Friday Flashback

Adia and Landon Halloween 2009

Halloween Swaps

Here are some random Halloween crafts that I have done for some Halloween swaps.

This stenciled shirt was made in the Ongoing wish swap. It's a bat tie shirt.

This is a felt applique/embroidered Sally I made for the 13 Days of Halloween Swap. This required a bit of help from KJBaloo

This is a bag that I stenciled an heart on again for the 13 Days of Halloween Swap

I hope you have enjoyed all the spooky crafts this season. Now it's time to gear up for Christmas!

Meow oh I mean BOO!

I think that dressing your dog up for Halloween can be really cute, you know the weiner dog as a hot dog?? I never thought of dressing up cat. Well I guess what I mean is that I am not brave enough to try to dress up a cat. My experience with cats has all been good as long as you always remember to do things on their terms otherwise the claws come out and yes I have been on recieving end of the claws. I am a quick learner though and it usually only takes one time for me to figure out to NEVER EVER do that to the cat again. So hats off to these brave souls who either drugged their cats or had them declawed.....

I think the cowboy needs to loosen up the reins a bit he's choking the life out of his cat/horse.

Here we have the real life inspiration for Puss in Boots. Those Shrek animators got him down just right!

Ahoy Matey's!!!!! ARGH. Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Milk

This kitty knows that this costume is all wrong. He is saying Really?

Catabunga Dudes!

Good luck to you if you plan on dressing up your cat for Halloween.....

$1 Store Craft-Haunted Mirror

I got the idea for this ghostly mirror from Better Homes & Gardens. I apologize this isn't the greatest photo of it. You can create this mirror for under $5.

You will need:

A mirror. I purchased a framed mirror at my local Dollar Tree

Sand Paper

Vellum and printer paper

A spooky image

First sand the BACK of the mirror in the spot you want your image to show. Sand it until you can see through it. I didn't understand the first step and started to sand on the front of the mirror. Ooops!

Print your chosen image on a piece of plain white paper and again on a piece of vellum or transparent paper.

Tape the image on vellum to the clear spot on the mirror.

Tape the second image on top of the first making sure it's just a little off center.

I think that next time I will try to find a smaller (possibly vintage looking? mirror and make my ghostly image a bit larger. Then display the mirror using a plate display.

I would also like to share a very simple stamped card I made and included in a Halloween swap package. I scored the stamp at Michael's for $1

Being Shared At:

Spooky Dinner

We had a spooky Halloween themed meal this weekend. I found the ideas all over the web. The kids had fun and everything was super easy to make.

First up was creepy crawly ice cubes that I served in cranberry grape juice

Then we had wiches finger bread sticks.

Use refrigerated breadsticks cut in half and cut a pepperoni for each fingernail. Cook according to package directions.

Ghostly Goulish pizzas.

Bagel Pizzas. They started out as mummy pizzas but after they were cooked I thought the holes looked like mouths. So they became ghost pizzas!

For dessert we had a store bought cake cause I was too lazy to make the pumpkin patch cake I had planned.

Halloween Silhouettes

I got the idea for these from Better Homes and Gardens. I am sure you could use the spooky silhouette of your choice. A vampire or a ghost would be cute! Or you can download and use the ones I did here!

I cut the silhouettes out of black cardstock and glued them on to white cardstock and framed them in black frames from the $1 store.

Easy Peasy and cheap too!

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Mmmm Butter Cookies

I always have grand ideas about making cut out cookies with my kids but for some reason they NEVER EVER work! My dough always ends up sticking to the counter or parchment paper or I can never peel the excess dough away from the cut out. I don't know why my dough seems to get so soft so quickly other than the Arizona heat. I always say I am not going attempt to make these dang cookies again but I always do. This year I used a new recipe found in a Magazine a few years back. I only have a copy of the page so I am not 100% sure of the magazine but I think it was a Taste of Home holiday edition. After a little trial and error I finally have it figured out! Please be aware if you try this recipe that the dough needs to be refrigerated over night.

Butter Cookie Cutouts Frosting
1 cup softened butter 1/4 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar 2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup buttermilk 2-3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the buttermilk and extracts.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. cover and refrigerate overnight.

