Backyard friend

For more Wordless Wednesdays, go to Arkie Mama. Have a great day!

Photo from FamilyFun.go.com

FamilyFun.go.com has a great article written by Tammy Stables Battaglia on how to plan a pumpkin carving party for all ages.

If this sounds like something you’d like to do for your family or a fall birthday, you’ve got plenty of time to plan out the details; it’s still more than a month to Halloween.

She gives tips on carving/decorating stations, how to make the invitations, music to play, and how to judge the pumpkins fairly so everyone is a winner!

They have a great section of Halloween and Fall crafts. I know I’ve referenced them several times in the past few blogs but, really, their ideas are worth checking out again!

Leigh

Usually the kiddo’s school has a Halloween party and we all bring goodies to eat, but I always like to make treat bags for them to take home with them, too. I’ve started to think about different Halloween treats for him to take up to his school, so I thought I’d share what I’ve found so far.

Photo from Craftbits.com

Mummy Treat Cups
Most anyone could make this craft just using what you already have at home. I’m sure any color disposable cup would work, just clear out your cabinets instead of buying more cups at the store. 

Photo from Kaboose.com

Egg Carton Treat Cups
As always, I’m all about reducing, recycling and reusing. This is a great way to reuse your empty egg cartons before they go to the trash or the recycle bin.

Photo from FamilyFun.com

Treat Bag Stickers for Halloween
Have your kids color these sweet Halloween pics then cut, glue them onto a paper bag, then fill with Halloween goodies!

Photo from Kaboose.com

A Handful of Treats
Kids will get a kick out of this treat bag…a spooky popcorn hand complete with a spider ring! Here’s a recipe for making popcorn in different colors…green would be great for a witch’s hand!

Well, last night our family had its first International Night…the first of many to come as we learn more about the world around us through cultural crafts and food.

We started on a pinata a few days ago, and since it was FINALLY dry by yesterday morning, we got straight to work decorating it after school/work.

String for hanging the pinata.

I took a pair of scissors and poked holes on opposite sides of the opening and tied the ends of a 2′ piece of yarn through the holes. The brown bits are is the whole wheat flour.

Prepping the paper

I decided to use tissue paper instead of paint, thinking the glue would dry faster. The kiddo picked out 2 colors and he started to tear the paper along the grain into strips. The goal was to aim for strips 1-2″ wide, but then again he is 3.66 years old and accuracy is not his forte. It’s the participation that counts!

Slapping some paper onto the pinata.

I hung the pinata on the back of a chair so we could swing it around as we glued on the paper. I squeezed some glue onto the pinata and we started to wrap the strips around it.

Mom helping out with the decorating.

And I've lost him to the TV.

This is how most things work out if the TV is on. The kid can’t help it, he gets it from me. And my Dad.

Stuffing the pinata with goodies.

The husband helped fill it full of goodies and leftover strips of tissue paper. We let it hang while we enjoyed a delicious dinner of…

Mmmmm.......

Tilapia Tacos! So easy and soooo good, and totally in our International Night Mexico theme. I’ll see if I can get the recipe posted on “Will They Eat It?” in the near future. After noshing on those, the kiddo just could not wait to bust up the pinata.

Trying to crack that thing open.

Yes, that is a lightsaber he is using to break open the pinata. That’s what happens when you live in a house with Star Wars freaks.

Banging it into submission.

He ended up ripping the pinata from the yarn and it fell to the floor, where he continued to beat it with the light saber until it bled Sweet-Tarts. Victory! We enjoyed some before heading back to the dinner table for the finishing touch…

Double mmmmmmm.......

My first attempt at a Tres Leches cake, a very Mexican dessert and very, very, very yummy. How can you go wrong with a cake containing 5 eggs, 1 can each of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk? Topped with real whipped cream and sweet strawberries? It was very well received in the Crafty casa.

Notice how all the icing is gone first? He gets that from his Dad.

After dinner and bath, we snuggled up and read a section in the Childcraft Holidays and Customs volume about pinatas and celebrations in Mexico to round out our International Night experience.

Maybe we will visit Germany next time…homemade pretzels, schnitzel, potato balls? Or Thailand with spring rolls and pad thai? Where do you think we should head next?

