Do you hate voting contests?

I actually do hate voting contests and for some reason I entered my sons costume for the Dollar Tree Homemade Costume Contest. Top prize wins like $500, which I'm not trying to win cause I'm not going to drive everyone crazy and myself.

I would like to win one of 50- $20 prizes. So if you have a chance and would like to help me out click vote button for my little John Deere Guy and his tractor. You can vote daily but, we appreciate just one vote. Pretty cool they award so many prizes.

PennySaverUSA.com Co$tume Bash for Cash contest

The Co$tume Bash for Cash contest in which two people will win up to $300 for submitting the best Halloween costume photo in two categories (Ghastly Grown-Ups and Little Monsters) http://www.pennysaverusa.com/online-contests/usa/index.html PennySaverUSA.com new FREE mobile garage sale app MOGASA.

Disclosure: just sharing, now I'm off to enter:)

Halloween 2011

We have hyper sugared up kids, do you? I feel like I have a hangover..
This weekend at the community Halloween Party my sons had a blast. My 4yr old son stood on the stage and sung ABC's in front of everyone there. He's not shy a bit. Got a cake on my first walk at the cake walk. School Costume Parade Halloween day. His costume got tons of comments and he was so proud of it.

Their costumes Bad to the Bone & John Deere Man with a John Deere Tractor. The tractor was built with boxes, duct tape, paint, hot glue, tap lights, duck brand insulation for pipe and poster board. We made the steering with a clothes hanger then it with duct tape and covered with black electric tape. Completed with John Deere boots and clothes.

Duck Brand Products + Jack-o-Lantern Contest

I use Duck Tape all the time and even more now since I have little ones. There are more things to repair, more arts & crafts to do, school projects, and more cool Duck Products to use:) Have you seen the printed designs & team inspired Duck Tape? I was totally inspired at all the creative uses for Duct Tape at their website. Some people have such great talent creating with Duck Tape and I was blown away at the Prom Dresses made from Duck Tape. You must see!!

This year we've used Duck Brand Products & Duct Tape to hold together a Halloween Costume, on a school project, hanging kids art work, and we tried the Printed Duck^® Brand Duct Tape - Skulls refreshing an old bike. Totally my 4 year old son being creative and it turned really great making my 2 yr old smile big. Be sure to check back and see my oldest son's costume in a couple of days. We used Duck Brand Products for it:) visit it here Halloween 2011.

This time of the year we begin to prepare our homes inside and out for winter and Duck brand weatherization products are there to help. No one wants to be left with a busted pipe in the freezing weather, that is why I suggest Foam Pipe Insulation and Easy Slide Tight Faucet Cover both are easy to install and affordable. Pipe Insulation opens on one side and slides conveniently on to pipe and peel a way and seal insulation together. 

As you probably already know Duck Tape has great products for painting, shelf liners, and Mailing, Moving & Storage, wrapping up those Christmas gifts. Did you know that you can visit Duck Tape right now and enter for a chance to win the $1,000 First Prize in the 2011 Stick or Treat™ Duct Tape Jack-o-Lantern Contest.  Ends at 11:59:59 p.m. ET, November 1, 2011.

Follow The Duck Brand on Facebook

Twitter @theduckbrand

Youtube @ http://www.youtube.com/user/theduckbrand

http://www.duckbrand.com/

Disclosure: Duck Brand sent me samples to review in order to share my opinions. No other compensation was received.

Club Penguin Celebrates Halloween In-world Party

Club Penguin Celebrates Halloween with Massive In-world Party

Island Transformed into Halloween Transylvania for Club Penguin’s Most Anticipated Event of the Year

Ghosts and goblins invading the most awesome kids’ hot spot online?  This week, Disney’s Club Penguin (www.clubpenguin.com) – the #1 virtual world for kids – kicks off its annual Halloween Party! Last year more than 3 million players celebrated Halloween at this massive in-world party, making it one of Club Penguin’s most anticipated events of the year. This year, the island will be transformed into Halloween Transylvania with spooky trees, carved pumpkins and many other features created especially for this exciting event. The Halloween Party will begin on October 20 and run until November 1. Penguins are invited to put on their coolest costumes ever and join the fun.

