Mommy's Bundle

18+ Halloween Costumes for Pregnant Moms: From First Trimester to the Last

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 02:42:33 +0000

Finding the perfect Halloween costume when you’re pregnant can be quite the endeavor, depending on how far along you are.

Early on in pregnancy, you don’t always want to spill the beans too soon; and then when you are pushing 8-9 months it can be quite the challenge to fit into anything. This is where a little creativity goes a long way!

Today, I’m sharing some of the best and most creative pregnant Halloween costumes mom-to-be can rock, regardless of the trimester!

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Costume Ideas for the First Trimester

As I mentioned, celebrating Halloween while in your first trimester of pregnancy can be tricky. You’re newly pregnant and going through some of the toughest moments but your baby bump isn’t quite that noticeable. Some women may want to shout in from the rooftops, while others may want to wait a bit before sharing the news with the whole world.

In my experience, most women don’t want to announce their pregnancy until they know for sure it is a viable pregnancy and everything is looking good in terms of pregnancy progression and development. This usually is around the third or fourth month.

So if you’re belly hasn’t quite “popped” yet, and you are ready to share the news in a fun and clever way, the easiest route to make it obvious is to go with Halloween pregnancy t-shirts. They ensure no one is questioning whether that’s a beer belly or a baby bump!

Check out some of my favorite ideas, including funny pregnant costumes and cute Halloween costume ideas!

If you’re feeling a little extra creative and want to add a few accessories to those t-shirts to really customize your look, here are some additional ideas:

Get the Thing 1, Thing 2 t-shirt and add a blue wig tutu and accessories.
Go as a team: your partner can dress the technician role, while mom-to-be dresses the part with this X-Ray Skeleton mom and baby t-shirt.
Keep it simple with the Bun in the Oven t-shirt that says it all.
Go the classic route with this adorable Pumpkin Pregnancy T-Shirt – you can add a little accessory to dress it up too.
Tell the world who’s a mommy-to-be with this cute Mummy to Be T-Shirt.

Costume Ideas for the Second & Third Trimester

Once you’re belly has officially “popped” and there’s no question about it, work that bump into your costume any way you choose.

These creative DIY costumes will keep all eyes on that bump!

Grab some pompoms and make yourself into a Gum Ball Machine!

Layer a few pieces and add accessories to create this adorable Monster’s Inc bump.

If you know someone with the skills, have them Paint a Pumpkin or a Basketball on your belly!

Superhero fan (who’s not?!)? Show everyone the awesome Wonder Woman you are with this adorable WonderBaby costume!

Have your partner join you with a bowling ball theme, ball and pin costume.

Want to take it up a notch? Do something a little different and make it an ET style bump or try this Prego sauce pregnancy costume – quite the way to share the news!

Get super creative with either of these adorable avocado costumes: Avocado Pregnancy Costume and Avocado Belly Costume

Looking to keep it creative, yet still easy enough to do?

Wear black and make that bump into a Magic 8 Ball.
Grab some paper and show off you’re a Mummy-to-be.
Grab a green t-shirt and turn it into your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

Enjoyed this post? Share it with an expectant mom by pinning this image:

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Ana @ Mommy's Bundle

Ana, a mom to three rambunctious little boys, has supported hundreds of thousands of women throughout their pregnancy and motherhood journey since 2012 as a blogger and maternal health advocate at MommysBundle.com.

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Candy Decorated Pumpkins: A Fun No-Carve Option for Kids

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 19:51:18 +0000

If you dread carving pumpkins with little kids, fear not! Non-carving alternatives are becoming more and more popular for Halloween…especially when you have toddlers in the home.

One of our favorite ways to decorate pumpkins is of course with candy! Because with Halloween creeping up, there’s bound to be a stash of candy lying around the house.

So instead of munching on all those goodies, use them as your main tool to decorate with. All you need is a few chocolates or sweets and your creativity!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Tips for decorating pumpkins with kids

First, you’ll want to be sure to have a good variety of small pumpkin sizes. Keep this in mind when pumpkin picking, because oftentimes we pick out the biggest, plump pumpkin to leave outdoors, but forget how unpractical they are for little ones.

