We truly love Halloween, which is one of the reasons we start looking for the coolest costumes, spookiest decorations, and most delicious recipes around, oh…July. But we’re all busy parents! So if, like us, you still need some last minute Halloween help for costumes, treats, printables and crafts, pumpkin carving — you name it! — we have tons of inspiration for you.

Just remember whatever you do (or don’t do), it’s all good. The kids will be too busy sorting their treat bags into “eat now” and “hide from Mom” to think about just how homemade your door decorations are.

Top: Pretzel Ghosts recipe | Culinary Envy

-This post has been updated for 2017-

Last-Minute Halloween Treats, Drinks, and Tasty Recipes 

Witch’s Heart Cocktail | The Flavor Blender

The ultimate guide to 171 amazing Halloween recipes including copycat candy bar recipes, Halloween cake ideas, candy corn recipes, semi-homemade Halloween snacks, and more.

Did we say “ultimate”? Because there’s more: These 90 fantastic last-minute Halloween recipes take “ultimate” to the next level.

Halloween treats so easy, even the busiest parents won’t get scared

An easy guide to a safe, allergy-free Halloween including allergy-free Halloween recipes

New allergy-free candy ideas to add to the treat bags

5 really important safe Halloween tips from a mom of kids with allergies

Go-to allergy-friendly Halloween candy for kids with most common food allergies

8 easy Halloween school lunch ideas that you can actually do. Not kidding!  And even more healthy-ish Halloween lunch box recipes. And wait! here’s 6 more spooktacular Halloween lunchbox recipes for the kids

How to turn one batch of Rice Krispies treats into the easiest Halloween snacks

7 fun Halloween cocktail recipes for grownups plus 8 spooky Halloween cocktails because we could always use more cocktails, right?

5 skinny Halloween cocktails (so we can eat more candy)

Halloween candy and booze pairings – this is genius!

6 creepy Halloween mocktails for kids and designated drivers

All the Halloween Starbucks drinks you can order this year

Ghost Doughnuts | Crayons and Cravings 

13 deliciously spooky Halloween dinner recipes that make you the fun parent

All the limited edition flavors of Halloween candy for 2017

Natural Halloween candy alternatives to the big-brand stuff

Easy Halloween party recipes the kids can help with

Candy Corn Rice Nigiri | Love at First Bento

Delightfully creepy Halloween cupcake recipes

Non-candy Halloween snacks and recipes that still keep Halloween delicious

How to roast pumpkin seeds, plus 4 irresistible recipes And then..here are 6 more delicious pumpkin seed recipes

Halloween party snacks you can whip up with no effort

11 easy, semi-homemade Halloween snacks that lets you be the cool mom without much work 

5 super cool Halloween treats that you can make with store-bought shortcuts

Free Printable Monster Pencil Toppers | Handmade Charlotte

Ideas for classroom Halloween treats that aren’t candy

And we love fantastic non-candy DIY or buy ideas for parties or kids with allergies

 

Last-Minute Halloween Crafts, Printables and Activities

Oogie Boogie Man Halloween Door DIY | Practically Functional

Creepy, easy door decorating ideas for Halloween

12 spectacular sugar skull crafts with Dia de Los Muertos in mind

Free printable Halloween paper dolls, from sweet to steampunk to Star Wars.

A great resource for Halloween printables and party games

Easy and fun Halloween paper crafts for kids

21 fun and totally free Halloween printables

9 free Halloween coloring pages that are actually pretty cool, from pumpkin mandalas to sugar skulls.

15 Halloween printables that keep kids of all ages happy — and busy

 

Printable Halloween Activity Pack | Caravan Shoppe

9 fun, easy Halloween party games for kids

Easy DIY Halloween crafts for preschoolers

Halloween craft boxes that make great last minute gifts

Kawaii printable Halloween craft projects

15 non-scary Halloween crafts for little ones

DIY Glow-in-the-Dark Trick-or-Treat Bags | The Sweetest Occasion

9 super easy ways to make your own Halloween treat bags more fun

5 last-minute DIY Halloween treat bags you can whip up quickly

How to make a DIY light-up Halloween candy bucket

Some of our favorite creepy books kids will still love long after Halloween

PicMonkey for Halloween-ified photos on Cool Mom Tech

An easy tutorial to Halloween your photos using this free web tool

iPhones want costumes too — love these cases for the entire year!

7 cool Halloween apps our kids really love

14 of the best Halloween apps for kids of all ages

How to take awesome pictures on Halloween night

10 zombie themed Halloween decorations and ideas that aren’t too gross

 

Last-Minute Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Inspiration

DIY Donut Pumpkins | Studio DIY

Brilliant tip: How to keep your jack-o-lantern from rotting this year

16 no-carve pumpkin ideas that are cool and quick

9 awesome teal pumpkin decorating ideas to identify your house as safe for trick-or-treaters with allergies.

10 outrageously creepy pumpkin carving ideas from the pros for inspiration

12 free geeky pop-culture pumpkin carving templates from emojis to Grumpy Cat

16 easy and very cool no-carve pumpkin ideas and 6 more no-carve pumpkin ideas that are totally impressive

Hamilton pumpkin carving templates. Work!

13 of the most outrageous Halloween pumpkin carving ideas we’ve seen probably ever

DIY Yarn Hair Unicorn Pumpkin | Lines Across

Unicorn pumpkins FTW!

19 incredibly cool Star Wars pumpkin ideas

6 ways to decorate Halloween pumpkins with Sharpies

Not-so-scary monster party ideas, decor and treats for younger kids

Stranger Things party ideas

Our favorite scary DIY Halloween decorations

20 free emoji Halloween pumpkin carving stencils

 

Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

Baby Sia | @lauraiz

23 of the hottest pop-culture Halloween costumes for babies this year

Genius photo-real costume T-shirts from tattooed bikers to astronauts

14 empowering girl costumes that go way beyond Wonder Woman. Plus: 15 terrific strong girl Halloween costumes

13 cool last-minute costumes for moms because we like dressing up too!

17 cool DIY Star Wars costume ideas

Easy, no-sew Halloween costumes for toddlers and babies

9 really easy but also very creative last-minute Halloween costumes for kids

7 easy costumes you can make with onesies

Baby Jon Snow Costume | Winter is Coming

7 brilliant Game of Thrones-inspired kids’ costume ideas

7 quick, easy face paint tutorials on YouTube

25 hilariously awesome DIY Halloween baby costumes

Halloween costume ideas you can make in 10 minutes or less

The ultimate resource for empowering Halloween costume ideas for women and girls

22 of the most awesome DIY Halloween costumes for kids

Easy DIY Eleven from Stranger Things Costume | Say Yes Blog

11 adorably geeky kids’ costumes

6 awesomely easy baby costumes all from items they can wear again

12 easy costumes made with pajamas because they’re warm and cozy.

Creative sibling Halloween costumes

11 really cool group Halloween costume ideas

3 great temporary hair color options

Baby carrier Halloween costume ideas for new moms and dads

5 zero-effort Halloween costumes for babies because something should be zero-effort when it comes to babies.

Halloween socks your kids will beg to wear all year

And when it’s all over…

Gummy Bears Sangria | My Name is Yeh

10 clever ideas for what to do with leftover Halloween candy from recipes to educational crafts to donation sources.

7 tasty recipes for your Halloween candy

Fun toothbrushing apps for kids! You’ll need them for November 1 for sure.