Fisher House: Witch Hat Cookies

It’s our turn at the Fisher House again! What a great opportunity this month our day to provide a meal is on Halloween! Now I usually bake cookies or something else for the families. BUT I couldn’t resist making these cute Witch Hat Cookies! I hope these cookies bring a smile to the families.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Cookies (I used Keeblers Fudge Stripe Cookies)

1 bag of Hershey’s Kisses

Powdered Sugar Frosting

Food Coloring

Here’s how you make it:

Powdered Sugar Frosting:

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 Stick Softened Butter

2TBSP Milk

Food Coloring

Combine Sugar and Butter in a mixer and mix until combined. Add the milk a little at a time you want this to be a “thicker” frosting.  Add a few drops of food coloring to the frosting and mix.I put my frosting into a ziploc baggie and snip off the tip to apply the frosting.

Take Cookies and put a ribbon of frosting around the center. Unwrap the Kisses and place them on the frosting pressing down lightly to smush the frosting out a little bit. That’s it that’s all you do! Aren’t they cute!

ENJOY!

Puffy Intestines

Keeping with my Gross Food theme this week, I thought let’s make some intestines! I saw this great recipe on Pinterest! And thought hey that’s a great idea let’s give it a try... And I figured even if it doesn't "look" great it should still taste great unlike my Jell-O mess the other day... The original recipe can be found at theknead4speed.

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

Puff Pastry (entire 17.3 oz package)

1lb Hamburger

2-3 Potatoes

1-2 Carrots

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

Seasonings

1 Egg beaten

Ketchup

9x13 Baking Dish

Parchment Paper

 

 

 

 

 This step is a little tricky pull at the dough to get it to go around the filling

I almost had too much to fit my pan! Just keep scrunching it in!

 

Here’s how you make it:

Thaw the Puff Pastry according to the package directions. Meanwhile, brown the Hamburger in a sauté pan. Add the Potatoes and Carrots and cook until they are tender. Add in Salt and Pepper and Garlic and Onion Powder. Next add the Cream Soup. Just stir until the soup is warmed.

Lay out the puff Pastry and divide each sheet of puff pastry lengthwise into 6 strips, so that you have 12 strips when you are done. Lightly flour the counter or other surface and lay 4 strips end to end. (I did 3 rows of 4 strips) Press and seal the seams between strips. Spread the Hamburger filling down the entire length of the dough, leaving a bit of space on each side to pinch closed. Pinch the entire length of the dough closed, stretching the dough slightly around the filling as you go. Carefully lift "intestine" into Baking Dish that you’ve lined with Parchment Paper, seam-side down, and form an “intestine-like” pattern. Cover the pastry with the egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown! When it’s done squirt Ketchup along the grooves.

*a little side note, if I was to make them again I would probably just do 3 strips from each sheet of pastry, might be a little thicker "intestines", but it would be so much easier to close around the filling!

ENJOY!

 

 

Jell-O Worms

Have you seen these on Pinterest?

 I’ve been waiting for forever to try them! I’ve even heard of them not working out quite the way they are supposed to so I thought I would try it and let you all know how they worked out! I mean perfect for Halloween Parties right? Worms! The worms crawl in the worms crawl out the worms play pinochle on your snout. The orignial idea for this recipe can be found at theidearoom.

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Package Jell-O

3 Packages Unflavored Gelatin

3 cups Boiling Water

Straws

Rubber Band

Container to hold the straws

Here’s how you make it:

 

Dissolve Jell-O and Gelatin in Boiling water. Let sit for about 20 min until it cools a little.

Meanwhile Wrap a Rubber Band around all the straws and place them into a container.

Pour Jell-O into straws carefully. Chill for 8 hours or up to 2 days.

 Pull straws from container. Pull straws apart. Run hot tap water for about 2 seconds over 3 to 4 straws at a time. Starting at the empty ends of the straws, push worms from straws with your fingers. Lay worms on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.

Cover and chill until ready to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. Worms will hold at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Ok this was an EPIC FAIL! You can see that the Jell-O didn’t go just into the straws, but it did get into them. So I thought ok this is gonna work! Put it in the fridge and took it out 12 hours later had to use a knife to get the straws out of the cup. Then I followed the directions, I used my fingers and the rolling pin to try and get the Jell-O out of the straws. OK this is where everything went WRONG! The straws were busting open, the Jell-O just wasn’t coming out, it came out in little pieces, I NEVER got a whole worm out! I think maybe  MAYBE you need a better quality straw? Mine were cheap ones from the Dollar Store. Or maybe a thicker straw? Mine were pretty narrow? Anyway give it a try, I may try it again one day… but gotta wait until my fingers don’t hurt from squeezing the straws!

ENJOY!

Slimy Worms

Slimy worms

I really like to serve crazy food for Halloween! But I also want something that is going to fill us up and give us energy as we are out doing our Trick or Treating! I’ve done octopus hotdogs in the past served over chili and that has to be one of our favorites! This year I thought I would try a different spin on the hotdogs. So I decided to make Slimy Worms…

Here’s what you’ll need:

Hotdogs

BBQ Sauce

Here’s how you make it:

Cut your hotdogs into 6 strips. Place hotdogs into a pot of boiling water; boil for a few minutes until you see the hotdogs start curling up. Drain the hotdogs, and cover with BBQ sauce. You can also serve these over Chili; just maybe don’t use the BBQ sauce, which would be totally yummy. I think we are going to have them with some Mac and Cheese!