Once you have 2 or 3 kid-size pumpkins to work with, set up a space for your activity.

A table or setting low to the ground is best so the kids can work comfortably.

You’ll also need a few good pieces of candy to decorate with. Think about how you can use each candy creatively.

Dum-dum lollipops
Gummy worms
Candy corn
Spice or gum drops

All make great options to work with.

Next, grab some kitchen utensils that will help you poke small holes into the pumpkin. An adult should supervise here. Grab some kabobs and toothpicks.

You can also melt some chocolate and use as adhesive.

How to decorate your pumpkin with candy

Show your child all the fun ways they can decorate a pumpkin. I started with lollipops for the eyeballs, then embellished them with candy corn as lashes layered with some candy worms.

Using toothpicks and gum drops I demonstrated how to make a mouth.

The kids quickly followed suite, practicing their fine motor skills as they inserted toothpicks into the candy.

They had so much fun making their own “monster pumpkin”.

Note: We made sure to display these very close to Halloween as the candy wouldn’t last long on a pumpkin outdoors. So as with most things toddler-made, it’s more about the creative process then final result!

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18 Cute Homemade Halloween Costumes for Toddlers

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 04:35:59 +0000

When you’re looking to make Halloween costumes extra special for kids, nothing’s better than going the DIY route. There’s just so much room for creativity — it’s hard not to love each and every homemade costume you spot amongst trick-or-treaters!

Of course, this is even more so during those first few years: those super cute baby costumes and toddler costumes just melt our hearts.

And because Halloween will be here before we know it, I’ve dug up some of the cutest and most creative Halloween costumes for toddlers around the web. These creative costumes are actually quite easy to make as long as you have one of these handy – certainly helps in a pinch!!

Related: 25 Adorable Baby Costumes

Click on the links below to gather some great ideas, your kids will surely love.

1. Frankenstein DIY Costume

2.Cookie Monster Costume

3. Where the Wild Things Are Costume

4. DIY Pooh & Tigger Costumes

5. Black Cat Tutu Costume

6. DIY Minion Costume

7. Viking Costume

8. DIY Batgirl Costume

9. Buzz Lightyear Costume

10. DIY Elmo Costume

11. DIY Bee Antennae Costume

12. DIY Bird Halloween Costume

13. DIY Olaf Costume

14. Pirate Costumes

15. Super Girl Costume

16. DIY King Costume

17. DIY Scarecrow Costume

18. DIY Bat Costume

So many cute ideas, it’s hard to go wrong! Do you have a favorite?

If you want to boomark these ideas to check out later, click on the image below and save to Pinterest!

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25 Adorable Costumes for Baby’s First Halloween

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 04:23:32 +0000

First holidays with a baby are filled with photos your family will look back at for years. Halloween is a great time to capture fun memories and go all out when it comes to cute baby costumes. Your child might still be a little too young to enjoy all the candy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t participate in the magic…especially when it comes to dressing up during their very first Halloween!

Looking for the best baby costume? It’s pretty hard to go wrong. Whether store-bought or a homemade costume, your bundle of joy is sure to look cute in whatever he or she is dressed as. But I have to admit, going for some of these ready-to-go costumes not only saves you that much more time from the hectic new mom routine, but they are also so ridiculously exaggerated that you can’t help but light up.

Below you will find 25 of the cutest, most adorable Halloween costumes for babies available online. Plus, if you sign up for Amazon Prime you can get these shipped to you in 2 days for free!!

Can you say awesome last-minute costume ideas?!!

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The Most Adorable Halloween Costumes for Babies

So whether you’re planning to stay at home and hand out candy or take your little one out to trick-or-treat, we’ve gathered some super adorable baby Halloween costumes for you!

Everything from roaring lion and tiger costumes to little baby bat and pumpkin costumes, these cute baby costumes won’t disappoint. These obviously work well as a standalone costume or can be incorporated into a family-theme costume for even more fun!

[Click below to read all the details and see prices!]

