Here are some last minute links that may help your Halloween celebrations go a little smoother:

• Last Minutes Halloween Costumes

• Halloween Costume Advice

• Baby’s First Halloween

• Using Face Paints Safely

• Halloween Safety Tips

• How to Prevent the Most Common Halloween ER Injuries

Week 1’s winner was Diana Maria !
Runner-up: Alessandra Jules
Runner-up: Grisleyda Milagro

Thanks to all the babies (and their parents) who participated in this weeks round.

From now until November 14 we will be accepting entries for November’s contests. November’s theme is Masquerade Month!

The contest is free so enter your babies picture today! Or just vote for your favorite. (Anyone can vote)

At the end of each preliminary week one (1) winner is chosen and will be awarded a prize package. The winners of each preliminary round (3 total), as well as two (2) runner-ups from each round are automatically entered into the Final Round. The winner of the final round is awarded the Grand Prize.

Round 1: 1st through 7th
Round 2: 8th through 14th
Round 3: 15th through 21st
Final Round: 22nd through last day of the month

Click Here for more information.

On NBC’s Today Show, there is an article and a video raising a good point about today’s Halloween costumes for little girls. They point out, and quite accurately, that if you visit costume shops nowadays, you’ll find anything from fishnet stockings and gloves, midriff shirts, off-the-shoulder tops, and other too-mature outfits. The only reason they’re offered must be that there are parents who don’t object too them, right?

I think as parents, it is our duty to protect our children’s innocents, and protect our little girls from the over-sexualization that they will encounter in every nook and cranny of this world. Be it the influence of TV/movies, magazines and celebrities to entice them to grow up just a little to quick, or costumes that take them a step toward “sexiness”. I don’t think they’re harmless. According to the Today Show article: “Studies show that the over-sexualization of girls correlates with depression and eating disorders.”

The article goes on to say “I don’t suggest your daughter dress in a potato sack for Halloween. The holiday can be a fun opportunity to try on a new identity. It’s fine for kids to dress up crazy, funny or pretty. That doesn’t mean they need to be in-your-face sexy.”

I agree. What about you?

My children love to dress up on Halloween. I think it’s a wonderful thing, but given that there are 5 of them, I need to be as creative and frugal as possible when creating costumes.

Last year was our son’s first Halloween. I admit, I went to the “big party” store in town and looked at all of the professionally done costumes and I thought–I want our son to have one of these! After all, it was his first Halloween… The price tag of the costume I picked was around $50. $50 for an infant’s costume! I decided at that moment that I needed to check out other options.

Ebay is a good place to find costumes for your children. The costumes are gently used and the prices are more affordable. I did end up buying my son’s Halloween costume there last year. My son went as Robin, and the dog went as Batman. It was too cute!

This year, we are creating a costume for my son. The dog will go as his horse, and he will be a knight. I got a pair of black pants and a black shirt for him. The Dollar Store has helmets and shields and we can make a sword from cardboard and tin foil. I have “borrowed” a pair of my husband’s socks and I am going to paint them silver with fabric paint I have in my craft box.

You may have guessed that I am not a seamstress! I might be frugal, and I am creative, but I just don’t sew very well. The truth is that there are plenty of costumes that you can create without sewing at all, or with a minimal amount of sewing.

For many costumes, you can begin with a simple sweatshirt with a hood and sweatpants. By painting black spots on a white outfit, and adding a felt tail and some felt ears, you have made a dalmatian. Use a green outfit and add some warts and felt eyes on the top of the hood and you have a frog. A black cat costume can be made from a black outfit. I am sure that you can think of other costumes to create using this basic formula.

The best part is that you can “re-use” your costume after Halloween is over because most children can always use and extra sweat shirt or pair or sweat pants! Now that’s a smart way to celebrate the season!