Kid Friendly Pumpkin Party treats

As Halloween approaches and parties are piling up in our schedules I thought I would share a few Halloween treats that the kids will enjoy and super quick to make.  Also check out some easy Halloween party games from last year.

Not many kids say no to a peanut butter sandwich, and how about a peanut and marshmallow creme sandwich shaped as a snake!!

(This one was done with sun butter due to allergies of the children attending. This is an acquired taste for those munchkins who haven't tried it yet.)

SNAKE SANDWICH

Ingredients:

A long baguette

1/2 cup Peanut butter or sunbutter

1/2 cup Marshmallow creme

Green olives

tongue-starburst, red pepper or licorice

Slice the bread if not already done so leaving the heal a little longer for the face.

Make the sandwiches and place on the platter in a zigzag pattern.

Use toothpicks to attach eyes and tongue.  To use starburst, place it in the microwave for 10 seconds and then mold and cut into the shape.

PUMPKIN VEGGIE PLATE

For a smaller version use a  shot glass as the nose and fill with ranch dressing.

For a larger platter you could use ramekins as the eyes.

Using carrots as the base, fill the circular platter around the dip container.

Add assorted veggies for the eyes and mouth.  I wish I bought yellow pepper instead.  (I just hit the salad bar at the grocery store to get a few of the veggies)

Lollipops gone wrong

While I was breezing the internet for easy Halloween treats I found these adorable

lollipops that suggests kids 3 and over can do....Well I thought I would share with you that not all projects go the right way.

http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Pumpkin-Lollipops.html

  

                                      This is the picture from the website

I was getting a good start:

Here is My creation.

I guess this happens when you are distracted and are doing more than one thing.  In an activity like this is it necessary to watch the oven.

I was also trying to get ahead of myself and create a Christmas Tree version.

Guess I will never know.

At least my 4 year old was excited to show his siblings the mess up when they got home.!

Let me know if you try this out, as it seems simple enough.  One question though: where do you find a whole bag of orange lifesavers????

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Look around before you leave for some fun Halloween ideas too.

Pretzel Monsters

I found this idea in a Everyday Food magazine.  It is an advertisement for Snyder's pretzels and could not resist.  If you have been following my blog the past year,  I think you have realized my attraction to the salty sweet combination of chocolate and pretzels....
These would make a quick and easy treat for a class or neighborhood halloween party.


Here is the recipe as listed, of course you don't need to make the entire batch.  I just made about 6 by simply throwing in a bunch of green chocolate discs and pretzels together that my son enjoyed breaking.

1 bag of Pretzel sticks
1 bag of Wedding White Chocolate Wafers
Green Food Coloring
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 bag of mini m& ms or mini cinnamon candies

1) break apart pretzel sticks into small pieces and set aside
2) Heat 4 cups of wafers as directed on bag ( I microwave them)
3) add 5-10 drops of green food coloring and stir.
4) Remove from heat and mix in the pretzel stick pieces until they are completely covered in chocolate
5) Scoop tablespoon size portions onto a waxed-paper lined baking sheet
6) Apply flattened mini marshmallows for the eyes and finish with red or assorted candies for the center.  (we added a little chocolate as glue--per my 4 year olds suggestion)
7) Place in fridge for 5-10 minutes to cool.
Makes 24.

I USED GREEN CHOCOLATE DISCS...thinking they might be a little too green.. The ones in the advertisement looked a little more appetizing in a paler color.  The kids however did not seem to care.

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Make your own Candy Corn Shirt-Just Glue and Glitter

Well I say glue and glitter it just has to be the correct type of materials.  This is a fun project that can be completed in a weekend (due to drying time) and the kids can help if you don't mind glitter all over the floor.

I saw an article in Family Fun Magazine about Plaid Simply Screening Glue to adorn fabrics.  It seemed easy enough and I wanted to make a skating shirt for my daughter which most of the tutorial pictures.  Obviously with extra supplies on hand I asked my daughter if she wanted to try one.  Since I had the Metallic colors on hand a candy corn seemed perfect.

(If you are in Richmond, I found the supplies at Ben Franklin after I already ordered them on-line....they said they did not carry them:(

You can buy premade templates or make your own:

To make your own:
Simply decide on the graphic you wish for you t-shirt by looking for clip art choices.

Enlarge the picture to fit on the as desired.

Lay the printed paper over freezer paper and cut out using a exact-o knife.

This can be tricky with more detailed photos.  I left a separation in my candy corn just to avoid colors colliding.

Family fun suggeted ironing on the freezer paper but not sure how that works, as I was unable to get it flat.  You can use table to hold it down.

Put glue on with a sponge brush and add fabric
glitter.

Allow to dry per pkg directions  and  here is your personalized shirt for very little.

If you plan on using the material again it comes to $4 or 5 a shirt depending where you get the plain t-shirt.




