We got the idea for this craft from Family Fun Magazine's project: Give a Hoot (in the October 2012 issue).

My 6-year-old and I did vary from the instructions to make our own owls. We started with a regular owl (seen at left in the bottom photo) but our cupcake liners were smaller than I'd realized and didn't give full coverage. So for the next owl (at right in the bottom photo), we cut out the bottom of the cupcake liners and stretched them over the cardboard roll. The benefits to this were: no need for glue and a fuller affect. The downside was it was a little more difficult to attach the wings better. My daughter also gave her own touch to this owl by decorating the wings.

Then we decided to get really festive and used Halloween cupcake liners for the last owl (top picture). I didn't like how the wings came out (I found it much harder to properly attach liners as wings than using the card stock) but this was my daughter's favorite one.

It took about 1.5 hours for us to make all three. I had to help with a lot of the cutting and some gluing but an older kid won't need as much help. My daughter had a great time creating the looks before assembly and wants to make even more to decorate our house this fall.

See more Halloween craft ideas here.

Items Needed:
* Pumpkin
* Halloween Stickers
* Paint or Markers
* Stencils
* Pipe cleaners or ribbon (optional)
* Glue and shells (or other decorative elements)

(NOTE: the nature of this craft makes it better as an indoor than an outdoor pumpkin, the exception being if you only paint the pumpkin.)

If you have a young child, carving a pumpkin for Halloween may not be your ideal craft project so here are some ideas for the younger set to get into the Halloween spirit.

If you have stencils or want to buy them, you can find ones with Halloween shapes. This is really better for an older child of at least 5 or 6 or you can be like me and paint it for your child. You also can just let your younger child "paint" the pumpkin however they like. It likely won't be display-worthy, but your child will have fun painting it.

The other option for a toddler or preschooler is to have them put stickers on the pumpkin. We got these great Halloween foam stickers from Michaels that allowed you to put masks on the foam stickers. You could also use glow-in-the-dark stickers.

You also can use markers or paints to draw faces on your pumpkins as we did with one of the smaller pumpkins pictured. My daughter decided her pumpkin should have arms so we just twisted a pipe cleaner to the stem. A painted pumpkin should stand up to being outside; you could also spray seal it (outside) for added protection.

And the last project is really up to what you have and the imagination of your child. We had some colored shells so we glued them to the pumpkin but you could use gems or sprinkle glitter to make unique designs. One thing you should know is that some things were too heavy to stay glued to the sides of the pumpkins so you'd need to hold them longer (not ideal when helping young children) or glue them to the top as we did or use flatter and lighter things to decorate the pumpkin's sides.

Any or all of these crafts are quick, easy and fun for all ages an

Items needed:
* Pipe cleaner
* Piece of cloth or felt
* A ribbon
* Markers
* Foam ball
* Glue and yarn (optional: if you decide to add "hair")

This is a quick an easy Halloween craft that was inspired by crafts offered at the historic Kennedy-Martin-Stelle Farmstead as part of the Somerset County Weekend Journey Through the Past. Children of all ages will like this craft and if your child is like mine, he or she will play with it after the craft is completed. It's also a great way to get rid of any fabric remnants you might have lying around.

Cut a piece of cloth in a large rectangle. The exact size depends on how long you want the ghost's "train" to be. Place the cloth over the foam ball and tie the ribbon in a knot around it. The ribbon will hold the fabric on the ball; you also can use some glue to keep the fabric in place. You can cut the ribbon so it won't be seen or let it trail as a decoration.

Take a pipe cleaner and twist it around the ghost's neck and then bend to make arms. Draw a face with markers (or help your child). Kids can draw or glue hair. My daughter actually drew hair and then decided to glue corn silk onto its head. Your child also can decorate the ghost's train if they want.

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Items needed:
* Sheet of construction paper
* Stickers (craft stores have great varieties)
* Digital Camera
* Computer and printer
* Photo paper or nice card stock
* Crayons, markers (optional)
* Glue
* Clip art (optional)

This is an easy craft for all ages and makes a great Halloween gift for the grandparents.

Take a sheet of construction paper (color of your choice) and fold it in half to make the card - the orientation is up to you.

Take a photo of your child in costume and then print on photo paper (you can also order prints if that's easier).

Let your child place stickers and clip art on the cover of the card. Craft stores such as Michaels have great foam stickers like the ones we used, which let the kids be a little more creative. But any Halloween stickers will be fine. You can find lots of free clip art on the internet and print it out, cut and paste.

An older child can use crayons or markers to write "Happy Halloween" or draw pumpkins or other decorations.

Glue the photo on the inside of the card and your child can decorate the rest of the inside with drawings or stickers. Let the glue dry and then it's ready to be delivered!

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