Five Fun Ideas for Halloween and Fall Foods

One thing that always brings a smile 
to the faces of children (and adults)

are the fun food treats served 
for a holiday or party.

Here are five super fun ideas 
that have been linked up 

to our Halloween and Fall Fun parties!

Mummy Pizzas

{ Leapfrog & Ladybugs }

I love these little pizzas!  
Before trick-or-treating, we always make "Mummy Dogs" 
with hot dogs and crescent rolls.  
I think I may have to change up the menu 
this year and make these instead.

Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins

 { Preschool Alphabet}

How cute and yummy do these pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats look?
They'd be a perfect little Halloween treat.

Nutter Butter Ghosts

{ Phaedra's Adventures }

And these Nutter Butter Ghosts?  So cute.
I always joke that I'm not much of a baker, 
but I'm pretty good at dipping ready made cookies
into melted chocolate! ;)
These would be the perfect little treat for me to make.

Candy Corn Pudding (with Printable)

{ Plum Adorable }

I love candy corn and these puddings are adorable 
(especially packaged up with a cute little printable!)
They'd be easy to just make a couple, or make up a big batch of pudding and put together a whole bunch.

Fall Leaf Toast

{ Having Fun at Home }

What a great idea for edible fall leaves.
I've seen the idea to paint on toast before,
but doing it on leaf-shaped toast is just so clever.

And don't forget these two yummy treats from here at Come Together Kids!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Donut Hole Acorns

Thanks, ladies, for sharing your great ideas,

Feel free to grab a featured button from my sidebar!

I hope these great ideas for Fun Halloween and Fall Foods have inspired you to add a little fun to your menu-planning!

 Please check out our on-going parties 

for even more Halloween and Fall recipes and ideas!

Sharing at:
Be Different, Act Normal

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Here's a really cute Halloween version of the Rainbow Cupcakes we made in the spring.  They're really simple to make and don't require any kind of fancy baking skills.  Plus, because they only have three colors instead of a full rainbow, they're not nearly as time consuming as the rainbow ones.

Here's how you make them:

1.  Make up a batch of regular white cake batter using your favorite recipe (or your favorite box of Betty Crocker white cake mix!).  Divide the batter evenly into three bowls.

 

2.  Leave one bowl white, but use food coloring to color the other two bowls yellow and orange.  (Mine took a LOT of food coloring to get the bright colors I wanted, probably 20 drops or so in each one!)

3.  Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners in layers, first the yellow, then orange, and finally white.  You'll want to make sure you get the batter of each layer all the way up against the sides so the layers are clearly visible when you peel back the wrapper.  (I accidentally overfilled with the yellow and orange so I just had a really narrow white layer)

4.  Bake as directed.  Let cool, then peel off the wrappers to reveal your candy corn striped cupcakes.  Frost and decorate however you'd like.  (My kids don't like frosting, so I just added a little whipped cream and a real candy corn or two.)

That's it!  Some super cute cupcakes that are super easy to make!

Sharing our colorful cupcakes at:


Happy Hour Projects, Craft-O-Maniac  Design Dazzle  Ladybird Ln  Tatertots and Jello  Sun Scholars The Creative Paige  Be Different, Act Normal  Sunday Showcase  Flamingo Toes  I heart Naptime  Under the Table and Dreaming  Running with Glitter  C.R.A.F.T.  The Girl Creative  Creative Jewish Mom  Craft-O-Maniac  Lines across my Face  Delicate Construction  Skip to My Lou  Today's Creative Blog  Sugar and Dots  Blue Cricket Design   The Mommy Club Gluesticks  The Frugal Girls

Birthday Balloon Pop

Today, my "baby" turned 6! 

(I guess I have to face the fact that 

my baby isn't a baby anymore!)

For a few years now, on their "real" birthdays (their parties are often several days later), my kids have enjoyed a special Birthday Pancake to start their day.  Made in the shape of the number of their new age decorated with a bit of whipped cream and sprinkles, it's a simple little tradition that they just love.

This year, I decided to add a new little activity to our birthday traditions ~ a Birthday Balloon Pop!  I came across the idea a few months ago at Increasingly Domestic and knew my kids would love it.  Well, boy, was it a hit today!!

It looks like a fairly ordinary bunch of balloons, 

but they're hiding a special surprise!

In each of the six balloons, is a dollar bill!

Armed with a pin, my daughter had a BLAST 

popping her balloons and watching the dollar bills 

float down to the ground.

Without a doubt, we'll be doing this for every birthday from now on!  (Her big sister is looking forward to her chance in a few weeks when she turns 9!)  

Check out this smile 

as she gathered up her birthday loot! 

Thanks so much, Amy at Increasingly Domestic, for this awesome idea!

