Consider Me Inspired : October 2012

Spooky Halloween Foods

We are celebrating Halloween this year with some all new spooky foods. We are trying to have themed food that is actually not too bad for you. I mean after all, I am paid in chocolate for trick-or-treating...which I will never complain about, but my kiddos really need to have something a little more nutritious for their little bellies. I love having fun and creating new things for the season for our family to enjoy and have fun with. With all of these foods, you know you will have leftovers...if you are not having a party. Speaking of parties, this would be a fantastic set of snacks for a Halloween party you may be getting together.

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Eyeball Eggs

Make deviled eggs as you normally do and just add sliced olives on top.

I like the ones with the drawing but no one would have eaten them, so I omitted it.

I made the regular ones with pickles for me and my kids and I made Jalapeno ones with hot sauce in the middle of the eyes for my hubby. I made cute little faces in the middle out of the food I was using.

Grave Digger Dip

o 2 cans of chicken breast

o 1 1/2 cup sour cream

o 8 oz softened cream cheese

o 1 1/2 cup cheese in mix

o 1 1/2 cups sprinkled on top

Blend all of those ingredients

Mix in about 1 cup of your favorite hot sauce...Franks is pretty good if you don't like much heat.

You can always add more or less to your liking.

Bake until bubbly @ 350.

Make your Grave hand

I took the left over pizza crust dough from the mummies to make it. (see below)

I cut 2 cheese straws(4 pieces 1 and 1 small on the other) to size and wrapped them in the dough with the ends wrapped around to a finger shape. I took the last bit of the 2nd cheese straw to use for the hand.

Shape the dough and press fingers, top of hand and back part for wrist all together. Cut 1 pepperoni into 8's and use for fingernails- Bake at 350.

Sprinkle on top layer of cheese and place back in oven to melt. Take out and place hand on dip and push the wrist part into dip.

Mummy Dogs

o 1 pack of hot dogs

o Cut pizza dough into strips and wrap around hot dogs

Bake until done at 350. Dot with mustard for eyes or other condiment you enjoy.

Witch Brooms

o 4 cheese straws cut in half

o Shred up a little leaving about an inch at the top.

o Push in a short pretzel stick

o Dip the end of a tooth pick in food coloring and poke cheese for eyes.

Spider Crackers

o 16 crackers

o 8 bottoms with PB on them

o 8 tops with 2 dots of pb on them to stick on eyes

o Chocolate covered raisins for eyes

o Place 4 broken in half short pretzels for legs

Jello Worms

o Lime Jello

o 1/2 set and push in worms.

-We put them in Halloween themed cupcake liners for easy transport.

Munchy Monster Apples

o 1 apple cut with a apple corer

o Cut each section in half

o PB on bottom

o Candy Corn for teeth

o Tooth picks through the top

o Chocolate covered raisins on top for the eyes

Ghosts in the Graveyard

o Crushed up Oreos

o Chocolate Pudding

o Vienna Finger Cookies

o Whipped Topping (Fridge Temp not frozen)

o Food Coloring Pens

o Plastic Spiders

o Candy Dots

Open each Vienna Cookie and design your tombstones on the creme side.

Make your pudding according to the pie instructions(it will help the cookies stay put).

Crumble and Smash your Oreos.

Pour your pudding into your dish and smooth the top.

Sprinkle Oreos on top.

Stick your Tombstones in.

Decorate with your spiders.

Spoon some Whipped Topping in a baggie & cut off the tip. Cut enough off to have a good squeeze size for your ghosts. Squish a dollop out and then do a smaller one on top of it and stick your candies in for the face. You could use any candy that makes a face and is not too heavy.

We had fun making this and tasting as we went. My kids love making this every year for Halloween. We did it when I was a kid and now I do it with my kids. It has become sort of a tradition.

Hope you had a Safe and Happy Halloween!

18 Songs for Halloween~ Kid Friendly

We made our own Halloween cd. Our kids listen to this cd all year long because they love it so much. You will never have to stress over finding the perfect Halloween songs, when you can just make your own. I hope you enjoy some of our favorite Halloween songs. Any songs you love and do not see here? Let us know! We are working on a new set of songs.

I hope you enjoyed!

Have a very Happy and Safe Halloween.