·         Island Transformation: The Island will morph into a Halloween Transylvania with exciting changes including a dark background complete with full moon, trick-or-treating adventures for Penguins and a haunted Island experience.

·         New Games: A new Halloween Scavenger Hunt will take place during the party. Kids can follow clues and locate ghosts to receive a new game background.

·         Costumes: Monster Catcher and Ghost Sheets costumes are some of the many Halloween Party costumes and accessories available for players.

·         Famous Penguin Visits: Players will be able to interact with rarely-seen Famous Penguins, including Aunt Arctic and Gary the Gadget Guy during the Halloween and Anniversary Parties.

·         More Role Playing: A new stage - Night of the Living Sled: The Play – will go live, where kids can role play and re-create the popular video “The Night of the Living Sled.”

·         Prizes: Players who visit 10 “Trick or Treat” igloos in one session will win a special stamp.

·         Bigger Celebrations: Club Penguin’s 6th Anniversary Party will be held in the Coffee Shop in conjunction with the Halloween Party, making this the biggest party yet.

About Club Penguin
Club Penguin (www.clubpenguin.com) a product of Disney Online Studios, is the #1 virtual world for children. Club Penguin works to maintain a fun and safe online entertainment experience by using filtering technology and live moderators. The award-winning virtual world of Club Penguin contains no third-party advertising and is free to use and enjoy, however a subscription membership provides access to additional features that enhance the play experience. Club Penguin is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, is enjoyed by parents and children around the world, and can be played in English, Portuguese, French and Spanish.

Disclosure: Just Sharing & copied from sponsors email.

Quick Giveaway!! Haunted House from Creativity for Kids

Spooky Craft with Clay Haunted House fun at Creativity for Kids is like decorating a gingerbread house at Christmas. House is made from sturdy cardboard and can be used year after year to decorate. This house can also be used as a treasure chest for yummy Halloween treats.

Creativity for Kids kit includes 7"w x 7"h x 4"d embossed haunted house. White, black and purple washable paint with foam brush. Air-dry clay in colors and glue & glitter pen. Purple sparkle felt to enhance your display.

My boys really had a great time working on the haunted house and it was a great family craft for Halloween. Now you have the opportunity to win your very own. Creativity for Kids will give one of my readers a Craft with Clay Haunted House

RULES:
Contest closes 11:59pm Eastern Oct 25, 2011
Open US winner has 24 hrs to respond to my email
Leave your email in to post or available in profile, I will not search for it
MUST complete Mandatory Entry. Winner will be chosen by random org. Entries that does not follow the rules will not win.

Mandatory Entry is to visit Creativity for Kids and tell me what other product you love.

********EXTRA ENTRIES***********

*Blog about the giveaway linking this post (5entries)
* Follow all on twitter & tweet " #win Clay Haunted House @Creativity4Kids @lifesandcastle http://goo.gl/f6pIv 10/25 #giveaway #contest" (1 daily)
*Give this post a google+1 (1 entry)

*Give me a Klout +K (1 k per day, daily)

*Stumble post
*Subscribe to my blog by email. (2 entries)
*(current giveaways)Enter The Night Owl Mama or giveaways on my site- one entry for each you enter.
*Add this giveaway to a contest linky & leave link (3 entries each link, up to 3contest listings)

Disclosure: Please note this giveaway was presented by Creativity for Kids & I did received a product to review. I did not receive any other compensation. All opinions are my own.

#TwistedHalloweenRingPop Bazooka Candy Giveaway 3 Winners

The “spooky” days of Halloween are fast approaching and Bazooka Candy Brands would like to share their “twisted” ring pops. With flavors like “citrus craze”, “blue raspberry watermelon” and “berry blast” they are sure to please the goblins, ghosts and little devils that come knocking at your door.