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Have a favorite? Between the Viking and lobster costume, I can’t make up my mind…but don’t wait too long! I’ve done that in the past and found prices to skyrocket closer to Halloween. You can choose one that doubles as a pretend play dress-up costume or share the baby costume with other family members to borrow down the road. Just too cute to pass up when it comes to baby!

This was the lion costume my 6-month-old dressed as during his first Halloween which was a little more than I wanted to pay, but a major hit in the cutest costume category! (A good quality costume to save and keep as a hand-me-down!).

And don’t forget to snap a photo of this baby milestone to add it to the memory books!

If you’re looking for an easy way to record baby’s first Halloween, you can download our FREE printable sign below. –>

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FrankenSmoothie: A Kid-Friendly Green Smoothie

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 01:57:22 +0000

Like many preschool-age children, my three and four-year-old boys are quite the picky eaters.

Yes, my kids are the ones handpicking each and every little pea I cleverly try to camouflage into their favorite tortellini and pesto dish and will even discover the tiny hints of banana I try to sneak into a banana bread dessert. Sigh. Wish they were this dedicated when it came to finding their missing shoes during the morning rush.

To say that I need some new tricks up my sleeve is an understatement. Because okay, maybe even I don’t eat all my veggies, but the sweet, tropicial FRUITS?? How can you not eat those??

These days I’ve learned to get a little more creative when it comes to getting them to respond positively to healthy food. Because really, you have to make eating food fun and games to survive with little ones!

With our oldest going through an all-things Frankenstein stage (check out his awesome Halloween costume), I decided a Frankenstein smoothie + my delicious green smoothie recipe would be just what our boys needed to up their health…especially with the dreaded cold and flu season being upon us!

Our Frankensmoothie was thus born!!!

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Frankensmoothie Green Recipe

This easy recipe we’ve made before at Christmas (check out the easy mocktail smoothie here), requires just a few essentials:

2 cups frozen mangos
1 cup frozen pineapples
1 banana
1-2 cup of spinach
2 cups of orange juice
Sprinkles
Add a fun glass and marker to decorate

Once your ingredients are ready, combine in a blender and grind. Liquify to your liking — I like to make sure it isn’t too chunky, yet still retains that “smoothie” texture so my kids think of it more like a water ice.

Then we simply focus on presentation: dress up that cup to make the concoction irresistible.

I went with inexpensive glasses like these that I wouldn’t mind drawing on — you can use a permanent marker or dry-erase one that really gets it done (while also giving you a chance to redo for next week!)

To make the smoothie even more appealing to kids, I dipped the glass rims in organic honey and added chocolate sprinkles for Frankenstein’s “hair”.

Then serve with a straw (every time I add a straw to a drink, my kids are 10x more likely to drink it!)…seriously who knew all it would take is a straw!

My kids were in AWE of this little Frankenstein creation when they laid eyes on it.

But best of all??

They actually LOVED the green smoothie!!! It was a big hit, and MY personal all-time favorite green smoothie recipe to date. This one’s sure to please and make it a little easier to get those nutrient fills!

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Easy Handprint Spider Craft for Halloween

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 03:16:50 +0000

If there’s one thing my boys can’t get enough of, it’s playing outside and getting dirty — with all types of bugs under the sun: everything from worms and slugs to ants and spiders!

Spiders, especially have been of particular interest these days…as more and more of them seem to pop up around the corner.

The boys first became fascinated with them after reading the Itsy Bitsy Spider of course and then learning a bit more factual details from National Geographic Kids books.

And with Halloween season approaching, I knew it was time for an easy Halloween craft involving spiders. This time we opted for a handprint craft since my 2 year-old can never get enough of those!

This post may contain affiliate links.

To make this toddler craft, you’ll only need a few supplies: black washable paint (or whatever color spider your kid wants) and some googly eyes (we had these neon green edible eyes handy, so went with those for an even cooler effect).

Paint your child’s hand black with a brush – these foam rollers work well for spreading evenly — and place it on your paper. Then you can use the same hand to create the other half of the spider’s body — just overlap the palm part. My little guy moved a bit when placing his hands, but still same cute effect :). (You can paint on a spider web before hand for even more fun.)

