Read on…

Speed Bump, and Magnet . Amy has metal objects stuck all over her and Jesse is covered with tire treads.

Mustard, Ketchup and a couple of dogs.

Can’t see this one too clearly because mom is holding her baby peacock. But she’s wearing a tub–with the bottom cut out and helium balloons attached. She is, of course, a Hot Air Balloon.

How about hot gluing candy wrappers, popcorn bags and trash on black clothes to be a Theater Floor.  Don’t miss the footprints on his face!

Amy has socks and underwear and fabric softener sheets stuck all over her as Static Cling.

Striped shirt, sunglasses and a walking stick and you have a Blind Ref. Ha!

Do meet “Tornado Tracy” with shredded clothes and little cars and tiny animals and debris stuck all over her.

And her cousin “Jillian Cyclone” with nasty hair and wispy gauze draped around for that wind-blown effect.

Regularly dressed fellow. Sign reads: Nudist on Strike! Pregnant mom is an 8 ball.

Plastic knives and duct tape between the fingers, black Under Armor and a clever hair do and you’re Wolverine.

Worlds Greatest Dad T-shirt and a clock and you’re Father Time. Lyndi is Professor Trelawny from Harry Potter.

Where does one sock of every pair end up?  The “Sock-muda Triangle” of course!

The mummy–thermals and gauze…that’s it.

Powerless Spider Man. Sew spiders all over clothes and wear a mustache…unless you’re a man already.

The Dead Sea

I Love Lucy–Lucy and Ricky Ricardo

Once in a Blue Moon

Cat Up a Tree–Have some small tree branches and a stuffed cat? Hot glue the branches on a green or brown shirt and attach the cat to the shoulder.

Crumble green paper and hot glue it around your middle. You are now Green Waste.

From the Green Guide:

Fried Egg- Cut a whole in a white sheet and wear it over your head and color your face yellow.

Freudian Slip- a full slip over regular clothes with a sign that reads, “Sigmund.” A big cigar is a nice touch too.

Happy Halloween!

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

Ten fabulous reasons why I’m glad I entered the “Halloween Blog or Treat” over on the Mommy Files.

My treat swapping blog buddy was Tammy at One Frustrated Momma. Thanks-thanks-thanks–Tammy. I love it all!

If you missed this fun little treat swap–we each sent a box of treats and received one in turn–fear not…

…they are doing another one for Christmas! It’s called, “The Blogger’s Santa Swap.”  This was just so much fun. Don’t you just love getting surprises in the mail?

Seriously–go check it out.

Ho ho ho!

At my sister’s place this time of year—there’s this big, old party. You’re welcome to come!

Here, the ghouls gather for games.

Along with Glinda and her broken bubble…

and a quick moving blurry gnome.

There are always lovely snacks…

and a very messy donut race…

with very pretty cheerleaders.

If you’re fast enough, you may spy a Wood Sprite…

a treat-eating Spidey…

a zoo keeper and her pet monkey…

and a completely mummified….ahhh….mummy.

Be sure to try the “Bog Slime,”

listen to a few really spooky stories…

and don’t forget to choose a prize from the basket.

“The Sock-muda Triangle”

And hey…you never know–you may even find your lost sock.

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

I’ve been seeing these around lately and thought I’d give them a try. I’ve been told that making cake pops can be quite an addicting little habit.

I started with the basics–but instead of regular cake, I chose a Gingerbread mix–but you can use whatever flavor cake you’d like.

Bake the cake according to package directions and allow to cool completely.

Now, this might just go against all your maternal instincts–BUT do forge ahead. You might even like it. Crumble the entire cake into a bowl. Be brave.

Now add about 3/4 of the tub frosting to the crumbs.

Mix it all in real good until you can tell the frosting is evenly distributed.

Measure out level Tablespoons…

and roll them into tidy little balls. You’ll need to wash your hands a lot through this part because it’s pretty sticky business. Store them in the freezer for at least an hour.

Using white or colored candy melts–heat them very gently on low or in a double boiler until they are completely melted.

I could only find the long sucker sticks so I cut them all in half. It worked great.

Dip each sucker stick in the melted chocolate just before you…

poke them about 3/4 of the way into the cake balls.

The cold cake chills the candy melts and it helps the sticks and cake stay together.

Now, dip the pops carefully into the melted coating. I found it easier to spoon the candy up and around the cake rather than swirl them. If you take too long the warm coating will melt the cake and it may try to fall off. So spoon it on quickly.

Gently nudge the excess coating off the bottom of the pop.

Set them down on a wax paper coated pan and store back in the freezer to set.

