The Fun Times Guide

Realistic Halloween Yard Decorations That Will Scare Your Neighbors!

Going the extra mile to create that spectacular prop or display is what Halloween is all about.

Some Halloween props are mechanical masterpieces and can be brought to life in such human-like ways. Others are life-size and realistic because they involve real people to make them work.

Following is a collection of photos and videos showing some Halloween creatures and creations that will have your neighbors wondering if you have become truly possessed.

Most of these you can easily make yourself!...

Continue reading: Realistic Halloween Yard Decorations

Hundreds Of Kids Halloween Costumes You Can Make Yourself

Making your own Halloween costume -- especially a kid's costume -- can be one of the best experiences for all involved, including the parents and the child.

I remember my parents helping me to come up with Halloween costume ideas, and then helping me find the items I need to put the costume together.

Store-bought costumes were just not purchased very often at my house. Being creative and coming up with our own costumes was much more fun!

Following are some great ideas for making your own Halloween costumes for kids...

Continue reading: How To Make Kids Halloween Costumes

7 Ways To Make Halloween Spider Webs & Creepy Cobwebs

If you want to see someone swat madly at their hair, just send them down into a dark basement or seldom opened shed to retrieve something.

Once they encounter that first sensation of a slimy spider web clinging to their head, it's a wild flailing of arms probably followed by a shriek of "Get it off me!"

Obviously, this is the perfect reaction one would hope to achieve when decorating their home for Halloween. In my opinion, all Halloween decorations and props should be rated for "maximum scream effect" with labels indicating the likelihood of each product generating screams!

If you want an over-the-top reaction from visitors to your home during Halloween, try making your own cobwebs this year.

Continue reading: 6 Ways To Make Halloween Cobwebs

Before You Buy A New Laptop Computer, Think Laptop Power Cord!

Here's a tip from someone who has bought her share of laptop computers for the home office through the years:

On the very day that you buy your laptop computer, also buy an extra laptop power cord for it at the same time!

The reason? Because you'll be up a creek on the day you realize that your power cord has gone bad.

There's no way to charge a laptop other than using the official power cord that works with your specific make and model of laptop computer.

It happened to me. But it gets worse...

Continue reading: Before You Buy A Laptop Computer...

VIDEO: Dad Catches Foul Ball, Daughter Throws It Back!

Okay, so he doesn't have the souvenir he so badly wanted... 

But as cool as it is that this guy actually caught a foul ball bare-handed, don't you think it's even cooler that he and his daughter will forever have this video as a reminder of something fun that they did together?

It's such a feel-good moment, especially when you see the dad's reaction!

Here's the full-length video from the MLB, as it happend.

 

Continue reading: Dad Catches Foul Ball, Daughter Throws It Back

Halloween Decorating Ideas: Clever Ways To Decorate Every Single Space Inside Your Home!

Halloween can be one of the more entertaining times of year, especially when it comes to decorating the inside of your house.

There are lots of different areas in your home that you can decorate:

• windows and window sills
• fireplace mantels
• doors and doorways
• walls
• steps and staircases
• ceilings
• tables and countertops
• corners of the room

...and lots of creative ways to do so!

Following are many fun and unique ways to decorate each of those places inside your home this Halloween... 

Continue reading: Clever Ways To Decorate For Halloween Inside

6 FUN Things You Can Track Online That Will Save You Time & Money

People have become obsessed with tracking everything online these days!

All you have to do is log onto UPS tracking, DHL tracking, or FedEx tracking to see what I mean. The same is true with tracking packages on Amazon. These websites get millions of requests to track packages that people are waiting to receive, or that they themselves have sent.

Here's one that tracks all delivery companies in one place: PackTrack! (Package Mapping is similar, as is Track Packages.)

There's also a Firefox extension that tracks all of your packages right in one place: Track Package.

But delivered packages are only one of the many things that you can track online.

Following are 6 other fun things you can track online. Yep, 6 more ways to follow your favorite things with online tracking systems...

Continue reading: 6 FUN Things To Track Online

Halloween Yard Decor: The Best Outdoor Halloween Decorations

When I was a young and impressionable kid, there was one lady down the road from us that took Halloween to the extreme each year.

With her whole house decorated inside and out, she created her own haunted castle -- complete with a boiling cauldron on the front porch where young visitors were encouraged to bob for apples. Of course, the steam rising from the kettle was really dry ice evaporating into the air.

With her tall pointed black hat and sickly green facial makeup, that neighbor was the essence of Halloween -- right down to the coarse straw broom leaning in the corner.

Whether you choose to play it up like she did or not, making your front porch and yard into the spookiest place in the neighborhood is easier than ever these days! There are all kinds of neat Halloween items on the market that will add a spooktacular touch to your home.

Following are some fun ways to decorate the exterior of your home for Halloween... with the intent to scare the daylights out of all visitors and neighbors!

Continue reading: Fun Outdoor Halloween Decorations

All The Best Pumpkin Carving Tools - From Carving Kits To Power Tools!

When I was a growing up, the average Jack-o-Lantern was created with a simple straightforward process:

• You took a big sharp kitchen knife and cut an opening around the stem of the pumpkin. 
• Next, you found the largest spoon in the kitchen and scooped out all the seeds. 
• Finally (again using that sharp and dangerous knife), you would cut triangle shaped eyes, a nose, and a mouth -- often containing an odd shaped tooth. 
• By adding a candle inside, you were good to go for another year.

This crude method of pumpkin carving occasionally resulted in a trip to the emergency room to stitch up a wound caused by the wayward slice of a weapon better suited for culinary professionals.

These tips regarding the dangers of pumpkin carving will help you avoid such an occurrence.

Today, there are many different specialized tools to help refine the art of pumpkin carving, while making the process quicker and easier than ever before!

Following are the best tools that can be used for carving pumpkins.

Many of these are items you probably have around the house, along with precise carving instruments that make it easy to get into the tiniest of spaces.

Continue reading: All The Best Pumpkin Carving Tools

The Fun Times Guide's 5-Year Anniversary!

Yep, our little network of 21 websites begins its 6th year today. We started this gig in August 2004... slowly adding new sites through the years. We couldn't have done it alone. Thanks to all our hard-working writers, and you the readers for making The Fun Times Guide what it is today. It's been 5 fun years. Here's to another 5!... :-D