Things that go bump in the night...

Although my attention focuses mostly on the indoors, we also have many fabulous outdoor Halloween creatures greeting our party guests. 

These ghosts are  made from wooden stakes, white Christmas lights, plastic light covers (loads of duck tape) and white bed sheets. 

Dracula stands guard of the front door along with a few lighted blow molds.


A large pumpkin is nestled in our maiden grass.

Frankenstein stands at the other end of our front porch keeping an eye on the walkway. Both Dracula and Frankenstein were made by Chris from old clothes, masks, lumber and insulation.  Each year, they are tucked away in our attic after Halloween.

Helga (the witch) is in the center of the porch away from the elements.  She was on clearance at Costco several years ago.

A garland of lanterns, tulle and mini lights fill the ceiling of the porch.

Skeletons dance around our maple tree.


Various creatures and tombstones are buried in our front yard.




A larger-than-life spider fills the left side of the yard.  He's made from a card table, black landscape fabric, strings of lights and baby food jars.

We're quite the sight in our neighborhood!  So, is our electric bill!  I'll be playing hostess and photographer  during the party.  
Sending you all Halloween hugs!!

 

T is for Tasty Halloween Treats!

Dracula will be helping me greet guests as they enter the front door Friday night.  Isn't he handsome?

When our Halloween parties had fewer numbers and were strictly adults only, I would go ALL out on food. Now, that our parties have 100+ guests and are family-friendly, I tend to do less fussy food and stick with things like cupcakes, chocolate covered pretzels, candy, veggies, fruits, cookies, soda pop..etc. 

Honestly, the popcorn machine that we borrow from Chris's elementary school is the most popular food item.  

Who doesn't like the taste of movie popcorn!!

This year, I made a few "Halloween" labels using picmonkey to dress up our pop and pretzels. 

In case you're looking for a few tasty Halloween treats, here are a few of my "all time favorites" from years past. I can't believe how young Emma and Josie look in some of these pictures. 

Sparkling Worm Punch

Crushed ice, One 2 liter bottle of 7up and 1 gallon of apple juice, toss a few gummy worms on top.

Harry Potter Punch

1 carton of Orange sherbet, 1 liter of ginger ale and 1 liter of sprite.

Orange Pop and Decorative Straws

These straw accents are just done with punching two holes in circle tags. Easy peasy! Templates can be found here.

Caramel Apples

6 apples

Craft sticks

1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

2 tablespoons milk

Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top. Butter a baking sheet. Place caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, stirring once. Allow to cool briefly. Roll each apple quickly in caramel sauce until well coated. Place on prepared sheet to set. They can be rolled in chopped nuts(and chocolate chips) for an added touch of flavor!

Payday Mix

Mix 1 bag of peanuts with 1 bag of candy corn!

Tastes just like a payday candy bar.

Monster Cupcakes

I saw these cupcakes on the Hostess with the Mostess Blog and thought the girls and I needed to attempt these. Aren't they darling? I modified the directions for ease. Mine are listed below.

I varied the recipe and bought store-bought cupcakes.

-12 cupcakes

- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting

- 24 mini lollipops (Dum Dums), unwrapped

- 24 gummy rings (O’s)

- 24 brown mini chocolate chips

- 24 gummy worms

1. Make cupcakes and cover with icing.

2. Insert a lollipop stick through a gummy ring, pushing it through the candy from the center to outer edge. Bring the gummy ring up around the lollipop, like a bonnet, to make the eyes. Continue with the remaining gummy rings and lollipops.

3. Insert 2 like-colored lollipop eyes into the top of each cupcake assembly. Pipe a dot of vanilla frosting in the center of each lollipop and add a mini chocolate chip for the pupil. Add gummy worms for arms.

Spider Cupcakes

Iced cupcakes, black licorice, gummy drops, and mini chocolate chips.

Ice Cream Cone Wizard or Witch Hats

Sugar cones

Chocolate chips for melting or Chocolate Icing

Cupcakes

Dip sugar cones into melted chocolate or spread chocolate icing with a knife over the cone. Place on top of an iced cupcake. We used this recipe for my nephew's Harry Potter party a few years ago.



Cauldron Cupcakes

Mega-Crafty has step-by-step instructions for these cauldron cupcakes. Yummy!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Scoop seeds from a pumpkin

Rinse seeds well and pat dry with paper towel

Toss seeds with oil to coat, then spread on a single layer on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. I like to use a combination of garlic salt and cajun spice, but use whatever you like. The options are endless. Bake 20- 30 minutes until crisp at 300 degrees.

Candy Rice Crispy Treats

Scrumdilly-do has this recipe for candy corn rice crispy treats.  

As you can imagine, Chris and I have a list of things to finish up before Friday night.  However, I don't think anyone is going to have any difficulty finding our house. 

This is a view of our house from the street.  

Hoot! Hoot! We're only days away!

Friday night is looming (our Halloween bash) and I'm still not done sharing Halloween collections. I moved my owl collection to the sunroom this year. 

My newest owl is this nutcracker available at our local grocery chain (Meijer's).  They had already put their Halloween items on clearance and I couldn't resist at $3.50.

The rest of my feathered friends...


One of my favorite owls, is the one that I made a few years ago.  I love his fur-trimmed party hat.  He's sitting on top of a candlestick that I thrifted from our local Goodwill.

This moon/owl wall hanging came from World Market a few years ago.

I just added a bit more glitter to the owl and moon.  One can never have too much glitter!

Party ON!!
 

The untouchables...

My most beloved and fragile Halloween items have made an appearance again this year on the living room mantle. 

This special collection is tucked up high, away from my helpful 6 year old and two busy cats.  Halloween themed nutcrackers, glass ornaments and glittered votive candle holders fill the mantle.

The Bride of Frankenstein was purchased last year on clearance from Target.  She poses with several black cats and a glittery spider.

Frankenstein is next his beloved bride along with several extended family members made of plastic, glass and glitter.

Dracula takes center stage on the mantle.  He was my first nutcracker in my Halloween collection.

Mr. Skeleton stands along side Dracula, along with a blown glass cauldron, ghost votive, black cat and voodoo doll from New Orleans.

Ms. Witch ends my collection at the far right of the mantle.  She casts a few spells when she's not busy collecting candy.

The party is only a few days away and Chris is still putting final touches on the yard decor, basement and garage.  Food needs to be purchased, and the girls will be helping me set up carnival games (on loan from Chris's elementary school).  The Halloween countdown continues.