Halloween Tree

Carla and I were at Joann's the other day. She made the comment, "Why are there Christmas trees up for sale before Halloween?" As I began to answer, we looked up at the trees on display and saw that they were covered in spiders! 

This led us to an idea. We set up our "little" tree in a vacant corner and decorated it with some of our extra Halloween/Fall items. (Sorry, the photos aren't that great).

This is what we ended up with:

Here is another shot.

It isn't much, but I think with a couple of years of practice and collecting, this could be fabulous! Plus, I get to enjoy a tree for 3 months instead of one :)

Spooky Breakfast

Carla had a birthday party, I had a week off, it is October. Three awesome reasons to spend some time in the kitchen making Halloween creations. 

Here are some Eyeballs (Oreo Truffles). 

I made them last year.

Here are some Mummies. 

(Sausages wrapped in crescent strips and mustard eyes) 

Frozen Spiders and Magic Water...big hit!

We didn't have time to let the food coloring dry, but it worked just the same. The kids loved it! 

(Not a good photo)

A Pumpkin Patch Cake! It wasn't my original idea, but I thought it turned out pretty good!

Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (dyed 2 green colors)

We also made some bat cupcakes and sugar cookies, but I forgot to take photos. Still, it was a success! SO happy to have a reason to create festive treats!

First Fall Treat a Fail?

If I showed you this picture, what would you think these are? (No cheating! Don't scroll down yet!) Besides sugar cookies, what would you think I was going for? Hint: They are not pumpkins, raccoons, poisoned raccoons, or the Phantom of the Opera with a green mask. Please comment and let me know what you though these were at first glance. 

I won't be offended...that part has past :)

Give up?

This is my attempt at Poison Apples. Remember in Snow White when the skull image appears on the poisoned apple? Well, that's sorta what this is going for. 

Obviously, my frosting skills need some work :)

I began with the basics: a sugar cookie recipe, cream cheese frosting, and my friend Kylie.

I dyed the cookie dough red.

Kylie had a great idea of rolling the dough between two pieces of wax paper (with a bit of flour in between). It sure saved us a huge flour mess! It was SO easy. 

 And this...is where the fail began. What was I thinking?? 

Two sheets together in one...sheesh...

 This is what you get...burnt cookies. :(

 Tried it again and with success, I frosted and added dried blueberries (instead of raisins.)

So, there you have it. My somewhat of a failed attempt at a Disney recipe. My eyeball truffles were much more successful. I think I'll be making those again!

So close I can almost taste it!!

Seriously though. I can almost taste fall! It is taking all my energy to restrain myself from decorating, cooking, and crafting everything Halloween (and Autumn). I already broke out my fabric pumpkins from last year. Don't worry, I didn't save the same toilet paper :) 

Notice the cookie cutter. THAT project will be coming soon :)

In the meantime, I've tried other things like fondant cake! (Thanks to a Relief Society Activity) I'm no pro, but I was a teeny bit proud :) I gave it to a friend for her birthday.

Well, let's hope that I can make it to October. Or at least until Friday (the first day of Autumn!)

February = LOVE

It is the month of love :) Many people who find themselves in circumstances similar to my own would refer to Valentine's Day as "Single Awareness Day." Or something similar. Yes, it does cause us to become very aware of our singularity and it is sure fun to send little love notes to your friends. But, the coming and passing of yet another "table-for-one" Valentine's Day can be a little downer with the wrong attitude. (ok, ok, it hasn't gotten that bad! But, you get my point.)

I've never really been bitter when this time year comes around, but I know that until this happens...

(Totally kidding...so embarrassing, but sweet! They have to be Disney performers or something with connections. I just had to share it.)

Anyway, I have decided to focus this month's blog posts on love. Not just romantic love (and not disregarding it either!), but all other kinds of love. Love of family, friends, the Gospel, our Savior. Perhaps love in terms of charity or gratitude or just being plain happy.

So my challenge to myself and others: finding love all around us. Because it is there.

Disney Holidays at Home

We decided to make a Yule Log. What is a Yule Log? I'd be SO impressed if you knew. Essentially, it is a cake that looks like a log. We saw a Disneyland Holiday food special on tv and decided to make one. We consulted many blogs, websites, and friends to find the right recipes and tricks to make it. In the end, we decided to go all out and try the Disneyland recipe. We doubled it and left out the coffee and liquor. Don't ask how much powdered sugar, butter, or eggs went into this. You do the math, but it was a lot!

So, here is our Yule Log journey...

