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Here’s Where To Donate or Sell  Your Excess Halloween Candy

 Each year, Americans spend an estimated $2.5 billion dollars on Halloween treats and every year, some parents who do not allow their kids to eat too much candy end up saving their stash for months.

An alternative to storing the candy until it comes too stale then throwing it all away is to donate some of it to the Halloween Candy Buy back program. The program was founded by dentist Chris Kammer in Wisconsin. Kammer’s office.

He used to offer $1 a pound to buy back candy collected by the young trick-or-treaters in his practice. Kammer would then donate the candy to the troops overseas who rarely get a chance to get their hands on sweet treats from back home.

The effort has expanded and this year, over 2,500 dentists and orthodontists have signed up to participate.

To find a local place to sell back your candy, simply plug in your zip code and find the local participating dentist nearby.

The collected candy get added to Operation Gratitude care packages.

Good  stuff! Sad kids but sad less hyperactive kids with less cavities!

Find a local participating dentist or orthodontist office HERE!

h/t NPR

photo: courtesy NPR, Dr. Curtis Chan of Del Mar, Cali

12 Last-Minute Halloween Costumes You Can Easily Pull Off

arathur

If you’re scrambling for a last minute Halloween costume idea, you’ve come to the right blog.  Here are 12 creative, easy-to-put together, last-minute Halloween costume ideas that you can pull off this weekend or Monday night.

steve jobs

Pull on a black turtleneck, a pair of  vanity specs from the costume store or dollar store and denim jeans. Carry your iPhone with you’re  Steve Jobs

 photo source

gallery-1477329040-sia-costume

Sia

Wear a black dress, a white blazer and pick up a Sia or Cruella de Vil wig from the costume store and a headbnd with a big bow attached and you’re Sia.

imag0326

A cane, a pair of blue pants or jeans, a red and white striped longsleeve shirt and matching beanie are all you need along with a side saddle bag to be Waldo!

wolverine-halloween-costume
A white t-shirt, denim jeans and finger less gloves. You’ll need to purchase some materials and do a little crafting to put the Wolverine‘s gloves together but you have time.- Source

donald trump

Fellahs, don a suit and pick up a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap with a red-head wig underneath and you’re Donald TrumpSource

american idol

Use this template to create the “You are Going to Hollywood” sheet and the American Idol contestant number and that’s it!- Source

tom cruise

A White shirt, long whit socks and shades are all you need to be Tom Cruise in Risky BusinessSource

gallery-1477332672-arthur-laurdiy-copy

To be Arthur the Aardvark, grab a pair of round eye glasses from the costume store or buy a cheap pair from the dollar store and punch the frames out. Put on a cropped yellow sweater under a white collar shirt with a pair of denim jeans. You can maybe find bear ears or make some yourself. 

Mary-Poppins

 A white ruffle shirt, with a black skirt, black tights, a pari of black pumps. You can get the white glove and red bow tie and belt from a costume store or thrift store. Carry an umbrella and a medicine bag if you have one, and you’re Mary Poppins – Source

ruth bader ginsburg

A black robe, specatles, doily and a costume gavel from the costume store or one you make yourself with your hair slicked back in a bun and you’re Ruth Bader GinsburgSource

hillary duff robber

To be a robber all you need is a black and white long sleeve shirt, a black mask or paint one on, and a black skull cap. Pick up a fake money bag from the costume store or make one yourself. Robbers – Source

15 Creative Family Halloween Costumes

The Addams Family - http://www.tiendeo.com

The Addams Family – http://www.tiendeo.commily 

Halloween can be a family event for those who like to dress up and head out trick-or-treating or attending costume parties. Over the years, we’ve seen our fair share of super creative family Halloween costumes.

Here are our faves! Click the image to be taken to a slideshow!

Which Halloween Candy Has the Most Sugar (INFOGRAPHIC)

halloween candy

Halloween is for candy and candy usually means sugar!

