Happy Halloween!!!!

H  A  P  P  Y

H  A  L  L  O   W  E  E  N!!!

Share your ideas on this or anything here on the blog either here or e-mail me at stipple@verizon.net.  I look forward to hearing from you!

 

Halloween Crafts for kids to make

Here are several projects for the kids to make on Halloween.  In addition, at the end of this post are two games the kids can make with the craft projects.

Witchy Pen

Materials:  black pen with cap, black felt, craft glue, scissors, sequin piece, ruler googly eyes, and red and green yarn

Directions:

Cut out a 2 inch circle from the black felt.  This will be the brim of the hat.

Cut an X into the center of the circle. Easy way is to fold the circle in ½ and then cut.  This is so the top of the pen can come though the hat.

Slide the circle ½ ways down the cap of the pen.  Again this is the brim.

Now for the face which will be on the opposite of the pen cap from the clip.  Glue the googly eyes in place. Then glue the sequin piece as the nose

Cut tiny pieces of red yarn and then unravel one strand for the mouth; then glue in place.

Cut several 2 inch pieces of green yarn.  Glue the yarn under the hat as hair for the witch on the sides of the cap. 

Floating Ghost Cup

Materials:  white tissue paper, small clear plastic soda bottle, craft glue, scissors, ruler, and googly eyes

Directions:

Cut off the top half of the soda bottle leaving 4 inches from the bottom of the bottle.  However you still need to be cutting a 1 inches spiral band around the rim, going around only once.  The band should still be attached to the bottom, which will contain the candy.

Round off the cut end of the band.  Pull the band up and away from the bottle bottom.

Cut 6 inch square of tissue paper.

Glue the tissue paper over the rounded end of the band to look like a ghost floating above the container.

Glue the googly eyes on the head of the ghost.  Fill with candy!!

Spider Race (Game to keep the busy)

Materials:  Scissor, ruler,  four small googly eyes, craft glue, straw, black craft paint, two black pom-poms, sixteen twisty ties, masking tape, string, two flip-top lids from salad dressing, and paint brush

Directions:

To make the each spider, open the lid and place the end of eight ends twisty ties in to the cap; so they stick out on each side to form the legs of the spider.  Glue them in place and secure them with masking tape.  Close the lid.

Bend the legs in the middle to from the knees.  Bend the ends to form the feet.

Glue the black pom-poms between the legs on one side of the cap for the head.  Glue two googly eyes on the head.

Cut a inch piece of straw and glue the piece to the back of the spider.  Secure the straw with masking tape.

You can paint the spider with the black paint or leave them the color of the original lid.

How to play the Game:

Cut two 10 foot lengths out of the string.  Tie one end of each string to the bottom of a chair leg.  Slide the spider onto the other end of each string through the straw on the back.  At the signal to start, both spiders can be released to slide down the string.  The first spider to reach the end is the WINNER!!

Note:  Additional line can be added to include more spiders in the race.

Pumpkin Numbers Game

Materials:  five bottle tops, orange craft paint, paint brush, craft glue, scissors, scraps of black and green construction paper, and paper cup

Directions:

Cut five black circles from the construction paper to fit inside of the cap and glue.

Mix a few drops of glue with the orange paint in a paper cup.  Paint the top of the five lids with the paint.

With the black construction paper cut out eyes and mouth out of the paper for the five lids and glue in place.  Then cut five stems out of the green construction paper and glue.  Let dry.

How to play the Game:

Take turns tossing the pumpkins on the floor or table.  For each pumpkin that lands face showing, you get one point.  You do not get a point for a pumpkin that lands face down.  Keep track of how many points each player gets by writing score down on a piece of paper.  After five turns each, the player with the most points wins.

Share your ideas on this or anything here on the blog either here or e-mail me at stipple@verizon.net.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Halloween Candy to make for the party

Unusually, I do like to give out healthy Halloween treats; but, now my boys are adults now.  Beside we live on the second floor and having extreme creepy Halloween decorations like the talking Grim Reaper.  Some recipes are Gluten Free and/or Sugar Free.  I did not include any with Peanut butter; but, there is one recipe that you can substitute cashews.

