16 Favorite Halloween Picture Books

One of the best parts of each holiday for us readers is finding the perfect holiday-themed picture books to share with our kids! Such a fun way to spend time together and get psyched up for the next holiday. So today we want to share 16 of our favorite (non scary) Halloween picture books to read aloud to kids.

Book Club Ideas for "Murder on the Orient Express" {by Agatha Christie}

Summer Nicole Photo

We read another book by Agatha Christie a couple of years ago And Then There Were None. We loved it so much and had so much fun putting a creepy book club night together that we wanted to read another one of her books. So we picked her second most famous book,

Murder on the Orient Express!

We've already posted our Food Ideas and Menu and our Book Review so be sure to check those out as well.

Jen was our moderator and host for this book club and I know she spent MONTHS preparing for us to have a memorable night. A couple of weeks before book club Jen emailed each of us our character bio. She put together a dinner murder mystery and each of us had a character to play. We didn't know our exact roles in the dinner mystery until we arrived that night.

Book Review for "Murder on the Orient Express" {by Agatha Christie}

BOOK TITLE : Murder on the Orient Express                                

AUTHOR: Agatha Christie

PUBLISHER: Collins Crime Club 

NUMBER OF PAGES: 322

YEAR PUBLISHED: 1934

READING LEVEL: Adult

GENRE: Crime, Fiction, Mystery 

	Our group rating was...

Pretty in Print: Haunted Gingerbread Houses

To go along with any fun Halloween read, we thought it would be fun to create a few haunted houses of our own.  Haunted gingerbread houses are such a fun activity to do during the month of Halloween

and they are the perfect craft to go along with Shirley Jackson's classic novel.

Book Character Costume Ideas for Halloween

Dress up, you say? I'd rather read a book. Well, how about a two-for-one? That's right, my friends. Why not read your favorite book and dress up as a character too? Now, we at Delicious Reads have been know for going all out for our book club nights and dressing up in honor of the books we read. As we are approaching Halloween this year, we thought it was time to share with you some of our favorite "looks from books" and some that we'd definitely like to try (as in, we might have to read the book JUST so we can dress like a favorite character).

DIY Poe-Inspired 'Nevermore' Shirt

I am sorry to admit that I am almost never the recipient of my own crafting efforts. I crochet hats for my kids, bake treats for my neighbors, craft up gifts for friends . . . but rarely do I make something for myself to keep.

And in the middle of creating some Halloween decor for my house and costumes for my kids, I realized that I need an awesomely creepy Halloween shirt for myself. I branched out a little from the typical Halloween fare and came up with this t-shirt inspired by one of the creepiest authors I can think of: Mr. Edgar Allan Poe, and an unforgettable line from The Raven.

It was so fast and simple to make, and I love how it turned out. A subtle, spooky, Halloween-appropriate homage to one of America's greatest authors. 

Delicious Reads Fall Favs!

While I know you're all cozied up with some Favorite Fall Books, I'm dying to share some of my other Fall Favs! Is anyone else obsessed with all-things-fall??

Fancy Polish!

(picture source)

OPI is my favorite brand of nail polish because it stays on the longest (excluding Schelac type) and OPI has so many amazing colors! I switch up the polish on my fingers every week so I need a good selection to choose from. You can find OPI's FALL AND WINTER SELECTION HERE. 

Desserts that scream GET IN MY BELLY!

Recently I had a fall bake-off with one of my friends from all the mouth-watering fall food on Pinterest. We had a competition and the judges couldn't decide between these two recipes. Either one would make a great addition to a holiday bash or
 Thanksgiving Dinner!

 (Recipe Source- Lil Luna)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup Pecans, chopped
• 8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Powdered sugar
• 3 cups Whipped topping, divided
• 2 1/2 cups Milk
• 3 sm pkgs. White chocolate instant pudding mix
• 1 - 15 oz can Pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. Pumpkin spice

Instructions

1. Layer 1: Mix flour, butter and 1/2 cup pecans together. Press into a sprayed 9x9 OR 9x13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, then remove and let cool.
2. Layer 2: Blend cream cheese and powdered sugar, add 1 cup of the whipped topping then spread over cooled crust.
3. Layer 3: Mix milk, pudding mix, canned pumpkin, pumpkin spice and 1 cup whipped topping until smooth. Spread over top of layer 2.
4. Layer 4: Spread remaining 1 cup of whipped topping and sprinkle pecans.
5. Let chill for 3 hours or until set.

