.

Free Halloween Garlands from PicMonkey

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Apple Poems For Kids

I ran across some old apple poems I used when I taught first grade the other day.  They brought back some fun memories, and they looked as old as they are (about 7  years, or so).  I need to update the look of the poems, but the words are still as fun and engaging as they were back then.  They make me want to sit down with a group of first graders and do a shared reading!

In a perfect world, I've have printables for all of the poems for you, but that's not quite going to happen.  At least you can see the words, and make your own copy of each one.

Poems are such a fun way to bring in a literary element to your holiday festivities!   I have all these memorized (even from 7 years ago) and will just repeat them to my boys every now and again.  Often times in the car, or when we need a little settling down time.

If you have a copy of the poems you can do a bit of shared reading with your little ones at home.  Have them point out letters they know, or do an "I spy" game with them.  You could also count how many times the word 'apple' is used in each poem.  Just be creative.  Help your little ones fin any letter, punctuation, word, anything literary they can find is great!  And leave the poems up where your kids will see them often.  You'll be amazed with what they'll catch on to just by seeing it frequently.

This last poem can go to the tune of "Ten Little Indians" so I guess it could qualify as a song, instead of a poem.  Songs are great because they're so quick and easy to memorize and are so engaging!

Happy apple rhyming!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.