halloween is almost upon us, and i know kiddos + families are busy getting pumpkins ready for next week’s tricks + treats! most of you know that food allergies are a near + dear cause to our little family’s heart. we manage it every day + we are super pumped and prepped for halloween fun! in fact, his recent allergist check-up was encouraging for us.

in case you haven’t seen it on the “today show,” on buzzfeed, or on ashton kutcher’s facebook page, there’s a little campaign out there by FARE (food allergy research + education) called the teal pumpkin project.  and, of course it combines a cause that’s dear to us + crafting, so how could we not jump on the bandwagon?

in case you haven’t heard about the teal pumpkin project, here’s the deal: if you’re so

the latest additions to our front porch!

inclined, you paint a pumpkin (real or fake) the color teal and place it on your front porch. what this means is that your home is giving away allergy-friendly treats for trick-or-treating!

i know this is a shift in thinking, and by no means am i advocating that your home should not also pick up some regular candy treats too. we’ll have candy at our house for halloween night. but we’ll also have some non-candy stuff too. and, for extra precaution, the non-candy stuff won’t be in the same bowl as the other stuff. and, after doing this same thing last year, i can honestly attest that our trick-or-treaters didn’t even notice the two bowls and they went for the non-candy treats more than they did the candy stuff (and we do give good candy….not yuck candy!)

photo courtesy of food allergy research + education

we have our front porch ready for this year, after the boys + i sat down last weekend and painted our pumpkins teal! and, after sharing about this great campaign a couple of times, i’ve been so touched to have been approached by so many friends, asking what kind of candy or non-candy treats they can make sure to have at the ready for kids who might have allergies. so, i also wanted to share a really helpful list from FARE with some fantastic ideas for treat options!

i know this isn’t for everyone, and that’s cool. but if you’re looking for a fun project to do with the kids, and are willing to share it on your front porch, that helps to get the word out, and might help make a child smile on halloween (and i mean, who doesn’t love a great glow-in-the-dark necklace??)

p.s. for more information on the #tealpumpkinproject and FARE’s efforts this halloween, please do check out http://www.foodallergy.org/! xoxo!