DIY Spooky Fun & Crafts for the Kids

Have you been searching for something fun, easy and budget friendly to do with the kiddos for Halloween? Have you scoured Pinterest and came out with having more ideas than plans? I love Pinterest for inspiration, but they do not always have what I am looking for which inspires me to create our own inspirational creations. My kids never get tired of playing games and having fun. Arts, crafts, games and other activities are at their peak at our home during the holidays. Hopefully, these fun crafts will give you something new to do. Feel free to pin to Pinterest and share with your friends. If you make some, by all means leave the link so I can check it out.

This is a few things we have been up to lately: Polka Dot Bowling pins with a pumpkin as the bowling pin.

Wash your empty soda bottles out and fill to a easily tipable level.

There are so many creations you can come up with paper plates, styrofoam plates and even the recycled plates. Depending on what your crafting needs are...that is they kind of plate you want. We wanted sturdy plates that would last, so for the activity plates below, we went with styrofoam.

Spooky Halloween streamer/hanging plates

Grab a empty toilet paper roll and some string.

Cut 4 slits in each side.

Tie a knot on each end of the string and pull through the slits for legs.

Paper Towel tube cut in half.

Paint your roll and the string black.

Let dry.

Cut a circle out of black construction paper.

Glue around the toilet paper ends and attach around the top.

Cut some eyes out or attach googly eyes.

I cut mine out of last years door cover.

Draw a little smile on and you can hang them from whatever you like.

Attach a string to the back end. You are all done!

Questions?

Apple Cider Shots with Tequila

Autumn has some of the best beverages and aside from hot chocolate, I would say that it is definitely apple cider. Not everyone loves it and I have not always been a big fan of it either, but I have come to like certain kinds. I love the kind that is all cloudy with lots of settle spices at the bottom...most of the time we grab some at a local venue like the Farmers Market or other produce store. One thing about living in the Carolina Foothills is that we aren't far from the mountains and all of the beautiful colors and tasty cider.

Spiced Apple Cider Tequila shots

We grabbed some cider while on an out of town trip and it was among the best cider we have tasted.

Now enjoy your tasty Fall Apple Cider Shots and share some with your friends. Do you have a spot to grab some fresh hot apple cider? Do you make your own?

Grab a cute glass, add some Tequila and you are good to go! I wouldn't say a specific amount, because everyones taste for liquor is different. I for one have super sensitive taste buds for liquor and I like the lesser of a shot in a mixed drink. I am more of a shot glass lady...no mixed drinks for me. That is why I like these Spiced Apple Cider shots so much because I altered it to how I liked it and I added a bit more liquor for my hubby...to fit his taste.

Just because it says alcohol free doesn't mean it is a bad thing to add some...

I hope you enjoy

Make your own Halloween Tree Bags

Do you want to buy or create your own unique festive little creations? We love making our own decorations for Halloween. We made the cutest tree bags last year for Halloween instead of buying them from the store. I got the idea when looking through the Halloween stuff from the prior year and finding sheets of face stickers we got at a pumpkin patch. It seems like is is getting harder to find say the themed leaf bags and treat bags that are generic. We grabbed some inexpensive treat bags and our sheet of stickers and went to work crafting and creating.

Grab you a pack of orange and black snack bags.

Grab some string tie through the top, stuff in some newspaper and add pumpkin face stickers.

DIY Tree Decorations

My decorated Camillia Tree

This is what they look like a year later- still going strong.

They just needed to be squished around a bit to make them roundish again.

Since we are talking about trees, I just have to share that my Camellia tree is blooming nicely. I love this tree and they are so beautiful. It has vibrant green leaves all year long and they bloom when Autumn comes and even stay for the snow.

1st flowers:

What kind of crafts are you making this year?

Repurposed Pumpkin Lantern Jars

Repurpose your glass jars into something to celebrate Halloween with. We wanted to have some cute little pumpkin lanterns, but I didn't really have the resources to create something extravagant. I love making something out of what I already have at home, so I went with something simple and cheap as possible. the kids decided what kind of faces they wanted on them and my daughter and I tried to draw some faces on them with a permanent marker and that was that. They could have came out better, but this way it was something we did together and loved in the end anyway.

Materials:

Orange tissue Paper

Orange Paint

Green Paint

Rubber Band

Battery Operated Tea Light

Marker or other face options

Optional: Candle Stick Holder and epoxy

Throw in a battery operated tea light, and you're good to go.

