The Spirits of Halloween!

BOO!  Did I scare ya?  Didn't think so.  I've come to the realization--or perhaps have just matured enough to realize--that Halloween is an awesome holiday.  I like "cute, friendly kind of scary stuff, and dressing up" Halloween, not "gory, creepy, scary stuff."  I also like Halloween colors.  I suppose I'd like to send out a big "thank you" to Pinterest.com for letting me check out all kinds of crafts and treats, but mostly it just gets those rusty wheels in my head a-turnin.  Here are a few of the Halloween things that I'm using to liven up our place and get into the spirit.  

These I made back in September with some wood chunks, paper, mod podge, and foam stickers I found at the dollar store (as in $1 for the pack of 'em) and thought "hey, I can do something with these!"  So I did.  Total cost: not much.  Kinda fun and easy to pack away for future years.

 I did see this on Pinterest, but followed the tutorial loosely.  I love me some candy corn, so candy corn garland was perfect.  It's like a big visual reminder of what Halloween is all about: candy, duh!

This cost a real small amount: I already had the paper plates, orange cardstock, yellow and white paint, and some black ribbon.  I did make more than I have strung up (but I gave that away) and had to buy some more ribbon to finish.  Still, I don't think this will be too hard to pack up and break out again when the season comes back around.  Maybe they can stay up year-round.  Maybe not...

 Then for Family Home Evening we decided to take some cupcakes to a couple of people.  Also, I needed to use up the leftover frosting I had already in bags from my last cake decorating class. 

 Russell did a good job helping by getting out the chocolate chips and feeding Ty while I decorated.  I like this (cup)cake decorating thing as long as it doesn't have to be perfect and I can have fun with it...like I did.  In case you can't tell, they're supposed to look like Frankenstein, a mummy, or skull n' crossbones.

 

 ...And this is what I did with the leftover frosting in the bags.  Russell--who has held human brains in his hands--said that my attempt to make a brain (the one on the left) was a feeble one.

 This is us giving cupcakes.  Ta-da!

 And check out this happy/surprised/shocked/ecstatic face of the recipient.  Perfect--just the reaction were hoping for. ;)

Okay, this isn't Halloween-y, but Russell and I (equally together in the kitchen=love) made some "Hot Pockets."  It is autumn-y, though because we can actually use the oven without raising the indoor temp to heat stroke levels.  Here we have broccoli, alfredo, onion, and chicken and meatball, onion, garlic marinara, and mini bell peppers all wrapped up in a wheat crust.  De-freakin-lish.  I recommend you make your own...or hire Russell to use his I-used-to-work-at-a-pizzeria skills to make some for you.  He will not disappoint! 

Now all I need is to put together our Halloween costumes...so much pressure.