Halloween Wrap Up

Each year we have an adult Halloween party.  When we started, none of us had kids, so it made sense.  I just wanted to share with you some of the projects my sister and I did for the party.  Thanks to my Aunt Stormy for taking the pictures as my camera is out of commission for good.

My sister, Kari, carved these the very first year.  They are fake, obviously but they look really cute all lit up.

Remember the stuff I posted here and here?  This is how I put them together.  Cute bowls, foam and moss form the Dollar Tree.  They looked nice on black table covering.

 

We made these from cardboard (thanks to Uncle Sean).  Kari cut the shapes, I painted the basic color and she added the pizazz, as she always does.

 

This giant spider is one of my favorite decorations.  The pennant, I just printed from here onto yellow card stock and hung with orange yarn. I got the bloody background at Walgreens for 99 cents.

 

Kari really wanted to make her own pinata but after 2 attempts, she had to go buy one.  We were trying to do things on the cheap so she bought a yellow happy face pinata at the discount grocer, spray painted it orange and added a jack-o-lantern face.  It was a hit, literally!

 

Here are the trophies.  I got the idea here and then we ran with it.  We used chunks of wood, Dollar Tree skeletons, gold spray paint and vinyl letters.  It was actually quite hard to get them to stay how we wanted but I think they turned out great.  Here is a closer look at all the trophies.

 

This is Molly and her amazing Peacock costume that won Best Overall.

I also flexed my sewing skills a bit and made my husband, Roger's and my costumes.  Here they are:

This is Roger with my cousin Chelsey.  He was Fat Bastard from Austin Powers.  I sewed the kilt and hat.  I also made the dangle balls on his hat and socks.

And finally, here I am as Honey Boo Boo.  I took a t-shirt and bedazzled it, made the sash and the tutu.  It was a really fun costume to wear.

A Week Of New Recipes

It's always a struggle to figure out what to make for dinner and what to buy at the grocery store.  If I go to the store without a list, I just feel lost and to make a list without knowing what I am going to be cooking just seems reckless to me.  Those are the days you end up with cookies, chips and a random tub of guacamole when you don't even like guacamole.

In order to keep our grocery budget in check, I usually sit down every Saturday or Sunday and make a list of dinner for the week.  My list consists of five to nine different recipes that are either new or old standbys.  Then I take those recipes and write down everything in them that I don't already have in my cupboards.  This also helps me know when my staples are running low.  After I write own the needed ingredients, I will go through the sales ad for my grocery store.  For me, I only shop at Safeway, I have my favorite checker and I really like their new Just For U program which I can put coupons directly onto my club card.  After I check the ad, I assign the recipes each a day of the week, trying to alternate proteins and ease of preparation dependent upon what we have going on that day.

Last week, I had a pretty free schedule so I decided to make five new recipes, enjoy!

Monday:  Cheesy Chicken Casserole

We really liked this recipe.  I used rotisserie chicken leftovers and left out the peas.  My picky eater of a husband even liked this and said next time the peas would actually be ok.  This will probably be on our menu about once a month.  It was so simple.

Tuesday:  Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

This was pretty good.  We left out the onion.  I have adored Golden Mushroom soup since I discovered it about a year ago.  It is my favorite condensed soup to use.  I prefer my regular old Beef Stroganoff to this but I would make it again.

Wednesday:  Skinny Coconut Shrimp

I had a horrible day this day so I think my bad attitude tainted the recipe.  I bought the wrong shrimp, I waited too long to make it and we didn't eat until almost 8, which is really late for us.  I should have taken more time with this recipe and I think it would have been delicious.  I got irritated with breading each shrimp.  As it was we both liked it and I will make it again.

Thursday:  Swedish Meatballs

This recipe was a jumping off point for me, I kinda went out on my own.  I left out the allspice, celery and onion in the meatballs.  I did follow the meatball cooking instructions though and I thought it gave them a really great texture and flavor.  I enjoyed this recipe and was a little peeved we only had enough leftovers for one of us to take for lunch the next day, so next time I will make a slightly larger batch.

Friday:  Wing It!
We had some cat issues this week and we had to go to the vet on Friday.  We were supposed to try a baked Sweet and Sour Chicken but didn't have time for it so we picked up KFC.  That's what I love about having a plan, it can always change and its no big deal.  That recipe is now on for next week.

I am off to make my menu and see what I can make before payday/grocery day.  Have a great week and thanks for reading.

Halloween Pinwheel Craft

These pinwheels were so easy.
You will need:
Scissors, a dowel or skewer, a double-sided square of paper (any size you want), a small bead and push pin.