This would make a cute present for someone's birthday with their age glittered nice and  big in front.

     










Great coupon for Halloween:
$2.00 off ONE (1) Nestlé and Wonka Variety Bag

Quick Halloween Snack Mix

Need a quick and easy snack to bring to a Halloween gathering or just to pack up for the kids lunches:

You need only 3 ingredients and a bowl to stir:
1) 1 bag of Chex mix-I prefer the regular variety
2)1  Bag of candy corn-feel free to use any variety
3) 1 to 2  cups M and M's (halloween ones are more festive)





Mix all together and serve.  Will keep in a ziploc bag for a week.

I like to bring it to parties in a plastic pumpkin!

Enjoy!

Edible Eyeballs

You might remember these from last year.  I think it was my most popular post last Halloween.  Edible Eyeballs.

Well this year I decided to go bigger with idea.  Oreo eyeballs!!

I recently purchased an oreo mold--to cover in chocolate which I demonstrated in this post for Teacher gifts.

Thinking about they eyeballs of last season I covered some oreos in white chocolate.

Added a chocolate disc and added a m& m on top.   I added the veins and when they dried placed them in lollipop bags for a great party favor. 

These were a little more challenging to attach all the parts because you can exactly put them in the oven to melt.  Next time I make these I will add the disc to the wrong side of the cookie while still wet and use leftover white chocolate to adhere the m& m.  Do not try to microwave the discs on a plate and then place them on the cookie.  Had too many fatalities.

Too bad the Christmas oreos are not out because it would be fun to bite into them and find red inside!!

Halloween Pops and centerpiece

I borrowed this idea from a friend who makes over 100 of these each year for her children's classes.  My son was lucky enough to get one last Halloween.  It could not be simplier than a few ingredients:

1. marshmallows
2. colored chocolate Orange and green
3. Green pipe cleaners
4. lollipop sticks
5. Lollipop bags

My friend made them to be presented sitting and I thought of another way to use as a centerpiece or as a party favor.

If You want them to sit on a table, simply stick the tip of the stick in melted green chocolate before adding the marshmallow.

Then dip the entire marshmallow into the orange chocolate.

It is easiest to allow them to dry sitting in floral foam.

Place a lollipop bag over it and twist the pipe cleaner around for the stem.

For a centerpiece look:

Place the marshmallow on the stick, and coat with orange coating.

Dollop a little green on top for the stem

When dried, poke a hole in the bag, I find it easier to do this before adding the lollipop.

Then twist the pipe cleaner for the stem.

(You could use chocolate chips to decorate a jack o latern too)

I am sure anyone would love to pick something out of this pumpkin patch!

How about a spookier centerpiece:

To make ghosts, skewer 3 marshmallows together and then dip.  Add chocolate chips for eyes.

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Or simply melt chocolate in a baggie, cut the edge and free hand a ghost on parchment paper and add chocolate chip eyes.

 Thanks Laura!!

Also Check out the other great Halloween ideas on http://itsablogparty.com/

halloween Cookies

Just thought I would get the Halloween season started with some flashbacks from last year.  Ironically I saw the skeleton cookies in Family Fun magazine this month.  They went a step further and made skeleton cat cookies too.  Enjoy!!

Who said Gingerbread Cut Out cookies are only for Christmas?  As I was looking through a gourmet food catalog last year I found a picture of a skeleton cookie and thought I can make that on a gingerbread cut out at home.  Last week as I was reading  Prudence Pennywise  she blogged about a gingerbread cookie recipe so I decided to give it a try this year since I don't have a favorite yet.  Plus this one does not have egg in it and thought I would give it a whirl for those kids who are allergic to eggs.

This dough was very easy to work with as my 6 year old rolled the dough out for me and it was easy to cut out as well.

Since we had a dark colored dough we decided to cut out bats, ghosts, owls and Prudence's pumpkins were so cute we made a few jack o laterns.

 

For the skeleton cookies, simply cut out the gingerbreadboys and for the ghosts you can cut out a gingerbread girl and take off her arms or just form one free hand.

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Decorating is always a fun kids activity.  I have found these Frosting Doodles to be easy to work with and they last through several projects, assuming I have many colors the kids can work with.  I use these for parties where kids are decorating because they are easier to work with than decorating bags and come in many more colors than the packaged tubes in the grocery store.  I also like them because the tip is small and you can make good details on a cookie.  I found them at my local Ben Franklin Store for $1.99.  #As of last year these have been replaced with Wilton Fondant writerFondant Icing Writers.  Available at most craft and fabric stores.

For the ghosts and pumpkins I made a small patch of the frosting in Prudence's blog and found it easy to frost the cookies and dried nicely.  My daughter then added details with the Cookie Decorating gels.

I think these came out cute and they were quite delicious.  I don't know if they will last until Halloween around here.  Happy baking and decorating!