Boo! Halloween 2012

Gigi had me paint her face for Halloween.  I really enjoyed painting her face but I missed seeing her in costume.  My girl is growing up.

 

Prom Queen Zombie - This costume fits Greta perfectly.  She loved it.
 

Happy Hallows

A local farming family put a lot of time and energy into creating Happy Hallows this year.  It really was old fashioned fall fun with a "corn" sandbox, lots of places to climb on hay bales, petting "zoo" with their farm animals, pumpkin sling shot, and don't forget the hayride for the kids to pick out their pumpkins.  I found it heart warming that this family invited people to their farm and took on such a huge endeavor.  I hope they made lots of money and had a great time hosting it.  I know we had fun.

There were so many fun activites but I think the best one was the Pumpkin Sling Shot.  Gene and Greta really got into it!!

Celebrating Fall with Homemade Licorice Carmels

It must be the refreshing fall weather that inspired me to make licorice flavored carmel.  I saw the recipe on Eighteen 25, a crafting blog, that linked to How Does She. 

This was the first time I ever made candy. 
It was surprisingly easy and am I ever glad that we didn't toss the candy thermometer when we moved. It barely escaped the chopping block.


These have just a hint of licorice.  Gene loves licorice and the rest of us tolerate it.  However, I have managed to tolerate about four of them already!!!  They are yummy.  Plus, I like to make special things for Gene every once in a while... it keeps him happy. 

How could I not love them? -sugar in every form and lots of butter-  The wrapping of each individual candy is sort of a pain but I am planning on bribing rewarding the girls when they get home from school.  If they help wrap the carmel then they can have one or two extra.

Halloween

The thing about Halloween costumes is that if allowed - without my input - the girls will represent themselves perfectly. They did exactly that this year.

Last year, against her will, Gigi went as a mermaid - only because I found an amazing costume at Goodwill. This year she was a viking. Nothing frilly, glittery, or poofy - just strong. It fit her to a tee.

Greta loves extravagance but she is also practical. She likes to pick a costume that she can use for the rest of year as she plays dress-up. All hail to the Majestic Queen. She wasn't just a queen but a majestic queen! I think it took her a week of practicing the pronunciation of majestic before she said it correctly.

I wonder what my costume would be if I got to choose....

Creepy Eyeball Cake Pops

These were so fun and easy to make. You can find ideas and directions by googling cake pops or looking up Bakerella.

Here are a few tips -

Wait for the cake and icing mix to cool before you form the balls. It will help keep them on the stick.

Don't make them as big as we did. A one inch in diameter pop is easier to dip in the melted chocolate.

The details were made with store bought gel icing. It looks great but it never really dries. When I did a trial of wrapping one it still looked fantastic but when the wrapper came off it was a sticky blob - but still delicious.