I just finished stocking up on candy to give out to Trick-or-Treaters who will be knocking on our door tomorrow. Of course, I couldn’t resist but sneak a few pieces. I have no will power over Snickers! They are my fave.

Alas, Halloween also marks the start of the season of wrecking diets and healthy eating plans.  After Halloween comes Thanksgiving and then Holiday parties and then Christmas cookies, pies, cakes and other goodies.  Oy!

It’s a good time to watch the sugar intake now, not just for yourself but also the children in your family.

Want to know which confection as the most sugar? Sugar Babies have a whopping 15 grams of sugar followed by Blow Pops which have 13 grabs of sugar. A safer bet would be a Dum Dum lollipop which has just 4 grams of sugar or a packet of Smarties which has 5 grams of sugar.

Here’s a graphic on how the most popular candies stack up against each other:

 

5 Things I had on My Pre-Baby Bucket List (And $75 Pre-Natal Product GIVEAWAY)

pre baby bucket list bellyitchblog.com happyfamily.com

After getting married  a couple years after law school, my husband and I decided to start a family, but before then, I already knew that there were things on my pre-baby bucket list I had to enjoy before taking on the challenges of parenthood. We didn’t call it a “bucket list” back then, but the concept was the same.

I was one of the first among my friends to marry and would be among the first to have kids, still I had a few other law school buddies who had children so I knew of all that was involved in child rearing.

Being the eldest of 4 children in my family, I had spent a substantial amount of my pre teens to college years babysitting, looking after my siblings or helping relatives and family friends care for cousins and other children in their family. So, I had an inkling of what was involved with child-rearing. I was well in the know that I had to get my free-spirit on before joining mommyhood.

Here is a list of things I did before jumping into the parenting pool.

traveling

1. Traveled on a moment’s notice – Back then and still today, last dirt cheap minute fares to far off places, spas and other locales came easy. Once you signed up for last minute deals emails, you could get an alert in your inbox on Thursdays, for example, purchase your ticket by Friday and be in the air after work. After children, the opportunities for such impromptu adventures are near impossible.

2. Spend Freely – Owing to number #1, most of the money you earned belong to you so you could splurge on a last minute trip, buy that expensive handbag, go out to eat twice a week because there was no other person’s college fund you needed to be saving for or some baby’s 1st birthday party you needed to use up all your rainy day fund to plan and throw.

3. Sleep in– Before kids, Sundays meant sleeping in. Saturdays wouldn’t yet involve games, practices, rehearsals, recitals, trips to the zoo, museums, and festivals. While all of those things are fun and I really enjoy cheering my children on and watching them perform or enjoy themselves at a craft fair, sleeping in and reading the Sunday paper in bed all day was a luxury too I enjoyed pre-having a family of my own.

4. Not have to clean regularly – After children, you no longer have the privilege of cleaning your home on Saturday and not have it messed up again until mid week or well into the following week before needing a new cleaning. Having a family of three or more means having more people to clean up after and less uncluttered spaces because families can be messy.

5. Take adult classes – I didn’t grow up in a family where we could afford classes, so before having kids, I enrolled myself in a host of fun classes: ballet, tennis, adult gymnastics, pottery, painting, cooking, whatever was available, I did. And again, having disposable income for myself, I could afford to!

Having enjoyed that life, I wouldn’t trade in the one I have now for anything in the world.  I am glad my husband and I had a chance to grow a little nest egg so we could buy a home for our future kids to grow up in. Today, there are more  resources, inventions, services and products available to parents that I wish I had available to me.

For example, I recently learned about Happy Mama which is the first organic baby food to expand into the prenatal category, offering Mom and Baby an easy nutrition solution throughout the First 1,000 Days, by starting as far back as the womb. How novel!

happy mama

You know like before, most of the products available aimed to give newborns, infants and babies a healthy start at birth.

