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Crafty Halloween Treats

By Toni on October 1, 2012 in DIY

Crafty Halloween Treats

For years I’ve been making my popcorn Witches Hands and Sucker Pumpkins for school parties and home entertaining.

Here are a few ideas for crafting Halloween treats and entertaining:

Sucker Pumpkin

With cake pops being all the rave this year, this sucker pumpkin would be perfect to hold Halloween Cake Pops as well as suckers.

I made one of these pumpkins for my daughter’s preschool a few years ago and they still use it every year around Halloween.

Simply take a craft pumpkin (I found mine at Michael’s) and drill holes about two inches apart using a drill bit the size of a sucker stick, approximatly 11/64 of an inch.

Witches Hands

I use food handler gloves (non latex) found from Smart & Final or anywhere food service supplies are sold, and fill with candy corns for the fingernails, popcorn and tie off with black string. Then I use a spider ring to decorate the ring finger.

Witches Hands

Spooktacular Punch

Spooktacular Punch Ingredients:

Kool-Aid Grape or Ghoul-Aid mix- 2 packets
Agave Nectar- 1 cup
All Natural Lemon-Lime Soda
Orange Peels

For Halloween Dinner Fun- Dinner In A Pumpkin Recipe:

Dinner In A Pumpkin

Weekly Meal Planning for Busy Families

Weekly Meal Plan

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Betty Jean’s Boutique

By Toni on June 14, 2012 in Busy Mom Living The Dream, DIY

I have a grandma- “Grams” whose name is Betty Jean. Grams was with me during those difficult years when Connor was so sick, and she helped take care of his twin sister, Cassidy. Now she visits us about once a month for a week.

Today, I helped Grams take photos of her latest creation- the Playing Cards Cozy. When Grams is here visiting, she’s always telling the latest stories of her friends at the Senior Center. Betty Jean has a close-knit group of friends, and- to listen to her talk about them- they sound like a gang from high school, like the Pink Ladies. They play cards two to three times a week ritually while they snack on food they’ve each brought to share.

Hours of card playing over the years has caused cramps in Grams’ fingers, so she created her Playing Cards Cozy. Immediately, she was the trendy girl at the Senior Center with her fancy colorful card organizer, and all of her friends wanted one. Now, they’re like the coveted Pink Ladies jackets- only their gang has them and everyone else is envious. If you have a “Grams” in your life who could use a Playing Cards Cozy, you can find them in her Etsy Shop called “Betty Jean’s Boutique“.

And I just had to share the photos because I think they’re adorable. That’s my Grams!

Playing Cards Cozy

DIY

Stay tuned, because Betty Jean has promised to show me step-by-step how to make this adorable craft to post for all of my DIY friends out there!

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How To Make A Pinata

By Toni on May 2, 2012 in DIY

How To Make A Pinata At Home

Looking for a fun project to make at home for Cinco de Mayo? The girls and I decided to make a pinata at home for the first time and had a blast.

How To Make A Pinata At Home

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own festive pinata at home:

balloon
newspaper
1 cup flour & 2 cups water mixed together for paste
scissors
kite string
crepe paper to decorate
glue
candy

Here is a step-by-step tutorial:

Step 1: Lay down some newspaper because it’s going to be messy! Then tear some of the newspaper into strips.

tear newspaper into strips

Step 2: Blow up a balloon

blow up balloon

Step 3: Dip newspaper strips into paste an layer onto balloon leaving 3-inches open around the tip of balloon. You’ll want to have at least 3 or 4 layers, and there’s no need to allow each layer to dry individually- just pile it on!

dip newspaper strips into paste and layer onto balloon

Step 4: Allow balloon to dry overnight. You can use a medium-size bowl to prop your balloon up.

this is what your pinata should look like drying overnight

Step 5: Once paper is dry, pop the balloon and pull it out.

pop the balloon

Step 6: It’s time to decorate! Using crepe paper and glue, create any design on your pinata.

time to decorate

use scissors on crepe paper to create fringe

7. Fill the bottom of the pinata with crumpled crepe paper to help with better distribution of candy

crumpled crepe paper allows for better distribution of candy

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

time for candy!

For dinner ideas this Cinco de Mayo visit:

cinco de mayo recipes

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Chalkboard Paint Jars

By Toni on March 15, 2012 in DIY, Survival Guide for Busy Moms

In my Snack Organizing project, I talked about how storing our snacks where they’re organized and in one place saves us time and money. I used glass jars- 2 large and 2 small for this project to create my own home snack store.

Here’s a quick tutorial.

Chalkboard Paint Jars Tutorial

Supplies:

Glass Jars with lids- (found at Target or here on our online store)
Masking Painter’s Tape
Chalkboard Paint- (found at Michael’s)

Step 1: Use tape to mask off jar leaving a rectangular opening in the middle. To prevent paint from seeping through the tape, create several overlapping layers.