Roll out to 1/4 inch, cut, and bake at 350 for 6-7 minutes.
Ooops one batch got cooked a little too long!

For frosting, combine butter, sugar, extract, and enough cream to make it spreadable but not too thin.

We used Halloween sprinkles to decorate. These cookies turned out so tasty!!!!!!

*Hints

After the dough sat in the fridge all night I separated it into 3 small bowls and stuck them in the freezer to let them harden more before I rolled them out.

I rolled the dough directly on floured parchment paper and just slid the paper onto the cookie sheets to bake.

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Halloween Kids Crafts

My kids have been looking forward to doing Halloween crafts for the last few weeks. This weekend they finally got to do them!

Here is Landon working on his paper pumpkin.

And the finished product...

Next he made a candy necklace

Adia and Landon both got to try out their sewing skills and made some puppets.

This kit was awesome and was only $5 at Wal-Mart

Here are the kids with their spooky puppets. I helped and made the witch.

Last but not least Adia got to make her own haunted house. This one took her quite a while and required some mom + hot glue assistance.

Here is Adia's haunted house. We now have it displayed in the living room.

The kits can be found at Michaels and are a good buy when you use your 40% off coupon.

Next up we made Halloween cut out cookies! Yum

*I received no compensation for any of the products shown and all opinions are my own

Halloween Bookmarks

How stinking cute are these bookmarks??? These were made for a Halloween swap and included with a book I sent to my partner. You can print the bookmarks yourself at Controlling My Chaos. You can also find tons of other printables and ideas for all the other holidays. I may need to look into this digital scrapbooking as it seems this is where she designs these things.

This first set are magnetic bookmarks. All you have to do is fold the regular bookmark in half and magnets to each side.

These are classic bookmarks with a punched hole in the top and and some Halloween themed ribbon attached. Gluing real googly eyes would make them even cuter!

Halloween Jewelry

I have been making some Halloween jewelry for probably the last month or so. Some of it was for a Halloween swap, some of it was for a personal swap, and some of it was for Adia.

First up are some resin pendants. For this one I used glitter and confetti.

These two have Halloween images.

Two sets of earrings and a charm bracelet. I have quite a few more of these kits and after giving some to the kids in the extended family I will hand the rest out on Halloween.

And last but not least a pair of candy corn earrings.

I do need to make some of these earrings for myself and find where I have stashed my other pair of Halloween earrings I received in a swap a few years ago.

Friady Fix-Baked Potatoes

I don't remember where I first saw this idea at but I tried it and it worked like a charm! I had perfectly baked potatoes when I got home from work.

First wash your potatoes

Wrap in foil

I put some butter and garlic salt in the foil before I sealed it

Place in your crock pot and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 7-8 hours.

Carefully remove and serve!

They do look a little more brown than white but they taste just as good as oven baked potatoes

Halloween Marble Magnets

I made some Halloween marble magnets for a personal swap I was in. I made an altered tin to put them in.

Yay cute!

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Mmmm Crockpot Granola, Yum!

I have seen so many recipes for granola but thought that the ones using the slow cooker looked the easiest. Well needless to say the first batch had to be tossed as it burned to a crisp! I think my Crockpot cooks really fast! So this was my second attempt and it went much better.

For the recipe:

1/4 cup butter*

1/2 cup Honey

1Tbsp Vanilla

1 tsp Cinnamon

5 Cups of Rolled Oats

Optional:

Ground Flax seed

Almond Slivers

Sunflower Seeds

(I used all of these)

Optional Add in's after it's cooked:

Dried Fruit

Coconut Flakes

Semi-Sweet Chips

White Chocolate Chips

Pretty much anything you want really!

Set the Crockpot on low and put the wet ingredients in the crock pot and stir it up once the butter is melted.

Combine the dry ingredients and stir together.

Add the oat mixture to the butter mixture and stir to coat well.

Use a wooden spoon or chop stick to prop the lid up while cooking.

Stir every 30-45 minutes

Cook for 3 1/2 hours

Pour on newspaper/papertowels to cool down and harden

Now would be the time to add the extras then store in an airtight container.

For the cost of about $4.00 I have a TON of granola that is quite tasty and hopefully a bit healthier than the store bought stuff.

*you can substitute coconut oil for the butter

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