Double-Dipped Caramels

 

Ingredients:

12 ounces chocolate-flavor candy coating, cut up

2 cups finely chopped pistachio nuts or one 10-ounce package almond brickle pieces, crushed

1 14-ounce package  vanilla caramels (about 48 caramels), unwrapped

Directions:

Heat candy coating in a heavy medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly just until melted. Remove from heat.

Place nuts or brickle pieces in a bowl. Dip one caramel into coating; turn to coat. With a fork, lift caramel out, drawing fork across rim of pan to remove excess coating. Place dipped caramels in nuts, turning to coat. (Or, dip a caramel halfway into coating. Place dipped caramel into nuts, turning to coat.) Transfer caramel to a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining caramels. Let stand 30 minutes or until firm. Store tightly covered up to 1 week. 

Makes 48.

Chocolate Bars (gluten-free)

Ingredients:  

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cacao or cocoa powder

4 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil (melted)

NuNaturals vanilla stevia drops to taste (If you’d prefer to use a liquid sweetener, such as agave or pure maple syrup, use this ratio instead: 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1 tbsp. of your liquid sweetener.)

    Optional: extracts, cocoa nibs, or other add-ins

    Optional: 1 extra tbsp. oil or water, if it needs to be thinner

Directions:

Combine coconut oil with the liquid sweetener or stevia drops. (For the stevia version, recommend NuNaturals because some individuals feel this has an aftertaste.) Stir, and then add the cacao powder. Stir well until it gets thick. Pour into any flat container (or candy molds or smush between layers of wax paper or in Ziploc bags). Freeze until solid, and store in the freezer. Once hardened, you can also opt to melt the bars again for chocolate sauce. Or chop them up for healthy 100% sugar-free chocolate chips! If you use the stevia option, these bars are sugar-free.

Chocolate-Peppermint Patties (gluten-free)

Ingredients:

2 tsp. water

2 tbsp. coconut butter or Homemade Coconut Butter

1/8 tsp. pure peppermint extract (or as desired)

1 1/2 tsp. agave or pure maple syrup, or stevia drops to taste

2 tbsp. coconut oil (unrefined)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. water

2 tbsp. agave or pure maple syrup (see link below, for a sugar-free sub)

Directions:

Combine first 4 ingredients in a little bowl. (Best if the coconut butter is not melted.) In a separate bowl, combine last 4 ingredients.  In candy molds or cupcake liners, spread out 1/2 of the chocolate, and then portion the mint filling on top. Finally, cover with the rest of the chocolate and freeze until chilled.

For sugar-free, omit last 4 ingredients and use: Sugar-Free Chocolate Sauce.

Substitution notes:

If you don’t have coconut butter, perhaps you can sub more coconut oil.  Coconut-free variations of this particular recipe,  but maybe try raw cashew butter or pureed cashews in the filling.  If you don’t like mint, of course you are free to omit the extract. And you can sub melted chocolate chips for the last four ingredients if you don’t have coconut oil.

Sugar Free Fudge

Ingredients:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 unsweetened chocolate squares (1ounce each) melted and cooled

1/2 cup sugar substitute (aspartame sweetener)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, chocolate, sweetener, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in pecans.

Pour into 8-inch square baking pan lined with foil. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Cut into 16 squares. Serve chilled.

Yield: 16 servings

Pumpkin Candy

Ingredients:

1 quart pumpkin meat; fresh cut into 1-by-1-1/2-inch pieces

2-1/2 cups water

1 cup brown or maple sugar

1 cup granulated maple or raw sugar

Directions:

Place the cubed pumpkin in a saucepan and cover it with water, about 2 to 2-1/2 cups. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, uncovered, until the pumpkin is just tender. Remove the pumpkin with a slotted spoon. There should be about 1-1/2 cups of liquid remaining.

Add the brown or maple sugar and dissolve over low heat. Place the pumpkin pieces back in the pan and bring slowly back to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Let the pumpkin pieces stand in the syrup overnight.

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pumpkin pieces from the syrup and spread them out on a wire rack so the pieces are not touching one another. Let them stand in a warm place or in a 140-degree oven for 3 to 4 hours to dry. Roll each piece in the maple or raw sugar, and store them in a dry, cool place. Do not stack or crowd the candy together.

Yield: 2 pounds

Share your ideas on this or anything here on the blog either here or e-mail me at stipple@verizon.net.  I look forward to hearing from you!