This post has been sponsored by ©2017 Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I’m all about a holiday, a theme or an event! And I’ll take any chance I can get to extend the fun and start the party early. This Halloween, we are celebrating for five full days before the spooky festivities with a DIY pumpkin-themed countdown activity filled with our favorite Mars and Wrigley candies. Sweet!
Based off the classic “Five Little Pumpkins” Halloween tale, we’re counting down the days until the spookiest and sweetest evening of the year. Each DIY pumpkin bag is filled with favorite sweets and treats like Snickers, Twix, M&M’s, Skittles and more, and they’re adorned with a leaf-shaped tag and quote from one of the five pumpkins.
This DIY countdown project is perfect for busy parents because it’s super simple but still incredibly cute. Start by painting five small paper bags orange and two paper bags green (or you can buy orange bags here). On a beautiful fall day, you can even enlist the littles to help out with the painting! Project Tip: Thoroughly dip your paintbrush into water to help the paint spread in a thinner layer that will dry surprisingly fast.
Next up, head to your local Kroger and hit their festive seasonal aisle where you’ll be greeted with an abundance of candy and Halloween decor. They even sell children’s Halloween books! When it comes to candy, the choices can be quite overwhelming, but each year we end up purchasing the classics—they please every time!
Choosing candy that everyone will love is easy with the variety bags from Mars and Wrigley. We chose some chocolate packs with M&M’s, Snickers, 3 Musketeers and Twix, and we balanced the milky decadence with fruity candy favorites like Skittles, Starbursts and Life Saver Gummies.
To create a robust faux pumpkin, fill each bag with a variety of chocolate and fruity candies. Simply twist the top of the paper bag to create the pumpkin’s stem, which will keep the sugary surprise safe until its special day to unwrap.
These leaf tags were made by cutting simple leaf shapes out of green painted paper bags. They are affixed to the pumpkins with a quick dab of glue or strip of double-sided tape. Simple!
Line up the little guys in countdown formation, and you’re ready to set the stage for the anticipation of another family-fun Halloween holiday!
I love the idea of creating a themed table in the house that routinely hosts celebratory decor. This month’s table is all about our DIY festive Halloween pumpkin countdown. A chalkboard is a must-have to change up the look and set the stage for your celebration.
Give the kiddos a hint as to what’s inside each pumpkin bag by incorporating more candy into the decor. I love any excuse to create a homemade garland and this DIY string of candy was super easy.
Create your own candy garland by lining individually wrapped candies and chocolates onto clear cling wrap. I especially love how the Starbursts and LifeSavers stand out against the chalkboard and the gold and silver wrappers of the Twix and 3 Musketeers shine through beautifully! Fold the wrap to create a tube, then tie strings and bows between each tasty treat to create a cute candy look!
There you have it! A tasty Halloween countdown activity that is both memorable and simple. Plus, we can’t deny that it’s pretty awesome to whet your Halloween appetite for chocolate and candy a little bit earlier than usual.
By selecting the Mars and Wrigley variety bags, we made sure that everyone in our family was happy by getting all of our favorites. Plus, I love the cost-saving bags available at Kroger (find a Kroger near you here).
Take on the Halloween holiday a bit early this year and have fun with your own DIY Five Little Pumpkins countdown. We’re pretty sure this will be a tradition that we’ll see again each and every year in our house.
Now through October 21, 2017 you can load your Kroger card with a $1 off Snickers, Twix, M&M’s, Milky Way, or 3 Musketeers Fun Size Bag. Coupon valid through October 28, 2017.
This post has been sponsored by ©2017 Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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