Bazooka Candy Brands offered a giveaway to 3 winners “Twisted Bazooka Halloween” candy basket. First and foremost I would love if you could follow our sponsor Ring Pop’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/ringpop It would make us so happy:)

US winner, 2 days to response, I will email the winner so make sure I can find your address in comment or in your profile.

Entries

* Follow Life Is A SandCastle GFC
*Blog about the giveaway (5entries)
* Follow on twitter & tweet " #giveaways Bazooka Candy Halloween #Giveaway 3 Winners #contest #win @lifesandcastle http://goo.gl/5BNYa #TwistedHalloweenRingPop 10/24" (1 daily)
*Give me a Klout +K (1 entry per +K)(Daily entry)
*Stumble Life Is A SandCastle Blog (3 entries)
*Enter (current) The Night Owl Mama or giveaways on my site- one entry for each you enter. (2 entries)
*Add this giveaway to a contest linky & leave link (3 entries each link, up to 3contest listings)

Disclosure: Sponsor is providing giveaways and sample for sharing contest. no other compensation was received.

Halloween Craft Web & Spider

Simple spider project create spider with hot glue, pom poms, pipe cleaners, googly eyes.
Create web with black electric tape.

Halloween Craft Mr. Ghost & Miss Skull Head

Mr. Ghost & Miss Skull Head

Mr. Ghost white fabric, bunch up plastic grocery bags under fabric and create a head tie up with string and draw on your ghost face. Tye on some sheer fabric to add ghostly effect.

Miss Skull Head cost $1 at dollar tree, hot glue fabric (white or black looks great) around. Tye her a sash with sheer fabric. Hang both with fishing line.

Animal Planet Pet & Baby Costumes

Before we had children, I dressed my little dog up and that's why I thought Animal Planet line of pet costumes were so adorable.

These unique costumes will transform your pet during the Halloween craze and turn them into the talk of the party. Ranging from a scary raptor, the cute little monarch butterfly, and more. The Animal Planet Halloween costumes are available at Party City locations.

Animal Planet also has the perfect costumes for you little ones. Baby Rhinoceros Costume, Baby Meerkat Costume, Love Bird, and more.

Disclosure: No product or compensation was received, just sharing on behalf of sponsor.

Wordless Wednesday Linky Scary 10/12/11

It's getting scary here.

We got some white shower curtains for a $1.00

mixed burgundy and red craft paint and we have this hanging in our living room.

Seriously can't take a nap on the couch now.

5Minutes For Mom & Go Graham Go, Mom Start, Jolly Mom, Two of A kind, Working on a full House and many more wonderful sites, sign up, and share your Wordless Wednesday.

Dinosaur Train Spooky Scavenger Hunt Giveaway & Review

Halloween Fun with PBS Kids & The Jim Henson Company

• All New Episodes from Dinosaur Train and Sid the Science Kid scheduled to air on PBS Kids®
• Halloween Costumes to Make at Home Designed by The Famous Jim Henson Creature Shop
• Dinosaur Train Halloween Costumes from California Costume Collections Available for Purchase
• “The Spooky Scavenger Hunt” New Book Available from Grosset & Dunlap

Dinosaur Train NEW EPISODE Haunted Roundhouse/Big Pond Pumpkin Patch premiere 10/20 on PBS Kids (check local listings)
Repeats- 10/24, 10/28, 10/30 , 10/31

In Haunted Roundhouse, dad takes the kid son a special Night Train to Troodon Town, where the Troodons have decorated their Roundhouse into a “haunted house” for a spooky party. The kids end up meeting a strange new nocturnal creature – a mammal named Vlad Volaticotherium,who was hiding in the roundhouse trying to get some sleep.  And in Big Pond Pumpkin Patch, the Pteranodon family learns more about the customs of their neighbors, the Lambeosaurus family, when they are invited for the first time to accompany them to the Big Pond to celebrate “Gourd Day” – a kind of Mesozoic Halloween. The kids see their first pumpkins, and Larry Lambeosaurus even shows our family how to hollow them out and carve faces into them.

