A Halloween Weekend

What a fun Halloween weekend we have had so far and it's not over yet. Having kids makes holidays like Halloween so much more awesome.

Yesterday, Jeremy and I took the boys to pass out little pumpkin magnets at the nursing home. Earlier in the week, I cut out a stack of pumpkins from orange paper and my oldest boy used a black marker to decorate them with jack-o-lantern faces. Then I laminated them and stuck a magnet to the back. It was a meaningful way to add a lesson on serving others to the regular candy-filled festivities, and I'm now on the hunt for more ways to add projects like that to our routine. My only regret is that I didn't get a single picture of him making the pumpkins or delivering them. Hate that.

After getting to visit with my sister and brother-in-law, my mom watched the baby while Jeremy and I took the big boy to our local Halloween festival. We played Plunko, ring toss, and a few other carnival games before heading home to fix a spooky supper for the grandparents. I loved every minute of yesterday! 

Somewhere in the middle of all of that my sister painted my nails with the cutest candy corns. I'm not usually very adventuresome with nails, but how fun is this? She did a great job.

And now that we're home from church and a delicious gumbo lunch at my mom and dad's, we're hopping in the car to visit my other sister and her family. We'll be spending the next few days with the cousins, trick-or-treating, and catching up. 

Sometimes I worry that these are the best days of our lives and they're slipping by so quickly.

So I'm holding on to every minute.

Boo-berry Ganache Pies

Do you ever find yourself going with a theme, but unintentionally? Like, at Christmas, ending up with a collection of snowmen when you thought you only had one or two?

No? Just me? Huh.

This year, my eye was drawn to ghosties. I can't explain this eye of mine.

The boys are dressing up as ghosts for Halloween, I made a Boo pillow, I went with a mostly black and white mantel and now these little babies...

I like to think that there isn't much in this world a little ganache can't mend. World leaders, listen up. If you would all sit down to a round table with a big bowl of ganache and a spoon for everyone... well, we can only imagine.

In the meantime, let's make some super-easy Halloween treats!

You'll need a package of phyllo shells, about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup whipping cream (for ganache) + 1 cup for the ghosts, fresh raspberries, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, and mini chocolate chips for the ghosts' eyes.

For the ganache, combine the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about a minute. Stir until glossy and smooth. Let it cool for about 15 minutes.

Fill each shell about halfway with the ganache.

Place a beautiful raspberry on top of each. You could stop here, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and have a gorgeous (and fancy-looking) dessert.

But here in Erin's kitchen, we get our whipping cream on.

Pour the remaining cream and powdered sugar into a mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until stiff. 

Add the mini chocolate chips to finish up. So presh. Who wouldn't love these?! 

Marital disclaimer: Jeremy gets full cred for the great name. I'm not that witty.

Shared with: Tatertots and Jello

Little Ghosties--No Sew Costumes

Our preschooler wanted to be a "Scary Ghost" this year for Halloween-- which, by the way, is the first year he's had any opinions on the matter. And where did he get the "scary" part anyway? 

My mom said to just put an old sheet over his head and cut holes, Charlie Brown style. I'm not really big on over-the-head costumes because of the whole suffocation thing. I'm an overprotective mother like that.

Besides, I wanted the boys to match this year and there is no way my baby was going to stay under a sheet for more than a second or two. I'd like to see us even try to make him. 

Furthermore, I don't have an old white sheet. We'd have to buy a new one just to cut holes in it. 

And the whole suffocation thing.

Since my official Halloween costume motto is "semi-homemade is good enough for us" I headed to Wal-Mart and grabbed two white tee shirts per boy (I'll explain) and black sweat pants, then picked up tulle and lightweight cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby.

For each costume, I ripped strips of the fabric and hot glued them around the collar of one of the shirts. Then I cut thicker strips of the tulle and bunched it at the end before gluing over the fabric. I wanted them to seem gauzy, scrappy and whimsical (not scary--don't tell the four year old).

For the hats, I used the extra tee shirt (in each boy's size), and cut the neck/collar out. This was the perfect base for each hat. I left about half an inch of tee shirt around the edge when I cut it out.

Then I cut the remaining tee shirt into strips and glued them around the band, on the non-stretchy 1/2" of fabric. That way the hat could still stretch.

I placed the rim on each boy's head and gathered the strips at the top and knotted.

A friend of mine said they looked a little bit like ghost robbers, but in a cute way. Ha!

I love the hats! I'm thinking about remembering this technique for winter caps--but using lots of overlapping strips so there are no holes.

For the mask, I used black felt and measured a sideways "8" shape. I put in over my boy's eyes to properly measure where the holes would need to be cut. Then I added a strap of elastic to the back.

These little guys enjoyed running in the front yard and looking at a favorite spooky story book.

Trick-or-treating is going to be a lot of fun this year, too!

Shared with: Tatertots and Jello

Tetris Halloween Costume from Duck Tape

I am the t-shirt transformation queen when Halloween rolls around every year. I've made Davy Crockett, some funny shirts for Jeremy and I to wear to pass out candy last year, and I even made my oldest an Elvis costume out of a black t-shirt and black pants when he was two. Maybe I'll dig up those photos and share them sometime.

Give me a glue gun and a Wal-Mart shirt and I can whip something up.

My philosophy is, why start from scratch?

This was no exception and, if you follow on facebook, you probably recognize this picture below. I had a little contest going to see if anyone could guess what game we had picked for the theme party.

Some of you guessed Angry Birds, Candy Land, and Sorry! All of those would have been fun themes, but nothing beats how simple cutting squares of Duck tape was for Tetris.

I even sort of felt like I was playing Tetris as I lined everything up. Ha! 

These shirts took 10 minutes and if you want to make your own, I recommend using a square template to make sure every shape goes on straight.

My boys' costumes are completed, too, and as soon as I can get their pictures made, I'll share them with you. 

I guarantee you'll see a couple more tee shirt transformations!

Shared with: Sugar Bee Crafts, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Tatertots and Jello

My Halloween Mantel

Because of my white-white-white painted brick fireplace, I loved the idea of going with a stark contrast and using black, bright orange and bold yellow pops for a festive Halloween look. 

I've never really been into scary stuff so I wanted elegant yet whimsical.

Here are my great-grandmother's ashes.

Just kidding.

I started off with half a yard of bold Houndstooth fabric, then added a few black and white accents. 

The  pennant was made with orange felt and yellow pom pom trim.

In frames are the numbers, 10 and 31, for Halloween. 

You can find the post for my Boo pillow here.

Shared with: Miss Mustard Seed, Tatertots and Jello, Today's Creative Blog

A Halloween Collection

I hope you're all having such a good week. I am!

Last weekend, my parents, sisters, our husbands, children and a few friends gathered at the Frio River for our annual after-Labor Day trip. Camping after the summer rush is the way to do it, friends. The weather is not-too-hot, still warm enough to swim, and no one's there! Plus, we usually get after-season rates on the cabins.

After four days of flip-flops and sunscreen, ladder ball, painting rocks, roasting marshmallows and laughing by the campfire, I was sad to get back to a routine at home. I'll share some pictures of our travels soon.

Halloween's on the way, though, and I am always excited about that! I thought I'd compile a bunch of my former Halloween projects in one place for you. Enjoy the season!

Gummy Worm Slushie

Punkin-tillas

"Boo" Magnetic Frame

Busy Tray

No-Sew Davy Crockett Costume

Davy Crockett Treat Bucket

Twinkie Mummies

Dorothy and the Yellow Brick Road Costumes

 Adult Halloween Tee Shirts

"Boo" Pillow and Ghost Mask

Candy Corn Wreath Upcycle