But, the NEW Happy Mama® Prenatal collection is changing the trajectory of children’s health through nutrition by getting to baby before birth and making sure mom is in optimal health from the beginning of her pregnancy journey. We were gifted a generous package of the products to sample out and really enjoyed them!

The Happy Mama Prenatal collection includes a host of nourishing and healthy products including; Fruit + Veggie Blends, Probiotic Supplements and Gummies.

Another great thing about the collection is that it offers extra vitamins and nutrients that moms-to-be need like DHA, Choline, Calcium and Fiber, which they may not get from their diet or prenatal multi-vitamin alone.

When you can’t keep foods down because you’re suffering from nausea or morning sickness, these vitamins will come in pretty handy!

The Probiotic Supplement is flavor-free and easily dissolves in water – plus it’s a taste-less addition to soft foods. The supplement helps support Baby’s developing immune system. As you may know, probiotic supplements are also great for keeping one regular and are great for digestion and easing heartburn and other digestive woes that increase during pregnancy.

We’ve gone past the days of the ginormous yucky tasting pre-natal vitamins. Thank God!

Companies have gotten more inventive and are taking mom’s taste buds into account. Happy Mama’s Prenatal Gummies, for example, provide extra essential nutrition for Mama-to-be, such as Omega-3s, DHA, Choline and Vitamin D, with each bottle containing yummy gummies in three flavors: lemon, berry and orange. They are deelish! We tried them. Yummy!

Better than candy because the prenatal gummy is a supplement to your daily prenatal/multi-vitamin and it’s needed because the top prenatal vitamins on the market do not provide you with the recommended value of DHA, Choline or Vitamin D.

happy mama

The Happy Mama Prenatal collection is available at Target as part of the Made to Matter—Handpicked by Target™ product collection in the women’s health aisle, but before you buy some, you can win the line from Happy Mama here! Open to US only from Now until November 13. Many ways to enter. Daily Entry options available!

Happy Mama PreNatal Gift Certificate ($75)

For more information about Happy Family and the Happy Mama Prenatal collection visit www.happyfamilybrands.com. Also, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, too!

FTC: This giveaway is sponsored by Happy Mama Prenatal

The One Thing Parents in Large Families with Multiple Children Must Do

This post is sponsored by Coca-Cola



coca-cola bellytichblog.com

In families with multiple children of varying ages, it is easy for a child to get lost in the hustle and bustle of a busy household.

Between travel to school, after-school practices, and weekend social activities and games, there are few opportunities for each child to get one-on-one time with a parent. These are precious and essential moments that parents have to make time for.

Meanwhile, we parents are all just trying to raise good, conscientious, civic-minded children to become well-adjusted, optimistic, happy, productive, and, hopefully, successful adults.

I have three children of varying personalities, with different temperaments, tastes, and likes. My husband and I make a concerted effort to carve out moments to connect with each of our three children. It’s their special time.

They are moments without their siblings around to compete for attention. It gives us a way to access what’s going on in their personal, academic, and social lives at school, and determine where our help is needed, if at all.

coke photo 5

It has worked great for us!

The tween years are tough, but I’m discovering with my now-teenage son that the teen years are the toughest. But one-on-one time helps a lot.

For example, this year, at the end of each band performance, cross-country meet, or other event, my teen son and I celebrate the highs. It’s become a tradition.

We’ve been celebrating those days when he gets a personal-best time in cross country, and this season has been especially phenomenal because he has gotten progressively faster and has improved tremendously in four seasons of running.

new coke 2

As a treat following the meet and to cap off a great race, we chill with a refreshing cold mini can of Coca-Cola. It’s our thing and our thing only.

When you add refreshing Coca-Cola to any situation, things go from good to great. Because when you add a little delicious Coca-Cola, it all adds up to memories.

