We've been BOOed!

Boo!

Does your neighborhood do this? It's one of my daughters' favorite things in October - being "BOOed" and "BOOing" others.

The first time we experienced this tradition was in our fabulous neighborhood in Missouri. When it seemed that our Virginia neighbors needed a little fall fairy magic, we started BOOing here, and it took off like wildfire.

What is it? Someone starts by assembling two goodie bags to secretly deliver to two neighbors. Contents can include candy, stickers, inexpensive fall decorations - whatever you think would be fun treats for those families. Be sure to add instructions (as seen below) that they are to display a sign that they have been BOOed, and then they are to secretly BOO two other neighbors. Halloween fun for everyone!

In our neighborhoods, we've used a sign on our door (like the one below) to alert the neighbors that we've already been BOOed. In my parents' neighborhood in Georgia, they use one of those cute (and cheap!) plastic jack-o-lanterns that kids use for trick-or-treating to leave goodies on people's doorsteps, and then they hang the jack-o-lanterns on their mailboxes to show that they've been BOOed. By the end of October, the whole neighborhood is decorated!

2012 blog flashback...

We were surprised last Wednesday morning by a goody bag at our front door. We'd been BOOed! The girls were so excited, and our BOOer had done a super-cute job of filling our bag with little treats the whole family would enjoy. (I have a very strong suspicion about who our mystery Halloween elf was.)

The contents:

Handful of Halloween candy for the whole family to enjoy
Container of Candy Corn Cotton Candy--mostly for the girls, but who doesn't like cotton candy?
Two fun Halloween drinking straws for the girls
Disney Princess stamp set for the girls
Dog Treat for our Sugar dog

So fun! In case you aren't familiar with the process, our job was to hang an included ghost picture on our front door to alert the neighbors that we'd already been BOOed, and then fill two bags with little treats and stealthily Boo two other neighbors, who would then continue the BOOing through the neighborhood.

I chose to Boo our next-door neighbors and had fun picking out some treats for their household. Their kids are grown and out of the house, so I picked up some Halloween Snickers bars, fall cocktail napkins, a fall-scented votive candle, and a little bag of cat treats for their kitties. It wasn't the most covert op: She said, "You might as well have signed your name, my dear." :-) I'm glad they liked it, even though it wasn't much of a secret who delivered the treats to their door. The other neighbor I targeted lives across the street. We don't know her well, but her other half is deployed and I thought she could use a little pick-me-up. I hope it put a smile on her face.

To start a BOOing tradition in your neighborhood, go to http://www.beenbooed.com/ They have a printable Boo ghost with instructions to get the ball rolling.

If it's too late to jump on the Boo bandwagon, check out http://www.beenvisited.com/ for similar ideas and resources for Thanksgiving and Christmas neighborhood gifting.

Happy Halloween!