Make Your Own Happy Halloween Lunch!

Let me start off by asking, where the heck did October go?!!? But we were able to sneak in this Make Your Own Happy Halloween Lunch just before it left!

I’m ashamed to admit that after a crazy-busy six weeks of non-stop fun, traveling, entertaining/hosting, painting, volleyball and soccer, the only Halloween-themed lunch I’ve made was for a Halloween blog hop like two weeks ago! On top of that, my girls are in the midst of their 2nd week of “track out” (ie we go to a multi-track year-round school and have three weeks off of school) which means I haven’t had very many opportunities to make any to-go lunches. So, in an effort to squeeze in at least one more Halloween lunch, we decided to have a little Halloween lunch-making fun WITH the girls and they were so excited.

“Flatting out” the bread (cause our cookie cutters are a wee too big)

Gettin’ busy with Make Your Own Happy Halloween Lunch time

Little Sis checkin’ out Big Sis’ bento makin’ skills

And they’re all done w/ all of their bento-making accoutrements all strewn about! Big Sis made a Sunflower Seed Butter and jelly sandwich even though she can eat peanut butter (unlike Little Sis). It’s tree nuts she has to avoid, but she’s an extra cautious one and for whatever reason(s), she seems to have switched over to using it instead. These days, w/ all the peanut butter recalls, that’s just fine by me. Now if I could just get Little Sis on board with it too! She was totally turned off by soy nut butter when we gave it a go and has declined to try the Sunflower Nut Butter because of it. Oh well.

So, here’s a close up of the final products. Big Sis’ is on the left and Little Sis’ is on the right. They were quite proud of their handi-work and I think they turned out pretty darn awesome! It was so fun to watch them get so excited about making their own lunches and already knew where all my bento stash was. Just used plain ol’ cookie cutters I’ve had for years and years. If an 8 and a 5 year old can do it, so can YOU!!!!

    In these Make Your Own Happy Halloween Lunch lunches:

1. Big Sis’ Ghost Sammie on left: Trader Joe’s Sunflower Seed Butter and Smucker’s Simply Fruit Seedless Strawberry Fruit Spread using Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread
2. Little Sis’ Cat Sammie on right: Applegate Organics turkey and Boar’s Head Muenster Cheese sandwich on Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread
3. Utz’s Halloween Pretzels (made in a Peanut and Tree Nut-Free Facility – woo hoo!)
4. Trader Joe’s Ghoulie Gummy Tummies Pumpkins and Spiders
5. Zachary’s Mello Creme Pumpkins – made in a facility that processes nuts. It was the closest to nut-free I could find in stores and is fine for either but Little Sis didn’t want to give ’em a try after a bad experience w/ “May Contain Nuts” candy corn she had 2 years ago. Big Sis thought she wanted to give ’em a go but chickened out last minute. Oh well, better safe than sorry!
6. Carrot chips
7. Peeled Snacks Apple Clusters (Cinnamon for Big Sis and regular for Little Sis)

After all the hard work in making their lunches, these hungry little girls were eager to dig in. They nibbled and chatted, chatted and nibbled until every last bite was gone. As a mom, this was just a joy to behold – just look at those happy faces!

These lunches were enjoyed on some Halloween place mats I made for the girls about 4 years ago. Here’s a closer look:

They look pretty decent (I think), wipe off easily and work like a charm – and they are oh so easy to make. I actually made a bunch that year to give away as gifts. To make ’em, just decorate a legal size (8.5″ x 14) sheet of paper however you’d like: w/ cutouts, markers, paint, glitter – but make sure that it finishes fairly flat. These were all hand drawn/hand cut from regular ol’ construction paper. Then just take the decorated sheets to Kinko’s or any place like that and run ’em through their legal-sized laminator. The finished result is a very professional looking, shiny, thick place mat!

Lastly, while I was snapping pix throughout our lunch-making fun, a light bulb went “Ding!” in Big Sis’ head. She said, “OH, I know Mommy, you can post these pictures up on your food page and then can we read all the comments together?” So, with that, I’ll just say that we’d all just be thrilled (especially Big Sis) if you left us a little comment telling us what you thought of the girls’ lunches!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Hope you have a wonderful night of fun – stay safe and warm!

Check out this awesome collage that Kelly Lester of Easylunchboxes made from this post – she’s the best!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to make my day by leaving me a comment, following my blog via email, on Facebook or on Instagram. The more the merrier!

Christine, aka happyvballgirl : )

To check out items used in this post or some of my favorites, simply click here: “Products I Love“. Purchases made using these links earns me a little extra cash to support my bento habit, which Hubby really appreciates. So, THANK YOU, should you choose to purchase any of ’em!

For lots of fun bento accessories, visit @ BentoUSA.

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