31 Days of Things I've Been Wanting to Do, Day 28 (barely making it!): Pumpkin Party Complete!

You know it's been a good pumpkin carving party when everyone leaves with dessert in their bellies and a carved pumpkin in their hands!

I bought foam sheets for the little ones to cut out foam faces since they aren't quite ready to carve pumpkins.

The ghosts kept flying around the dessert table...

(Learn how I made them here.)

And what they left behind.....

My desserts for the evening....

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(Last time I made these, the icing went everywhere. I had to post a picture to show I can make icing the correct way!)

Hot Carmel Apple Cider

What You'll Need:

1/2 gallon apple cider

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon stick

6 whole cloves

1 orange, sliced

Caramel ice cream topping

Here's How:

Combine all ingredients except topping in a slow cooker.

Cover; cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Strain; discard spices and orange.

Serve in mugs and drizzle with carmel topping.

I try some type of apple cider with a 'twist' every year and this is by far my favorite! I found the recipe in a Gooseberry Patch catalog that came in the mail. It had a couple of free recipes in it and I am so glad this was one of them! I'm sipping some now as I type.... hmmmm......

Apple Pie Dip

I thought this recipe would be somewhat boring, but it actually has a great flavor! (And easy to make!)

What You'll Need:
2 cups peeled, diced apples
2 Tbs. lemon juice
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tsp. water

Here's How:
Heat apples, juice, sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan on the stove.
When heated through and apples get soft, add cornstarch.
Boil until thickened.
Serve with cinnamon/sugar tortilla chips
(To make the chips, cut flour tortilla shells into 8th's. Lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Spray lightly with water. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. I use 1 Tbs. sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Bake at 400* for 8 minutes or until crisp. Cool and store in an air tight container.)

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31 Days of Things I've Been Wanting to Do, Day 26: Jar-O-Lanterns (Re-Post)

What You'll Need:

Glass jars (jars used in canning or saved jars from jelly, pickles, etc.)

Orange Paint

Brown Paint

Paint Brush

Painters tape

Surface preparations (trash bags work great for this)

Ribbon, straw decoration, etc.

Tea light candles

Here's How:

1. Prepare painting surface and painter. :)

2. Tape faces on the jars, using the painters tape, cut to desired shapes.

3. Ready, Set, Paint! (our favorite part)

Paint over the tape and around the jar, saving the top to be painted brown after the orange paint has dried.

4. When jars are dry, carefully remove tape.

5. Decorate with ribbon (optional, of course).
 Add a tea light, light it, and enjoy your 'Jar-O-Lantern',
guaranteed never to rot.

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31 Days of Things I've Been Wanting to Do, Day 18: Carving Party Prep

Although we aren't a family that gets hugely into Halloween, we have had a Pumpkin Carving Party for the last few years (a fun excuse to have family over to do something out of the ordinary). And we do let the kids dress up and go trick-or-treating to a few exclusive houses. We like to say 'Hi' to the neighbors in our circle then we visit family in town.

I use the few days after Halloween as another way to 'buy ahead' (You can read about how I buy my kids clothes ahead here). Last year, after Halloween, I purchased most of my party needs that I will be using next week for our carving party. I also purchased Graham's costume for this year for just a few dollars at Gymboree.

(Table cloths and plates were originally $1.50 a piece but, marked down, I paid less than $ .50 for each item)

I also purchase goodie bags for the kids. (My two kids and my two nephews)

(Glow sticks and stickers purchased last year with the plates)

(Boo bags were purchased last year also.)

The other goodies were free or nearly free using the 'dollar' section and coupons at JoAnn's Fabric Store and coupons to Bath and Body Works for the hand sanitizer.

Sometimes simple parties are the best kinds (for the guests and the host!).

To go along with my 'Ghost' theme... Ghostly invites and decorations of course!

Here's what I started with: (Plus, glass jars & black paint- not pictured)

Ghost Invitations:

I couldn't resist 8 invites for $1 but, I thought the little ghosts needed something more...

I opened the card and cut a slit in the middle seem. Just big enough to slide a piece of my black ribbon through...

Then I tied the ribbon and decided to add something else because I didn't want him to look like a 'black belt' ghost.... ;)

I have this stamp but just wanting the 'Boo' part, so I dipped it in ink and then covered everything else with a small piece of paper before stamping...

On to the inside....

I decided to keep it simple and say,

"Peek a BOO,

We hope to see you!

Join us for a Spooktacular

Pumpkin Carving Party!

Friday, October 28 at 7 pm"

(Printed from my computer in orange ink onto white card stock)

Finished it off with black background before gluing and mailing!

Hanging Ghosts:

I took a white fabric swatch and cut it into 4's....

I thread a needle with white thread (You could use fishing wire, but all of ours is currently on poles and I dare not mess with my husband's fishing pole!) :)

I placed a small styrofoam ball on one of the squares and pushed my needle through the ball and through the fabric swatch....

Tie a knot in the bottom of the thread so it holds your ghost. I then tied a small white ribbon around the ghosts' neck to collect the fabric and simply dotted eyes using a black permanent marker...

(This would also be cute and easy to do replacing the styrofoam ball will lolli-pops!)

Ghost Jars:

Another SUPER simple (and edible) decoration...

I filled a pint sized jar with mini marshmallows and then painted ghost eyes on with black craft paint.

(The black craft paint can easily be scratched or washed off of the jar so the jar can be used again.)

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Jar-O-Lanterns

What You'll Need:

Glass jars (jars used in canning or saved jars from jelly, pickles, etc.)

Orange Paint

Brown Paint

Paint Brush

Painters tape

Surface preparations (trash bags work great for this)

Ribbon, straw decoration, etc.

Tea light candles

Here's How:

1. Prepare painting surface and painter. :)

2. Tape faces on the jars, using the painters tape, cut to desired shapes.

3. Ready, Set, Paint! (our favorite part)

Paint over the tape and around the jar, saving the top to be painted brown after the orange paint has dried.

4. When jars are dry, carefully remove tape.

5. Decorate with ribbon (optional, of course).
 Add a tea light, light it, and enjoy your 'Jar-O-Lantern',
guaranteed never to rot.

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