Glitter Glue Pumpkins

Posted in activities for kids, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Last Fall, my daughters and I bought a variety of pumpkins and went at them armed with glue, glitter glue, and lots and lots of glitter!

(And one of these years, since it IS spring as I write this, I’ll maybe actually remember to try this with Easter eggs…)

The pumpkins in the background resemble some of our past pumpkin decorating efforts.

But this year I changed it up just a little and decorated a couple of the mini pumpkins with nothing but silver and gold glitter glue.

I started at the center of the top of the pumpkin, slowly pouring out the glitter glue in a tight circle around the stem. I did a gold circle, then a silver one, then gold, et cetera, keeping the circles tight and touching each other until I had the entire top of the pumpkin covered in a thick layer of glitter glue and it was just barely starting to drip down the sides in the creases.

That’s it! Just drew circles with the glue.

And look how pretty!

Please share your pumpkin photos with me on my Facebook page!

Happy Crafting!

11Mar2016

Candy Corn Counting Math Worksheets {Free Printables}

Posted in activities for kids, free worksheets & printables, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Sooo… Easter’s kind of around the corner and I’m over here like, gee… I haven’t posted any of my Halloween stuff yet…

Well, better late than never, right?

Hopefully you agree. :)

For last Halloween, I made these to help my kids practice counting. My girls are in preschool and kindergarten, and these worksheets have a variety of activities for them, including counting the shapes, matching the candy to the shapes, figuring out which is biggest and smallest group, and tracing the numbers both as figures and as words.

For the Candy Corn Counting worksheet we used regular candy corn. For the Pumpkin Patch Counting worksheet, we used the pumpkins out of a bag of mixed mallowcremes, but you could also get a bag of just the pumpkins, or even something like these jelly pumpkins.

If you’re trying to avoid giving your kids any extra candy, you could pick up some Halloween erasers instead, which you can usually find at a dollar store if it’s actually, you know, around Halloween. Or you could pick up some on Amazon instead. The erasers are also good because you can keep using them for other math activities afterwards.

Or, you could avoid both the candy and the toys altogether and just color in the shapes. No toys to lose and nothing to eat.

Even though the eating was, you know, my kids’ favorite part.

Here are the free printable worksheets – just click the names to download the PDF:

Candy Corn Counting

Pumpkin Patch Counting

Enjoy!

14Oct2015

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins: Version 2015

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

I really love these little guys. There just isn’t much of a better bite-size snack around Halloween than these tiny Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins.

I’ve made these many times, and this year my girls helped out. My 5yo made quite a few completely on her own.

It’s a great way to get your kids in the kitchen – the main challenge being getting them not to eat all the marshmallows!

It takes a little bit of time to get all of those tiny marshmallows covered, but it is SO worth it! Biting into the smooth vanilla-flavored chocolate that surrounds the pillow-like center with that one tiny crunch of the sprinkle “stem” is just utter delight!

Be sure to make a bunch – they’re great to share but will go fast!

You’re going to need some mini marshmallows, some orange candy melts, and some flower green flower shaped sprinkles, kinda like these or these. Or, if you can’t find flower shaped sprinkles, you could substitute with regular chocolate sprinkles.

Melt the candy melts according to the package directions, making sure the chocolate is smooth and drips from the fork somewhat easily, but that it’s not very hot.

Meanwhile, separate out the green sprinkles.

Throw a marshmallow in the bowl and use a fork or two to cover it with chocolate. Scoop it out with the fork and gently tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to get rid of the excess chocolate. Then use a second fork to scrape the marshmallow off of the first fork and onto some parchment or waxed paper, making sure the marshmallow is upright.

Do this for a few marshmallows, and then take a break to insert a green sprinkle in the top of each pumpkin before the chocolate starts to harden, and trace around it with a toothpick if there is a lot of excess chocolate. This will make it easier to break off any extra big chunks once it has dried.

Coat the marshmallows until you run out of chocolate. One bag of candy melts will use up about half a bag of mini marshmallows. Let the pumpkins sit until fully hardened, about an hour. Then remove them from the paper. Store covered… and enjoy!

Be sure to check out my other Halloween marshmallows, too:

Happy (Yummy) Halloween!

11Oct2015

Bloody Worms in Jack O’ Lantern Peppers

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Last year I made Spicy Spaghetti Worms in Jack O’ Lantern Pepper Pumpkins.