 ENJOY.

Joker Costume

My son LOVES superhero movies! For Halloween this year he decided he wanted to be The Joker from the Dark Knight Rises. I love Heath Ledger’s Joker; I think he did such a great job as that character. So we decided to try and “find” the items to make up a Joker costume.

We scoured Goodwill looking for purple pants and a green vest, oddly they didn’t have those? We did find this great green velour type pantsuit. My son tried it on and let’s just say it was HYSTERICAL! I wish I could have gotten a picture and that he wouldn’t totally kill me if I put it online! So I decided I would use the green fabric to make a vest. And the Suit pants we would just dye purple. We did find a great purple dress shirt and a blond wig that we dyed green.

This project has been anything but easy! I started out by cutting the sleeves off the pantsuit and then cut the legs off of it as well, however I cut it too short! So back to Goodwill I went looking for a vest. I found one and decided that I could cut out the green fabric and put it on top of the vest that I had found. I just used some fabric glue and we are in business with a great vest that was super simple to make.

 

The Pants… these have been the biggest pain in the butt! I bought some purple RIT dye and soaked them overnight and the next day guess what they were still GREY! You could say I was a little frustrated! I decided to try the TULIP fabric paint, and it worked, the pants aren’t as purple as I wanted but at this point they are good enough!

I will put a picture up with him in full costume and make up soon. We are going to a Halloween party soon and get to dress up for it!

 

ENJOY!

Costumes

I asked my Niece and Nephews what they wanted to be for Halloween this year and they came up with some great ideas. My niece wants to be Juliette from Gnomeo and Juliette and my 2^nd oldest nephew wants to be a Ninja! My youngest nephew didn’t really get a choice this time around he gets to be a Gnome! I decided that I was going to try and make their costumes from things I could find at Goodwill. I got super lucky with the Ninja costume I didn’t have to make anything for it! For the Gnome and Juliette costumes I only had to make the little Gnome hats!

Here’s what you’ll need:

                                                  The Gnome Hats and Apron

                                                        Juliette Costumes

                                                                Gnome Costume

                                                                    Ninja Costume

Gnome Costume:

Pants

Plaid Shirt

Belt

Boots

Felt (for the hat)

Juliette Costume:

White top

Black tank Top

Gold Puff Paint

Red skirt

Felt (for the hat)

White fabric for the apron

Ninja Costume:

Black pants

Black top (I lucked out and found a Karate Gi Top)

Face mask (again I lucked out here)

Here’s how you make it:

I only actually made 4 things for these Costumes. The hats for Juliette and the Gnome For those you cut out 2 rectangles per hat. Measure the size of the child’s head and cut eat triangle to be half that size. So each triangle for mine was about 10.5 inches which will be a total of 20 inches after I sew them together. It’s just a simple stitch around both sides!  For the belt for my little Gnome I used a piece of blue fabric and a piece of yellow felt. I sewed the blue fabric to the size of the wait on the pants. I cut a rectangle out of the yellow felt and then cut two slits in it for belt to go through! The Apron of the Juliette costume was made from white felt. I cut it about the size of the skirt and the shape of the skirt. I then cut 2 strips and sewed them on to the top of the Apron for the strings.For the Tank top all I did was add a little puffy paint to look like buttons and thread! These were so easy and CHEAP! I hope to add the pictures of the kids in the costumes later this week! I just sent them their Costumes and they haven't gotten them yet!

Enjoy!

 

Trick or Treat Bags

When I was a little girl I had this great trick or treat bag, it had my name stitched onto it and everything. I think it was a cute litte girl witch on the front. I love that bag! I love that all these years later I still remember that bag, I also remember all of my homemade costumes. They were so great. I was a princess one year, a belly dancer another and even a red mouse once, that one was great it was pajamas after halloween was over! So back to the bag, I love the idea of my kids having homemade things and I hope they will have the same fond memories that I do when they grow up! So my son had made a trick or treat bag a few years ago. And this year I thought I would make my neice and nephews bags too!

Here's what you'll need:

Black Bag

Puffy Paint

Cardboard

Here's how you make it:

Place a piece of cardboard inside the bag to prevent the paint from going through the bag to the other side. Then decorate the bags! It's a fun project for the kids to do. If my niece and nephew lived closer I would have had them do the bags. But instead I am did the bags. You can use stencils or just freehand the designs whatever look you like the best! Be sure to write the names on the bags so there isn't any confusion on whose candy is whose!;)

Enjoy

Painted Mason Jars

I love all the different ways to decorate a Mason Jar! Besides canning, I've used them forever to put fresh flowers in. I think there is something quite beautiful in the simplicity of mason jars. This was my first attempt at painting the jars. I think they turned out ok. I actually think I like them plain with out the letters on them the best. Again I think it's the simplicity that I'm drawn to. I did put some silver ribbon around the tops to give them a little punch! I may have to paint some more jars in different colors for different holidays or events. I think maybe Red White and Blue ones are definitely in my future!