Sid the Science Kid NEW EPISODE Spooky Science Special premieres 10/17 on PBS Kids (check local listings)
Show Repeats- 10/25, 10/28, 10/30, 10/31

In Halloween Spooky Science Special, it’s Halloween time and Sid and his friends have dressed up in the spookiest and scariest costumes possible.  Sid is a bat with big fangs.  May is a spooky black cat.  Gabriela is a furry, yucky spider.  And Gerald is a super spooky skeleton that goes boo!  Susie (dressed as a silly mad scientist) loves their costumes, and helps the kids discover that Halloween can be spooky and scientific!  The kids investigate how bats are helpful creatures that catch mosquitoes, spiders are expert engineer web builders, cats are leaping aerial acrobats, and skeletons help hold up our body frames! At the Halloween party, the kids also investigate how to make icky, gooey green slime.  Susie then ends the day with a special “Halloween Parade” song so the kids can march around and show off their spooky and scientific costumes!  

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES TO BUY OR MAKE!
Dinosaur Train Halloween Costumes for Purchase, from California Costume Collections.

Dinosaur Train Buddy Costume
Buddy is the main character on the hit TV series, Dinosaur Train.  This colorful costume includes the orange colored T-Rex jumpsuit,Buddy the dinosaur hood, and the shoe covers to match the costume. Available for toddlers ages 3-4, and children between the ages of 4-6. SRP: $34.99 –
39.99. 

Dinosaur Train Costume – Tiny  
Tiny is one of the main characters on the hit TV series, Dinosaur Train.  This colorful costume includes the green colored Pteranodon jumpsuit, Tiny the dinosaur hood, and green shoe covers to match the costume.  Available for toddlers ages 3-4, and children between the ages of 4-6.Each Dinosaur Train costume is made up of soft fabric to enhance achild’s comfort while wearing them. The costumes are also created in vibrant colors and realistic design patterns to make your toddler look and feel like a dinosaur train character. SRP $34.99 – 39.99.

Sid the Science Kid Happy Halloween Black Trick-or-Treat Bag
Now, Sid and his friends Gerald, May and Gabriela can come along while your child is trick-or-treating with this spooky candy bag that can be personalized with a youngster's name. To collect your favorite candy and goodies, check out the Sid the Science Kid Happy Halloween Black Trick-or-Treat Bag. available for $14.99 at the following link.
http://sidscience.shop.pbskids.org/sid-the-science-kid-happy-halloween-black-trick-or-treat-bag.html


MAKE COSTUME AT HOME: Jim Henson's Creature Shop — the folks who brought you Elmo and Miss Piggy, among many others — have created a Buddy costume that can be made at home! For sew and no sew options, click this link: http://www.pbs.org/parents/dinosaurtrain/costumeAnd to see a video of the sew version, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QANroqbPing

And click this link to find out how you can make your own Sid the Science Kid Halloween Costume! http://www.pbs.org/parents/sid/halloween.html

The Spooky Scavenger Hunt Book

For a little scary Dinosaur Train Halloween Fun – enjoy reading The Spooky Scavenger Hunt” from Grosset & Dunlap in which Mr. Pteranodon takes Buddy and Tiny on a night time trip to the Big Pond for a spooky nature walk! Mr. Pteranodon and the conductor insist they can't be scared, but when the conductor's mom jumps out at them, everyone gets a good scare! This simple storybook is perfect for read-aloud fun!  Ages 4 - 8;SRP $3.99. 