Sharing the balloon popping fun at:

I heart Naptime 
The Sunday Showcase 
Under the table and Dreaming
Six Sisters' Stuff 
Creative Jewish Mom 
C.R.A.F.T. 
Running with Glitter 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Lines Across my Face 
Delicate Construction
Skip to My Lou 
Today's Creative Blog 
Sugar and Dots 
Somewhat Simple 
Gluesticks 
It's Playtime 
Happy Hour Projects 
The Frugal Girls 
Sun Scholars 
Design Dazzle 
Tatertots and Jello
 Be Different Act Normal
The Girl Creative 

Party Ideas

What better way to come together 

with your kids, family and friends

than with a good party!


Let this on-going collection 
be your "Party Central."

Link up your posts for whole party themes 

or just for the cakes and cupcakes, 

decorations and favors,

or anything else party-related.

It can be any kind of party ~

Birthday, Holiday, or other Special Occasion ~

as long as it relates to families and kids.

 


It will continue throughout the year, 
so come back often 
to link up new posts or check out new ideas.  
I'll showcase your ideas periodically 
in my "Five Fun Ideas..." posts.

A few guidelines:

1.  Please link to your specific blog post relating to PARTIES  ~ themes, foods, activities or decorations.

2.  Please do not link to an Etsy shop, business, or someone else's post.

3.  Finally, the more people who link up to this party, the better it will be.  Please help me spread the word by linking back either with a text link or by grabbing a button.

<center><a href="http://cometogetherkids.blogspot.com/2011/09/party-ideas.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Come Together Kids" src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z245/lauranovo/blog%20stuff/partybutton-1.jpg"/></a></center>

Donut Hole Acorns

To celebrate the First Day of Fall today and inspired by this cute idea at Family Fun, the kids and I made some super cute acorn treats out of donut holes.

Aren't they cute?

They were really easy to make and the kids loved helping.

Here's what you need:

* Donut holes

* chocolate frosting (or peanut butter)

* chopped nuts (or sprinkles)

* pretzel sticks

Here's what you do (it really doesn't even need explaining!)

1. Dip your donut hole in the frosting, 

then in the nuts or sprinkles...

2. Add a piece of a pretzel stick as a stem...

3. Put them on a cute plate and enjoy!

*NOTE* ~ We used the boxed glazed donut holes, which, although delicious, had the tendency to crumble a bit when we were dipping them.  When I do it again, I may use some "sturdier" donuts.

Sharing our Fall treat at:

Tatertots and Jello 
Ladybird Ln. 
Happy Hour Projects 
Sun Scholars 
Someday Crafts 
Just a Girl 
Lolly Jane 
Be Different, Act Normal 
I heart Naptime 
The Sunday Showcase 
Under the table and dreaming 
Six Sisters' Stuff 
Creative Jewish Mom 
C.R.A.F.T. 
Running with Glitter 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Lines Across my Face 
Delicate Construction 
Skip to My Lou 
Reasons to skip the Housework 
Today's creative Blog 
Sugar and Dots 
Somewhat Simple 
Gluesticks 
It's Playtime 
The Frugal Girls 
Design Dazzle 
The Girl Creative 
Blue Cricket Design 

Jack-O-Lantern shirts

This is a pre-blogging project from last year, but it turned out so cute I wanted to share it for anyone looking for an inexpensive and easy Halloween project!

Check out this adorable group of Jack-O-Lanterns!

My kids and their cousins last October.

What you'll need:

* Plain orange t-shirts for each child (you can get them on sale at the craft stores for just a few dollars!)

* Black fabric paint or acrylic paint 

* Freezer paper (found in most larger grocery stores near the plastic wrap and aluminum foil)

* Templates of Jack-O-Lantern faces ( I used the printable ones HERE)

* Paint brushes

* Piece of cardboard or newspaper for inside the shirt

Here's what to do:   

(For step-by-step instructions with photos, see my other freezer paper stencil projects HERE,  HERE and HERE)

1.  Trace or print the jack-o-lantern face onto the paper-y side of a piece of freezer paper.  (If you cut your freezer paper to 8.5x11" you can run it right through most printers.  Just make sure you have the paper set up to print on the paper side, not the waxy side)

2.  Cut out the inside pieces of your pumpkin face, then iron the stencil waxy side down onto the front of your t-shirt.

3. Slip a piece of cardboard or several sheets of folded newspaper inside the shirt so the paint doesn't bleed through.

4.  Using a foam brush, paint over your stencil.  It works best if you brush from the paper onto the fabric so it doesn't bleed under the stencil and you do a couple light coats rather than a thick, gloppy one.

Everyone hard at work (disposable lab coats make great smocks!)

Painting carefully.

The kids chose from a few different designs.

"Pop Pop" helps my youngest with her shirt.

5.  Once the stencils are fully painted, set the shirts aside to dry.  Depending on the amount of paint used and the size of the design, it'll take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours.

That's it!  Cute Halloween shirts for just a few dollars.