Have a great weekend, guys…

Leigh

Putting the pinata in front of the air vent overnight did the trick! There is just a couple of spots where it’s still damp and not hard, so I popped the balloon and put it back on the floor in front of the vent to finish drying during the day. I don’t know if we’ll be able to paint it tonight, but maybe we can glue some tissue paper on it for fun.

By the way, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband…you’re the glue holding my crazy life together and I’m so thankful to have you with me on the journey. I love you-

Leigh

Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday, so in conjunction with the big day I decided to have our International Night tomorrow to celebrate.

After reading through the Childcraft book, I decided our cultural project would be to make a pinata for the fiesta. The book said that any self-respecting fiesta would have a pinata, and we know how kids like to tear things up, so we worked on one Tuesday.

I found a great and simple video tutorial on About.com that I used for the project. The adjustments I made were using whole wheat flour for the paste (that’s all i use in the house) instead of all-purpose white, and using long 8″-ish strips of paper instead of 1-2″ pieces cause I’m lazy and I don’t have a lot of time for tiny pieces.

The Sunday Dem-a-zette, after reading of course...

Here’s my strips of paper in a bowl. Note my dining room is covered in a large thick blanket…be sure to follow this lead. And you might want to change your kids into some play clothes and cover your floor. Things will be very drippy.

The concept is easy…dip strips, squeeze off excess, layer on balloon.

Dip, sqeeze...

...lay on balloon.

He is loving the ooey gooey part of this project!

This was around 6:30 or so on Tuesday. The video suggested we use 2-3 layers for a sturdy pinata, so I decided to only do one so it would break open easily for the kiddo. She said give each layer about a day to dry.

I guess we laid ours on really thick because it’s still not dry at 10:36 p.m.  Wednesday, more than 24 hours later. Maybe it’s the whole wheat flour? Who knows.

Letting the air vent do its work.

I just put it on the floor next to an air vent hoping that might speed up the process. We’ll see in the morning…I wanted to paint it, but we’ll have to see about that one! I bought some Sweet-tarts for the inside, the husband’s favorite candy.

But I know what will work tomorrow…Tilapia Tacos! Mmmm, one of our favorites around here and created by moi. And guess what just came out of the oven? A Tres Leches cake…it smells heavenly in here right now. I remember his grandma making what we all called Eagle Brand cake, and it was my guy’s FAVORITE dessert. So it’s all about him tomorrow…and Mexico, of course!

Backyard bounty

The last of the tomatoes and green beans…I hope to plant lettuce and more green beans for the fall IF THE RAIN WOULD EVER STOP.

For more Wordless Wednesdays, hop on over to Arkie Mama.

I adapted this craft from an old issue of Martha Stewart Kids, but I don’t know the specific one. I can’t find it online either, but here’s a picture of the page-

From Martha Stewart Kids

It seemed like such a good idea, why stop at bats? So I drew a bunch of Halloween standards: witch’s hat and broom, ghouly ghost and a jack-o-lantern to go with Mr. Bat. Here’s the templates:

Witch’s hat and broom templates

Ghost and jack-o-lantern templates

Bat template

You could go two ways with this: print out the templates and let your kids color them then cut them out, or  trace the spookies onto construction or scrapbook paper and cut out the pieces. If you want to trace out the spookies I suggest you print the templates onto cardstock so the it will hold up as you trace around it.

Templates for cutting

Here’s the templates, all cut out and assembled so you will see how they go together.

About to trace

When you get ready to trace your spookie, be sure you trace on the BACK of your paper, and you FILP the template, so it will face the right direction on the pretty side of the paper.

You will have several little pieces that you’ll have to cut, so if you do not own a pair of crafting scissors, like Cutter Bee scissors, I highly recommend getting a pair next time you are at Hobby Lobby (go here to print a store coupon) or even Walmart or Target. And a tip when you are cutting paper shapes: turn the paper as you cut, not the scissors. You maintain control over your cut and it is easier on your wrist.

After all your pieces are cut, assemble them like the photo above and glue down.

Little clips!

To make come bag clips, you can tape or glue regular clothespins to the back of your spookie.

The finished spooky project

What cute little spookies these are! I used mulberry paper for the bat’s wings, and the undried glue dots are showing through them, but they should dry clear. I fringed the bottom of the broom to make it look realistic, and added some gold paint pen to the witch’s hat buckle for fun. Clear glitter on the ghost would be super creepy!

