These nostalgic Halloween commercials are a fun way to get your Halloween mood on!
Classic Halloween Commercials
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Category Archives: Holidays
Hershey Chocolate House 2015
One of our family traditions is visiting Hershey’s Chocolate World over the holidays to take the free chocolate tour, gawk at the huge holiday chocolate house, and generally overdose on cocoa. We visited very early this year while the house was still under construction. This bad boy is being decked out with over a ton of chocolate!
“Building supplies”
Unfortunately, we never made it back again to see the final build. We’ll have to settle for some Instagram pics and a time-lapse video of construction. I like to imagine that they let the Hersheypark’s ZooAmerica animals feast on the chocolate after deconstruction, but I’m sure it goes against their diets.
Gunter Speaks
I’ll let you be the judge.
Halloween Zombie Graveyard Cake
Last year we made a Halloween Zombie Graveyard Cake. While I’m not sure that we’ll make one again this year, one thing I would change is the grass. Instead of using green icing for the grass, I’d use coconut flakes dyed with green food coloring. I think it would look much better and taste great, too!
Make a Mischievous Leprechaun on a Shelf with Lucky Charms Cereal
Forget Elf on a Shelf. Leprechauns are the original mischievous pranksters. Take Lucky—when he’s not cobbling shoes or hiding gold treasure, you can bet he’s out there playing tricks on unsuspecting citizens. One year, he turned most everything in our family room upside down. We knew it had to be him because the inside of our toilet bowls were suspiciously bright green!
Marshmallow charms and other treasure.
While his presence can be annoying, it does have its advantages. You see, Lucky never hides his entire treasure at the end of a rainbow. He always reserves a few gold coins and some Lucky Charms to hide for the kids. I think he does this to mess with the Easter Bunny, but that’s just my theory.
Lucky can stop by your house this year, too! Just grab some Lucky Charms and carefully cut him out of the box. I made a stand for mine by decorating a cardboard toilet paper tube and taping him to the inside edge.
Pick out some of the marshmallow charms (they’re magically delicious!) and make some little treasure bags to hide on St. Patrick’s Day before Lucky’s grand appearance. Sure, the kids will notice that he’s missing from the box long before then, but that will just add to the suspense.
Where did he go?
For wee little ones, try leaving some rainbow streamers or a trail of clover confetti leading to your treasures to make them easier to find. Remember, you don’t have to make a daily commitment with this like you do Elf on a Shelf, though you certainly could if you’re into that. The investment is basically nil, especially if anyone in your family enjoys eating Lucky Charms! 
If Lucky visits your home, please send some photos my way so I can post them here!
Hershey’s Chocolate World Candy House
Although my family had just been to Chocolate World for Hershey’s S’mores Campfire Party, December brings the Christmas candy house, yet another incentive to visit the sweetest place on earth.
Believe it or not, I wasn’t initially blown away when I first spotted the house. I’ve been blown away year after year by candy masterpieces, and at first glance, this design appeared much simpler than in previous years. It appeared to be basically a big rectangular box without columns or dormers.
It wasn’t until I got much closer that I noticed all of the intricate details, and when I began inspecting it up close I realized that the inside was fully decorated!The windows are not very large, so it is really impressive and sneaky that they made the effort to fully deck out the interior.
Some of my favorite details include Santa’s mailbox, the candy walkway, and the front door made from panels of huge chocolate bars. Oh, and if you like Twizzlers, expect to be tickled pink.
You really have to get up close to truly appreciate all of the details and work that went into this chocolate home, so visit Hershey’s Chocolate World and see for yourself! Admission into Chocolate World and Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Tour is free.
Other winter attractions to check out while in Hershey include Christmas Candylane, Hershey Sweet Lights, and the Hershey Derry Township annual train exhibit.
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A Fun Way to Recycle Jack O’ Lanterns
Don’t let your Jack O’ Lanterns just rot away on your front stoop! Give them to those who would appreciate them most…farm animals!
Easy boys, there’s plenty to go around! 
Sudsy. The Other Friendly Ghost
I finally tackled an easy project that I’ve long wanted to do: soap carving. I figured that Halloween would be a perfect time, with ghosts, skulls, and skeletons providing the perfect inspiration for my white slab of Dove soap.
You really don’t need much at all to get started with your own soap creations, just grab a bar of soap and some clay sculpting tools (orangewood sticks used for manicures are said to work well, but I didn’t have any on hand).
I learned that it is extremely important to go slow, removing just a little bit of soap at a time, in order to prevent breaking. Some people sketch out their ideas on paper and then use the template to score the designs directly onto the soap. You can also use a vice to hold the soap and a coping saw to cut out the basic shape. I didn’t try either technique, choosing instead to forego proper planning and simply jump right in.
It didn’t turn out so bad considering I was making it up as I went along. If you keep the original soap box and repackage the finished project, perhaps adding some wrapping paper and a bow, your handmade piece of art could make a great gift for that special someone. If you make your own soap carvings, send me a picture of your finished products and I’ll post them!
Just Enough Fun
My family had a blast at Hershey’s Chocolate World last weekend. We went for the S’mores Campfire Party, an outdoor event held every fall at Hershey’s Chocolate World. This year it lasts from October 15-November 3rd. It’s chock full of fun activities like live music, scary stories, and of course, a bonfire for making s’mores. Best of all, admission is free (s’mores kits cost $3, which also includes hot cocoa or chocolate milk).
During the entertainment, the kids had front row seats atop hay bales, while camp chairs were scattered about for parents. My kids loved making the s’mores, although to our surprise, they didn’t want to eat any their hard work! Instead, they ate the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate individually.
Inside Chocolate World there were even more activities, including the free Trick-Or-Treat Adventure. Children 12 and under receive a candy bag and have to make their way around to a few scattered stations. Costumes were encouraged, but not required, which was great because we hadn’t come prepared anyway.
Of course, no trip to Chocolate World is complete without taking the tour ride at least once. This has become one of their absolute favorite things to do. My son is such a Chocolate World fanatic that he randomly yells “Chocolate World!” whenever he gets excited, in place of more standard cries of joy, like “hooray” or “yippee”.
Upon exiting the tour, we came around behind the cookie shop (another one of our ritual stops) which overlooks the kitchen area. While peeking down into the magical cookie baking area I noticed an infographic intended for employees.
With some closer inspection, and with the help of my camera zoom, I saw that it was a guide to coating cupcakes with sprinkles. “Too much fun, not enough fun, and just enough fun.” My wife and I thought this was pretty cool, even though we strongly disagreed with the general premise of the poster. I mean, how can you possibly have too much fun when it comes to a cupcake!? Can you guess which one my kids wanted to eat?
The Cardboard Keep Gets a Spooky Makeover
Halloween is getting oh so near, and to get into the holiday spirit, the kids gave the Cardboard Keep a spooktacular makeover!
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