Wednesday, October 23, 2013

15 Safety Tips to Keep Them Safe on Halloween

Halloween can be so much fun but it can also be so dangerous.  As parents, grandparents and guardians we need to keep our kids safe.

A few years ago a child in our neighborhood was crossing the road when she was struck by a car. She passed away that night.

I didn't get the details of the accident. But her candy was strewn across the road for days.

Such a tragedy. I mean there are no words.

When something like this happens so close to home it really freaks you out. You want to hold your sweetie tight and never let them go.



Here's a quick list of Halloween Safety Tips to refresh your memory.







Halloween Safety Tips

Gouls, Goblins and Everything In Between


  1. You should wear makeup instead of a mask so you to see everything around you while you walk house to house. 
  2. Wear reflective clothing or glow sticks - something that will allow you to be easily seen in the dark. 
  3. Make sure your costume doesn't drag on the ground to avoid tripping on it. 
  4. Wear comfortable, properly fitting shoes, even if they don’t go with your costume. You don't want you feet to hurt before you are done getting all those goodies. Plus shoes that fit properly will help prevent slips, trips and falls. 
  5. It is safer to carry flexible props. No one wants to be impaled on Halloween by a magic wand, sword or any other Halloween prop. 
  6. Wear a watch you can read in the dark so you can get home on time. You don't want to freak your parents out with worry. 
  7. Carry a flashlight so you can see where you are going. Again, you are trying to avoid a slip, trip or fall. 
  8. Walk, don’t run. 
  9. Stay in familiar neighborhoods where you may know your neighbors. 
  10. Stay on the sidewalk but if there is no sidewalk, walk on the left side of the road facing traffic. 
  11. Obey traffic signals and give vehicles the right of way. 
  12. Only go to houses that have the outside lights turned on - they are the ones that have the candy. 
  13. Stay away from pets you don’t know. Some pets will bite. 
  14. If you aren't trick-or-treating with an adult then travel in groups because there is safety in numbers. 
  15. Never enter a stranger’s home or car for a treat. Enough said.





Guardian Angels


  1. Ensure your goblin eats dinner before going out trick-or-treating. They may be less tempted to dig into their treats. 
  2. Discuss with your children what they should do in case of emergency. 
  3. Ideally, young children of any age should be accompanied by an adult. 
  4. If your children does go out on their own, be sure they 
    • wear a watch, preferably one that can be read in the dark with a set time to be home. 
    • have a cell phone in case of emergency 
    • stay with a group of friends . . . 
  5. If you buy a costume, look for one made of flame retardant material. 
  6. Although tampering is rare, tell children to bring the candy home to be inspected before eating anything. Look at the wrapping carefully and throw out anything that looks suspicious. 
  7. Make sure your yard is clear of tripping hazards such things as ladders, hoses . . . 
  8. Put you pets inside to protect them from cars and to protect a trick-or-treater from being bite. 
  9. Safe alternatives to candles in your Jack-O-Lantern include battery powered lights or even creepy coloured glow sticks. 
  10. Please refrain from handing out treats that contain peanuts or peanut butter because many children are allergic.



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Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did please feel free to share the love.

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Hold On One Minute

This post has been featured.

I am honored to have my post featured at Joyful Homemaking

This is what it says under my post picture, "My neighborhood is mobbed on Halloween, and I wish everyone would be mindful of these tips!"
To check out the other featured posts please click HERE.





Wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Maz and everyone who read my post. My post was one of the five most clicked bog posts! You made my day.




Special thanks to the Royal Canadian Mountain Police, Red Cross and Ottawa Police Department.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Whip Up This Simple Crochet Scarf


Howdy, howdy, howdy.  I am so glad that you've decided to pay me a visit. 

A couple of weeks ago I shared a post called 

Whip Up This Simple Crocheted Hat In a Couple Of Hours. You can find it HERE.


I was checking the pictures of my granddaughters wearing their hats when I thought, "would you like a scarf with that?"

And so I found my next project.



















I wasn't sure how to start the scarf. I did know that I wanted it to have the same stitch so that they would look like they belonged together.

Lucky for me, one of my granddaughters has another grandmother that crochets, who also has gifted Baby Cakes with a few crocheted items.

I took a look at one of the scarves and it hit me how simple this pattern is. 


First and second row of the scarf.

I started by making a chain that is approximately the length I chose the scarf to be. Keep in mind that you need to chain in multiples of four.

The second row starts with chaining two which counts as the first dc. 

Skip a chain.

dc in the next three chains.

Repeat skip a chain and dc three times until you get to the end.


The second row begins with four groups 3 dc in the open chain spot.

Continue the second row by making 3 dc in each open space until the end then sl st to join.

Look at the above photo to see how the third row is completed.

The last row is sc in each stitch.

Easy Peasy. All done. Next.  Two more to go.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope my instructions were clear enough.


If your interested, stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out this my other blog.

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Thanks again for visiting, and have a fantastic day. 



Smile and pass it on.




Knitting Supplies at Craftsy.com

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Halloween Vignette

Hi, I am so glad that you are here.  I want to show you a small vignette we made in honor of Halloween. 

