Tennis Ball Halloween Party Favors

I wanted to make Halloween treats to bring to the tennis match this week. I was struggling to cut some tennis balls in half when my husband took over and cut the balls in half for me! Yeah! So I added a few pieces of Halloween candy. Wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied it with a small piece of ribbon. Such a simple project!

In case you have always wondered what the inside of a tennis ball looks like!

Halloween Themed Hershey Bars

My son had another basketball fundraiser - he had to sell these school themed basketball sox.

I put the sox some of my social media accounts and offered a Halloween themed candy bar with each sock order! 

Using some orange patterned scrapbook paper - I wrapped the candy bar. Then i used a piece of ribbon and Halloween sticker to decorate the middle.

If you can't find orange scrapbook paper - you could also use some Halloween themed wrapping paper. Check your ribbon stash before you head to the store. The tiny trick or treat sized Hershey bars would be cute decorated for a classroom party!

Yes, we sold all the sox! Now we are collecting sox and coats for homeless centers, old tennis shoes (they grind them up to make sport courts in low income areas) and soon we will be collecting can goods for a food pantry. This is all for the basketball team! 

French Themed Wrapping Paper

I often use this pink themed French wrapping paper to wrap birthday gifts.  Today I used three types of ribbon. A black sheer, black grosgrain a thin silver ribbon. And added a big pearl in the middle of the ribbon.

I wrapped some candy bars in the same wrapping paper and added a big pearl. 

Opening a beautifully wrapped gift is a lot of fun!

Mini Pasta Salad jars for After the Tennis Match

Today I made some little pasta salad jars for after the tennis match. I bought some little 4-ounce jars at Target. I filled them with some homemade pasta salad. Every time I make pasta salad I change the recipe a little.

With this pasta salad I added some sliced olives, chopped cucumber and some chopped grape tomatoes.

Once the jars were filled I added the lids and decorated the lids with some yellow scrapbook paper.

This pasta salad is the perfect little snack along with a sandwich for an after the match lunch. 

Hair Ties for the Tennis team

I made some hair ties for the ladies on my tennis team. It just takes a few minutes to make these hair ties. They can be made for any sports team. The colors of our tennis team uniforms are black and berry. So far we have played three teams with the exact same colors. 

First you will need to find some 5/8" fold over elastic. This is usually near the velcro at fabric store. It comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns.

For this project your will need:

5/8" fold over elastic 

Sharp scissors

Ruler

Cardboard

To make these little hair ties  cut the elastic into 9-inch pieces. Then tie the ends with a small knot.

I just cut a piece white card stock to the size I needed. If you are adding three or four colors your card stock with need to be longer. I added a tennis ball sticker and wrote Good Luck! on the tag. But you could also make these for party favors or Halloween treats in orange and black. 

I hope that our tennis team has a good match this week!

Halloween Candy Bars

My son made the high school basketball team! Thus, the fundraising starts! All of the boys on the basketball team had to sell 120 candy bars. Fortunately they were only a dollar each. We sold them to his Grandparents, an Aunt and two Uncles.  Last night when I paid his math tutor I also gave her two candy bars!

I was also asked to substitute  teach a 5th grade Religion class. And whenever I substitute teach a Religion class I always bring a little treat (or bribe) for the kids.

In an effort to get rid of these candy bars I wrapped them in a polka dot Halloween scrapbook paper.

Because the candy bar is so narrow I was able to add a spider ring at the top of the candy bar. Plus I had extra spider rings left over from a Meals on Wheels project. The kids loved them and I was able to get rid of a bunch of candy bars! 

Spooky Halloween Treats for Meals on Wheels

I made a second Halloween treat for Meals on Wheels. It is a spooky treat bag and has a spider ring and skull beaded bracelet.

The skull bracelets are on stretchy bands so anyone can get it easily on their wrist.

The spider rings look a little scary! I think the Meals on Wheels recipients will like this spooky treat.

Banana Bread Filled With Cream Cheese

The layer of cream cheese brings this Banana Bread recipe to the next level! I found this recipe on the Averie Cooks website ( I tweaked it a little) and she has some fantastic recipes.

Ingredients:

Bread

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup mashed ripe bananas 

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

Cream Cheese Filling

1 egg

4 ounces of brick style cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons flour


Directions:

Set out the cream cheese to soften. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x5" loaf pan with a floured cooking spray.

In a large bowl add the egg, brown sugar, canola oil, sour cream, vanilla and whisk to combine.

Add the mashed bananas and stir to incorporate.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with a spatula and gently fold in with a spatula until the mixture is just combined.

Pour about 2/3 of the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Make the cream cheese filling by adding all of the ingredients into a medium bowl and use a hand mixer or an immersion blender to mix the filling.

Evenly pour the cream cheese filling over the layer of banana filling. Use a spatula to get the filling evenly over the banana bread. Top the filling with the rest of the banana batter. Smooth the top lightly with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. You will know when the bread is done - when the top is golden brown and domed up a little. The toothpick test isn't accurate because of the cream cheese layer.

Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes. Then turn the bread onto a wire rack to continue cooling then onto a cutting boat to slice.

I placed the loaf on a large serving platter! Perfect for breakfast or an after school snack.

Silly Halloween Treats for Meals on Wheels

I made some silly Halloween Treat bags for Meals on Wheels.

Each bag has a little Halloween pinball game.

And a little pumpkin Slinky.

And some little pumpkin yo-yo's.

.

And lastly a small bottle of pumpkin themed bubbles. 

.

Each goodie bag is tied with an orange ribbon and little tag made out of scrapbook paper. I hope that the Meals on Wheels recipients  like these little nostalgic Halloween novelties.