My take on The Spooky Scavenger Hunt Book:
This book has beautiful graphics and lively colors. My sons are already fans of the show and always enjoy reading a good book. They are so into spooky this year but, not too spooky. This book is perfect for the little ones it shows how to use your hearing, seeing, smelling senses. It has the scary suspense and the good ending:)
 

Support and follow Sponsors

Follow The Jim Henson Company:

www.facebook.com/hensoncompany 

www.twitter.com/hensonparents

Follow PBS Kids:

www.twitter.com/pbskids

www.facebook.com/pbskids

www.pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain

www.pbskids.org/sid

www.pbskids.org/parents

www.henson.com

Thanks to PBS KIDS & The Henson Company one ofThe Spooky Scavenger Hunt Book from Grosset & Dunlap

RULES: Contest closes 11:59pm Eastern 10/25
Open U.S. winner has 5 days to respond to my email
Leave your email in to post or available in profile, I will not search for it
MUST complete Mandatory Entry. Winner will be chosen by random org. Entries that does not follow the rules will not win.

Mandatory Entry: Win by following my blog Google Friend Connect and tell me your favorite Dinosaur Train Character.

********EXTRA ENTRIES***********

*Blog about the giveaway (5 entries)

*Follow all and tweet each day (1 daily entry) "#giveaway DINOSAUR TRAIN: Spooky Scavenger Hunt Book @pbskids @hensonparents @lifesandcastle http://goo.gl/nfYeY #win 10/25"

*What is your favorite activity @ Dinosaur Train interactive website (3entries)

*What will you or your child be for Halloween this year?

*Give this post a google+1 (1 entry)

*Give me a Klout +K (1 per day)

*Subscribe to my blog by email. (2 entries)

*Enter any current giveaways from The Night Owl Mama giveaways on my site- one entry for each you enter.

*Add this giveaway to a contest linky & leave link (3 entries each link, up to 3contest listings)



Disclosure: We received a copy of the book to review. Information & giveaway was provided by company & PR. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Halloween Craft The Witch

After seeing so many fun crafts at Parenting.com I know my son and I had to try some. The first one we tried was the Witch Lantern. We did not have a black ribbon but, my son said he wanted her to have blue curly hair. Well no problem blue pipe cleaners worked great, just hot glued it to the head. We just mixed water and glue mix for the tissue. Blow dry it so we could work faster.

On the witches hat we used construction paper for the whole thing and added glitter design on the witch's hat too. My son also wanted the big googly eyes for his witch too. It really turned out to be a nice decoration to add to our spooky collection. Visit Parenting.com to find the details for this project and more.

JustKidCostumes.com Kid Friendly Costumes

 My children are already decorating the house and ready for Halloween. It doesn't have to be Halloween for them to enjoy dressing up. Dress-Up Room app at JustKidCostumes.com is just too cool. I've just had so much fun adding my son's picture to costumes. Just wait till I show him some I did....He may get embarrassed:)

Just upload your child's photo to the app and see what they would look like dressed up in their favorite costume. You can also share their photos with your friends on Facebook!

JustKidCostumes.com offers over 3,000 costumes and accessories. They sell only kids costumes so no need to worry about what your kids might see if you browse together. 

Thanks to JustKidCostumes.com & MomSelect for a special 10% off coupon code The coupon code is BLOGGER10.

Note:*All products are eligible for this discount. Coupon is good through Sunday, October 16th at 11:59pm PST. Merchandise total of $8.95 must be after any coupons have been applied. Discount does not apply to shipping, or sales taxes (CA only.) Coupon will be reflected as a 10% discount on the merchandise subtotal on the checkout page. Coupon cannot be combined with other coupon offers. Coupon is non-negotiable. Not valid for prior purchases. JustKidCostumes.com reserves the right to cancel any order due to unauthorized, altered, or ineligible use of a discount.

JustKidCostumes.com new fantastic capes, available September 20th.
For all of the latest news on JustKidCostumes.com you can follow them on Facebook.