And since Halloween is right around the corner, I made them again.

My girls really love these things. Granted, they didn’t actually eat the peppers – and I knew they wouldn’t. The good thing about this, is you can still rinse the spaghetti sauce off the pepper when dinner is over and reuse the beloved “pumpkins” in an omelet or fajita at a later meal.

But there’s something special about being served a bowl of bloody (tomato sauce) worms (fettuccine) in a jack o’ lantern (carved pepper).

The peppers themselves were just carved with a small paring knife in much the same design I would do on a pumpkin. And for the meal, you can totally just throw some bottled spaghetti sauce over some noodles (I used fettuccine because they’re thicker), or you could try out my spicy version by printing this free PDF:

Spicy Spaghetti Worms in Pepper Jack O’ Lanterns

As a side note, I also threw in some chunks of pepperoni into this batch, which is totally optional (but delicious).

Happy Halloween!

10Oct2015

The Curious Case of the Pumpkin Pizzas and the Disappearing Ghosts

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Pumpkin Shaped Pizzas with Ghost Cheese for Halloween

If you search the web for Halloween-themed dinner ideas, there are plenty of ideas for ghost pizzas. Things like cutting cheese into the shape of ghosts and placing it on red sauce of the pizza to make the ghosts pop.

Well, I wanted to do something a little different.

And, boy, did I.

My intention had been to create cute little pumpkin-shaped and pumpkin-colored pizzas that would have little cheese-ghosts kind of floating over them.

I would make the pumpkin shapes with cookie cutters, like I made my Autumn Leaf or my Dinosaur Pizzas, and I would then “color” my pumpkins appropriately with shredded cheddar. Orange shredded cheddar. Sharp, in fact.

Pumpkin Shaped Pizzas with Ghost Cheese for Halloween 2

It seemed like a wonderful idea when I came up with it. It still seemed like a wonderful idea when I was chasing my flour-covered children around the kitchen. But once the pizzas were comfortably in the oven… well, I realized I’d made an error in judgement.

The white mozzarella cheese ghosts melted right into the orange cheddar pumpkins and, thus, my cute little ghosts disappeared from sight.

The up side? They still tasted awesome.

And I was even afforded the additional benefit of incorporating a science lesson into dinner.

And since I’m a literature major and not a scientist, it went something like this: “The ghosts disappeared! Like magic!”

Pumpkin Shaped Pizzas with Ghost Cheese for Halloween 3

Either way, pizza is always a blast to make and a wonderful, wonderful thing to eat. And would have made a wonderful experiment, too, if I’d made some pizzas without the Cheddar and only the ghosts. Oh well. Next time.

Just remember, when things don’t go the way you planned, always use that opportunity to present it as a learning experience. Or, you know, pour yourself a big glass of wine and eat your way through it. Because pizza makes everything better.

For the step-by-step photos and directions on how I make my homemade pizzas, see my post about How to Make Easy Pizza Dough {And Proof Yeast}, and to print the free PDF of the recipe, click here:

Easy Pizza Dough

Happy Eating!

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5Nov2014

Felt Lacing Pumpkins

Posted in activities for kids, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Felt Lacing Pumpkin Pillow Craft for Fall / Halloween / Thanksgiving

These Felt Lacing Pumpkin Pillows are so cute, and my girls really enjoy them.

And I say “enjoy them” in the present tense instead of “enjoyed making them” in the past tense, because they’re still playing with them.

They make pretty nice Fall decorations, too… except that they keep walking off and getting lost in the baby doll’s beds…

Anyway, this is a great project to do with kids in autumn. I made a step-by-step photo of how we made them {see below}. I didn’t post any patterns or anything, since I did it all by hand.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 sheet of orange felt per pumpkin
brown yarn
scissors
hole punch

To make the pumpkin pillow:

1. Fold the felt in half and cut it along the crease to make two pieces. With the two felt sheets together, cut out a shape resembling a pumpkin. Sort of an oval with a stem on top.

2. Use a hole punch to make holes around the edge. This may take a few minutes if you {like me} don’t own an ergonomic hole puncher with a cushioned grip. Place the pumpkin with the holes on top of the pumpkin without the holes, and using a pen or marker, mark where each hole is, so that when you cut out the holes on the second pumpkin, they will line up with the first.

