Monster Mash

Make these spooky treats using ripe apples and festive candy. To start, help kids remove a wedge to form the mouth, then let your own little monsters assemble the creatures as they like.

What you'll need: A pumpkin, small gourd, straight pins, green and black acrylic paint, foam brush, black and white craft foam, hot-glue gun, green adhesive glitter craft foam, sharp knife, 2 bolts, stapler

Make it:

1. Cut pumpkin stem short with scissors.

2. With a knife, cut the small gourd in half to make ears. Secure ears halfway down pumpkin with straight pins.

3. Paint pumpkin with 2 coats of green paint. Allow to dry. Then paint on hair with black paint.

4. Cut out facial features from craft foam and attach using hot-glue gun.

5. Make two holes in either side of the neck and twist bolts into holes. Paint a black line for a scar. Staple over the line to create the look of stitches.

Pump up your plain trick or treat bags with these mischievous monster designs.

Make this easy wreath from a feather boa and googly eyes.

Help your little one transform a paper lunch bag into a creepy Halloween monster.

Materials:

- Brown paper lunch bag

- Acrylic craft paint

- Paintbrush

- Construction paper

- Scissors

- Glue stick

- Black marker

- Spray glaze or acrylic sealer (optional)

Instructions:

1. Paint bags whatever color you like. Stand them up and let dry. (Place soup cans inside so they don't tip over.) Add another coat and let dry again.

2. While bags are drying, cut facial features out of construction paper. You can use your imagination to make some fun eyes, mouths, and hair.

3. Cut polka dots, squares, stripes, or any other type of decoration you would like to use for your monster.

4. Fold down the top of the bag so that you don't accidentally glue your facial features too high.

5. Using your glue stick, decorate the bag with the stripes, squares, or polka dots. Be sure to cover the entire back of paper shapes with glue so none of the corners stick up.

6. Let everything dry, then apply a coat of sealer spray (optional). Let dry and fill with treats.

After your kids gulp down their afternoon juice box, recycle it to make these creepy creatures.

What you'll need: juice boxes, rice, zipper sandwich bags, tape, felt, scissors, hot glue or felt glue

Make it: Wash and rinse your juice box, and then cut open the top. Put some rice into a sandwich baggie, squeeze out the air and seal it. Put the rice bag inside the juice box to keep the box weighted and steady and reseal the top with tape. Cover and glue the felt around the sides of the box (don't cover the bottoms or it won't stand properly), and then add details like teeth, fangs, spots and stripes.

He's alive! A monster is born with a milk-jug head and shredded duds. His crazy creator, dressed in a potion-stained lab coat, shows off his invention with pride.

What you'll need: 1-gallon milk jug, scissors, primer, green and black acrylic paint, paintbrush, felt, adhesive-backed Velcro, aluminum foil, 2 bottle tops, 2 wine corks, black pants and brown long-sleeve shirt, burlap

Make It:

Head Cut off top of jug so base is 5" tall. Coat base in primer (to prevent paint from flaking off); let dry. Apply green paint; let dry. Paint bottom of base with black paint as shown.

Neck nodes Cut a 1 1/2"-wide strip of felt that measures slightly larger than child's neck. Adhere Velcro tabs to each end. Hot-glue wine cork to inside of bottle cap and cover completely in foil. Hot-glue nodes about 4" apart on felt strip.

Clothes Cut zigzags into bottom of pants and sleeves of shirt. Tie a ragged strip of burlap around child's waist as a belt.

What you'll need: Kids' lab coat, green and yellow acrylic paint, paintbrush, plastic bugs, hot-glue gun, orange pants and blue shirt, blue latex gloves, glasses

Make It: Water down paint and gently brush onto lab coat to create green and yellow spots on fabric; let dry. Hot-glue plastic bugs onto coat, as shown.

A black marker, fluorescent-green foam circles, and some double-stick tape turn trees into mysterious lawn creatures.

Mini monster cakes are super easy to make.

Create a creepy Frankenstein laboratory in your kitchen with these creative sandwich wraps. There's no need to run to the store; let the contents of your refrigerator inspire you.

Setup: Pour different colors of tempera paint into plastic containers. Thin the paint with water, stirring in one spoonful at a time until the paint reaches the consistency of heavy cream. Set out spoons, cardstock, straws cut in half, a glue stick, googly eyes, and scissors.

Project: Help your child put a few spoonfuls of different colored paint onto the cardstock. Have her blow gently through the straw to spread the paint and create monster limbs and tentacles. Let dry completely. Glue on googly eyes.

Bonus Fun: Make monsters pop by cutting them out with scissors and gluing an accordion-folded piece of paper to the back of each. Mount the monsters on another piece of paper.