 

 

coca cola

7 Ways To Save Money On Halloween 

Bellyitch rewind 

 

Halloween is now reported to be the send most expensive holiday of the year! Even though we don’t exchange expensive gifts on Halloween, it is easy to rack up big bills on costumes and candy. The good news is that there are many easy ways to save money on Halloween expenses without compromising on the fun. 

Stephanie Nelson of www.CouponMom.com offers these 7 tips on how Halloween costumes, candy and fun:

1. Be creative. It can cost $35 to $50 for many popular children’s costumes at party stores, which adds up quickly if you have more than one child. With a little creativity, you and your children can make easy costumes with items you have around the house. You can also shop at a local thrift store to buy vintage clothing to use as costumes.

2. Research ideas on-line. My favorite costume idea resource is FamilyFun.com, which lists 100 easy and inexpensive costumes you can create at home — whether you have a few hours or only a few minutes to put an outfit together. 

3. Don’t overbuy. If you live in a neighborhood, you will most likely be buying candy to give out on Halloween night. The challenge is to avoid overbuying — who wants bags of leftover candy when the kids come home with far more than they need? If you are nervous your stash won’t last, consider buying Hershey’s Kisses or similar chocolate candy that you can use later for holiday baking. 

4. Look for coupons. You can also save money on candy and costumes by watching for store sales and coupons in the Sunday coupon circulars or in your mailbox. Find coupons in the Sunday newspaper ads throughout October. 

5. Carve a pumpkin. The easiest decoration that is also fun for kids is carving a pumpkin together. For just a few dollars, you can create a memorable annual tradition with your child and decorate your front porch or window at the same time. Save the seeds and find a recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds, as well. 

6. Get crafty. You can find plenty of inexpensive Halloween decorating projects from books in the library, local family magazines distributed free at libraries and schools. Easier projects include making ghosts to hang in the window made out of string, glue and waxed paper. Doing a project with your children will be much less expensive and far more memorable than shelling out $100 for decorations at the local party store. 

7. Save on admission. This is the time of year for pumpkin festivals, Halloween fairs, hayrides, haunted house tours and more. Many schools and churches offer free festivals and fairs as family-friendly alternatives on Halloween.Prices for these family events vary widely, from free to as much as $20 a head. Check the local event websites or the calendar section in community newspapers and magazines to find inexpensive events. 

 Be on the lookout for admission coupons in your local paper and check the web sites of Festival sponsoring organizations to find printable coupons for reduced admissions. Your local grocery store may sell discounted tickets for these events either on their Web site or at their customer service counter in the store.

Don’t Celebrate Halloween? Here are 4 Alternatives for Your Family

halloween alternatives

My children go to a religious school that doesn’t celebrate Halloween in the traditional sense. We’ll be having alternative ways to enjoy the season, paying homage to all souls that have gone on and heralding historical, liturgical or literary figures by dressing as them instead of ghosts, goblins and ghouls.

There are several families, cultures and groups that also do not partake in the season. Their children may feel left out, but there are other ways to enjoy the Autumn and Harvest time this time of the year.

Here are four ways to celebrate the season in a different way:
  1. Harvest festivals. Churches often offer harvest festivals or celebrations to shift the focus from scary costumes to the joys of fall. These festivals offer carnival games and other activities. Check out the calendar at some of the larger churches in your area. Most of the time these events offer FREE admission, with a recommended donation of a bag of candy or canned food. Noah’s Ark parties are also popular alternatives to a Halloween celebration for religious families.

2. Pumpkin patches. Pumpkin season is here. Many local farms offer their customers a chance to pick pumpkins and participate in fun activities for just the cost of the picked pumpkin. Pumpkin Patches and More.org  is a great resource for finding a local pumpkin patch.

