PROBLEM:

It’s Halloween. And many people have a lot of the same problems after the holiday. From too much leftover candy; to kids fighting over their favorites after they come home and not knowing what to do with those cotton spider web decorations you really can’t keep and re-use… what do you do?

SOLUTION:

There is a solution to every issue and Halloween is no exception.

Let’s start with the most dramatic of all the problems: kids fighting over candy. Some families make their kids dump all their candy into one big bowl. While others have each child only dig into the stash they collected while trick-or-treating. No matter what you do, kids are curious ‘diggers’ and when it comes to candy, they KNOW what they like. Sometimes this causes a big problem if everyone likes the same kind of candy and there is not enough of ‘the favorite’ to go around.

Parents – you can be rational and give out proper portions to your kids. This is the first step in setting boundaries in making sure they don’t hoard it and make themselves sick by eating too much.

But what if everyone likes chocolate candy and there isn’t enough to go around because fruit/jelly candies, gum and taffies dominate?

Take the chocolate candy bars and chop them up into small pieces and crumble them over ice cream for everyone. You can also toss these into a plain cookie batter and let everyone enjoy a batch of cookies together. This is the perfect solution so that everyone gets to enjoy the chocolate candy and the sweet treats get spread around evenly.

So what do you do if you have too much leftover candy and you don’t want your kids to eat it all and you don’t want to blow your diet? Or what if you have too much leftover candy and you don’t even have kids?

There are many solutions to this problem. You can take the extra candy into work, where it will be gobbled up by all your co-workers. If everyone happens to have the same idea, you can also make goodie bags and give it to your local Boys & Girls Club or some other children’s organization. They’ll appreciate the thought and you’ll have done something great to bring smiles to other kids.

The cleanup from all your Halloween decorating begins the day after Halloween. Most of the paper decorations you can save. But when it comes to the pumpkins – don’t you dare throw them away! There are so many things you can do with them including putting them into your compost pile to add vital nutrients to your garden. This is the best thing to do with them if you carved your pumpkins really early and have had them sitting around for awhile.

If you carved them just a day or two before, once Halloween is over, simply cut away the outer rind and take the meaty flesh cut into small chunks. Simmer in a bit of water and cook until soft. You can also steam it if you want or roast it.

You can then puree the cooked pumpkin and make any kind of yummy baked good you wish – from pumpkin cookies, cake or bread or even other pumpkin desserts like cheesecake or pie. You can even use the puree as baby food or use it as a thickener for a stew.

When it comes to the cotton spider webs you string across your windows, it’s very difficult to save these. But this does not mean you have to throw them away!

Now is a great time to make fun ornaments for Christmas! The very same cotton you’ve used for spider webs make cute snowmen or Santa’s beard or can be used for a snow scene.

If you don’t celebrate Christmas, you can take the cotton and make cute little pin-cushion pillows. You can also sew doll pillows or make a fun pet toy by stuffing the cotton inside organic, durable fabric or use the cotton to line the inside of a jewelry gift box for someone’s birthday. The cotton also makes for great packing material for shipping small items and can also replace the stuffing of an over-loved teddy bear!

Halloween dilemmas don’t have to be scary!

There’s always a solution for making the most of the holiday and the day after.

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