Here are some really great instructions for making a pinwheel:
http://www.leslietryon.com/3dcolorcutout/makepinw/makepinwheel.html

I used 6" x 6" paper.  I just took a 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper and cut it into 4 squares.
Fold the paper on the diagonal both ways

On each fold, cut about 2/3rds of the way down

Fold over every other corner to the center

Push the pin through each of the 4 corners and directly into the middle of the paper.  Place a bead between the paper and the dowel and push the pin into the dowel to secure it.  I suggest using an extra long push pin.

Halloween Paper Decorations

I got the inspiration for the project from HERE via Pinterest.

The instructions are very basic.  Just cut scrapbook paper of your choosing into strips.  My circles used 2-4 strips of 12" paper.  Depending how big and full you want them.

Basically just accordion fold them, then glue them end to end until you have a full circle.  Then take that circle and glue the center together and hold until mostly dry.

Then I just glued a small embellishment on the front and a stick to the back.  This one is just a circle of paper with a witchy sticker on it.

I got lucky and found some really cute scary embellishments at Michael's on clearance.  Here are some more I put together (the ghost is my favorite but don't tell the others):

I have a few more Halloween crafts I will be posting in the next couple weeks.

Ultimate Comfort Food: Tater Tot Casserole

My favorite dish as a kid was Tater Tot Casserole.  Someone always made it for family functions.  I hadn't had it in a very long time so I decided to throw it together and share it with you.

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 can Green Beans

1 can Corn

1 bag Tater Tots

1 lb Ground Beef

1 cup Shredded Cheese

Brown the beef, drain and cool.  In a bowl, mix everything but the tater tots and pour into a greased casserole dish.

Layer the tater tots on top

Top with the shredded cheese and cook for 45 minutes to an hour at 350.

Quiet Book

For my nephew's 2nd Birthday, I made him a quiet book.  Basically it is a fabric activity book for kids.  My Grandma Palmer made one for me when I was a kid and I really wanted to try my hand at it.  I have just started sewing so this project was a lot of trial and error.  It was also took a lot of time.

Here is the cover.  I made 4 different covers before I just settled for this one.  It just was not working how I had envisioned it.  It's made of felt and fabric paint.

This is the first page.  An apple tree.  The background is fabric with the tree, basket and apples being felt.  I sewed the tree onto the fabric and then hand-sewed the apples, using cotton balls as stuffing.  I attached Velcro to the apples and the tree.

Page 2 is my favorite.  The barn!  The barn is made of felt with bias tape as the white part.  The animals are also made of felt.

Page 3 is the color page.  The balloons are made of felt and I hand-stitched the lettering.

Page 4 is to show him how to tie a shoe.  The shoe is made of felt, with grommets put in and a regular shoelace.

Page 5 I just drew numbers and then stitched on the number of buttons per number.  I did this on a road trip!

The last page is a road page made of felt.  There is a garage where 2 cars fit and a large stop sign.

Grandma Biscuits

I have fond memories from my childhood of traveling to Oregon to visit my Great Grandparents.  I remember every corner of that house.  Including the Moose or Elk head that was at the top of the stairs.  I remember my Uncle Cecil telling me it was a haunted head and always thinking it was watching me as I ran past it.

I always remember my Grandpa sitting in his chair with his spittoon next to him, watching Hee Haw.  The kitchen was the heart of the home and I'm not sure I ever saw my Grandma anywhere but in there.  The  giant table in the middle of the room always had food on it.  She was always asking if we were hungry or if she could fix us something.  They were amazing people and I miss them dearly.  I feel bad for my younger cousins that never got to meet or know them.

I called them my Biscuit Grandpa and Grandma because that is what I remember most.  Thin, crisp biscuits.  I've been wanting to try to make them but they will never live up to the memories.  Here is my attempt and the recipe I made up.  I don't think the recipe was ever written down, or did she ever measure anything.  She just knew how to make them.

Grandma Biscuits
2 cups All Purpose Flour  (I was told to use Self Rising Flour but I didn't have any.  If you use self rising, do not at the Baking Powder)
2 1/2 tsps Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Buttermilk
Bacon Drippings

Bake some bacon on a sheet pan.  I baked mine at 400 for 25 or so minutes.  Mmmmm Bacon!

Sift the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, and Baking Soda into a bowl.  Add the buttermilk and mix with wooden spoon until it comes together.  Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for just a few minutes.

Roll the dough out as thin or as thick as you like.  I like mine thin and crispy so I rolled mine pretty thin, probably 1/4 of an inch.

I used a drinking glass to cut out my biscuits.

Remove the bacon from the pan and use the drippings to coat both sides of the biscuits.

For these thin ones, I baked them at 350 for 20 minutes.  I ate my first one straight out of the oven and as it burned my fingers I was in heaven.  So crispy and really tasted a lot like I remembered.