If you want them to be candy jars, well just epoxy them to a $1 candle stick holder.

To finish up this repurposed creation, paint your jar orange and take the tissue paper and wrap around it and then secure with the rubber band at the top. Cut off excess tissue on around lid area. The paint is like glue and will make the tissue paper stick. Let dry before you try to do a face. Put your battery tealight in and you have a lantern; glue a candlestick holder underneath and you have a candy jar.

Have fun getting messy and being creative!

Quick Kid Halloween Costume Ideas

Halloween is almost a week away, what am I going to do? Not everyone celebrates Halloween, but everyone should get to celebrate when they want to. Not everyone has an opportunity to go to the store and just buy whatever costume they want or have the money to make some extravagant DIY costume. I don't like spending all that money on costumes from the store, so I try my best each year to make them into something cool. I wanted to share with you a few options for Halloween that you already have at home or will cost little to nothing! We never got store bought Halloween costumes when I was younger. Luckily, I had a creative mom.

1. Gypsy

Long skirt, cloth tied around the side, 1 hoop earring on one side and a bunch of bangle bracelets.

2. Hobo

Any clothes that you grab that are dark in color would work. Get some black or brown make up and spread about on clothes and face. You could take some kind of black tooth stuff and black a tooth or more out. Ripped, holey, scuffed up or anything like that would work.

3. Baby

You can make a diaper out of a pillow case for a child. Pins and baby accessories can be found for a dollar if you don't have any on hand. Binky, bib, attach a bottle and grab a stuffed animal and go.

4. Pumpkin

Orange tights, orange shirt stuffed with pillows and cut out a design from felt or material and attach to the front of the shirt. Green ribbon or headband that looks like the top of the pumpkin.

5. Zombie

Any clothes that are worn out, torn, dirty looking, splash some face blood and mess up your hair. If you good with makeup a little cheap make up kit or make up you already have would work if you know how to do that.

6. Flower

Grab a poster board and draw a flower design, then decorate it with some felt. Wear all green or a long sleeved green top with brown bottoms for dirt. Paint face to be yellow if you want.

7. Butterfly Or Fairy
Wear all of one color like black or whatever butterfly you want. You can grab a pair of wings from the store or you can try your hand at making wings from stretching out a clothes hanger and pulling stocking over it. You can then paint designs or throw some glitter on them for more effect. Pipe cleaners and pom poms on a head band will make some antennas.

8. Witch- Regular or Sparkly

A cape can be made from material and ribbon. Black tights and a little dress. You may have luck searching at the thrift store for old dresses or costumes. You can get a hat for a dollar at the dollar tree.

9. Diva

Fake pearls, fake diamonds, big hat, scarf or boa, sparkly anything, bracelets, fake rings, makeup.

10. 50's Guy

white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, blue jeans with cuffed up bottoms, slicked out hair, shiny shoes.

11. Ninja

Jump suit with a hoodie of the color ninja you want; black would probably work best. Cut a strip of material and attach to hoodie for the covered mouth and nose area. You can probably grab a sword or something from the dollar tree if you don't have one. You could make nun chucks with tape and sticks. Tape up the sticks and join together by folding the tape in half in the middle and then wrap tape to attach.

12. Banshee

White sheet with a head hole cut out, black wig or spray painted crazy hair. White and black face paint.

13. Super Hero

Piece of cloth or pillow case cut open long ways that is painted and a string to tie with. Cut out a shape of the letter of the name of your super hero and attach. Grab a tshirt and some pants that are not jeans unless it goes with your super hero theme.

14. Mummy

Wrap yourself with a old sheet that has been cut, or grab some white streamer from the store and wrap yourself up.

15. Turtle

Green and black clothes, then stuff a pillow into a shirt for the turtle shell and make turtle shell designs on the back.

16. Puppy

White, Brown, or Black clothes. Paint Polka dots or patches all over or just over one eye. Ears could be made by cutting out felt(.59 a square at walmart) and attaching with thread or glue to a head band or knitted hat. Girls could wear all pink and be a girly dog with ribbons, a tutu or skirt, stockings...etc.

17. Kitty

Same as above but with kitty ears instead.