Noon: Began step 1. Making the cake part

1pm: The two flat logs

Thanks to Krazy Sub, we got a board strong enough to hold our extremely heavy log. We decorated the board :)

4pm: After the frosting was made & applied, we rolled the two logs up.

5pm: The assembling process began!

5:15: Two coats of frosting (buttercream then chocolate)

Finally, we added the rest of the decor. Not a good picture, but you get the idea.

We added a Hidden Mickey as a tribute to our Disney recipe.

6pm: Transportation to Maricopa. Yikes. What a trip. Sad to say, some frosting didn't make it...

We are obviously not Disney master chefs with the finest ingredients or appliances, but we got the point across! If you notice the time it took, this was definitely a once-a-year thing. However, it was very fun to make!

Cookie Cutter Christmas Craft

Lately, as I have been Christmas shopping (or shopping in general) I have been on a budget. And, really, who isn't? As I shop, I think "How can I make that?" and "Is it worth the time and effort to make?" If not, I move on. If so, I find myself creating things out of cookie cutters...or other random things. Basically, I take other people's ideas. Call it plagiarism, but that is what disclaimers are for right? Oh hey, look, I found one:

Disclaimer: I can not take ANY credit for the following Christmas gifts. My mom gave me the idea for the ornaments and I saw the brownies at Cracker Barrel.

First, the ornaments. These are pretty easy, fun, and I am tempted to keep some for my own tree! Hint: Buy the ornaments in bulk and on sale. I got mine (a bin of 40) at Joann's on sale and with a coupon on Black Friday weekend. (Sorry, the pictures aren't great. Cookie cutters are hard to photo.)

Here is a stocking.

A Christmas tree

Two Gingerbread people

A Christmas tree on a Christmas tree :)

Next, the brownies! A bit more time consuming, but enjoyable and tasty! Use basic brownie mix and be sure to cook all the way through. The less gooey the better (well, depends on your patience). Let them cool all the way. I would cut a large square and remove it from the pan, cookie cut it, eat the trimmings, and sprinkle with colors. Then, I wrapped them up.

(Again, bad photo)

They really aren't that great looking, and I know I may seem pretty cheap to just give away cookie cutters, but I love them! Simple gifts like these make me happy so why not share the joy? The best part is the recipient gets a cute cookie cutter out of these. Enjoy!

And, I apologize if any of my readers receive one of these gifts. I don't mean to spoil the surprise...I was just so excited about it!

Wishing Spools & Christmas Trees

I wanted to make this craft I found online. So, today, my siblings and I made it after Stake Conference. But, in order to properly display and take photos of the final product, we needed a Christmas tree background. So, naturally, we decided to put up our Christmas tree. (Now, before you start getting worked up about Christmas before Thanksgiving, hear me out...)

First of all, Thanksgiving and Christmas go hand in hand. It is Thanksgiving that helps to ring in the Christmas season and it all just rolls into one. You can't have Christmas without Thanksgiving and you can't have Thanksgiving without Christmas. We didn't forget about Thanksgiving. We LOVE Thanksgiving! But, we also love Christmas. To me, Thanksgiving and Christmas are one big season to enjoy. So, why not enjoy them together? :)

Second of all, we are not going to decorate this tree until after Thanksgiving anyway. Until then, it is just a regular (fake) tree that beautifies our living room.

Here come the photos (beware, there is a lot!).

Hank decided to help. He made these directions last year.

Our tree in parts.

An Arizona Christmas tree. Only a stick and some leaves. We were joking that if we left it like that Santa would bring enough gifts to fill the bottom of the tree.

We decided that an ugly, wimpy tree wasn't worth the risk. So, we kept going.

I wanted to be in this picture too...

Little by little it rose!

All done!!

Next, I needed photos of the wishing spools for the blog. After all, that was the whole point wasn't it?? Actually, I just tricked them into helping me since I wanted a decent background. They had no idea the photos were coming up.

And all I've got to say is...poor Jeri.

Apparently, wishing spools on a tree in an ill-lit room with Jonna's camera was a difficult task.

So, I took pictures of Jeri taking pictures just to show everyone how dedicated Jeri is to her photography.

I must say, it was amusing to watch.

Addie was a bit uncomfortable about the situation.

But, thanks to Jeri's undying dedication to photography, we have a few non-blurry(ish) photos to post of our wishing spools. And, for the record, the blurry ones are mine...

Here is Addie's spool

Can you tell which one is A.J.'s, Jeri's, or Carla's?

Don't cheat and look at Jeri's name tag!

And, here is mine.

Not that impressive, but it was fun to do! And, since we had a long afternoon following Stake Conference, it was a fun family activity.

By the way, Hank will have one made for him too :)