We decided to add in a special message like “I love you so much, it’s scary!” If you want to make this easy Halloween craft even easier, use the free printable template that includes the spider web and message.

Download our printable here for easy crafting.

Such a fun and easy spider craft for toddlers and preschoolers to make this Fall!

More Halloween posts:

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle

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DIY Frankenstein Halloween Costume for Kids

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 04:00:43 +0000

Stiff body, arms reaching straight out, head held high.

I watched my toddler carefully, as he pretended to be the scary Frankenstein he was so fond of ever since he spotted an old Halloween prop in his grandparent’s garage.

That Halloween, he had changed his mind about 10 times when contemplating what he wanted to dress up as. Yes, kids will do this to you…even after you’ve purchased a costume or two.

But after this impressive reenactment (which he picked up on from marathon-watching Alvin & the Chipmunks Movie featuring Frankenstein) I knew Frankenstein was the perfect Halloween costume for my toddler!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Last year with Halloween only a few days away, it called for a little creativity. I wasn’t going to find anything in time so yes, I had to use whatever was lying around the house to make my toddler a Frankenstein costume.

Here’s how we created our homemade Frankenstein Halloween costume:

Materials

Small box
Green & black paint (acrylic paint like this works best!)
Paint brush
Milk caps
Green t-shirt
Dress jacket

Instructions

The first step is to find a small box that will serve as the Frankenstein headpiece. I was lucky to have just the perfect size box — I made sure I measured around my son’s head first to get the approximate length, width and depth and then compared that to the boxes available. You want something a little larger in width than a milk carton.

Once you have your box, cut one end so that it covers the back of your child’s head, but sits right at his eyebrows.

Gather your paints and go at it, starting with a bright (or even florescent) green acrylic paint color. You may have to do several layers to cover up any markings.

Allow the paint to dry for a few hours (ideally you’d let it dry overnight) but if you’re really pressed for time 2 hours should be enough.

Then you can go ahead and add eyebrows and a scar with the black paint. You don’t have to be super talented to do this — trust me, I just googled an image of Frankenstein and worked from there.

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures, but we added bolts to our headpiece after it was painted. We used milk carton caps (the ones you find on the half-gallon milk containers) and hot-glued them on to complete the monster — but I just realized these water bottle caps would have worked even better!

For the body, we went with an oversized suit-jacket– a little too big for my then 3 year-old — but perfect for a real Frankenstein body where the shoulder pads came in handy!

We purchased an oversized bright green shirt that was on clearance. If you buy one like this (which your child will actually wear all the time) you can simply wear it backwards with the full costume.

The Frankenstein costume was such a hit — not only did we get comments from trick-or-treaters impressed by the creativity going the homemade route, but most importantly, our toddler loved it! He was beaming every time he got to show-off the costume.

So glad “I created a monster!!” (A cute one, anyhow ;)!)

If your child is like mine and in the process of changing his Halloween costume, our version makes for an easy backup costume. If you still have time, be sure to check out the cute Frankenstein kid’s costumes below for purchase!

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle

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13 Not-So-Spooky Halloween Treats for Kids

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 02:06:01 +0000

I love a creative, colorful (and spooktacular) Halloween goody like anyone planning a festive Halloween party. But when it comes to toddlers, every parent would prefer something a little more kid-friendly…because, no one wants a 2 year-old running to their bedroom in the middle of the night thinking about a chocolate vampire cupcake eyeing him all evening.

So I’ve been looking for ways to make Halloween a little less spooky for my toddler. I loved searching out kid-friendly Halloween movies a few weeks ago, and now just want to let the kids munch away on all those yummy Halloween treats I’ve been discovering…as long as they don’t look too scary!

On my hunt for treats, I was looking to avoid the the gory or morbid-looking ones…despite how delicious they might have been. I was thrilled to find that there actually are a TON of not-so-spooky Halloween treats for the little ones to enjoy.

Here are a few of my kid-friendly favorites that make PERFECT snacks or desserts for a kiddie party!

