I took part in the blogtober challenge last year. It was an extremely busy month, but I also managed to release a lot of blog posts, which massively helped my engagement.
In October 2021, my blog was only three months old and therefore I was still in the growing phase.
The post will outline how the challenge can help you engage more with other bloggers. Therefore increasing page views and how many people view your writing.
Halloween is my favourite time of year and I secretly spend the summer waiting for a scary Halloween party and some spooky fun!
What is blogtober challenge?
Blogtober is an annual event held every October. It involves posting one blog per day, every day of the month. Because I was brand new to blogging when the blogtober challenge came up last year, I only made it part way through. However, I was proud of the progress I made.
As you can see from the archive on my website –
October 2021 is still the month in which I released the most blog posts. And I managed to release some pretty important content:
it is completely up to you whether to have a Halloween-related theme or use this month to talk about a range of subjects on your blog. You will see from the posts above, I did a bit of both. It was also Mental Health Awareness Week, which I believe is a great time to raise awareness of the issues I discuss on my blog.
How to get involved
You can get involved by searching the blogtober hashtag on Twitter. If you are part of the blogging community, get involved with fellow bloggers. You could participate in a blogging tag, and nominate other bloggers to join in. It really is a fun month and I cannot wait for it to come around again.
Before the autumn season gets into full swing, I need to admit publicly, Halloween is my fave occasion.
And I LOVE making homemade costumes for the main event…
We have storage boxes full of decorations. I’m so excited we now have a toddler who understands the occasion more, which means she can get involved.
I wish I lived in the US because I want in on the over-the-top celebrations. Everyone is out on the street, dressed up, interacting. We are a little more reserved here in the UK.
Maybe it’s because I repeatedly watched The Witches over & over at my Grandma’s house when I was little, or loved the iconic Halloween scene in ET (US friends, please tell me trick or treat night really is like this??), or because I am a little witchy myself. I just feel like this occasion was meant for me.
In my excitement for the upcoming celebrations and my participation in #Blogtober, I had to share some of the trusted Halloween outfits I’ve made myself for our Halloween parties in previous years.
Disclaimer – for each of these outfits, I bought the basics and then adapted the outfit . ‘homemade’ is a bit of a stretch, haha!
I also apologise in advance for the puns. Sorry, not sorry!
Quick note: Mummy Conquering Anxiety is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Some of the links contained on this page are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only recommend products I use myself and think would be useful for other people.
You can purchase all of the items discussed in this article using the below links:
Witch please, lets dive in…
1. Day of the dead theme
I love this theme. Having taken part in a fiesta when we holidayed in Mexico, this theme is amazing and really gets the party vibe going.
One year we went all out with fancy dress, bought face paint and all the accessories. We had matching decorations and I even did some baking to fit in with the theme. Our guests followed our lead and their costumes were also amazing.
My hubby even let me do his makeup. We had a great evening.
There is something about dressing up which makes the event more fun. I talk more about the joy of fancy dress in this blog post.
These are the best face paints. I used them in my party days, when dressing up and going out for too many hours was a weekly thing (just the thought of it now makes me tired!)
The colours are great and they never left me with a rash or bad skin afterwards.
I still have my headband in the storage box and I really want to dig it out now. If nothing else, the little one would love dressing up.
I don’t know if I want to let her loose on my precious Halloween boxes though!
I love the look of this and want to add it to my day of the dead outfit. I am currently checking out events where I can wear the outfit this year, when I should be writing for the blog, haha!
This is just one of the dresses I found, but there are so many more, depending on what you’re confident enough to wear!
I still wonder how the wedding dress ended up in the charity shop: did someone get divorced, are they still happily married, just having a clear-out. Anyway, it’s now in our storage cupboard covered in blood and black makeup.
This is an additional accessory and it will bring your outfit to life (pun intended)
I have a few more accessories below which will look great…
Do you have any homemade costume ideas? Share them with me below…
2. Zombie nurse
Every time I looked for an outfit in this category, I wasn’t impressed with the ready-to-buy outfits online and therefore I decided to buy the basics and make my own.