Sharing our spooky shirts at:
Gluesticks 
Smilemonsters 
Happy Hour Projects 
Sun Scholars 
Delicate Construction
Tatertots & Jello 
Be Different, Act Normal 
I heart Naptime 
Lolly Jane  
Running with Glitter 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Beneath the Rowan Tree 
C.R.A.F.T.
Making the World Cuter 
 Lines Across my Face
The Sunday Showcase 
Today's Creative Blog 
Momnivore's Dilemma Halloween Party 
Confessions of a SAHM 
Bear Rabbit Bear 
It's Playtime 
Ladybird Ln. 
Someday Crafts 
The Frugal Girls

Watermelon Shark

Last week, Rachel at Sun Scholars shared THIS awesome shark she made out of a watermelon.  I was in the midst of  planning a weekend trip to the beach and knew that it would make a super fun snack surprise for the kids.  I waited until we arrived and they went to sleep on Friday night, then got to work.  They woke up on Saturday morning to a really fun surprise and we had a tasty snack to munch on for breakfast and throughout the day.

 

Yup, that's a carved shark watermelon 

with blueberry eyes, 

swimming in a sea of blue jello jigglers 

and munching on a school of Swedish fish!

The kids LOVED it!

You can check out Sun Scholar's awesome tutorial for the step-by-step.  Just two tips from me... 1.)  Do NOT get a seeded watermelon.  I did because they had a nice oval shark shape, but I'd forgotten how many seeds were in them.  Knowing my kids wouldn't snack on the watermelon if it had seeds, I had to pick them out.  It took FOREVER!.  And 2.)  If you're going to be doing this at the beach or away from home, pack your own paring knife.  All the knives in the condo we rented were huge.  I was petrified that the big knife would slip while I was removing the rind for the teeth and I'd look like I was actually attacked by a shark.  Luckily, I made it through unscathed, but a smaller knife would have been much more effective.

I also used Rachel's cute idea for a Beach Bucket Cake as another surprise treat for after dinner.  I layered pieces of vanilla cupcakes that I'd baked at home, two boxes of vanilla pudding and topped it off with crushed graham crackers that totally looked like sand.  Of course, the new bucket I'd picked up was HUGE so our cake only filled it halfway and I didn't have any cute chocolate shells, but the kids loved it regardless. 

Not the best picture, but you get the idea!

Sharing our shark at:

Design Dazzle

Fun PVC Sprinkler

When Kelly from Here Comes the Sun linked up this awesome Kid Wash at our Summer Fun Party, I knew I wanted to make one soon.  When the temperatures here hit 95+ degrees last week during a pre-summer heat wave, I decided I needed to make one immediately.  Let me tell you, it was SUPER EASY (took me just about a half an hour to do) and the kids LOVE it!!  I ended up making mine a sprinkler instead of installing misting jets, but otherwise kept the design the same as Kelly's.

SUPPLIES:

• 2 10-foot sections of 3/4 inch pvc pipe
• 2 slip on t-connectors
• 2 90-degree slip on elbow joints
• 3 end caps
• hose connector  ~ I couldn't find a PVC hose connector piece so I got a  PVC connector (slip on / male threaded) and a metal hose connector (female/female threaded)
• Drill with a 1/16" drill bit
• PVC cement ( optional ~ mine stayed together fine without gluing, but you might want to have it on hand)
• PVC pipe cutter ( optional ~ but made cutting the pipe pieces soooo much easier than using a saw)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Cut your PVC pipe.  Take one 10-foot piece and cut it into two 5' lengths.  Take the other 10-foot piece and cut it into one 4' length, and four 18" lengths.  

Not the most flattering picture, but it was 96 degrees out!!!

The ratcheting PVC pipe cutter that made this job easy!

2.  Drill your sprinkler holes into the 4' section of pipe.  My tip for this part:  Temporarily slide the t-connectors onto the ends of the pipe.  This will keep it steady while you drill the holes!  Using the 1/16" drill bit, put holes every couple inches.  I spread them out so some holes were in the center and others more towards the sides. The more holes, the wetter you'll get.

Use the t-connectors to hold your pipe steady to drill.

Me rocking the power tools!!

3.  Assemble your sprinkler.  Remove the t-connectors that you put on to steady your pipe and replace with the elbow joints.  Attach the two 5' pieces to your drilled 4' piece to form a large U.  Then put your t-connectors on the bottoms of the 5' pieces and attach the 18" sections to form the base.  Add the end caps on three of open ends of the 18" sections.  On the fourth open end, put on your hose connector.

Starting assembly.

I didn't get a picture of the last steps of assembly because my 5-year old photographer got sidetracked, but you can hopefully figure it out from the finished product here.

4.  Hook up your hose and get the party started!!  I found that I got really good sprinkler action with just a little water pressure, so I didn't turn the hose on all the way.  Without strong pressure, I found that I didn't need to use the PVC cement and the pipes stayed together just fine without leaking.  I'll update if I find I do need to glue it, but in the meantime, I love that I can easily disassemble our sprinkler.

Cooling off!

It also makes a great "teeth massager" according to my five-year old.

The kids have already played with it TONS in the week since I made it and I know we'll get lots of use out of it this summer.  I love that it was inexpensive (less than $15). I also love that I was totally able to do it myself (Take that Home Depot guys who kept asking what my husband 
needed the parts for!!)