3. Cut a piece of yarn about a yard long for each pumpkin. Wrap some clear tape around one end of the yarn to make it sturdy enough to thread through the felt.

[I did steps 1 through 3 the night before, while my kids slept. If your kids are a little older – and you have an easier-to-use hole punch than me – you may want to let your kids help with those steps.]

4. Let your kids sew together the pumpkins, just like a lacing card, leaving a few holes {about a 1/4 of the pumpkin} open. See the 4th photo below.

5. Crumple up a sheet of tissue paper and stuff it inside the pumpkin. Alternately, use cotton balls or a some cotton batting.

6. Finish sewing up the pumpkin and tie off the yarn.

Felt Lacing Pumpkin Pillows

It’s a pretty easy project, and the best part is if you don’t have any felt, you could always substitute construction paper!

Plus, we made ours before Halloween, but if that’s already passed, these look great for Thanksgiving, too!

Have fun!

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2Nov2014

Jack O’ Lantern Cinnamon Buns

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

We had these Jack O’ Lantern Cinnamon Buns for breakfast the morning after Halloween.

I know, I know… didn’t we get enough sugar from trick or treating??

Well, yes, but Halloween was on a Friday and darned if I was going to let an entire weekend go by without continuing the celebration.

However, I was looking for something very easy. Not “oh, that wasn’t too bad.” EASY.

I mean, I could have gone all out and made the dough from scratch, taking the time to dye it orange, and mix in some real pumpkins, and to dye the icing as well, but – really – I couldn’t be bothered.

Not while dealing with a candy hangover, anyway.

One of the reasons this was easy was because nothing was homemade.

Except the faces.

But those I did when I was making chocolate covered marshmallow ghosts a few days earlier.

Either way, you should do these ahead of time. There’s no reason not to: they keep well.

What I did was freehand some jack o’ lantern faces on some waxed paper with some melted dark cocoa candy melts. You could try to use regular chocolate chips, but I don’t suggest it.

At first, I tried to make two eyes, a nose, and a mouth {see the faces in the upper right hand corner of the above photo} but they just looked strange. Instead, I switched to just making two eyes and a mouth.

Just make sure that the mouth touches both of the eyes so that the face is all one piece. Otherwise you’ll be pulling a bunch of little pieces off of the waxed paper and puzzling it together waaaaaaay too early in the morning. This way it’s just peel-and-stick.

I stored my faces, along with the waxed paper cut into smaller pieces, in a baggy in the fridge. When I stuck the buns in the oven, I stuck the faces in the freezer. This made them easier to remove from the waxed paper and less likely to start melting in my hand.

To Make the Jack O’ Lantern Cinnamon Buns:

As I mentioned, the buns and icing were just regular store bought cinnamon rolls. So cook them according to the package directions, then remove them to a serving platter and add the icing.

Before the icing starts to dry and harden, sprinkle them generously with the orange sugar sprinkles.

Then place the chocolate faces on top. Press ever so gently to make sure it’s stuck to the icing, but don’t press down too hard. Pressing down roughly will cause the faces to break, and after a few minutes they’ll melt slightly, adhering to the icing all by themselves.

Then just serve and relax!

Here are the sprinkles and candy melts I used:

Orange sprinkles can be more difficult to find when it’s not fall, but then, you probably won’t be making these for any occasion but Halloween anyway.

Enjoy!

2Nov2014

Chocolate Covered Mini Marshmallow Ghosts

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Chocolate Covered Halloween Ghost and Pumpkin Mini Marshmallows

I have caused myself to possess a strangely large amount of self control by making so many chocolate covered mini marshmallows recently.

You see, the mini pumpkins that I had made earlier this month were gone. Long gone. So I made some more. And some ghosts, too.

And I know what you’re thinking – why would you cover white marshmallows with white candy melts… aren’t the marshmallows ALREADY white??

Well, yes. Yes they are. BUT, they weren’t covered in chocolate, were they?

Everything’s better covered in chocolate.

Even bacon.

But I digress. My point is that they’re a super easy to make snack and they look so fun. Even though I made the eyes kind of fast and they kind of look like they’re melting.

I figure that adds to the Halloweenish charm.