Disclosure: Information shared from MomSelect and JustKidCostumes.com. Nothing was received but, by writing this post I'm entered to win a JustKidCostumes.com shopping spree

Foam Glitter Stickers & Pumpkin Decor

Foam Glitter Stickers & Pumpkin Decor

This week the boys & I have been busy decorating. My 2yr decided to decorate a real pumpkin instead of the Big Foam Pieces. You know I like the way he thinks.

Wordless Wednesday

5Minutes For Mom & Go Graham Go, Mom Start, Jolly Mom, Two of A kind, Working on a full House and many more wonderful sites, sign up, and share your Wordless Wednesday.

Easy Ghost Lanterns

 My son loves arts and crafts, so we are working on some Halloween projects. We are making decorations for a Halloween Party we are having. I thought what could be more cute than some Ghost Lanterns.

Here is what you need:

White Paper

2 Liter drink bottle

White Streamer paper

Tape string to hang it

1 battery candle

black marker
scissors

Cut a square opening in the back of the bottle big enough for candle to fit into. Use the tape & streamer paper to wrap top of the bottle. Draw ghost face on the white paper, then tape it to the bottle & trim off paper at bottom where the bottom can sit on a table. Go around the bottom add streamers to look like ghost is flying around. Add battery light and tye string at top to hang up.

Next, we going to try some pumpkins and going to try it with milk jugs, let you know how it goes.

Anytime Costumes Review & Giveaway

AnytimeCostumes.com impressed me yet again, they have the fastest shipping. For the past two years their speed is superior. Many shipping options are available. Last year my son sported around in the Cowboy Costume, and this year he is "IRON MAN." He is super excited!!

Before I tell you more, let me say that cowboy costume was also used for vacation bible school old fashion day. My friend's son needed an outfit and it worked perfect. Anytime Costumes have school play costumes, dress up costumes, holiday costumes, and Halloween Costumes.

The Iron Man Costume is very cool, first it has the muscle chest and arms. My son loves the light up arc reactor light in the chest, which uses "3 (type LR44) batteries" already included, so it's ready to go.  You can see him holding the light and then making muscles. The Chest light also can double as a great safety feature lighting up in the dark. The mask is made of plastic and has string back. He loves the Child Iron Man Light-Up Mark VI Costume.

AnytimeCostumes.com has a wide assortment of costumes, hats, wigs, masks, and accessories. Dress up at it's best. AnytimeCostumes.com is one of our "Family Friendly Fall Festival" Sponsors and will also give one of my wonderful readers a "Costume up to $50 value," make sure the product you pick is the right size, there is no return on contest giveaways.

RULES: Time sensitive
Contest closes 11:59pm Eastern Sept. 21, 2010
Open US winner has 2 days to respond to my email
Leave your email in to post or available in profile, I will not search for it
MUST complete Mandatory Entry. Winner will be chosen by random org. Entries that does not follow the rules will not win.

Mandatory Entry is to visit AnytimeCostumes.com and tell me the costume you love.

Entry should look something like this:

I like the Child Iron Man Light-Up Mark VI @ http://www.anytimecostumes.com/products/p-005611691

********EXTRA ENTRIES***********
*Blog about the giveaway linking AnytimeCostumes.com & Life Is A SandCastle (5entries)
*Follow Life Is A SandCastle via Google Friend Connect
* Follow on twitter  & tweet " #giveaway $50 costume of choice AnytimeCostumes.com @lifesandcastle http://bit.ly/9JtSAS #win 9/21"
*Become my face book fan.
*Become a AnytimeCostumes.com facebook fan.
*Subscribe to my blog by email. (2 entries)
*Enter Night Owl Mama or giveaways on my site- one entry for each you enter.
*Comment on one non giveaway post on my site(2 entries)
*Grab the Family Friendly Fall Festival Button @ top right side of my blog.

Disclosure: Please note this giveaway was presented by AnytimeCostumes.com & my son reviewed the Iron Man costume. I did not receive any other compensation. All opinions are my own.