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Time saving parenting and seasonal hacks
Meet Casey Major-Bunce - The Influencer On a Mission To Help Families With Her Inspirational Mum Hacks.
Starting her Instagram account during the lockdown and after the birth of her twins, busy mum Casey wanted to make real connections with other mums. Casey's cost-effective and fun hacks have earned her over 300k Instagram followers, including Mrs Hinch & Stacey Soloman.
Casey has unique ideas for every season, so Primary Times caught up with her to get the lowdown on some of her favourite Halloween Hacks…
• Make an impactful Halloween Decoration or make a spooky cauldron on a Budget. Casey loves the Addams family: “It’s so simple to make a Cousin Itt, just use a plastic or metal garden obelisk (garden centre will sell for around £6) , a grass hula skirt, zip tie the top and add a bowler hat and a pair of sunglasses!”
• My pumpkin drinks dispenser is a firm favourite – cut from the bottom, remove the middle and add a drinks bag (they come with a tap) – perfect for juice for the children…or cocktails for adults! Top tip: The best way to remove the insides from a pumpkin is to start by using an ice cream scoop before removing the rest with an electric whisk.
• Making fun Halloween party snacks doesn’t have to be a drama – I’m all about saving time, having fun and taking a few cheeky shortcuts. Buy some glazed ring doughnuts and place an Oreo in the middle. Stick some edible eyes onto the Oreo, then using some black icing make four legs on either side - creating quick & easy spider doughnuts with the kids. Top tip: Icing can be hard for little hands, pop the icing tubes in boiling water for 1 minute to make them soft and easy to use - let them cool off for a few moments before allowing children to use them.
• For fun Halloween party games play nighttime hide and seek in the garden - using glow sticks as hidden objects. Play ‘What's Inside the Pumpkin?’ – cut the top from a large pumpkin, set aside and hollow out the middle. Add some packets of sweets and cooked spaghetti or slime mixture -then get your kids to feel inside, without looking, to find the treats hidden within the gross goo.
• For glowing pumpkin displays, cut and remove the bottom of the pumpkin rather than the top. Cutting the pumpkin this way means it sits better, as do the tea lights – the overall effect is better with the top of the pumpkin still left in place. Top tip: To preserve your carved pumpkin lanterns longer - pop them all in the bath beforehand with a few squirts of bleach and water. This will help keep them fresh and stop bacteria growing on them. They will last up to four weeks if you use my handy hack.
• Make your own Halloween decorations – its great fun & won’t blow the budget. Make ‘Scary jars’ using old pasta sauce jars and fill with some water coloured with green food colouring. Then add things like spiders, plastic eyeballs, or other gruesome things. Adding a water-resistant light to the bottom of the jar will give you a glow in the dark effect.
• For a Halloween table centrepiece -hollow out your chosen pumpkin and wash it out with water and bleach, then place a used but washed empty tin can inside as a water reservoir, fill it with water and add some cut flowers to make a lovely seasonal vase.
Follow @majormumhacks on Instagram for more tip & hacks.