Chocolate Covered Halloween Ghost Mini Marshmallows

To get the instructions on how to make these ghosts – and the mini pumpkins, too – check out my post:

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Candy Corn & Mini Marshmallow Pumpkins

To sum it up, I dipped the mini marshmallows in melted white candy melts, let them dry on waxed paper, and when they were dry I piped on some eyes with melted dark cocoa candy melts that were in a little baggy from which I’d snipped off the corner.

But like I said, to get more details, check out the post I linked to above.

Chocolate Covered Halloween Ghost and Pumpkin Mini Marshmallows

Don’t these just look deliciously cute???

I separated the marshmallows into different cupcake liners in a container and surrounded them with candy corn, both for decoration and to keep them in place.

Kind of like a super sweet bento.

And if you really like the combination of chocolate and marshmallows, make sure to also check out:

Halloween Marshmallow Mummies

Happy Halloween!

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19Oct2014

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Candy Corn and Mini Marshmallow Pumpkins

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

I am in love with these itty bitty mini Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins!

As you can see below, I also made some Chocolate Covered Candy Corn Marshmallows, but the little pumpkins were my favorite. :)

Here are all the supplies. The chocolate chips were used for my Mummy Marshmallows, but everything else was used for the Pumpkins and Candy Corn.

For the mini Pumpkins, I used the store brand mini marshmallows, because they were slightly larger than the name brand ones.

For the Candy Corn Marshmallows, I dipped the large, white marshmallows into yellow candy melts, rolling them slightly to make sure that the candy went about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the marshmallow.

It wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done.

But, tips are as follows: make sure that the candy melts are melted but not too hot. Let them sit for a couple of minutes after melting so that they cool down enough to not melt the marshmallow. I suggest dipping them in while holding them with your fingers, but also using a fork to help you lift them out of the candy. Knock the fork against the side of the glass/bowl to get rid of excess candy.

Place the marshmallows on parchment paper to dry. After the yellow candy has hardened, dip them about 1/3 of the way into orange candy melts.

If any excess candy seems to be pooling at the bottom of the marshmallow, trace around it with a toothpick. This will make it easier to break off the excess candy once it dries.

The mini pumpkins were SO much easier.

Dip the mini marshmallows into melted (but not too hot) orange candy melts. Use a fork to take them out of the candy and tap the fork against the side of the bowl to get off the excess. Place on parchment paper, using another fork to push them onto the paper, and trace around them with a toothpick if too much excess candy is pooling at the bottom of them.

Also, right after dipping the mini marshmallows in the candy melts – or right after doing a few of them – stick a green star or flower shaped sprinkle into the top to represent the stem.

You could use a leaf shaped sprinkle to represent the stem, but the Daisy Flower Sprinkles are easy to find year round.

Here are the finished Candy Corn Marshmallows.

They were a big hit, even though they didn’t look perfect.

I also gave some away that I put in a dish with the mini pumpkin marshmallows and a handful of actual candy corn.

I loved these little mini chocolate covered marshmallows so much, mostly because they were little bursts of fun.

The smooth but hardened chocolate surrounds tiny clouds of fluff, and that one sprinkle adds a giant dimension of texture.

They’re kind of addicting.

I didn’t type up a recipe for these. To sum it up, though:

For the Candy Corn Marshmallows: Dip marshmallow 2/3 into melted yellow candy melts. Let harden. Dip 1/3 into orange candy melts. Let harden. Store covered.

For the mini Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins: Dip mini marshmallows into orange candy melts, covering completely. Immediately top with a large green sprinkle in the shape of a flower, star, or leaf. Let harden. Store covered.

These are the candy melts and spinkles I used:

Enjoy!

14Oct2014

Free Autumn Clifford Printable Maze

Posted in activities for kids, books & book reviews, free worksheets & printables by Rosemary Lynn

Free Autumn Clifford Printable Maze

We have a lot of Biscuit books.

And a lot of Clifford books.

So when I found this Free Printable Clifford Maze, I instantly thought of Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch. It seemed like a wonderful match.

My kids both love the Biscuit book, and we tend to read it more often in the fall.

It’s a short – and very simple – story, but entertaining. I read it slowly and always take the time to ask who is hiding when we get to the page where there are bunny ears sticking out from behind one of the pumpkins.

And because my girls also love Clifford, they were excited when I printed out the maze for them. So I wanted to share it.

Enjoy! :)

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