Here's what you'll need:

Mason Jars ( I used quart size)

Acrylic Paint

Water

 

Here's how you make it:

 

Pour Paint into jars, add a little water ( just a little you want the paint to be thinned out but not watery) Swirl the paint around in the jar coating all sides of it, add more paint if necessary.When I was first trying this I did try to paint the paint on with a brush but let me tell you that wasn't workin' for me, it was streaky and not at all what I was going for. So try the swirly painting method! Let dry, add more paint to get the level of coverage that you want. Now here you can add Letters to the outside with paint or stickers, or you can add faces or designs. Like I said I really like the plain painted jars myself.

Eyeball Wreath

What is it about an eye that’s so scary, creepy or eerie? Last week I did the Eerie Eyes post and this week we are starting off with an Eyeball Wreath or Frame. So I couldn’t find the frame that I wanted at the Dollar Store to make this project so I decided to make my own version. As I’m writing this post I’m wondering why I didn’t check Michaels to see if they had the frame it would have saved me a few steps but at the same time might have cost me a little more. Oh well I did what I’m getting rather good at doing I improvised! I decided that poster board and foam board would be easy to make into a frame! Now you can put ribbon or cord (it’s what I had) around the frame and make it a wreath or you could put a cute picture of your Trick or Treaters behind the frame and have a cute picture to pull out year after year!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Foam Board

Poster Board

Googly Eyes (3pkgs)

Rubber Cement

Glue

Scissors/ Exacto knife

Here’s how you make it:

Measure and cut both the Poster and Foam Boards into a 12in x12in square. Next cut out a 4 in square from the center of the boards.  Then glue the Poster Board to the Foam board with the Rubber Cement. Next thinly coat one side of the poster board with glue and add the googly eyes. Continue to the other sides adding more glue and eyes as you go. Let dry and then loop a ribbon around the top of the wreath and hang on your door or in the house for a fun decoration.

ENJOY!

Painted Pumpkins

I love all the painted pumpkins I’ve been seeing around.  And I love the small little pumpkins. I decided to paint some small pumpkins for my table center piece! I thought that painting them white and then using black, orange, and glow in the dark puff paint would be a great way to decorate them and give them a little “pop”! I know the glow in the dark paint won't be too visable but well it's Halloween and glow in the dark paint just feels right!  I’m planning on getting all my decorating done this week too. Venturing into the attic and hoping they don’t have to send out a search and rescue team to find me!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Mini Pumpkins (I used 5 I like odd numbers in my décor)

White Acrylic Paint (I used Light Ivory)

Puffy Paints (orange, black& glow in the dark)

Paint Brushes

Paper to cover on the table

I painted 2 coats of the white paint

                           I thought dots would look cool& I do like the dots the best!

Here’s how you make it:

I cleaned the dirt and gunk off the pumpkins with some vinegar. Then I painted the pumpkins, I didn’t paint all the way to the bottom. Let that coat dry and then cover it again. When the last coat has dried apply your puff paints in whatever design you like! I decided that I like the black and white ones the best, I think the orange would be ok IF it was maybe not such a bright orange? I also think an olive green would be a great color to incorporate!

ENJOY!

Trashy Spider Webs

Once again I found a great Thrifty craft on Pinterest! You can see the original inspiration at howaboutorange. I love that the last 2 crafts have been so cheap! I bought the Trash bags for this project at the Dollar Store! Would have been even cheaper if I’d had some black bags on hand! I forgot to have the Hubster get the Halloween decorations down from the attic and I’m really ready to start decorating! I mean it’s the 3 of October and I don’t have anything up yet! I usually try to get everything up by the 1^st of October but this year I am behind! I guess I’m going to have to crawl up in the attic myself ugh not looking forward to that one! Would it be wrong to ask my darling pre teen son to do it for me? Hmm have to ponder that one… Ok ok let’s get to the craft…

Here’s what you’ll need:

Black Trash bags (mine were 30gal size)

Scissors

Sharpie

                                                  Lay out your trashbag

                    Cut off all the sides, on the bottom I just slid my scissor through

                                                          Fold in half

                                                        Fold in half again

                                                         Make a triangle

                                                        Make another triangle

                                                         And another

                                                 Draw out your web design

                                                   Cut one side

                                                  And then the other

Unfold and you are done!

Here’s how you make it:

Lay out your trash bag, cut off the top, bottom, and both sides. Separate the two pieces of the plastic. Fold the plastic in half, you will have a rectangle, then fold it into a square. From there you will fold it into a triangle, do that 2 more times. With your Sharpie draw a line about half an inch wide from the tip of the triangle to the top. Then on each side draw matching scallops, leave gaps between each scallop I didn’t measure this I just eyeballed it on this. Then cut out the area between the scallops. Unfold and Voila you have 4 spider webs! You can leave them all together or you could cut them and place them in different places! So 1 bag will give you a total of 8 webs!

Enjoy!