The tools you need to create this outfit…
You need a plain nurses outfit, then it’s time to start creating and make it your own! Adapting it for Halloween is fun…
I created my own version of this one. Think more blood, accessories, the wig above, and some creative face paint.
You can then add shoes, tights, fake glasses. Anything you want!
3. Zombie escape convict
I bought the basic outfit, covered it in blood (fun times), and added some of the accessories below.
The wig was my favourite addition to this outfit.
I also used face paints to create a scary look.
I remember this night well. I also wore red high heels and couldn’t walk by the end of the night!
See my Pinterest board for more ideas…
4. Halloween bride
Don’t judge, but I once bought an 80’s style Halloween dress from a charity shop and spent an evening, when I lived alone, cutting it up and covering it in blood.
It was probably a result of all the pent-up man-hating, because I stupidly tolerated players back in the day! haha!
I still wonder how the wedding dress ended up in the charity shop: did someone get divorced, are they still happily married, just having a clear-out. Anyway, it’s now in our storage cupboard covered in blood and black makeup.
The tools you need to create this outfit…
As well as shredding most of the material on the dress, I also pinned the front up and added tights, to give the full Halloween look.
I used fake blood and black face paint to create a dirty, disheveled effect. Think nightmare-zombie bride. Wedding gone horribly wrong!
These are the tools you need…
I was ambitious with this outfit and made it for the Rocky Horror picture show. When we went out in Liverpool straight after the show, I don’t think people understood the concept. It was a great outfit, but I could have chosen a better audience for it. Maybe I will dig it out and find somewhere to wear it again… Hmm
What do you think?
There are so many other outfits you can create. This article is helpful. Cosmopolitan also has a great article on easy-to-make outfits.
From a purely cost-saving perspective, I love buying the basics and adding my own touch to the finished product. I want to make something unique, that nobody else will be wearing.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. For anyone who is really interested in all things spooky and wants a quick stop tour of the history of Halloween. Here it is.
Witching you a Happy Halloween
From your ghostest with the mostest. If you’re such a haunt mess with your outfit ideas for Halloween, I hope this article has given you some ideas for total squad ghouls dressing up vibes.
I will stop with the puns now…
Please comment below if you liked these ideas or you have any others to share. I would love to hear from you.
You can use the search below to find other products for your Halloween outfit…
Also check out the amazing Halloween section at Wilko…
I know everyone is talking about Christmas, but I’m not ready to let go of Halloween just yet. Can we keep talking about Halloween?
One last look back at the fun we had before I put the decorations away until next year.
I had big ambitions for Halloween this year. As part of the blogging community, I loved the build-up of autumn-related content and the excitement of the impending spooky season.
But parenting wears you down. I no longer have the energy to preplan Halloween parties and make Halloween-themed food. I wish I did. Maybe next year…
Quick note: Mummy Conquering Anxiety is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Some of the links contained on this page are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only recommend products I use myself and think would be useful for other people.
Despite the lack of proper planning or big extravagant celebrations, we did have a lovely family celebration, and to be honest, I loved it more than the big parties. Maybe it’s just our life now. With a toddler running around, there are only limited activities available and she is still a little young to fully participate in everything Halloween has to offer.
A look back at our pumpkin adventure and Halloween activities
Pumpkin picking then decorations
As with everything in parenting, Halloween was a fun last-minute celebration for us.
Following an afternoon of pumpkin picking, we were truly in the Halloween spirit and very excited to carve our pumpkins.
A visit from my family made us even more excited.
Our celebrations were then completely unplanned. We proceeded to get the Halloween decorations out of storage and our little one loved rooting through them.
We put Halloween songs on Alexa, danced around, tried on outfits. We put a few decorations up and then of course we had to watch Ghostbusters. And introduce our little one to the Slimer Teddy we’ve had for years.
It was a fun night.
Our usual fun night outwith family
The following night was spent with my parents. After a few drinks, our little girl dressed in her Halloween outfit with Tutu. We had a walk to the shop to fill her bucket with treats. And then an impromptu meal out, all celebrating together.
