Pumpkin Votives

Happy Halloween Everyone! I hope you enjoyed all of the October posts! I have some great Thanksgiving ideas so keep checking back!

I made these cute pumpkin votives to put on my porch steps with the big pumpkins.

They are super simple to make - just slice off the top and carve a hole to fit the votive. Wouldn't this look great on a Thanksgiving table? You could make 10 or so and line them down the middle of the table. Or put one at everyone's place.

It is also a fun idea to sprinkle the inside of the pumpkin with cinnamon - before you put the votive inside.

Halloween Cookie Party Favor

Okay - I was at Target and saw a tub of orange frosted mini cookies with black sprinkles. And I thought wouldn't these look cute in a pretzel bag?

I tied the pretzel bags with black and white polka dot rick rack and trick or treat ribbon.

I made these as a good luck treat for the ladies on my tennis team. The leftovers will make it in my kids lunches.

I know - I need to stop with the pretzel bags!

Halloween Teacher's Gift

I popped in to Bath and Body Works at the mall because Noelle always has a Basketball Tournament on her birthday - so to celebrate we buy all the girls on the team a Noel lotion from the holiday collection at Bath and Body Works - I just wanted to see what they had this year.

But then I had to look around - and they had the cutest candles in jars with fall scents like "pumpkin patch," "carmel apple," "spiced cider," and "leaves."

The candles are are $9.50 but this week they were on sale for $5.

I bought the pumpkin patch candles for teacher gifts. It is cute by itself. Because it comes in a jar with a pretty silver lid. But I made it look super cute!

I found some cute orange polka tags and wrapped the candles in cellophane and tied with trick or treat ribbon and orange rick rack.

I am thinking about going back and stocking up on some winter themed candles - It would be fun to tape a gift card to the bottom of a candle.

Some of the winter fragrances are "fresh balsam," "homemade cookies," "evergreen," and "twisted peppermint."

S'more Lollipops

If you have a fire pit in your backyard (yes, I have a fire pit) you always have marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers in your pantry.

My kids love S'mores. So I decided to experiment with S'more lollipops.

First I mashed a baggie full of graham crackers with a kitchen mallet.

Then I put lollipop sticks in the middle of each marshmallow.

I put the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl and melted some chocolate.

I coated about half the marshmallow in chocolate.

Then I rolled the chocolate covered marshmallow in the graham cracker crumbs.

My kids loved them!

Pink Oreo's

I dipped Oreo's  in white chocolate and then used hot pink sprinkles to decorate.

I made these to serve with the Pasta in the Jar. The pink theme really looks beautiful and makes such a statement in October.

Pasta Salad in a Jar

I made a wonderful pasta salad full of fresh vegetables and seasoned with a little olive oil, white wine vinegar,  salt and pepper.

The vegetables I added were finely chopped red, green and yellow bell peppers,  a cucumber, grape tomatoes, fresh chives and fresh basil. I used bow tie pasta.

Now I washed a bunch of jam jars and placed the pasta salad inside the jar about half way, then I added a layer of shredded rotisserie chicken and topped with another layer of pasta salad.

It is a picnic in a jar! I made these to serve at a tennis match. Since I decided to add a little "pink" to my October posts in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness - I decorated the jars with  pink paper,  ribbons and forks.

The top of the lid is blah and boring - so I added a little pink with a piece of pink paper!

Now isn't that better?

The I tied the jar with pink polka dot ribbon and wedged a fork inside the ribbon.

This is a great idea to bring to a potluck or BBQ and they are really easy to make!  The trick is to find a place that sells the jars. I bought my jars at ACE Hardware store.

Pink Ribbon Cookies

These cookies are super simple to make and a reminder that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I just used some Keebler Chocolate Covered Graham Cracker  cookies and some Wilton's Sparkle Pink frosting.

Using a steady hand I just make a pink ribbon in the middle of each cookie. How simple!

But you could use any plain chocolate covered cookie  - white or milk chocolate covered.

Witches Broom Favors

I got these Witches Broom Kits at Michael's in the Martha Stewart craft section.

They came with an inner bag for treats, a shredded outer bag, twigs and black twine.

I bought chocolate covered pretzels, mini pumpkin candy, candy corn and orange malt balls to fill the inner treat bag.

I mixed the treats in a big bowl and started filling the inner bags, placing the stick inside, and popped the inner bag into the shredded outer bag and tied with the black twine.

It took about a half hour to make twelve bags. Each kit came with enough supplies to make 6 bags.

I gave these to some of the ladies who teach religion class with me and of course to the ladies on my tennis team! Everyone loved them! They look really difficult to make but they were super easy!

That is what my blog is all about - simple and easy. Also I bought all of the treats for the inside bag at Henry's.  But you could buy the treats at Target or your favorite grocery store.

Halloween Oero's

These Halloween themed Oreo's had me at hello.

This is what they looked like inside.......

So I dipped them in dark chocolate.

And sprinkled them with Fall themed sprinkles.

I think they came out super cute - and it is fun to take a bite and find the orange frosting inside.

I put these cookies in the kids lunches and they were great after school snacks with a glass of milk.

Pumpkin-O's

These are really easy to make and everyone loves them!

You just need a box or two of Pillsbury pumpkin shaped cookies and a can of frosting.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the cookies for approximately 8 minutes.

Once the cookies are baked - let them cool completely - at least fifteen minutes.

Then place frosting on the bottom side of one of the cookies and place another cookie on top!

Quick Tip: when you see the Pillsbury shaped cookies in the grocery store - pick up a few boxes because they are holiday themed - the stores don't reorder this item.

Pumpkin-O's would be a great classroom or sports team treat!

Halloween Themed Tennis Treat

I bought these cute little Halloween books in the dollar section at Target.

Then I found these yellow and orange polka-dot cellophane bags and I found some ribbon that coordinated in my craft area. If you have been reading my blog - you know that I have been trying to use up my plethora of craft supplies. So before I buy ribbon or cellophane bags - I must check my craft supplies and use up what I have.

I found some yellow ribbon and orange and yellow rick rack. I think it was really cute "Good Luck" gift for the ladies on my tennis team.

Candy Men and Ladies

This is a really fun project - you just need candy and a glue gun!

What  will this giant pile of candy turn into?

These were made with pumpkin candy heads, mini boxes of Junior Mints, mini Toostie Rolls and Smarties!

But you can also use mini boxes of raisins or Milk Duds. Be creative and use your favorite kind of candy.

Directions:  Using a hot glue gun

Step 1: Place a dot of glue on top of the box item (Junior Mints, Milk Duds, raisins etc) and place the foil pumpkin head on top of the glue dot. Hold for 10 seconds.

Step 2: Place a dot of glue on the side of the box - add a Toostie Roll and hold for 10 seconds, repeat on other side, so your candy man has two arms.

Step 3: Add a dot of glue on the bottom of the box - press a Smartie on to the glue and hold for 10 seconds, repeat - so that the pumpkin man has two legs.

Now is the time to buy candy to make these pumpkin men for your child's classroom or sports team!
Be creative - you could use mini bubble gum as arms or sixlets as legs. You could use mini Nerd boxes- the possibilities are endless.

It is very difficult to buy the right amount of heads, bodies, arms and legs. So buy what you think you will need and put the extra candy in your Halloween basket to pass out to the trick or treaters!

Let me know if you make these candy people - I love comments.