Halloween Candle Decorations - Cute and Great Smelling

I am a bit of a candle freak.  I don't always burn them.  If I get the right candles, I can simply open the sealed container that I keep them in the smell fills the room.  I tend to have extreme changes of moods and mood decides the scent I desire and it's easy to switch the scent of the room by switching containers. 

For the holidays, most people go with the cutesy candles that follow a holiday theme.  I find most of those are pretty stinky.  Why not utilize your favorite candles by incorporating them into the seasonal decor.  Check out some of these fall and Halloween ideas.

How simple is this one?  And cute too.  You can purchase cinnamon sticks at craft stores and markets, twine at almost any craft or hardware store, and use your favorite candle for the center piece and - voila - you have a candle that you can use for Halloween and through the New Year.  Cheap, easy, long lasting and darn cute in a group setting.  Remember to pick a candle that will accent the smell of the cinnamon.

Again, this is a candle decoration that could be used for most any holiday.   Your table setting will set the theme. I love the black plates and clear accents.  Perfect for Halloween.  Make it fall colors for Thanksgiving.  And you can go red and green for Christmas holidays.  Add a bit of small items for more accent if needed. 

 You can't tell me that this isn't just too darn cute.  Again inexpensive to make.  Pipe cleaners, that you can order online right here, mini pumpkins and your favorite candle.  If you want these little holders to last a while, it may be wise to treat the pumpkin to preserve it a bit.  Click here for a super easy pumpkin treatment that will work for pumpkins, large and small.

Candy corn is for more than munching.  Look at these cute as can be candle holders.  It's a no brainer that this project will just take minutes to complete.  And what do you think this holiday decoration will cost you?  Candy corn about $2.00 and cylinder vases can be ordered as a set for $21.99 or if you hunt through the Amazon Store, you will find some even better prices.  As for the candles, you can find them at a dollar store for just that, $1.00 each  OR  you go to your favorite candle store, which would be my choice since I will be burning these. 

And for my favorite, home made, candle holder for the holidays is - 

The fresh apple, votive candle holder

Beautiful as a single piece or as a group.

Simply cut out the center of the apple.  Make sure you start with an apple that will sit reasonably flat. 

Add a votive or tea light candle and you are done.  When the wax gets hot, you will pick up the scent of the apple.  Pick a candle that is compatible with the apple.  

That's a start with your holiday candle collection.  I am sure there will be more to share soon.

Home Made Ghosts Are So Easy !

Ghosts are always fun to make and as easy as you want.  You could simply throw a white piece of cloth over an inflated balloon for a quick ghost.  You can make simple mini ghosts by squishing up a paper towel into a ball, covering it with a paper towel or small piece of fabric, and tying it off with a piece of string or yarn.

Or there's my all  time favorite - the cheesecloth ghosts.  Pretty simple but can be messy.  I like to use liquid starch, and a balloon taped to the top of a paper towel roll, to make the forms.  After drying, the kids will have a blast making the faces.

 

 There's a neat variation of the cheesecloth ghosts and similarly made but much scarier.  Be creative with what items you wrap and with the amount of cloth that you use for the cover.  If a little something shows through, it may add to the effect.  These would look great, inside and out.  They will not hold up to moisture or rain but a covered porch or home entry way would be perfect.  Move them out on the spooky night if the weather allows.

This is a great variation of the cheesecloth ghost but with the use of chicken wire and glow in the dark paint.  This isn't a project for the toddlers in the family but with a little adult help, most other kids will love this.  

That's a start on the Spooky Day decorations.  More and more ideas for the entire family still to come. 

Having a Halloween Gathering?

I am so excited about this time of the year that I have goosebumps! It's time to start making that plan for the Halloween party.  Kids are parties are a blast.  Adult parties are great too.  Decorated the home so your are ready for both. 

Too soon to start the baking but not too soon to make a plan.  If you are amongst the majority of the population, you have a busy life and need all the help you can get, so order those holiday pans that will allow you to make an impressive treat with in minimal time and effort. 

 Start on the home now - never too soon for that.  Check out some of my fav ideas, so far.

This trim can be done in such a way that you can remove it after the holiday, just by hand stitching or using long stitches to apply.  Adding same or similar decorations to the wall and the pillows look pretty neat.  I believe I would add a bit of spider web.  When you are done with this, you can always switch it up with turkeys. 

Extend the design from one room to the next by hanging the bats from filament string (fishing line).  Cute with bats but don't think you will want to use turkeys for this.  We'll come up with something.  What about flying cornucopia?   

Porches and entry ways are so important.  Sort of like the first impression thing.  This basic idea is great because it is perfect for any fall holiday and if you add your jack-o-lanterns, it is all about Halloween.  Make sure you keep it safe for the kids who are coming to trick-or-treat.  And treat good ole' Jack to avoid the rot.