A wonderful evening.
HALLOWEEN!!
Sunday was a chilled day, in the afternoon we carved our pumpkins.
My hubby did a fab job and we let our little deocrate the smaller ones. This year we managed to pick up some small quirky ones. I’ve honestly never seen any pumpkins like this before and they add to the decoration in the living room.
Final thoughts
Can we all just agree to treat Halloween like Christmas from now on please? Leave our decorations up, talk about the aftermath, and don’t be so eager to get to Christmas yet. Thank you in advance.
Let me know how you celebrated Halloween in the comments below. Let’s keep the spooky season alive for another, final moment.
If you’re following my blog, you’ll know Halloween is my favourite occasion of the year.
Unfortunately, I was a bit last minute booking a pumpkin picking event this year. However, I was happy with every aspect of the place we visited. And of course, I had to share my thoughts with all of you lovely readers.
Cue me dramatically demonstrating what would happen with a toy tractor on the morning of pumpkin picking. Yes, a very animated portrayal of exactly where in the trailer we would sit. Hehe.
Read on to find out where we booked for 2021 and my thoughts on the event…
PLEASE NOTE – This review is solely based on a day out with my family and all views and opinions are my own. Photos were also taken by me.
Booking online
What sold me on booking this pumpkin picking event was the tractor ride to the pumpkin field. I knew our little one would love it. Cue me dramatically demonstrating what would happen with a toy tractor on the morning of pumpkin picking. Yes, a very animated portrayal of exactly where in the trailer we would sit. Hehe.
Another huge selling point was the great value for money. The price for an adult ticket was £2.00 and you didn’t need to pay for young children.
When we arrived, the car park was signposted and there were marshalls telling us where to park and how to get on the tractor.
The tractor ride was from one field, over a main road to the adjacent field. But honestly, my little one loved it and it was a great addition to our trip out.
Every single staff member we met on the day was helpful and friendly and they made the whole experience a lovely outing.
Arriving in the pumpkin field
Upon leaving the tractor, someone gave us a talk on directions around the pumpkin field. We were also given useful information on which types of pumpkins you could use for cooking. What impressed me was they had grown their pumpkins. Some of the events we’ve visited in the past have clearly bought them in and placed them in a field.
Wheelbarrows were parked up ready for us to collect. At other pumpkin fields, we’ve had to stand in a queue and pay for a wheelbarrow. Not really what you want with an eager toddler who is raring to go. This was a great system. It made it easy for parents to manage unruly toddlers.
There was a one-way system around three fields, with an astroturf walkway all the way around. Helpful if you don’t want to get muddy. Luckily we were dressed for the muddy fields because the places we’ve visited before were a bit like a mud bath.
As you can see from the pictures, the decorations around the pumpkin fields were great and there were a lot of opportunities to take photos. The sun blessed us with its presence and it made our photos even better. I was also impressed with the open space. You could go off on your own and take pictures without anyone else in them.
Amazing memories.
Paying and leaving the pumpkin field
We collected our pumpkins. The wheelbarrow was particularly useful for housing our little one when we wanted to get moving. The prices were great and we got a lot of lovely pumpkins for our money. £13.50 for the collection you see here.
Upon paying we were directed to a staff member handing out bin liners. We were given a generous pile and were easily able to transport our haul.
Back onto the tractor and to the car park. Of course, my little one had to stop to go full Peppa Pig mode and jump in the puddle. As she was fully suited, with wellies on we let her have some fun.
Facilities availible on the day
Although we didn’t use the facilities, there was a large gazebo, a snack van serving drinks, face painting tents, and toilets (the portaloos were very clean).
There was ample parking, plenty of signs directing you where to go and clear instructions.
The whole process was easy and it’s exactly what you need when you have children to entertain.
Final thoughts
All things considered, this is now my favourite farm for pumpkin picking and we will be booking next year.
Until next year, fellow Halloween lovers.
Let me know in the comments below whether you went pumpkin picking this year. Where did you visit?
What other celebrations did you have for Halloween?
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