Friday, September 30, 2011

Halloween Treats via Pinterest

Here are a few of the things I have thrown onto my Halloween board at Pinterest.  These juice boxes are ADORABLE!  They would be perfect for the little ones this Halloween.  You can see how they were made at Simply Creative Insanity

Rice Crispie pumpkins with a Tootsie Roll stem-Brilliant!  The kids would love to make THESE.  There are several more ideas at the link, so click away!

I really want to make this.  It looks like the tombstones and tree are made from tortillas.  The link didn't work, but it did lead to some AMAZiNG Ideas for Halloween treats/food.  Check it out at Better Homes and Gardens.

Over at Another Lunch you can find this cute tray of food.  Madison wants this for her school lunch tomorrow.  Too bad.  Your mom isn't that nice :0)

Sara over at Mom Endeavors made these spider web pretzel treats.  Madison also wants to make these.  These ones I can do.  They look fun to make AND fun to eat!

The next post is only for those of you with a particularly strong constitution.  Really.  I consider myself one with an iron stomach, but after viewing those recipes, I am wondering what on EARTH possessed those people to cook food like that :0)  Then again, if you are looking to do a particularly freaky Halloween party, HERE you go.


Second verse...Candy Corn!



Cupcakes {the link didn't work, but it was found on Tatertots and Jello}

And last but not least, more of a craft than a treat...

Oh my heck.  Is your mind spinning.  We need to plan a Halloween party!!!  My kids have their paper and pencils dancing right now writing their list of demands.  
If you'd like to see more of my Halloween Board over at Pinterest, you can find it HERE.  

Halloween Re-Run

Just about as much as I like looking back at my cute kids in their costumes from years past...

I LOvE to look at Halloween craft projects of years past.  Here are a couple of the fun Halloween crafts I made last year.  I thought I would bring them back just in case you missed them.  Above is Sophie.  She is a cute little hair accessory you can whip up in minutes.  You can read more about her HERE.

Need a new technique to try out?  Check out these cupcake toppers made with edible rice paper purchased from the local cake supply store.  I think you can also buy it on Amazon, but it is in a much larger quantity.  Click HERE to read more about it. 

I made a huge web and a whole nest of these darling danglers last year.  The are my very favorite arachnids of all time :0)  You can check them out HERE.

The boot and the ghosts below are fabulous finds from The Wood Connection in Salt Lake City.  

I made them as centerpieces and then re-made them for craft club in October.  I really can't get enough of them.  You can find them HERE.

I was on a bit of a kitchen towel kick last year.  These Halloween inspired hanging towels were totally fun to make and have really spruced up my kitchen.  

You can check them out HERE...

Stay tuned for more including a {spooky cake pop tree}... shhhhh....don't tell anyone.  I haven't finished it yet, but am totally exited to get er done!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

While I'm on the Birthday Thing...

So Hubbs birthday landed squarely two days before Super Saturday.  Are you sick of hearing about Super Saturday???  I am.  Anyway, I was determined not to forget him so we took a day off of the crafting craziness and had a party.  An Angry Birds Party!!!  Daddy got two angry birds t-shirts for his birthday. 

Here is my favorite...
Cause Hottie Scottie is the Bomb!
OK, That's enough of that...

Today was another one of those, "I can let go and let my kids have fun...Everything doesn't have to be perfect   all the time..." moments.  I set a cooled pan of Reese's brownies before the young-ens, along with packages of sugar wafers, root beer barrels, and Little Debbie Brownies, and let them have at it. 

 The kids has so much fun.  They worked together and were very professional, like real cake decorators.  They sketched the arena first, then set out to create.

  The Sugar Wafer pillars kept falling over so they ended up gluing two together with chocolate frosting.  That was the trick.  

