Here are some quick and easy last-minute crafts to make with and for the little ones.

Halloween thumbprint designs…so cute! via Squidoo

“Snap one or two green eight-hour light sticks so they glow, and insert them into a white balloon. Inflate the balloon and tie it closed. Use a black marker to draw a wide-eyed visage.” via Martha Stewart

Pumpkin favor pouches made from crepe paper {you could also substitute tissue paper for the crepe paper} via Martha Stewart

Jack O’Lantern Puzzle Favor via Saltwater-Kids

Pipe cleaners and lollipops make for spooky spiders! via ohdeedoh

Trash bag spider webs via How About Orange

hugs, mb

These cookies are so cute…and so easy to make.

1.  Take two chocolate chip cookies, homemade or store-bought from your favorite bakery or the bakery department of a grocery store.

2.  Make some decorator frosting.  My favorite frosting to use for this is my mom’s buttercream frosting.   Put aside a small amount of the frosting {approximately 1/4 cup}. Tint the larger portion of the frosting orange.  The remaining frosting can be divided in half tinting one part green and the other black.

3.  Place one of the cookies flat side up and pipe the orange frosting to cover this as shown in the photo.

4.  Next, place another cookie on top again using the picture as your guide.

5.  Pipe the black frosting making a face on your little Jack O’Lantern.

6.  Use ready-made chocolate frosting and “plunk” a drop on the top of the cookie for the stem/hat.  Alternatively, you could use a Hershey Kiss.

7.  Pipe the green frosting around this to look like tendrils/leaves.

And there you have it!

hugs, mb

Linking to:

It’s not really a pumpkin patch but a batch of pumpkins for you to enjoy…all gleaned from the internet and so creative and lovely!

First up: Framed Book Page Pumpkins via The Scrap Shoppe Blog ~ I fell hard for this and think I may try my hand at it…the only problem…I know I will never find a frame this awesome!

This pumpkin is so chic, dare I say “shabby chic”? …glitter, ribbon, tags and vintage fobs….what’s not to love?  via For the Love of Junk

Pumpkin bling…..perhaps too big to sport around one’s neck but blingy nevertheless….via bhg.com

Luminary pumpkin path…ethereal but slightly spooky! via Pinterest

Pumpkin~Meringue Pie …almost too pretty to eat…but I would certainly give it a try! via Martha Stewart

pumpkin hugs, mb

This is such an easy recipe and I love the way the finished product looks.  It takes less than 5 minutes to make and tastes so good!

Ingredients:

Chocolate to melt {I used milk chocolate chips and followed the directions on the package}

1 cup miniature pretzels

1/2 cup candy corn

~ you can also add marshmallows, coconut, raisins, etc. ~

Directions:

1.  Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang so that the finished product can be removed easily.

2.  Spread melted chocolate in the pan and sprinkle with the pretzels and the candy corn.

3.  Cover pan and chill until firm.

4.  Remove and break into pieces.

Serve!

hugs, mb

linking to:

What to do with a box of marshmallow ghosts?

Isn’t this adorable?

A jar, some lovely rubber stamps, ribbon and some Marshmallow Peeps…}are they still peeps if they are ghosts?}

This is from Disney Suits Me.

Paper Bag Bowls

Recycled paper bags from The Long Thread.

Fabric Bags made from thick wool felt with a tutorial

via Domesticali

{you could also use some inexpensive felt…they might not be as cute as this, though!}

Free printable tags

from Living Locurto

Luminaries made using glass jars, acrylic paint and sharpies

via Crafts by Amanda

Paper plate ghost

via Kaboose

Halloween Party Food Collage

with recipes and directions

The owl cupcakes make with Oreos and Reese’s pieces is so cute!

via One Charming Party

Frightfully Easy Ghost Cookies

via Tablespoon.com

Halloween Bingo Free Printable

from Attempting Aloha

Halloween Candy Bar Wrappers

from Skip to My Lou

{with downloadable template}

Pumpkin favor pouches via Martha Stewart

Candy Corn Vases with tutorial

via The Swell Life

hugs, mb

I was looking for some creepy but CUTE cupcake inspiration  and came across these…. aren’t they adorable?  If you click on the link ~ Woman’s Day ~ they give directions for each of the cupcakes above.

The above two are from Bakerella!  How awesomely cute!!!!

The spider cupcakes and monsters above are from Utah Loves Cupcakes!

Scary eyeball cupcakes at Yummy Cakes by Lynn!

And last but not least….Skip To My Lou has a free template for a cupcake wrapper to wrap your creations in!

hugs, mb

Just in time for Halloween ~ some yummy Orange Juice cupcakes!

Makes about 16 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Juice and finely grated rind of 1 orange

1 tablespoon lemon juice

a few drops orange food coloring {optional}

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Mix flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

2.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

3.  Combine orange juice and lemon juice and add enough water to make 2/3 cup.  Alternately, add flour mixture and liquid.  Add orange rind and beat batter until smooth.  Add food coloring if you are using it {I opted to not use any}.

4.  Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full.  Bake for 25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool.

The above cupcake recipe is from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman.

Buttercream Frosting

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup butter (softened)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

To tint frosting ~ add a drop of food coloring to frosting until you reach the desired color.  I made mine black for Halloween.

cupcake hugs, mb

I’m not that good at painting… give me a coloring book and I can usually stay in the lines {If I stick my tongue out, squint really hard, have new crayons and focus, focus, focus} but..I love to craft so I go for easy, quick and inexpensive.  I wanted a doormat for Trick or Treat but didn’t want to spend a lot of money  and got the bright idea {did you just see a light bulb go off?} to paint my own… woot…thank heavens for sisal and Wal-Mart.  I found my canvas {sisal doormat} for under $7.00, had some paint on hand, a sharpie marker and 2 pieces of scrap paper.

Sisal Doormat

I free handed a Capital B, a chubby O and a candy corn shape, laid them out on my mat and traced away using a Sharpie.

I filled in the outlines using black, pumpkin orange, school bus yellow and white paint {I mixed the white with a glow in the dark paint so that the mat ‘glows’ at night}.

I did two coats of each color and when done outlined everything again with the Sharpie… and voila… a Trick or Treat doormat for under $10.00.

Do you see the scary glow??? {I have no idea how to take night pictures that aren’t just black…so please help me pretend it’s glowing}

So very happy to link to these wonderful sites below!

candy corn hugs, mb

Pumpkin Bread in a Can

Two years ago {oh my goodness how time flies!} I made this pumpkin bread in a can ~in case you missed it the first time you can check out the recipe here.

I also linked this great recipe up at Tater Tots and Jello.  I have obviously been living under a big old rock because I just found TT&J – oh my the glorious craft inspiration I have found there {I plan on ‘moving in’ over there…packing my sleepin’ bag and suit case right now!}

pumpkin hugs, mb

I love the Pillsbury Ready To Bake sugar cookies.  Even when I don’t have time to bake from scratch I can still bake something cute & tasty for the kids.  I made these this morning and….gasp….let the kids have a few for breakfast {then a nutritious breakfast afterwards-but cookies for breakfast was fun!}. I also placed some candy sticks into a few before baking – you can then wrap them in some cookie bags, tie with ribbon or raffia and give away! Cute little presentation. These also look cute all bunched up in a vase, cup, etc. {Sorry, no pictures of that-sometimes I forget!}

While in the Halloween mood-I also lit these cute little tea light holders that were $1.00 each from the Dollar Store-the lighting added to the ambiance of such an out of the norm breakfast!

I liked this picture of my little guy-a pumpkin amid pumpkins!

more Happy Halloween hugs, mb