18. Angel

White clothes, sparkly dress, tights, anything for the outfit really as long as it is all white. You can make a halo from crafting wire, pipe cleaner and a straw, or a clothes hanger. Twist and shape them how you want them and paint them if necessary. Attach to a headband. Wings can be purchased and spray painted white with hair glitter or you can shape some with crafting wire or clothes hangers, hot glue, stockings and string.

19. Dead Track Star

Jump suit all dirtied up, fake blood or graphic tattoos, headband, messy hair.

20. A Fish

A jumpsuit...sweat pants and a hooded shirt of the same color. Just pick the color fish you want. Paint face the same color and draw a few designs above the lip or maybe fake eyes on eyelids and your fish is complete. I like the little Lorax fish, so that is where the idea came from.

21. Toy Box Monster

Hot glue a bunch of toys onto an outfit and that's that. You could paint the face and make crazy hair for more of a monster look.

22. Vampire

Paint face white, have some blue/green eye shadow for around the eyes for a more dead look. Black, blood, fake teeth. Cape can be made of a painted, cut open pillow case and tied with string. Clothes should be dark in color.

23. Sleep Over Victim

Wear some night clothes, put hair up with some pig tails, braids or pony tail, a robe, slippers or something along those lines. You could pull stockings or socks over some tennis shoes or sandals. If you want to go with the sleep over attacked by a mad man or something then of course: messy hair, blood, messed up or dirty clothes.

24. Grandma

Night gown stuffed with pillows or stuffing, stockings or socks with one falling down, curlers all rolled up still, spray painted gray hair. Pair of glasses around the neck on a glasses rope or chain if possible ($1 store).

25. Ghost

Sheet with holes cut out to see.

26. Bat

Black clothes for boys and girls could have a skirt and stockings. Take some material that is cut in the shape of wings and attach to the sleeves and to the sides of the shirt for the flapping effect.

27. Singer

Clothes of your choice that are rocker worthy and grab a microphone from the store for a buck. Glitter, grab some different color hair spray or just use hair spray to make big hair.

28. Frankenstein

Slacks, shirt, and get painted up green and black. They have cheap bolt tattoos you can pick up.

29. Bride of Frankenstein

Spray paint hair black with one strip of white and style up big. Grab a long white dress and tie a rope around the waist.

Well, that is all that comes to mind right now. Of course, these some of these require little to a bit more craftastic skills. It also depends on your budget, what you already have at home or the thrift stores near by. I hope this helped you out some if you are in need of an idea at the last minute.

What kind of things have you been or your children in a pinch?

DIY Halloween Noodle Wreath

What do you do with all of the pool noodles that still seem to be getting in the way even though the warmer weather has gone? We decided to make a wreath with them. You can of course buy the green, itchy and way too messy floral foam for a buck at the Dollar Tree or maybe even the paper type wreath..but they are small. I wanted ours to be a certain size, so we customized our wreath for our door with a pool noodle. I mean why not. Think about it...you can poke stuff through foam and it stays and it is bendable enough to make a circle. Repurpose those old pool noodles, save a buck and use what you have.

Spray paint your noodle.

Wrap your noodle with wire ribbon- I picked up my black, sheer, glittered wire ribbon at the $1 tree.

It took 4 spools @ 9ft each ribbon to cover my noodle.

If you stress your noodle a little it will get a cool sliced look to it like it was scratched by a monster.

Wrap a spool of sheer, spidered wire ribbon around your noodle.

It took 1 spool @ 9ft in length to wrap.

I picked up a bouquet of black roses with spiders in it and cut off the bottom and arranged it onto the wreath. I tied a bow with black and orange ribbon then tied the center with a purple ribbon.

How neat of a idea this was! This was a very inexpensive craft and served a great purpose. Getting the pool noodle up, saving money and getting a wreath out of the situation. I hope this craft inspired you to save a buck and choose to be thrifty. Have a great holiday season and happy crafting.

We made these too:

Summer/Spring/ Autumn Pool Noodle Wreath

It's a Halloween Movie Marathon

Each year we watch the tons of movies that come on just for the season. I love that they show all of the movies during this time even the old ones. Some you can not find, but you can always buy it at a nice price on ebay or even at a pawn shop. We wanted to share with you our favorites and the even the throwback ones. We watch a few of these movies throughout the year but some are specifically just for this time.

Ones I watch with the kids: