Free Halloween Party Printables

The always inspiring Catch My Party is offering up several free printable Halloween packages. How great are they?! Here are the links, so be sure and head over to check them all out. Happy haunting!!

Visit Catch My Party here for the download

Visit Catch My Party here for the download

Visit Catch My Party here for the download

Halloween Cupcake Idea

I am in love with these Cupcake Liner Witch Hats by Carrie of Half Baked .
Her creativity makes me swoon! Check out her tutorial for the cuties here. There is lots of sweet eye candy over at Half Baked so be sure to browse a bit.

Easy Halloween Treats

I love elaborate, creative, Martha Stewart worthy Halloween treats, I do, but here is the deal. Life with 3 small kids is crazy. Kindergarten, soccer, work, the house etc. So needless to say, it helps to simplify when I can. We are having a Halloween party for our boys at our house and I have been searching out easy Halloween treats. My criteria was minimal kitchen time, incorporates store bought items, kid friendly, and visually appealing. Here are some of my favorites. No superior baking or decorating skills needed, and they really are cute! Which one do you like best?
Worm Infested jello cups via From Karlyn

Frankenstein Ice cream Cupcakes via Megan Turnidge Designs

Frankenstein Cupcakes using Wilton's Scary Scull Cupcake Tin via Squawk Fox

Click here to see picture tutorial

Ghosts marshmallows from Gordon Gossip via Tiny Prints

Goulish Yogurt covered pretzels via Chasing Tomatoes

Graveyard pudding cups from here

Bats & Ghost Cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake via Real Simple

Monster cupcakes via Celebrations

Dipped marshmallows from Oh My Sugar High via Love From the Oven

Halloween Caramel Apples

I can't get over how fun these Halloween caramel apples from Distracted Homemaker are!! Talk about creative. You can view the step by step picture tutorial here. Have a great Monday!

Hallloween Party Inspiration

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. I look forward to it all year long! I picked up my copy of Martha Stewart Halloween at the grocery store yesterday, and it is full of great ideas. There are also lots of fun Halloween ideas popping up around the web. Here are two fantastic dessert tables seen this week. Be sure to check them out in their entirety by clicking the links below.

Table by Anders Ruff via Hostess with the Mostess

Table by The Celebration Shoppe via Better Homes and Gardens

Painted Pumpkins

Looking for a quick last minute kids Halloween project? How about painting pumpkins! We picked up some mini pumpkins last week at Safeway for only $0.79 then I grabbed some paint sets at the Dollar Store which are incredibly user friendly for the kids. They would make a great craft project at a kids Halloween party too. Even my 2 yr old got in on the fun. They were really fun to make and they look super cute up on the mantle.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posts, we unfortunately had to spend some time in the hospital with our youngest son. Thankfully it wasn't to serious and he's home and doing much better!

Frankenstein Marshmallows

Marshmallows with chocolate...Yum! Frankenstein...Classic Halloween inspiration. Put them together and you've got one great Halloween treat! Head on over to Craft O Maniac to see how she made these little monsters.

Scary Skull Cake

This is a great Halloween cake that anyone with an oven could make. Seriously! Wilton came out with a 3 D pan and some super easy frosting ideas.

This first guy is frosted using a heavy glaze made of whole milk and powdered sugar. Two ingredients!! You just pour it on and smooth it over with a wet spatula. Add some black gel frosting and voila!

This guy is simply baked and dusted with powdered sugar. Come on girls it doesn't get any easier!

Images via Wilton

Bone Chilling Cemetery

I have an obsession with outdoor Halloween decorations. I love them!! Someday when my kids are older I would love to do a haunted yard with elaborate props. For now it's pumpkins and spiders around our house :) Here are some great ideas from Better Homes and Gardens on how to transform your yard into a bone chilling cemetery. One of many great tips from BHG is to dress up fake plastic skeletons with items found from bargain racks or at thrift stores. They made their own headstones, but you could easily adapt inexpensive foam headstones purchased at Wal Mart or even the Dollar Store. All you need is black paint and some clever verbiage.

Here are some tongue and cheek headstone names my family and I came up with :

Ben Gone

Anita Shovel

Ivanna Comeback

Barry A. Live

Dee Ceased Our beloved Mummy

Butch Erd

Bea Headed

Paul Bearer

Will Beeback

Ms. Terey

Rick R. Mortis

Frank N. Stein

Al B. Back

p.s. after we spent the weekend texting back and forth and laughing at each other's headstone names my mom informed me you can look up funny headstone names on the internet...go figure!

Miniature Caramel Apples

Aren't these miniature caramel apples from Glass Slipper Cakery darling?!! I adore miniature desserts anyways and think these are perfect for a children's Halloween party. I tried these for a kids party we did a few years ago using a recipe from Family Fun, but could not get the caramel to stick and ended up dipping them in melted chocolate chips. I'm anxious to try this recipe from Glass Slipper Cakery :


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
4-inch lollipop sticks
Melon baller
Granny Smith OR Red Delicious apples (one apple makes about 8 mini apples)
3 oz. Peanut butter chips
2 tsp. shortening
Paper towels
Nonpareils OR sprinkles
Empty egg carton
Cut the lollipop sticks in half at an angle (the pointy end will go into the apple pieces easier).
Combine the peanut butter chips and shortening in a small bowl. (DO NOT use caramel. Due to the moisture of the exposed apple, it will NOT stick!!) Heat chips in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted. Set aside to cool down, about 10 minutes.
Scoop a ball out of the apple with the melon baller, exposing a section of apple peel. Work ONLY one ball at a time, to prevent the yucky browning. (See below!)
Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel of the ball.
Pat the apple dry with a paper towel.
Dip and swirl the mini apples in the melted chips, covering the exposed apple completely, leaving only the peel showing. Set aside standing on a plate for 5 minutes.
Roll the apple in sprinkles or nonpareils. Let stand for 15 minutes to harden.
Place the mini "Caramel " apples in an empty egg carton and place in the fridge.

Skeleton Cupcakes

I had the sheer pleasure of grocery shopping without my children Sunday, and the checkout lines were long. I promptly took advantage of this by browsing celebrity gossip magazines and looking through some of the Halloween edition magazines out right now. I spotted these little guys in Woman's Day. I think they are fantastic! Cute and easy...that's how I like my cupcakes ;) They are made out of a marshmallow and yogurt covered pretzels. You can view the how to here. Have a great day!

Almost Halloween Time My Pretties!!

It's almost Halloween my pretties, and here are a few witch inspired treats to get you going. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I look forward to sharing lots of good ideas with you! Witch one is your favorite ? ;) Have a great weekend!


Image { Taste of Home }

Image { Martha Stewart }

Image { Martha Stewart }

Image { The Celebration Shoppe }

Image { Bakerella }