Halloween dessert bar

Halloween Dessert Bar

As one who adamantly dislikes horror movies, it is a bit ironic that Halloween is one of my all time favorite holidays.

 Admittedly, my tastes veer more towards mysterious and mystical than outright gore and ghoulishness, more Edgar Allen Poe than anything with a chain saw.

But it really only takes a few subtly spooky touches to add some magic to your house even if temporarily. Here are a few very budget friendly tricks and treats to whip up with some simple how-tos.

Melted Witches
Crystal Ball Cupcakes
Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls
Crunchy Bones

Melted Witches!

These are fun to make in a variety of different colors or flavors!
For the brooms I molded either a piece of cut licorice or half a starburst around small pretzel rods. The starbust will soften in your hands and I then marked them with a knife to create bristles. I sprinkled the witches with a little sugar for sparkle.

Crystal Ball Cupcakes

A dessert that tells your future?

The magic of turning sugar into glass doesn't require a magic wand, just a few kitchen basics.

 I adapted this recipe from Cooks.com for clear hard candy omitting flavoring as I wanted as clear finish as possible. The candy has a mild sweet taste and be careful it is tough on the chompers so I just used mine for decoration. Also as I didn't have high heat resistant candy molds I used ordinary muffin tins. I used a combo of store bought and homemade cupcakes in simple white and chocolate.

Sugar glass has so many possibilities, I am sure it will reappear in different incarnations in recipes to come. It is often used as a replacement for in stunts in movies- but it can still be quite sharp. 

My not-so magic potion

Be very cautious as this liquid is extremely hot!

I used two size muffin tins pouring enough liquid to just cover bottom.
This photo shows the depth

To remove from tins- press firmly on the underside of the tin in the center of each "cup" the sugar disk should "POP" free- or can be easily pried out.
 There will be some casualties but these can be repackaged as "broken glass candy" !

bubbles add mystery!

I layered them on a cake tier with cheesecloth underneath and topped with a Raven

Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls

These are such fun to make! In Mexico creating Sugar Skulls is an art form, but not wanting to apprentice to a confectioner, I adapted a simple candy clay recipe from milwaukeemoms.com

Milwaukee is a long way from Mexico but -----http://www.milwaukeemoms.com/fastfindsandfun/recipes/29762099.html

Authentic sugar skulls require an elaborate recipe and special molds which can be tricky to find and a bit pricey so this is a budget friendly version in the same spirit. I nestled them on a bed of colored cotton candy and silver tray (both Dollar Store)

Five ingredients! I mix it in the sink as anytime I use confectioners sugar my kitchen looks like a Christmas village

 

Mold a simple skull shape: add more sugar if necessary

For the eyes: That all purpose kitchen tool, the plastic cocktail stirrer 

I used a small knife to create smiles. You could leave them like this for Halloween

I added flower shaped sprinkles, sugar pearls and jimmies for teeth

*These are very sweet- like eating frosting out of the bowl so a little goes a long way

Crunchy Puff Pastry Bones

These are so fun and easy: basically one ingredient and whatever herbs or spices you choose to add!

I made the "bones" from this recipe 

 http://busycooks.about.com/od/appetizerrecipe1/r/Pile-Of-Bones-With-Moldy-Dip.htm

I made a few batches and found they took considerably longer to brown than suggested- up to 20 plus minutes - depending on the size. I sprayed mine with cooking spray and added sea salt and garlic for a savory bite but a sweet version with cinnamon and sugar would be fun to try too!

I cut the thawed puff pastry in thin strips with a pizza cutter

to form ends wrap like you are starting to tie a knot in the ends of the dough

each one will be a little different- like real ones! 

bake @ 375 until golden and crispy!

They're a fun light snack or served with soup and salad

Here good old tomato soup gets some holiday flare

I put some plain Greek yogurt in a plastic baggy, poked a hole in the end and piped some spooky garnishes. Plastic spiders on napkin rings add to the creepiness!

Bon Appetite!

Halloween Fun

Raven Wreath

Autumn Lanterns

DIY Crystal ball

Tattooed Pumpkin

Papel Picado Banner

Cheesecloth Ghost Cats

_______________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Autumn Lanterns

Get your Glow on!

This craft is fun if not a little messy and costs practically nothing

 It starts with a couple lanterns (with built in lights) and bag of leaves (both from the Dollar Store) and either ModgePodge or white glue thinned with water.