(Recipe Source- Modern Parents Messy Kids)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps cookies or graham crackers
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 – 4 cups melted vanilla ice cream
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping thawed

Instructions

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups gingersnaps and 1 tablespoon sugar and stir in melted butter.
2. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees and allow to cool. Freeze for an hour.
3. Combine pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir and fold in whipped topping.
4. Take out crust from freezer and spread ice cream in an even layer in bottom (the amount of ice cream depends on how deep your dish is). Pour pumpkin mixture over ice cream.
5. Freeze at least 2 hours before serving.
6. Top with whipped topping and gingersnap cookies for a pretty presentation.

If you want to see other recipes I love and what else I'm pinning, you can 

FIND MY PINTEREST HERE

Fall Candles!

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I've been obsessing over is this Limited Edition Pumpkin Candle. You guys… the flavor is to die for . . . Pumpkin Pecan Waffles!? Everyone who comes into your house will 1) think you baked something amazingly delicious to share  2) immediately ask how they 
can get their own. 

The Pumpkin Pecan Waffle Candle can be ordered from Bath and Body Works. 

And they have a whole line-up of Delicious HOLIDAY Candles and Candle Holders too!

Pumpkin Spice OREOS!

Yeah… you heard me right. OREO's came out with a PUMPKIN SPICE flavor! They are a limited edition and everything you could want packed into a fall Oreo. Get 'em fast! You will not be disappointed! I found these at my local Target.

Fall-ish Mugs for Delicious Beverages!

When I go on vacation I don't need a gift shop for my souvenir. I am a wee bit obsessed with mugs… so I've acquired quite a selection over the years. I'm all about creating a mood in my house and having the perfect mug with a delicious beverage is essential!

My new favorite mug comes from IKEA. It's nice and big to hold all my tea and hot chocolate and the best part, it's SO affordable at only $3.99!
 I'm thinking about Christmas gifts...

Lastly, who isn't obsessed with SCARVES when the cold weather kicks in and causes you to shiver?

Right now I'm crushing big time on this oh so COZY and large plaid blanket scarf. This gorgeous over-sized scarf can be tied several different ways to complete your fall/winter look and always makes me feel relaxed and ready for the day.

Find this and more scarves HERE

Well I hope you enjoyed this little sneak-peek into some of my favorite fall things. What about you? What do you love for fall??

We are getting really really exited over here for our first ever Delicious Reads Retreat that kicks off in Park City on Friday!! Stay tuned for pictures from our epic shin-dig! Author Teri Harman is coming to discuss her book Black Moon and we will also be selecting the whole 2015 Book Line up!! 

See ya next time! 

Your Writerly Ranter,

Brooke

Looks from Books: Hedwig the Owl from the Harry Potter Series

 Jacque from Looks For Lovelies.com and Jen, a new contributor from ClassyCosmetics.blogspot.com are bringing you a brand new feature where we create a look from a book's character with styling by Jacque and Makeup by Jen and we couldn't be more excited!

Image Source

This month we are thrilled to share a look inspired from one of the most famous book series of all time... 

...Harry Potter.

 We decided to do a "nontraditional" Harry Potter Makeup by choosing to focus on one of the supporting characters,  Hedwig the owl. (Harry Pet.)

Image Source

We created this look by mixing textures and fabrics in shades of cream, gray, white and nude. We created a feather headband and necklace to bring in the look of feathers without overwhelming the palette. 

Photo by Niki Martins Photography

Jen created a dramatic eye look to mimic the shape of an owl's eye using a combination of black and brown shadows. Jen then create a metallic brow. Then we create a deconstructed fishtail braid to finish off the look. 

(Makeup details below)

Photo by Niki Martins Photography

Photo by Niki Martins Photography

Photo by Niki Martins Photography

GET THE LOOK:

EYES- Covergirl bombshell Shine shadow in "Gold Goddess" for the brow, and "Ice Queen" for the lid. MAC shadow in "Carbon", "Handwritten" and "Cork" for contouring.

LIPS- Lined with "Stripdown" by MAC and filled with NARS "Dolce Vita" gloss.

FACE- Loreal True Match in N1 & W3, contoured with Be Matte Bronzer in "Toasted Coconut."

BLUSH- "Glow" by Make-up Designory and highlighted by Becca "Opal."  

A big thank you to our gorgeous model Kara! 

XOXO 

Jacque and Jen