New Sew Halloween Treat Bags

So this year I am actually trying not to make all of our Halloween costumes and treat bags on the night before the Halloween party at school. 

I got a jump start on the treat bags with this little NO SEW bag.  Yes, it is still missing the google eyes because they have mysteriously vanished from my studio.  I made this bag no sew, even though it would have been easier to sew up or hot glue to sides because I thought that this no sew project would be a great way for kindergarten plus kids to practice fine motor skills and keep them busy making their own treat bag. 

First, I started with a rectangle of fleece.  You can make it as big or as small as you want.  I folded it in half so I would only need to tie the sides and not the bottom. 

Next, snip up the side to make a fringe.  I made the fringe about 1/2" wide and about 1 1/2" long.  IF you have a really small child trying to tie this, I would start with a larger bag and make longer pieces of fringe to make it easier to tie.

Then, I went along and cut off every other piece of fringe.  You can skip this step, but it does make the bag easier to tie. 

Knot the fringe up both sides.

Next, I cut out the handle. 

Finally, I just glued on the face.  I used hot glue, but fabric glue works just as well.

Some variations:

Cut a circle out of orange and make a pumpkin
Cut a circle out of white and make a ghost.
Cut a triangle and make a candy corn.
Cut a bag from black and make a cat.

Really you could use this to make any sort of bag that matches your child's costume.

Spooky Halloween Food Ideas

We love to have a themed meal at Halloween every year.  Here are some ideas I put together for a kid friendly spooky dinner.

Jack-o-lanturn Quesadillas   Pumpkin Fondue Pot  Apple Fangs

Mummy Pizza   Mashed Potato Ghosts  Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Halloween Ideas Roundup

 
 Halloween Tree    Ghost Lanterns   Treat Pillows

Halloween Pops        Pumpkin Tray        Candy corn Treats



Pumpkin Pop Tarts ~ Free Tutorial

A big thanks to my good friend, Autumn Rae, who sent me a link to these adorably delicious Pumpkin Pop tarts over at The Family Kitchen!!

You see Autumn is one of my most talented pals who is most famous for her Maple Bacon Cupcakes. And let me tell you her fame is well deserved. Those cupcakes are sinfully delicious. If your in the Ann Arbor area you should give them a try;)

But in the meantime, you can make my awesome version of these cute little pumpkin pop tarts. Thanks for the inspiration Autumn!!

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So after recovering from laying on the couch all weekend sick, I was ready to make something seasonal and warm to make up for our missed cider mill trip. You've got to admit, having the flu stinks! And the first thing that came to mind was these pop tarts. I didn't have any pumpkin on hand so I decided to wing it.  And here's what I came up with:

I put them together while my two year old was taking her nap. They were super easy and best of all, I used what I had on hand and it worked!!

You will need:

one egg white

small amount of flour

refrigerated pie crusts (you could make your own too!)

assorted fillings (I used caramel ice cream topping, lemon curd,  and preserves)

Orange sugar

cookie sheet

pumpkin cookie cutters

rolling pin

pastry brush

Preheat you oven to 400 degrees.

Unroll pie crust onto a floured surface. Cut out your pumpkin shapes.

*These would be cute for a birthday breakfast too. Try cutting them into cupcake shapes.*

 Next cut out the face.

I used an exacto knife that I use for cutting fondant. A parring knife would do the trick. I also tried out some of my small gum paste cutters. I like the way the teardrop cutter gave the pumpkin personality!

Each pop tart will need an uncut bottom and a cut face top. I got 6 pop tarts out of one pie crust, the box made 12!

Then I filled each pumpkin with a small amount of filling spread from the center out.

Next, I topped the filled bottom layer with a face topper. With a fork I pressed along each edge of the pumpkin to seal the tart closed.

Finally, using my pastry brush, I brushed the top of each pumpkin with egg white and then sprinkled the top with orange sugar. You could skip this step if you like.

Don't have any orange sugar? Don't fear! Just place some granulated sugar in a zip lock baggy with a couple of drops of orange (or yellow and red:) food coloring and mix until colored!

Easy Peasy!

Bake for 8-10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cool on a rack and enjoy!

Happy Baking!!

Yum! Candy Corn Crochet

I found a quick and easy crocheted treat bag pattern for free over at Crochetville.  I was able to whip it up in about 20 minutes. My girls are already asking for more to use as treat bags for Barbie. These would make great favor bags for friends. Just fill with candy, close with a ribbon threaded through the hadles and voila ~ you have a super fun and easy treat for you child's friends, teachers, bus drivers, etc.