Planning a party?  The kind that you would send out invitations to?  Check this out. 

Gross?  Cute?  Clever?  

I think it is all of the above and perfect. If you can't find fake fingers, make bony finger cookies with the aid of a finger pan for these invites. 

 

 

 Let the kids get involved.  They can use spray paint, a little glue with tissue paper, even poster paint, anything to add the color.  Black felt pens or black paper that is glued on the outer surface will work great.  No problem with anything flammable since you would use glow sticks to light it all up.  

Is it party night?  Not matter what costume you pick or decide no costume at all (not talking Lady Godiva here), you may still want to do the nails.  

While you have a big selection of  big pumpkins at the market, find fun ways to use them.  

Cute as a cooler and, if you line it with a plastic bag, you could use it for your candy too.

I love the apple candle.  So simple to cut the center out of an apple and insert a votive or tea light candle to burn.  As the candle gets hot, the scent of the apple gets stronger.  Tho this is a cute decoration, replace with whole candles before you begin the bobbing.

That's it for this post.  This is one of my favorite months so there will be more holiday ideas to come. 

 

Halloween Desserts Made Easy

I could say that when I was a child I walk barefoot, in the snow, 5 miles to school and it was up hill both ways.  And that life was so rough that we even had to shape our own cookies into the shapes we wanted for each holiday.  Well, that's not all true, but we did have to either use cookie cutters, and there really wasn't all that many shapes, or we had to make our own shapes.  I gotta say that I really did enjoy the freedom to do that.  With the pace of today's families, thank goodness things have changed and you can use pre-shaped cookie sheets and cake pans to make those special holiday treats.

Check out the pans that I have found for this Halloween holiday.



Creepy fingers pan -
only $ 8.79 

these could be used for little bread sticks too.

Wilton 3 D  Skull Pan
on special $ 32.60 

perfect for filling with pudding fruit or gummy worms. 

 Mini pumpkins cake pan
$ 33.36

endless possibilities of decoration this one

Many times when making a holiday dessert you will want to decorate with a basic frosting.  You have bought the pans that will make your holiday treat easier and faster to make so why not use a store bought frosting.  Face it - Betty Crocker knows what she is doing.  What happens when the frosting needs to be a bit thicker to suit your needs?  Simple fix - you can add powder sugar, but that will also add sweetness.  And a lot of premade frosting is already plenty sweet.  Or, you can mix in a bit of corn starch.  This will thicken and not change the flavor or sweetness of the frosting.  But only add a little bit.  Should be all you need to keep that decoration in place.

Great Jack cake pan
$ 9.37


classic that every household should have

This is such a versatile pumpkin pan.  I would have never thought of making the pumpkin shapes into bats.  So cute. 











These mini ghost can be cup cakes, muffins, or even cookies by just pressing a bit of dough in a well greased mold.  
And only $ 14.97

Are you wanting a nice selection of shapes, all in one pan?  This is the pan for you.   
Great assortment cookie sheet   $10.94












Want to thicken pudding to use as a filling?  Use the same method as above for the thickening frosting.  Go gentle with the corn starch.  I use a powder sugar sprinkler to keep the corn starch light and even.

Cast aluminum 3 D skeleton cake pan would be fun to make a filled cake.  Just make the cake according to directions, slice in half, cut out the center and fill with surprises like M&Ms, pudding, chocolate kisses, etc.  Currently priced at $ 28.01

This dimensional pumpkin pan is so cute that I think I would be tempted to use it as a serving tray also.  You could put an assortment of veggie dips in the sections.  Also could use for small condiments.  Or - you can use it what it was made for, a cupcake pan. 
 


Coating your pans is a must.  Often you pans will come with instructions on how to best coat your pan.  One thing you definitely do not want to do is use olive oil.  As healthy as olive oil is, it will change the the taste of your baked goods.

I love this one.  The pic shows how you can make cookie pops out of it.  I would make tombstones.  Maybe one for each person in an office or a class room, and personalize them.  This one is exciting, especially for  $12.87 

Last but not least - this is the scariest one of all. 

It's Hello Kitty !  for only $ 12.70 

There's a start on your Halloween baking pans.  More will come along as I find them.  Get one, get them all, your kids will love them!

Last One - Halloween Super Snacks

We are closing in on the great costume day and the excuse to make fun snacks.  As if you ever need an excuse.  I know I don't.  But here are a few super snack ideas to add to the healthy ones from the past and the sweet ones too.  

 

This is super cute and has year 'round possibilities by changing up the cut outs. You can picture cut outs of Christmas trees, bunny faces, happy faces, abstract designs - the sky's the limit.  You could possibly allow the kids to draw designs that you could cut for them.   Any citrus would work and you could fill with fruit or maybe even other goodies.  I am wondering about scrambled eggs, maybe with ham.  Think about this one.

