Quick Reference: 12 Traditional Halloween Crafts Halloween 2026: Saturday, October 31, 2026 (best trick-or-treat night in years) 1. Classic Carved Jack-O-Lantern: Stingy Jack folk origin, carving safety, candle vs. battery 2. Painted Pumpkins: no-carve faces and patterns for younger kids 3. Mason Jar Lanterns: orange tissue paper, mod podge, and a battery tea light 4.

Quick Reference: Mardi Gras 2027 Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday): Tuesday, February 9, 2027 Ash Wednesday (start of Lent): Wednesday, February 10, 2027 Easter Sunday: Sunday, March 28, 2027 Carnival season begins: January 6, 2027 (Twelfth Night / Feast of the Epiphany) Rule: Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, exactly 47 days before Easter

Quick Reference Rule: the Harvest Moon is the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox (about September 22 to 23) Usually: September. About once every three years, it falls in early October instead. Defining trait: a shallow angle between the Moon’s path and the horizon, so moonrise lands only 25 to 30 minutes later each

Quick Reference Hunter’s Moon 2026: Monday, October 26, 2026 Peak illumination: 12:12 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (04:12 UTC) Best viewing: Sunday evening, October 25, and Monday evening, October 26 Why “Hunter’s”: Game animals were fattened for autumn and easier to spot in bare stubble fields under a bright Moon; also tied to the opening of

Quick Reference Harvest Moon 2026: Saturday, September 26, 2026 Peak illumination: 12:49 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (16:49 UTC) Why September: It is the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 (four days earlier) Best viewing: Saturday night, September 26, and Sunday night, September 27, 2026 Why “Harvest”: Bright moonlight near

Quick Reference Sturgeon Moon 2026: Friday, August 28, 2026 Peak illumination: 12:18 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (04:18 UTC) Rule: the August full Moon is the Sturgeon Moon Other names: Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Red Moon, Lightning Moon, Wyrt Moon, Black Cherries Moon Best viewing: Thursday night, August 27, into the small hours of Friday,

Quick Reference Flower Moon 2026: Friday, May 1, 2026 Peak illumination: 1:23 p.m. Eastern Time (17:23 UTC), with the Moon in Scorpio Rare Blue Moon bonus: Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 4:45 a.m. Eastern Time (08:45 UTC), in Sagittarius Rule of thumb: the Flower Moon is the first full Moon of May; a second full

Quick Reference: December at a Glance Month number: 12th month, 31 days Birthstones: turquoise (traditional), tanzanite, and blue zircon (one of only three triple-stone months) Birth flowers: narcissus (paperwhite) and holly Zodiac: Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21), Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19) Birth tree (Celtic): elder (Nov 25 – Dec 22), birch (Dec

Quick Reference: November at a Glance Month number: 11th month, 30 days Birthstones: topaz (traditional), citrine (alternate modern) Birth flower: chrysanthemum (mum) Zodiac: Scorpio (Oct 23 to Nov 21), Sagittarius (Nov 22 to Dec 21) Birth tree (Celtic): reed (Oct 28 to Nov 24), elder (Nov 25 to Dec 23) Full moon: Beaver Moon, Tuesday,

Quick Reference What it is: The informal name for a tornado-prone corridor running from north Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, with secondary lobes into the Dakotas, Iowa, and Missouri. Term origin: Coined in 1952 by Air Force meteorologists Ernest J. Fawbush and Robert C. Miller, the same team that issued the first official tornado