If you are trying to decide on the perfect homemade costume, turn your little one into a sweet M&M. MOM Magazine reader Evonne Walls provides a a tutorial that is simple to follow, even if sewing isn't your strong suit.

M&M Costume

Materials

• Fabric (felt or cotton blend is fine) in the color of M&M you want to be. Two yards for a toddler and up to three yards for an older child
• One to two yards of batting to make the M&M a little poufy
• Small remnant or quilter's square of white or brown fabric to make the M on the front of the costume
• White thermal underwear (one or two piece)
• Velcro strips

Instructions

1. Use a piece of cardboard to cut out a pattern. Cut a large circle to the size you need your costume to be, keep in mind its better for the costume to be a little big than too small. (Cut an oval pattern for a peanut M&M.)
2. Cut out four circles from the fabric and two circles from the batting using the cardboard pattern.
3. Cut a large M (Search for M&M under Google images for to print out a template) out of white material, then glue it to the front or use Wonder Under to iron the M onto the one of the circles. Appliqué the edges of the M. This circle will be the front of the front M&M piece.
4. Select two circle pieces and sew two strips (6"-7" each) of Velcro across each piece, one about one-third away from the top and the other one-third away from the bottom of the circle. You will then sew the other side of those Velcro pieces onto the back and stomach/chest region of the thermal underwear.
5. Now you will take one circle with the Velcro and the circle with the M and place them on top of the each other so the M and the Velcro are facing each other. You will repeat this step with the other two pieces except you just need to make sure the one circle that is blank has the right side (finished side) of it facing the Velcro strips.
6. Sew around the edges of each pair of circles leaving about 4" open at the top so you can turn the circles right side out so the raw seams are on the inside of the costume .
7. Stuff the batting inside the circles through the opening so it lays flat inside.
8. Once you have stuffed the batting inside you can close the opening by folding in the edges and hand stitching it closed or sewing it on your sewing machine.
9. You're done. Have your child put on the thermal underwear and then attach the circles.

Variations

Instead of affixing the M&M with Velcro you can sew straps or strings into the shoulder area and on the sides so you can tie the costume on.

Still trying to figure out Halloween costumes for the kiddos? Think outside the box - a cardboard box, that is. Check out all the great costume ideas using cardboard here, like Mia's American Doll costume.

Did you know that MOM Magazine has a Flickr Group? We'd love for you to share your photos with us, and also use it as a place for inspiration.

Let's start out by sharing pictures of your carved pumpkins. New to Flickr?

Here is what you need to do:

• If you have a Yahoo account, you can sign in with that. If you do not, you'll need to create an account by following the prompts.
• Once you have an account, you can upload pictures.
• Click 'Upload' from the menu items in blue at the top.
• Click 'Choose photos and videos'. A box will pop up where you can browse for your pictures on your computer to upload.

***Photo sharing tip*** I use Picasa (not the web version, the one you download) on my computer to organize my photos. From Picasa, I go through my photos and "star" the ones I'm going to share/upload to the web (for Facebook, blog, Flickr, etc.). I then select only my "starred" photos and export them in a smaller, web-friendly size to a separate folder I have just for the purpose of web-sharing. So when I go to upload photos to Flickr, I just need to search for my folder I just exported to, select all the photos, and click upload. It's easier for me because I can get just the photos I want, and they are already resized to the size they need to be.

• Once you've selected your photos, click the pink "Upload photos and videos" button.
• Next, click on "add a description" and you'll have the chance to write a caption and tags. Tags are really important, especially if you are going to submit your photos to the MOM Magazine group. If you are sharing pumpkin carving photos, tag them with: MOM Magazine, Halloween, pumpkin, and pumpkin carving.
• After you've filled out title, description, and tags for your photos, click "Save"
• Next, Click on "Groups" at the top. Search for MOM Magazine. Once you click into MOM Magazine, there should be a place where you can 'join this group.' I've already joined so I am not seeing exactly what that looks like. Once you've joined, you can add something to the group.
• Click on "Add something?" and it will bring up your photos you just uploaded. You can select which ones you want to add to the MOM Magazine stream. Select your photos and Voila!

Ok, so not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm Room Mom for Colby's second grade class. Now, I take my duties very serious and plan to make this a super fun year for his class. I love to throw a good party!

The class' Halloween party is this Friday and I've already got all nearly everything done. I've organized a donation list of items we need for the party. Had the cupcakes ordered. Decorations are waiting on the dining room table. I must say that the parents of the students in this class are awesome...they donated many of the items for the goodie bags and also the food/drinks.

One of my big contributions as Room Mom this year is that I am going to make up holiday-themed activity packets for the kids to use during the week leading up to their respective parties. This is no small feat! The first packet for the Halloween holiday is jam packed with Halloween games, puzzles, mazes and even a page of kid friendly Halloween jokes. It's sure to be a hit!

My son holding one of the super fun Halloween activities booklet that I made for his entire class. Here are some of the activities in the booklet:

A really fun spider maze! There's also a page of Halloween Jokes:

This Halloween activity book (and the ones to follow this school year!) are sure to make me Queen of the Classroom.