Does your child have a microwave or toaster oven in their class room?  This would be a perfect snack for home or class.  Kids can make their own mummy pizzas with muffins or mini crust, olives, pizza sauce, green onion and a bit of white cheese.  Fun to look at and great to eat.  Want to add a little meat, just replace the olives with tiny pepperoni cut outs. 

Who doesn't like a nice spider stuffed egg?  Simple and great for kid, teen and adult gatherings.  Fix your boiled eggs as always (have you tried the baked replacement?), cut black olives for the spider parts, and add on top of the stuffing.  Want to try a little bit of a change?  Add a bit of guacamole to the stuffing.  Maybe spice it up with chili powder and garlic.  There is a world of possibilities. 

 Love these little bite size treats.  Snap peas or green beans, fresh from the market, with just a couple extras. And you have total control of what you want to use.  The tongue could be cuts of pepperoni, slices of cherry tomatoes or even watermelon if you want to add a bit of sweet.   Shredded white cheese is the finishing touch of the rotten teeth.  Again an item that the kids can make too. Yummy.

Again with the bite size snack.  This one is self explanatory.  A slice of carrot, a dab of cream cheese and an olive topper, and you have a nice edible eyeball.  I think that a few green eyes would be pretty good too.  Prefer cooked carrots?  That works too.  Just let them cool before adding the toppers.

Last but not least - mummy babies.  Your choice.  Make it super simple by using pre-made pie crust or croissant rolls, cut into tiny strips.  Wrap around your choice of hot dogs or make them minis by using Smokies sausages.  Just bake until brown.  For the eyes?  I am not totally sure what I would use.  If you just poke a couple of holes in the meat, I think the inside color would be plenty.  But you could add cloves to a full size hotdog.  Other than that, I really don't know.  Please let me know what you think.  

That's it for now.  More snack for this holiday and many for any time

of the year. 

Halloween Snacks - Sweet Treats

Want to get this one in before time runs out for school treat day.  Take a looks at these sweet treats.

These little spiders are a great alternative to the spider cupcakes.  You can control the size and content; and the are not as messy as a cupcake, unless you are me.  I can make a mess of anything. All you need here is chocolate rice crispy treats, black Twizzler sticks (separated and cut to size), and mini M & Ms.  Just add your accessories before the rice crispy treats are totally cooled. 

Store bought chocolate drop candies with a little bit of add-ons to make a cute little spider.  Again, using the Twizzlers legs, maybe coconut for the fangs, candy raspberries and sprinkles for the eyes.  Warm the chocolate slightly to get your goodies to adhere.  Yummy bites.

 This pumpkin cupcake is great for the older kids and adults who are not so into the scary and fun stuff.  Crazy to think that anybody does not but I think there are a few people like that out there.  Wouldn't this make a great table decoration all fall?  I would use a pumpkin recipe, colored cream cheese frosting and pretzel pieces for the stem.

This great looking bundt cake can be make with an orange and chocolate recipe or a pumpkin and chocolate recipe.  Or you can go out with the the Halloween Rainbow recipe.  I bet it taste as good as it looks.

 

Decorating cupcakes is always fun for adult and kids. This is just a fun selection that I found on line.  I really like the variety of candies used.  Do you see the rabbit?  I think that is the Easter Bunny making an early appearance.  

Again with the cupcakes.  This can be absolutely any flavor you desire with chocolate sprinkles as a topper.  If you are ambitious you could crush chocolate cookies for a topper.  They both will look great as 'dirt'.  Any oval cookie will make the tombstone and a little frosting marker will make the 'RIP' and easy add on.  Making these for an adult gathering or office party?  You may want to add a few names to the tombstones.  

I don't know if this is a healthy treat or not.  You start with chocolate pudding, top with crumbled wafer cookies to look like dirt, add a cracker or oval cookie with a bit of frosting writing, and if you are creative, add a bit of a flower with orange frosting or sugar trims.  Great way to give into the kids with a 'not totally' unhealthy treat.

And to close with -
I'll leave you with a couple of healthy treat ideas.  This is a brief preview of the next treat post and a reminder of a past post. 

 

Boiled egg eye balls with guacamole filling, olives and pimento trims.

You cold use cottage cheese or cream cheese with a touch of green food coloring for your filling if you prefer.   

Yummy and creepy too.  These apple pieces with teeth almost don't look edible but definitely will be a hit with the kids.  The love the creepy stuff and apples too.  You have a variety of items you could use for the teeth - almond slices (broken into rough pieces), tiny cuts of string cheese, and even tiny pieces of apple.  This is one of my favorites. 

That's it for now.  Another bunch of Halloween treats coming in just a couple of days.