You can have your kids help cut out the spookies, or for the little ones they can color the templates for you to cut out and help glue them together. I hope you can use these terrifying templates for some Halloween goodies in your home!

Leigh

I was trying to think of easy and cheap artsy projects the other day, and I remembered seeing this in my book. I can’t say I remembered actually making potato stamps, but I’m sure between my years as a Brownie/Girl Scout and summers at home with nothing to do, I must have made these.

Last night, I grabbed some taters for some stamps. These were medium sized Russet potatoes, wide enough across the middle for a decent sized stamp. I’m sure some long, big ones would make some super stamps too.

Scrub them clean, unless you want dirty stamps. Slice them across the middle or longways, which ever suits your design.

Can you see the outline of the heart?

I tried to trace a shape onto the cut end of the potato using a ballpoint pen and then a Sharpie marker, but neither one really worked. So I used the tip of the knife to carve out a heart shape on the potato. (Thanks to the husband for taking the action shots!)

No thumbs were harmed in the making of this tutorial.

I made cuts at the top of the heart for the V shape indention, about 1/4 inch deep. I inserted the knife straight into the potato and attempted to trace the rounded heart top. Didn’t work so well.

Shaving away

I found it easier, for curves, to just shave away the sides at an angle to expose the shape on the top. Then I just chipped away at the heart to accentuate the bumps. Needless to say, the heart was the hardest one to carve.

Getting better at this....

The star was easier to do…I had lost my photographer to bath duty, so no more action shots. I traced a star onto the potato, then made 1/4 inch deep slices from the inner corners of the star out to the points. Then I inserted the knife in the side of the potato and whittled out the sections one at a time. I used the knife to gently sharpen up edges if needed and clean out bits and pieces from the potato surface. And if you mess up, no worries….just slice off a thick layer and start over!

Ready for paint!

Using the same technique, also I made a moon (using the rounded edge of the potato for the outer curve of the moon) and a Christmas tree. I didn’t want them to brown, so I popped them in some water and put them in the fridge overnight.

I planned on letting the kiddo stamp today as I was making dinner, so I gathered up some foam brushes, kid’s paint and lunch paper bags and set them in a bowl so they’d be ready to go when we got home. I thought the bags would make great gift wrapping or treat bags for Halloween.

The tongue extension increases the concentration

After work I got the taters out of the fridge, dried them off, poured paint on a plate, and let the kiddo go for it. I always spread out a big blanket on the floor when we do crafts, so I can throw it in the wash afterward.

Stamping away

I lurrve all the globby bits of paint around the edges.

Sweet little dude

My beloved paint plate....layers of paint from projects over the past 10 years.

The little heart looks like it has wings!

The finished set

I love how these turned out! He added some stickers and more stamps in the end, and they are just perfect in their kid-created goofy randomness. An A+ craft for kids in my book!

I love themes, and I tend to go a little nutso with them. And when you can get food involved with the theme insanity…even better. This explains why I am already ga-ga over Halloween even though it’s, like, over a month away.

Here’s some gruesome goodies your kiddos are sure to enjoy for Halloween. They’d be great for class parties or treats for neighbors and friends, or for a fun and silly dinner or snack. Get the kids in on the fun as well to help you prep or put together.

Photo from FoodNetwork.com

From FoodNetwork.com:
Caramel Pear Mice
Maple Cinnamon Spider Web Fritters
Ghouly Cupcakes
Pecan Caramel Spiders

Photo from Parents.com

From Parents.com:
Frosted Pumpkin Cupcakes
Batty Cake
Creepy Finger Food
Gummy Mummies
Green Goblin Punch

Photo from Familyfun.go.com

From FamilyFun.go.com:
Forked Eyeballs
Goblin Tongues
Wiggly, Jiggly Crystal Ball
PB and Jack o’ Lantern
Worms on a Bun

Photo from Kraftfoods.com

From Kraftfoods.com:
Scary Pudding Cups
Mummy-face Pizzas
Easy Halloween Truffles
Ghastly Goblin Grins

I hope you can squeeze one of these recipes in your cooking routine in October. Plan now when you grocery shop so you can pick up the specialty items you might need for these treats so you can whip up something at the drop of a witch’s hat!