Happy Halloween Everybody !
Thanks for stopping by today. We hope you all are having a Safe and Happy Halloween. First things first, don't forget to come back later today to see our Halloween Party blog winners! 4 lucky comments will be chosen to receive our blog candy from the Halloween Party blog hop we took part in last weekend.
Now, welcome to part II of my Halloween Party prep and projects
This year we are taking a break from the Big party, so I chose a few smaller projects to decorate the house . Michaels had these fun mini grave stones and of course what is a spooky Halloween scene without some spiderwebs, coffins and burlap.
My major projects for this year were the two pumpkins (orange and black) made from one fake carvable pumpkin I cut in half and sprayed with glitter. Last week I showed you the black one, this week, the star is the Orange one, top right. Complete with an Evil looking tree, a witch flying over the moon and some spooky jack-o-laterns next to a gravestone. All the items are added by being glued to black painted kebob sticks, that I then stuck into the pumpkins soft surface. In the bottom right picture, you can see some of the ATC's I traded with some friends for Fall/Halloween, they are super cute!
Next up is the Happy Halloween banner. I chose Martha Stewart papers, black, ivory and natural burlap as the bases and some misc. embellishments. Again Michaels had these cool skeletons on twine that I just stretched out, added a quick twine extension to and used as my banner base. They also had some awesome looking fake barbwire, that lines the front of the banner. All or most are hot-glued in place. The letters are just inked with 3-4 distrress ink Halloween colors.
Below: Some of my favors and treats this year for the neighborhood kids that alwasys stop by. When we have a party these work for party displays or as favors. All of the pine wood and bolsa wood boxes and such Michaels craft stores offer every year are very economical and make great ways to be creative. They also make awesome and cheap ways for the kids to create some Halloween magic of their own. These lovely trinkets are for all ages, all you need is a little seasonal candy and some craft paint to dress them up!
My favortie thing to make for a large party is a Homemade brew of some kind. Enoy this Home-made apple cider that warms the heart and is always a hit!
Ingredients
o 8 -10 apples ( I used gala for a less tart or intense taste)
o 1/2-1 cup sugar
o 4 tablespoons cinnamon ( or 4 cinnamon sticks)
o 4 tablespoons allspice
Directions
1. Quarter your apples (no need to remove peel or seeds).
2. In a large stock pot add your apples and fill with water--just enough to cover the apples.
3. Add your sugar.
4. Wrap your cinnamon and allspice in a doubled up cheese cloth and tie, and add this to the apples and water.
5. Boil on high for one hour (uncovered) checking on it frequently.
6. Turn down heat and let simmer for two hours (covered).
7. Take off the heat after two hours of simmering and let cool.
8. Remove spices and mash up the apples to a pulp like consistency (a potato masher works well for this).
9. Once cool pour into a strainer over a large bowl. When most of the juice has drained away, put the remainder of the pulp into a doubled up cheese cloth and squeeze over the bowl until no more juice comes out.
10. (At this point you can either restrain the juice to get out the little bits of pulp that remain with a cheese cloth draped inside the strainer to catch them or just leave it like I do).
11. You can store in an air tight container in your refrigerator for up to a week or you can freeze it for later use if you like.
12. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove and enjoy either plain or you can add caramel syrup or caramels, whipped topping with cinnamon or, like my neighbors did if you like it really sweet, with marshmallows or marshmallow creme.
13. also you could make this a diabetic recipe by omitting the sugar and adding diabetic sweeteners to taste in place of the sugar or none at
A few other favorites are roasting pumpkin seeds and making popcorn balls, my Mom made both every Halloween! See the links below for some simple receipes.
How to make Popcorn Balls-
How to roast Pumpkin seeds-
Lastly, my favorite kids game for every Halloween. Even if we don't have a party we set this up so the local neighborhood kids can come and partake. It's amazing how many come back year after year! Google Halloween mad scientist or Hallween body parts game for complete details. See mine below!
The way it works is, you need as many covered boxes as you will have body parts (I found these work best) Decorate/wrap the boxes, leaving a hole in the top of the box, that can be punched out or cut open slightly (see samples above). The trick is a DARK, spooky room and a good hostess, willing to play into the game. I use my hottub covered in white butcher paper with body parts hanging from the ceiling, squishy eyes and fingers on the table and a witches cauldron with dry ice, lite slightly for the center piece. Lay your boxes on a table, high enough that doesn't allow them to see into them(the dark helps with this), but low enough they can reach into it and feel around. Each fake body part that resembles a real body part goes in a box. We have the hostess read the poem on the boxes and only take one child at a time to each box. A flashlight is also a fun spooky accessory, either the hostess or the kids can use. You can get really creative with this one and if you do it year after year you have to because the kids catch on after awhile.
Some my favorties to use are:
Cooked spaghetti noodles oiled slightly for- the worms
Corn husk for: the hair
End of a pickle spear for: the nose
Hot dogs with almond slivers for: the fingers
Jello mold for: the heart
Frozen peeled grapes for: the eyes
uncooked popcorn for : the teeth
You get the idea...
Think textures and try them yourself. Have Fun!
Well that's about it for my Halloween Party this year, hope you enjoy yours!
Again...Happy Halloween!
Thanks for visiting and
Don't forget to stop by later to see the 4 lucky winners!
Cheers,
Kristinxx
Posts