Frankenstein Smoothie [pictured]

Witch Oreo Pops

Apple Monster Mouths [pictured]

Spider donuts

Not-so-spooky Owl Cupcakes [image]

Monster Candy Cupcakes

Ghost Brownies

Friendly-Ghost Pudding Cups [image]

Monster Milk

Halloween Popcorn Balls [image]

Monster Munch Recipe

Spider web cookies [image]

Ghost and pumpkin pretzels

So many options to keep the little ones happy! Which is your favorite treat?

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle

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Easy Last-Minute Halloween Party Treats

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 05:26:18 +0000

These yummy marshmallow brownies will make easy last-minute dessert ideas for a Halloween party.

Marshmallow Ghost Brownie Halloween Treats

As you might have noticed from some of my recent blog posts, I’ve been really excited for Halloween this year. Everything from kid-friendly movies and crafts to the delicious goodies! I’ve just been on a roll, sort of.

But I’ve also been so busy at home, that I started thinking about other busy moms looking for some quick Halloween treats to make when there’s no time to run to the store.

I got some inspiration online and decided to make some easy “Ghost Brownies” sure to please the whole family. These would also be perfect for last-minute additions to a Halloween party.

Ingredients

Chewy Fudge Brownies
Vanilla Frosting
Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
Green Food Coloring (optional)
Candy (m&ms, worms) (optional)

Here’s what I did:

I baked brownies according to box directions (I used Duncan Hines Chewy Brownies) and set on aside to cool.

Once cool I cut into squares and topped with a jet-puffed marshmallow.

I then took 3 tablespoons of frosting and microwaved for 30 seconds. To make monster or frankenstein brownies simply add a few drops of food coloring to the frosting before microwaving.

Slowly drizzle the frosting over the marshmallow and brownie.

Use candy to decorate!

I loved that creating the ghost brownies wasn’t too time consuming and only involved 3-4 ingredients!

I was even a little inspired to make an alien/monster brownie with the food coloring I had handy.

So easy, and so much fun to make! Enjoy!

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle

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Halloween Frosty Treats & Party Favors

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 04:16:34 +0000

Inside: Get creative this Halloween and treat your party guests and trick-or-treaters with this bat party favor filled with your favorite goodies, candies or coupon books!

I’ve always been a fan of Wendy’s®. Those crispy chicken nuggets. Those fresh cut potato fries. And that yummy little frosty! It just always hit the spot when it came to a quick and satisfying on-the-go lunch option.

Every year, I look forward to picking up their Halloween Jr. Frosty coupon book — not only to hand out to trick-or-treaters but also as a way to help support a great cause: the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®. The statistics are staggering, as there are more than 100,000 children in foster care awaiting adoption.

But thanks to Wendy’s® consumers and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®, 4,000+ children have found adoptive families! The charities primary goal is to help every child in foster care find a loving, permanent family.

As founder Dave Thomas said, “These children are not someone else’s responsibility. They are our responsibility.”

To support the cause this year, I decided to turn the coupon books I purchased, into Halloween party favors. I thought this would be a great addition to anyone hosting a little gathering and make for a fun and easy treats for trick-or-treaters too with a simple cup + cover set!

Materials:

Plastic cups
Black construction paper
Googly Eyes
Candy
Glue
Scissors
10 Jr. Frosty Coupons

Instructions

After detaching each coupon, I used some black construction paper to freely draw bat wings. I cut these out and glued to the back of a plastic cup.

I added some googly eyes and stuffed with candy to complete the favor.

So simple and cute! Your guest will love them!

Note: For trick-or-treaters, simply wrap the cups in a clear plastic bag before gluing on the wings

Visit your local Wendy’s® to purchase a Jr. Frosty Halloween Coupon Book* for $1, which benefits the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®!

*Coupon book may contain coupons for 5 or 10 free Jr. Frosty treats. Prices and participation may vary. Ninety cents to every $1 coupon booklet sold between 9/15/14 and 10/31/14 will benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®. Coupons valid from 11/1/14 through 2/1/15. ©2014 Oldemark LLC.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Ana @ Mommy's Bundle

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