3. Pumpkin carving party. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to throw a pumpkin-carving party. Ask all of your guests to bring a pumpkin, knife and newspaper (to collect spare pumpkin parts). Then just stock up on cheap drinks and snacks. If you’re inclined, you can also buy a bag of cheap tea-lights (you can get 20 tea-lights for $1 at the Dollar Store). Parents and children can work together to crave pumpkins. Be sure to ask guests to set aside seeds so that you can bake them in the oven for a FREE and festive snack. Allrecipes.com offers a great recipe. Once pumpkins are complete, light them up and enjoy the atmosphere while socializing and snack on fresh seeds. Don’t worry about putting together a playlist; most cable TV stations offer a seasonal music channel you can play while everyone is gathered.

4. Volunteer at a local organization. Check with our local homeless shelter or soup kitchen to see if they need any extra help the night of Halloween. Volunteering is a free way to feel great, and doing something good for another person is a great treat – with no trick.

What are you ideas for other festive alternatives to trick-or-treating?
repulished compliments Living On The Cheap

Evangeline Lilly Trending for Her Post-Birthing Baby Bikini Bod Annoyed a Few People

evangeline lilly ant-man http://bellyitchblog.com

Lost alum Evangeline Lilly was trending all day today because of an E!Online report announcing the now mom-to-2 was spotted on a beach wearing a bikini two months after giving birth to her second child in Hawaii.

Backtrack, Lilly is great about not announcing her pregnancies. It wasn’t until she was 8 months along before a wayward member of the paparazzi spotted her in Hawaii where she lives often with her longtime partner Hawaii born Norman Kali, a production assistant she met on the Lost set.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies star announced the second pregnancy by showing up this summer to the red carpet for her movie Ant-Man‘s première.  She was already 7 months pregnant.

And even now, the Canadian-born managed to avoid the press for two months after giving birth, having not released a statement about the birth of her second child at all. If it wasn’t for the papps again, we’d still not know she had the kid.  Lily and Kali are parents to 4-year old son Kahekili Kali.

The fact the news of the bikini was the reason she trended upset some in social media and the blogsphere. We’ve discussed often on Bellyitch before how pop culture and gossip media’s obsession with the post-body celebrity can be dangerous for the message it sends to current and future new moms, and to society in general.

Blogger Jenny Rapson of  Mommin It Up vented on For Every Mom today:

“I understand celebrities are newsworthy, and I am not saying a celebrity having a child isn’t news,” Rapson penned. “I am perturbed at the PRESS for making this NEWS.”

She then went on to highlight three things why this actress’ body being newsworthy upset her:

“And herein lies my issue: why is this news? Why the excitement about a beautiful mom showing some skin after having a baby? Is it because…

  • GASP! Women’s bodies are certainly ruined by children and they should never show them!
  • OH THANK GOD SHE NOW LOOKS PERFECT—AS IF SHE NEVER HAD A BABY! PRAISE JESUS SHE ESCAPED HER TERRIBLE MOM BOD FATE AND CAN
  • WALK AROUND IN PUBLIC WITHOUT PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY SCREAMING!

See, Moms? You can look hot after having a baby! You can achieve the ultimate goal of beauty in life AND be a mom, too. Now hit the gym!”

Well, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

And Rapson wasn’t the only one. Here are some of the reactions we captured of folks in social media .

 

Scott Neumyer   Bullshit  Hollywood Life  headline  I won t link...



Katie Rose    How Evangeline Lilly got her body back post baby  ...

Amanda Justice   http   hollywoodlife.com 2015 10 22 evangeline lil...

 

Word!

Eco Friday: How to have a Last-Minute Costume Swap for Halloween

costume swap bellyitchblog.com

Costume Swaps are Eco-Friendly. National Costume Swap Day was last Saturday, but honestly, it’s not too late to host a last-minute Eco-Friendly Costume Swap for next Saturday, Halloween!

Costume swaps are a fun way to save money and reduce waste for Halloween. Here is how to organize one. These are our condensed version of tips we spotted over at Green Halloween.