To see full sized photo click here

I had also considered making one for Isabella's teacher and filling it with this yummy cappuccino mix recipe that I found on All Recipes. The treat bag will hold three to four servings placed in a plastic ziplock bag and sealed. Put the mix in the treat bag and tie the directions to the candy corn with a decorative ribbon and your sure to make someone's day!

Cappuccino Mix ~ Makes 24 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
• 1 cup instant chocolate drink mix
• 3/4 cup instant coffee granules
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. In a medium sized glass jar, combine the non-dairy creamer, chocolate drink mix, instant coffee, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well.
2. To prepare, place 2 tablespoons mix in a mug, pour in 3/4 cup boiling water, and stir until dissolved. Serve hot.

Happy Crafting!!

Free Kid's Craft Idea Everyday

When checking my email this morning I came across an email update from Free Kid's Crafts. I can't believe I haven't shared this site with you guys yet! Everyday in my email I recieve a new kid's craft that goes along with the season or holiday that is currently approaching. The projects are generally very inexpesive and use materials that I have on hand. It's the perfect way to keep little hands busy while you do a project of your own.

This morning's craft came as this tissue paper pumpkin:

Click for directions.

To subscribe to the newsletter and get a free craft idea emailed to you everday just fill in your name and email address under the Subscribe tab on the left hand side of the page.

They make it kind of fun because you can't see the crafts for the coming days but you can access the craft archives by clicking a previous date on the calendar an left hand side of the page (under the subscribe tab).

Check out Friday's Craft ~ an October Coloring Calendar

Click to print

 

Let your little one color this to uses as a chore chart or a count down to trick or treating on Halloween by placing stickers on each day until Halloween! It's a simple yet fun way to get them excited about the holiday.



Free Photos Angels Fairies Mermaids Gothic Photos Glitter Graphics
http://www.free-foto-animation-digital-images.blogspot.com/

Pumpkin Patch Popcorn Recipe

This is a little recipe I started making a few years ago for my niece's preschool.  All of the preschools are peanut free now so it's sort of hard to find things to make.

The recipe is

1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
8 cups of popped popcorn (2 microwave bags or air popped popcorn)
assorted candy

Directions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Put popcorn in a greased 13"x9" pan and put it in the oven. 

In a heavy bottom sauce pan mix butter, sugar, salt, and corn syup. 

Over medium heat, bring to a boil.  Boil at a rolling boil for 5 minutes. 

 Boil for 5 minutes.  If you have a light pan, you are really going to need to stir so that it will not burn.  In a heavy pan, you can stir occassionally.  Turn off the heat and add the baking soda.  It foams up (photo on right).

Take your popcorn out of the over.  Pour your caramel onto the popcorn.  Stir until the popcorn is totally coated.  Keep it in the oven for 1 hour stirring even 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and add your sprinkles, candy corn, mini marshmallows, m&ms, etc. 

Kamille likes helping - she was counting the candy.  Big surprise!

Happy Crafting!

Free Tutorial Friday - How to Make Mini Hats

See Mini Hats Down And Dirty and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

Here is my super simple and speedy tutorial on mini hats.  I use hot glue to make them so simple.

Happy Crafting!

Free Tutorial Fridays - No Sew Pumpkin Halloween Costume

As promised, I am going to give you the tutorial to make this great Halloween costume.  A little background:

I made this entire costume for less than $5.00 (actually it was $1.00 plus some stuff I had in the craft room).  This costume would be totally cute for an adult, especially as a maternity costume or just to wear to your child's class part of for passing out candy.  You can get everything to make the pumpkin and hat at the dollar store.  My dollar store always has t-shirts and I lucked out this time they were actually from the Disney Store.  If you cannot get a shirt at the dollar store, check Michael's and Joann's.  They almost always have craft shirts on sale 2 for $5.  You could also make this long sleeve.  I was thinking of layering it over a green sweatsuit.  If you bought a man sized shirt you could even make this into a little pumpkin dress for an adult.  You can make this entire shirt and hat no-sew with hot glue, fabric glue, or fusible web.  One note, if you use craft fuse, felt will melt onto your iron.  Use a sheet of white paper as a "pressing cloth".    


See Pumpkin Halloween Costume No Sew Simple and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

I posted it on one of my new favorite sites www.cutoutandkeep.net.  Click the link above to get my step-by-step tutorial and you can make this costume in under 20 minutes. 

Happy Sewing!