 If there is a design on the lantern it will show through. I painted over mine but then needed to cover with a scrap of paper as well

 Then decoupage the leaves randomly - scatter a few or cover completely- It's ok if the edges don't lie perfectly flat against the lantern- it gives it a natural look

once you're happy with the design, let dry and display

__________________________________

_____________________________________________________

DIY Crystal Ball

If we were celebrating Halloween one hundred plus years ago, we might have forgone the guts and ghouls in favor of "divining" or fortune telling games and rituals. 

Since it was considered a holiday for the young, much of the interest in the future pertained to romance and identifying potential spouses. 

Cards, mirrors, firelight and crystal balls were all popular ways to see foresee the years ahead and while you can purchase a genuine crystal ball- here's a whimsical DIY version that won't break the bank.

 I started with the Dollar Store (of course) where I found glass vases, small flameless votives (3 for $1) and a bag of cobwebs. I then scavenged around for terra cotta saucers, odds and ends and found a short flea market candlestick for a topper. I had on hand small bottles of Glow-in-the-dark and clear glitter paint from the craft store.

Using the Glow in the dark and Glitter paint, I lightly painted swirls on the inside of the glass vases and dabbed it generously on the cobwebs- it's like painting cotton candy but I did my best.

On the inside of one vase I painted a fortune- this is tricky but I'm sure spirits from beyond have messy 

handwriting anyway

  I spray painted the saucers a combination of black gold and white but any color combination will do- I went for an antique-y look. I used hot glue to attach the candleholder upside down on top of the "ball" temporarily. This way I could remove it later. When everything is dry place one or two flameless votives on the upside down saucer. Cover with cobwebs, carefully place vase on top and get ready to read the future!

mix tops and bottoms to create the look you like

 

when the lights go down the effect is pretty fun!

___________________________________

___________________________________________

Easy "Tattooed" Pumpkin

A quick easy and mess free pumpkin decorating idea!

Not in the mood to get out the paints or carving knife?

No worries....

Just put Dollar Store "Goth" or "Tribal" Temporary tattoos on a faux pumpkin and Voila!

  Papel Picado: Day of the Dead Paper Banners

Banners make everything more festive and the famous Papel Picado cut paper flags so popular for the Day of the Dead in Mexico are true works of art, many cut by hand. You can order them online but many are quite pricey.

I tried to wing it by picking up some fun scrapbook paper at Joann's Crafts (my second home)

I splurged on the laser cut floral ($1.99) but the others range from 29- 59 cents. 

I cut the large squares into 4 equal size "banners" and cut some simple skull patterns and glued them on several of the plain background. I punched holes in the solid paper and strung them on colorful ribbon.

The fun part is choosing the colors or patterns to match your color scheme.

Cheesecloth Ghost Cats

I'm not certain if anyone actually uses cheesecloth to make-cheese, but I know it is a Halloween crafting staple with ghosts being a must do on the DIY list. 

To change things up a bit and in keeping with my addictions to all things feline, I decided to try to make Ghost cats this year.

There are a lot of "normal" cheesecloth ghost tutorials out there but this is what I did.

Using odds and ends I created two cat forms.

and covered in plastic wrap

 I cut cheesecloth in strips and apply with Modgepodge (or white glue) thinned with water

 I applied like paper mache'

 Let dry overnight

 Removing the "insides" was a bit of a bugger, but if some of the plastic wrap remains no worries, it's clear

Next time I will make sure to make the bodies increase in size toward the bottom. I had to rip the foil parts in smaller pieces to remove.

The forms can be manipulated a bit to stand firmly

I decided they needed tails so I Modgepodged some tails curved over a plastic wrapped bowl and glued them on.

 I painted light green eyes and shaded the top with a darker green blending where the two colors meet.

Boo bear is not terribly impressed at this stage

I don't usually use "google eyes"  but since this is such a whimsical project I thought they added character.

For the whiskers I hot-glued nylon broom bristles.

I painted stripes with glow in the dark paint which doesn't photograph well in light or dark but looks fun in real life and added a nose and a mouth.

Shadow is not impressed either.

 By day

by night (with plastic flameless votives)

Meeooowwwww

Coming Soon!

This is our new venture so please bear with us as we are Under Construction

our first bewitching blog will be filled with spooktacular halloween ideas!