It started with a trip to the dollar store. My daughter, Beth found this Witch Parking Only sign. The bottom line says All others will be toad. A little corny but funny never the less.


Wine Candle Holders and Painted Pumpkins

My daughter printed the bottle labels that she found on the internet. We have The Graphic Fairy to thank for arsenic label. I couldn't figure out where she found the other two labels.

We also bought the orange drippy candles at Dollarama. I don't know about you but I love the way candle wax looks when it has poured over and dripped down the sides of the candle and the holder.


Poison Labels on Wine Bottles


Oh that store can really suck you in. And before you know it, your cart is full. LOL

The last two items in our little vignette are painted pumpkins. Honey Bunny and Sweetie Pie and loads of fun painting their pumpkins.


Painted Pumpkins
Honey Bunny's pumpkin is on the left and Sweetie Pie's pumpkin is obviously on the right.


Honey Bunny thought a lot about her project and carefully placed the paint. Sweetie Pie just dove right in and slathered paint onto paint and more paint. I wasn't sure it would ever dry but it did and it looks pretty cool.




Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this post.

If your interested, stop by one or both of mEtsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out this free printable calendar.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow through one of the other social medias.




















Thanks again for visiting, and have a fantastic day.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Whip Up This Simple Crocheted Hat In a Couple Of Hours



Please Share the Love


Hi there. Welcome to my little blog.  I am so glad that you are here. 

Today I want to share one of the projects that I completed recently. I was in the mood to crochet and I wanted something quick - I wanted instant gratification - but what to do.

Then my daughter came home with a new hat for her little girl. It was cute - simple - easy - inspiration for my next project.

I was able to whip up a crocheted hat in a couple of hours. So I made three - one for each granddaughter. Well except for the granddaughter that already had a store bought hat.


Honey Bunny wanted a blue hat with a red flower.




Baby Cakes and Sweetie Pie love their new hats.



The flower was not as easy as the hat. You can see that the red flower is different than the off white flowers. It was my first attempt and looking at it now, I think I like it best.






ROW 1
·        Ch 5.
·        sl st to join forming a ring.
·        Ch 3 – counts as the first dc
·        2 dc into the ring – first set of 3 dc
·        Ch 1.
·        *3 dc Ch 1*
·        Repeat *3 dc Ch 1* 3 more times. (5 groups of 3 dc)
·        Sl st to join – end of first row
·        Sl st next 2 stitches

ROW 2
·        Ch 3 in chain 1 space - counts as the first dc
·        2 dc in same chain 1 space. (first set of 3 dc)
·        3 dc in same chain 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        *3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same chain 1 space.
·        Ch 1. *
·        Repeat * * 3 times dc.
·        Ch 1.
·        Sl st to join – end of second row (10 groups of 3 dc).
·        Sl st next 2 stitches.

ROW 3
·        Ch 3 in chain 1 space - counts as the first dc
·        2 dc in same chain 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        dc in same chain 1 space. (1st set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (1st set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same ch 1 space. (2nd set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (2nd set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same ch 1 space. (3rd set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.    
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (3rd set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same ch 1 space. (4th set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (4th set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same ch 1 space. (5th set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.    
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (4th set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        Sl st to join – end of 3rd row (15 groups of 3 dc).
·        Sl st next 2 stitches.

ROW 4
·        Ch 3 in chain 1 space - counts as the first dc
·        2 dc in same chain 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        dc in same chain 1 space. (1st set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (1st set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (2nd set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same ch 1 space. (2nd set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (3rd set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (4th set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in same ch 1 space. (3rd set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.    
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (5th set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space. (6th set of 3 dc)
·        Ch 1.
·        3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.
§  3 dc in same ch 1 space. (4th set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
§  Ch 1.
§  3 dc in next ch 1 space. (7th set of 3 dc)
§  Ch 1.
§  3 dc in next ch 1 space. (8th set of 3 dc)
§  Ch 1.
§  3 dc in next ch 1 space.
§  Ch 1.
§  3 dc in same ch 1 space. (5th set of 2 groups of 3 dc)
§  Ch 1.    
§  3 dc in next ch 1 space. (9th set of 3 dc)
§  Ch 1.
§  3 dc in next ch 1 space. (10th set of 3 dc)
§  Ch 1.
§  Sl st to join – end of 4th row (20 groups of 3 dc).
§  Sl st next 2 stitches.

ROW 5
·        Ch 3 in chain 1 space - counts as the first dc
·        2 dc in same chain 1 space.
·        Ch 1
·        *3 dc in next ch 1 space.
·        Ch 1.*
·        Repeat * * in each ch 1 space
·        Sl st to join – end of 5th row

ROW 6
·        Repeat row 5 until the hat reaches desired length

ROW 7
·        Ch 2 – counts as first sc
·        Sc into each stitch. Repeat to end. Sl st to join

ROW 8
·        Repeat row 7.
·        Tie off and weave tail into back of hat.





I'm so thrilled and honored to be featured. Thanks Carrie @ Think Tank Thursday.







Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope my instructions were clear enough.

If your interested, stop by one or both of mEtsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out this free printable calendar.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow through one of the other social medias.


















Thanks again for visiting, and have a fantastic day.

Knitting Supplies at Craftsy.com