We used melted chocolate to make faces. We aren’t too good at it yet but just wait till you see what’s coming in November. hee hee.

Or if the face thing frightens you—just roll them in chocolate sprinkles and call it good.

Of course, you could taste them and call it REALLY good!

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

D.I.V.I.N.E.

There are no words that describe this Halloween Evening soup any better. Of course you can serve it anytime, but it’s a real easy way to get those excited Trick or Treaters to sit still for a moment and eat. It will be nice to know that they have warmed up their tummies with something fabulous before the sugar frenzy begins.

We served this to Kathy, a close family friend on just such an evening–years ago, only in a toasted bread bowl that looked like a pumpkin. Apparently, this cheesy little thing was filed away in her memory under “too fabulous to forget,” because she asked us to make it again and share the recipe. I’m thinking her baby girls will have a new soup tradition this very Halloween.

For you, Kathy—

Creamy Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

4 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut up

8 cups water

1 cup chopped carrots

2 Tbsp. dried, minced onion

2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon granules

dash of pepper

3 cups cheddar cheese, grated or cubed

Directions:

In a large saucepan, place potatoes, water, carrot, bouillon and pepper.  Over medium-high heat bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Place half at a time in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth. Return mixture to sauce pan. Add cheese. Cook and stir over medium heat until cheese melts.  Serve with croutons or crackers and garnish with cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Just think, after dad takes the kids out for the candy harvest–you can have the rest of the pan all to yourself. You may just be unable to fight the urge to send me a million dollars.

Resistance is futile.

:]

PS–Kathy–Your prize is on it’s way.

All you need for this lovely dip is:

1 cup salsa (medium or for more “bite” use hot)

8 oz. cream cheese

1 Tbsp sour cream

Blend ingredients together with an electric mixer. Spoon into serving bowl.

Serve with Batty Chips–of course! (see below)

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Food storage prompt: 100 lbs. wheat

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You could–of course, go ahead and buy tortilla chips OR you could make these cute little batty ones with tons of personality. This is an easy way to get people talking about–your chips. You know, that has never happened before.

Simply cut random bat shape out of regular flour tortillas.

Place them on a cookie sheet. Spray lightly with Pam so the spices will stick.

Sprinkle with a mixture of garlic salt, ground coriander and paprika (equal parts). I mixed the spices and put them in a shaker bottle. It worked beautifully.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Allow them to cool.

Serve with Volturi Dip (see above). You may hear a lot of, “No way! You made those?” from your guests. Just say, “Oh, yeah. I slaved allll day.”

Heh.

Kinda pretty—

wouldn’t you say? And you know me–I need it to be fun and easy and if you can repurpose something in the process–well, then…it’s perfect.

All you need is:

small jars–any size–we used baby food jars, tiny mustard jars and even a spaghetti sauce jar.

tissue paper or crepe paper–we used orange, peach and purple–cut or torn into small pieces

Mod Podge–my new love in life

small paint brushes

LED candles–you can use real tea lamp candles, but it makes the surface of the jars tacky while they are hot. LED are better.

Dab a tiny bit of Mod Podge onto the paintbrush…

and paint it on the jar.

Collect up a piece of tissue and stick it on the gluey spot.

Cover the entire piece with the glue–top and bottom.

Keep collecting and pasting and covering your tissue pieces until you have covered every inch of the bottle.

Set them somewhere upside down to allow them to dry. You may just be surprised at how really beautiful they look.

You could even sneak a face on one of them when no one is looking.

Fancy them up with ribbon or raffia…

Or leave them plain. Insert the LED lights in the bottom of the jars. Turn down the big lights and try dinner by… luminaries. I think you’ll like it!

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

What a perfect, spooky snack for your little ghouls on Halloween night–or any night for that matter. Serve these creepy cuties with a bowl of soup and they’ll be ready for whatever haunts the evening brings.

We used Turkey Franks and a refrigerated tube of Pillsbury bread sticks.

Open the bread sticks–really isn’t that the spookiest part? I hate those exploding tubes. Get somebody else to do if if you’re like me. Then cut all the dough strips in half lengthwise.

Roll each strip just a bit so that it longer…

and wind up your little mummy babies any way you want. Leave a small space for the face to poke out.

If you want to–tear some strips and lay them on here and there for a tattered bandage effect.

Bake mummies at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or however long it takes for the wrappings to get nice and toasty brown.

Daub tiny mustard or ketchup eyes on their faces with a sucker stick or a paintbrush.

Arrange them on a serving platter and…

feed them to your friends.