A Few of My Favorite Pins ~ Fall

We've been crazy busy here trying to wrap up football season and get ready for Halloween. One of these days I'll get a post up in time for people to use it for the season it was intended for. I'll do better at Christmas. In the spirit of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and all things Fall, I thought I'd share a few awesome Pins I've found to get you in the "spirit" (pun intended - I'm a sucker for a bad joke). Don't hesitate - Pin them all.

Favorite Pin #1 - Pumpkin Stamp Art


From http://www.makeit-loveit.com/


You need:
Orange and/or red paint (I used the crayola kind)
Empty toilet paper tube (3 kids... we always have an empty one laying around!)
Newspaper (trust me... go get some newspaper)
Twigs and leaves from your back yard

Cost: It's so cheap! You already have the toilet paper (hopefully). If you get desperate, feed some prunes to your kids and you'll have the empty roll in no time. The paint will run you around $5.

To do it:
To make the Stamp: If the steps are confusing, I made a little picture collage below to help guide you along! 1) Take the empty roll and cut it in half lengthwise, so you have two, shorter rolls that are about the same height. 2) Take one roll and snip off about a half an inch all the way down the side. 3) Tape the roll back together on the side and squeeze it a little so it makes an oblong shape (like the eye of Sauron) 4) Set the eye of Sauron inside the other toilet paper tube and glue them together at the top. 5) Let it dry a bit and you're done with the stamp part!
To make the pumpkin art: Dip the stamper in the paint (I just squirted it on some newspaper). You have to get quite a bit of paint on there before the pumpkins look very good. I think the 3rd or 4th one turned out pretty good. My 5-year old was able to do it all by herself (in fact... she wouldn't let me help). After the paint dried, we found some little twigs and leaves from our yard and glued them on. We think it turned out pretty well! They are super easy and something your littles can do all by themselves (mostly).

Pretty stinkin' easy!

My 5-year old's creation. Masterpiece!

Favorite Pin #2 - Pumpkin Crispy Treats

http://cincyshopper.com/pumpkin-rice-krispie-treats/From http://cincyshopper.com/

Confession: I didn't actually use the recipe on this site, but I love this idea of making pumpkins. I used the recipe from my blog post here about Rice Crispy Apples (combined with my post about the Best Rice Crispy Treats Ever). I figured they're pretty much the same thing... different color. So I substituted orange jello... read below.

You need:

1 stick of butter (real butter - it matters)
1- 10-ounce bag of marshmallows
6 cups of rice crispy cereal

1 small pkg. Jell-o powder, orange flavor

Red and Yellow food coloring to make orange (optional)

More butter or non-stick spray 

Cost: These are so cheap to make and make you look like you're a domestic genius! You'll probably spend between $10-$15, depending on sales you hit. I keep my cupboards stocked at all times with Rice Crispy makings... for emergencies.

To do it: Ever since I found the magic recipe, making Rice Crispy treats no longer makes me want to throw the saucepan across the kitchen. I love making them! And they always turn out soft and chewy, like they're supposed to. Do your pan first - line a baking dish with wax paper; probably doesn't hurt to coat it with Pam spray. Then brown the butter until it turns brown and smells nutty (sounds weird, but it works!). Remove from heat, add marshmallows and melt them (put back on the turned-off burner if they're not melting). Toss in the jello powder and food coloring (if you want it orange-ier) and mix that in. Then add the Rice Crispies and mix until they're all gooey. Shape the mixture into balls about the size of your palm (like a kiwi size). While they're still warm, stick the tootsie roll in the top. Viola... pumpkins. After they dry, if you want to get really fancy, you can draw a leaf on with icing or make one out of a fruit roll-up. At our house, they're usually gone before this can be done. Serve and soak up the compliments! Here are mine. Just call me Domestic Goddess.

   My 5-year old loved helping me make these for church!


Favorite Pin # 3 Pumpkin Oranges and Ghost Bananas


From http://princesspinkygirl.com/

You need:

Bananas, cut in half (I also cut them in half lengthwise, so they had a flat bottom and it made more)

Chocolate chips (regular sized and mini sized)

Cuties or mandarin oranges, peeled

Celery

Cost: I think I spent a total of about $15 on all of the ingredients (but I had to make enough for about 20). The little bit of extra cost is worth it because they're cute AND healthy! Other parents will love you.

To do it:
Ghost Bananas: I made these for my son's Halloween party at daycare (I had to bring fruit but I couldn't bring JUST fruit!) These looked easy enough and I loved the idea of fruit instead of all that candy! My three monsters are going to get enough of that anyway. I sliced the bananas in half lengthwise and through the middle, so each banana gave me four pieces. I think in the picture above they only sliced one way. What can I say... get the most out of what you have. I'm stingy like that. The chocolate chips just stick in there to make a face, but don't push too far or your bananas will start to break. Also these are not a night-before preparation. You'll want to make them as close to consumption time as possible. Otherwise you have brown ghosts. No one wants a brown ghost.
Pumpkin Oranges: Easier than the ghosts, if that's humanly possible. Snip a few celery slices so they look like stems. Peel the oranges (time consuming, but not hard - my 5-year old was an orange-peeling champ!). Stick the celery in the hole. Done! If you're storing them: We put them in an air-tight container with a tiny cup of water to keep them a little moist and then stuck them in the fridge. Worked like a charm!

Favorite Pin # 4: Candy Witches Brooms and Hats

Picture from Pinterest

You need:
Straight pretzels
Reese's PB cups, unwrapped (we always have these... for emergencies too)
Chocolate kisses, unwrapped
Mint or other flat, chocolate cookies (Oreos would probably work if you scraped the frosting off)
Frosting, colored purple

Cost: This will cost you around $10-$15 for all of the ingredients. Totally do-able and not too bad for a special day or show-and-share snack if you have to throw something together at the last minute (I guess I'd know from experience...) 

To Do It:
Brooms: There's not really a lot to it, take the pretzels and stab them into the PB cups. Done. Seriously easy. I think my pretzels must have been "too big" because my PB cups kept breaking. Solution: I carved a little hole in the top of each cup (stabbed it and rotated the knife to make a hole) and then stuck the pretzel in.
Hats: For these, put the mint cookie, flat side down and squirt some frosting on there (like a quarter-sized amount). Drop the kiss on top and squish it down a little. I got the best result if I squished down and twirled the kiss at the same time. It made the frosting hat band more circular. Super easy and a cute little snack for my monsters in about 10 minutes (or less). You can't go wrong with this one! I'm going to try it again with the "Pilgrim Hat" version. Stay tuned!
These were so, so easy that I made some for my son's daycare party AND for my daughter's class Halloween party. Mom of the year right here!

Here's my hats and brooms - I did orange and purple. I'm so festive.


I wanted to do one more (Inside Out Caramel Apples, below) but I ran out of time. I wanted to get these up before Halloween actually happened... and that's tomorrow, so... I'll post an update later. Caramel apples are for fall anyway... I still have another month for that.

Favorite Pin # 5: "Inside Out" Caramel Apples - Stay Tuned - these look like I could totally mess them up. They deserve their own post.