HALLOWEEN TREAT BAGS: KIDS EDITION

Do you have some special kiddos in your life that you want to spoil with these Halloween Treat Bags? Even though Halloween is on Wednesday (how did that happen?!), these treats can be assembled in a few minutes and just require one quick trip to the dollar store! Although candy and chocolate are amazing (obviously) – I like to jazz up the treats even more!

I’ve created a quick and easy craft that will elevate your Halloween game to the next level! Surprise your kids (or coworkers – depending on what you put in them!) with some extra fun Halloween goodies. This is also a great activity to do with your kiddos – they can help put together these treats for their friends and family members.

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HALLOWEEN KIDS HAUNTED HOUSE FUN + FREE PRINTABLE

Halloween definitely tops my list of holidays that I love and I enjoy celebrating it every year. As a kid, my parents would go all out on the decorations especially my dad whos personal mission was to make the outside of our house as fun/scary as possible. This usually involved us stuffing newspapers into all sorts of items that would turn into large spiders, scary ghosts or crushed legs coming out of the garage (my fav!). Sometimes our costumes were purchased and other times they involved some genius handcrafting but we always had a blast trick or treating in our neighbourhoods. As I grew older I never forgot the fun feeling you get as kids around the holiday. Halloween is full of entertainment and candy as well as scary mystery and magical creatures. It is always surprising and every year can bring its own set of fun. One of my favourite parts of Halloween was when someone created an epic haunted house (not too scary) and we got to go through it as kids. That was always so fun!

For this Halloween, I wanted to create a fun mini version of a Halloween haunted house you can do with the kiddos at home! Nothing too scary but a lot of fun and interactive. I’m hoping this has them laughing and enjoying the monster parts I have come up with!

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ENTERTAINING WITH CHARCUTERIE BOARDS: DESSERT EDITION

Entertaining with charcuterie boards is one of my absolute favourite go-to tips when planning a party or gathering. They are very easy to put together because essentially anything can be used if you are sticking to similar flavours and items. I have seen some amazingly epic ones like this one from What’s Gaby Cooking and this one from How Sweet Eats if you are needing some fun inspiration. Today I want to go in a slightly different direction and talk about a type of charcuterie board that often gets overlooked, and that is the dessert charcuterie board! Can you imagine a full board filled with your favourite dessert items ever? Sounds like heaven to me!

My goal here at JMS is to share different companies and ideas from around the web for you to gather inspiration from and I am so excited to introduce you to Shari’s Berries and help showcase how they have put their own twist on dessert charcuterie boards.

Down below I have broken up the three main categories that you can take your dessert charcuterie boards in and each of them is filled with yummy goodness – I promise!

FRUIT LOVER

A large platter of fruits makes the perfect dessert especially if you are trying to keep things on the lighter side after a large meal! Depending on the season, the type of fruits can change drastically (summer = tropical and fall = harvest) and can completely change the theme of the charcuterie board, which is pretty neat. Also going with fresh fruit versus dried is a great way to change things up. The variations are endless and really provide a brand new dessert board each time for entertaining. Pairing fruit with some cheese, crackers and chocolate dipping sauce (my fav!)  rounds out the board for a fun dessert option.

Image via Shari’s Berries

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AUTUMN SANGRIA

I am absolutely obsessed with sangria and cannot turn down a glass when it is offered! Personally, the sweeter the better from my perspective but all of them are equally delicious (red, white and rose). Whenever I go to a new restaurant/bar I enjoy trying out their version of the sangria that they offer. I am always surprised by the different flavour combinations one simple drink can provide.

Although typically the sangria cocktail is a summer drink (patio season is bliss), I wanted to bring it into the season with some additional fall flavours. Who wants to let go of a good thing just because the leaves are turning colour !? With the holiday season approaching, it is always a nice option to have on hand for drinks and sometimes even needed after all those family dinners (I kid – well maybe a little!) Bring on the autumn sangria I say! The more the better!

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THANKSGIVING TABLESCAPE: OLIVE GREEN & GOLD THEME

Thanksgiving is right around the corner here in Canada and it feels like it came quite early this year. Our traditions are pretty low key around this time of year, mainly involving getting together with family for the big ol’ turkey dinner (although half of us are vegetarian/vegans so the turkeys a little smaller nowadays!) and fitting in some fun Oktoberfest time. The city we are from celebrates Oktoberfest in a big way and we thoroughly enjoy it!

I love decorating for all holidays and seasons and Thanksgiving is no exception. Knowing the fall season was going to come in full force I wanted to start planning my Thanksgiving table early on. I am so excited to share this year’s Thanksgiving tablescape because I had the pleasure of coordinating with Kusala from Kukaru Designs on it! If you have not checked out Kusala’s website yet she provides tutorials on sewing and knitting and has various resources available on www.kukarudesigns.com. She also has a scrunchie tutorial that I have been eyeing and just may have to attempt shortly!

We started brainstorming this tablescape weeks ago and we knew we wanted to do something different than the typical fall colours. We both love the fall season and we’re excited to collaborate on this gorgeous tablescape! I hope you enjoy what we came up with because its really starting to feel like fall over here and we are in the celebrating mood. Check out all the fun details below!

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