In fact, Dad had a hard time knocking the darn things over :0}

I may just put them in charge of all future birthday cakes and spend a little more time sitting down myself. 
p.s. we bought the angry bird figures on Amazon.com

One other thing we did that was kinda cool, we wrapped Dad's presents in black wrapping paper, then used the chalk pens we bought a while back to decorate.  I am sure you could do the same thing with kraft paper, but I don't think it would look as cool.  It was so fun we were fighting over the pens...like a flock of Angry Birds :0}  

Tea Party for Hello Kitty Star

I figure it is about time for me to get these pictures posted.  Emmalee had her 3rd birthday party last month, just before Super Saturday hit.  She wanted a Hello Kitty Tea Party since she and her little friends have started having Tea Parties every time they get together.  I should also mention that Emmalee has officially changed her name from Emmalee to Hello Kitty Star, thus the Hello Kitty Tea Party :0)  

We moved the couches out of the living room to give the tea party attendees enough room to get all around the smorgasbord of fun.  I wanted to decorate above the table, so Scott screwed together a couple of 10ft 2x4's like a ladder and attached them to the top of these two old doors.   

 I wrapped a little wire for more surface to attach to, but then went to town with tissue paper flowers and girly topiary balls, all pulled from the depths of my well used baby shower box. You can check out my earlier post to get more details about what all went up there.

For the table, I took my craft table, left the legs folded, and set it on top of two Rubbermaid totes.  That made it the perfect height for the little rugrats.  I made the tablecloth out of two pink sheets {purchased at half price Saturday and washed thoroughly :0}  I cut one to the size I wanted, then ruffled the bottom with strips of the remaining fabric.  After that I made little pink polka dot place mats, ruffled napkins, and the ruffle seat covers for our Bucket Chairs.

I made crowns for all the kids, then used the scraps to make the pennant banner for the wall.

If you missed it, I showed how I made the crowns HERE.  They really were easy, especially for how amazing they look when they are done.

Emmalee Hello Kitty Star was so very excited.  She just kept checking the table to ensure it was the picture of perfection.

We took a trip to Goodwill the weekend before the party to see what dinnerwear we could scrounge up.  We found the china plates there for $.49 and the cups for less than that.  To add a little charm, we dipped the cups in corn syrup and then in pink sugar crystals.  It was a big hit with our guests.  I found the pink and white striped paper straws on Etsy, but also saw them on Amazon.

Emmalee's twin :0)

The food was the fun part.  We probably should have called it a buffet instead of a tea party since there was no actual tea and all we did was eat, but oh well.

Here are some of the foods we served.  Madison made the Hello Kitty pizzas, Hello Kitty cake pops, mini frozen yogurt pies, and the heart shaped sugar cubes.  I made the cake balls, cake ball ice creams, marshmallow pops, cotton candy pops, spiral cookies, mini pigs in a blankets, and much much more.  We did cut cheese and watermelon with mini cookie cutters to make mini edible flowers.  There wasn't an empty belly in the whole house :0)

Most importantly, everyone got to pour their own tea {very weak lemonade-weak so the sugar cubes could be added without regret :0}  Now how much cooler can you get!  

I am thinking that every little girl felt like a princess.

After we opened presents, Hello Kitty Star took pictures with all of her friends.  We saw this picture frame photo op on Pinterest and had to give it a try.  

It really was so cute to see the kids all coming out of the frames.






Ummm, not everyone was a fan of the idea thought.  Poor Tori.  
The photo ops only went down hill for her :0}

Here is a photo of our waiters.  You know a tea party would never be a success if it werent' for the hired help  :0)

Madison felt like a dork, but I made her take this picture so you could see the candelabra we made from a goodwill find and a flower vase.  I glued them together, spray painted the whole thing pink, then put battery operated tea lights in the candle spots. 

With all the other crazy things going on, we went a little easy on the cake.  I made a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting, garnished with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and Hello Kitty cake decals (the decals were eaten off before I could get a photo.  The cake stand was one that I made from a glass plate and  vase glued with Gorilla Glue epoxy, and surrounded by a tulle tutu. 

All in all, the perfect creative outlet for my crazy, overworked brain.  I love kids birthday parties.  You can go as crazy as you want and try out all those fun Pinterest ideas that have been saved for months.  
Hmmm...I wonder who's birthday is next. 
 I think it is mine.  
That isn't as fun.  
You can't really throw yourself a party, now can ya?

Novelty Print Quilt Pattern

I have had a hard time finding good quilt patterns for novelty prints the past couple times I purchased them.  I made up this pattern so tha...