Secure a location. If you are hosting a small swap, you can do it in your living room or a cleaned out garage. If you live in a cul-de-sac, you can organize all of the neighbors to get  involved.  Make sure there is room to organize the costumes.  Make sure there is ample parking for those coming from farther away. Decide what you will do with leftover costumes like donate them to Goodwill or some other charity.

Promote – Put up signs in the neighborhood, announce it on the town listserv or pin up notices at central places like the public library or a local coffee house to announce the Swap.

Plan and Set Up – Collect costumes costumes in advance so those who come early can have an assortment of options to choose from

Decide how you will set up the swap. Do swappers need to leave a costume to take a costume? (one for one) Or, will your swap operate on the “leave what you can, take what you need” principle? Either way, here are two ways to organize the event:

Option #1: Prior to the swap (days or hours – depending on how many people you expect), swappers bring the costumes they want to exchange. They receive a stamp on the hand or small token (to avoid using paper tickets) for each costume to use on the day of the event. Once costume(s) is selected, the participant shows the stamp or returns the token.

Option #2: When the swap starts, everyone enters with costumes they are exchanging. Costumes are immediately placed in areas by size and swappers can make one new selection.

costume swap at library

Get some help. An event like this is something one person can take on, but why not make it a group effort? The more the merrier as long as everyone is clear on expectations. Ask friends and family, neighbors, parents at your child’s school, members of your church, etc. Let them know this is a community effort, that the purpose is to save resources (and money) and that helping to host can be F-U-N!

Gather supplies:

  • racks or tables
  • signs for racks or tables (Recycled cardboard, markers and tape)
  • hangars if you are using racks
  • trash and recycling receptacles
  • Mirrors

Other activities

You may also want to incorporate others in your event. Vendors selling (or giving away) appropriate, eco-friendlier items, or local health/green-focused organizations may host a Halloween themed activity. Show parents how to make their own face paints or roll beeswax candles.

Swap! On the day of:

  • Costumes are laid out on tables or hung on hangars according to size with the table/rack clearly marked. Renting or borrowing a clothing rack can be very helpful toward keeping costume presentation organized and appealing to “shoppers.”
  • Kids can try on costumes, but have enough “staff” available to supervise to ensure things are hung back up or laid on the right table.
  • Owners can reclaim costumes that are not swapped, or donate leftovers to shelters or GoodWill type stores.
  • Have a photographer take photos (with parent’s written permission) or shoot some video of the event (ditto on the permission), and post them here or on our FB page.
  • Green halloween

Additional ideas:

  • Ask consignment shops and thrift stores if they want to get involved.

    Have a section for accessories; mismatched pieces of costumes that creative kids can use to put original get-ups together.
  • Stage a dressing-room area. Or, you may want to encourage parents to bring kids dressed in a leotard or swim suit to avoid having to undress.
  • Ask people to bring a shopping bag. Do not provide them.
  • State that costumes should be in good to excellent condition, no significant spots, holes etc. (unless they are supposed to be there!). You should note on written materials that you have the right to reject costumes based on whatever criteria you like.
  • You can limit items that are contributed, i.e. if you won’t want masks, plastic costumes, etc.
  • Request that people behave well. There should be no pushing etc. You might want to have a “security person” on site just in case. If you are concerned about this, you can always ask people to register in advance for the swap, assign a time and allow them to enter in small groups.
  • At the end of the event, how about staging a costume parade? A business might contribute some healthy treats or treasures to give each child.
  • Have a microphone available. You might want to do an introduction and let people know why you’re doing this, reinforce any rules (i.e. good behavior), point out the rest rooms, let people know about upcoming Green Halloween events in your community, encourage use of recycling containers and encourage everyone to have fun.
  • Be sure to have plenty of people assigned to “roaming” on hand to ensure your event goes smoothly.
  • If you have food at your swap, make it healthy and avoid paper wrappings, napkins etc. and/or provide compost bins.

HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK!

photo courtesy: Lake Country Now/Scott Ash

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