Golden Moments

Halloween Care Packages

Happy Halloween! I had a blast with my nieces at our marathon crafting and cookie decorating session last weekend and want to share some photos from the day with you. We made care packages for the cousins who are away at college and filled them with all sorts of Halloween treats.

We started with cookies... lots and lots of cookies. This cookie recipe is an old standby and this frosting is a good one. The frosting dries hard and shiny, but is tastier than plain royal icing. However, be warned that it can take a day or so to dry fully. We used this recipe for the chocolate icing, which also dried hard and shiny after a day or so.

I've always felt that the way a package is wrapped is just as important as what is inside and we spent lots of time dressing up the variety of goodies. The cookies were individually packaged in these fun treat bags held closed with clips made with supplies from Papertrey Ink. 

 

 

This was another type of cookie we decorated... don't tell, but the base of these are store bought Mallowmars. They look extra special in individual mini cupcake liners.

 

We probably had the most fun making these mini haunted house scenes using more products from Papertrey Ink and inspiration from the oh-so-talented Betsy Veldman. The domes were adhered to the top of small canning jars filled with chocolate eyeballs.

 

 

It was easy to make these houses in an assortment of colors and with different details. These domes, the clips and other bits and pieces also double as Halloween decorations for the cousin's dorm rooms.

You can read more about the tubes with foiled accents on this post.

 

We included some non-edible treats too - a "stress ball" pumpkin to squeeze while studying for exams and who doesn't like an orange slinky? The tiny treat bags contain individually wrapped rice krispy treats and the orange and white polkadot bag holds a container of Altoids. There were also refills for their Keurigs and boxes of Cheese-its for the guys.

The girls got mascara (don't know what brand, but it came in a cute orange and black package), lip gloss, and orange nail polish.

What do you think? I would have been pretty excited to get one of these boxes when I was away at college. Any of my long-time blog readers will know how much I LOVE Halloween so it was wonderful to still find a reason to decorate and create for the holiday, now that my boys are past the trick-or-treating stage. I already have some ideas for next year's Halloween care packages. :)

Have a spookily sweet Halloween and thanks for visiting!

Recycle craft packaging into cute containers for Halloween treats

Hello there! I'm so glad you stopped by. October is my favorite month here in New England. Beautiful sunny days that are cool enough so you can wear a sweater, gorgeous trees wherever you look, pumpkin everything, and of course Halloween... and then there is the candy. Oy.

This weekend I'm hosting a Halloween crafting day for my nieces and we are putting together goody boxes for all the cousins who are away at college. I got a head start last week with these recycled DecoFoil tubes. With all the foiling I've been doing lately, I have a little collection of empty tubes that are perfectly sized for Halloween candy.

All the steps for creating the tags and foil-accented paper are over on the Therm O Web blog. They have new Black DecoFoil along with adhesive backed toner sheets that are perfect for creating your own foil shapes.

It is also so easy to add foil accents to any patterned paper. Add a few seasonal colors to black and white patterned paper and you have custom Halloween (or any holiday) paper in minutes.

I can't wait to put together the boxes with my nieces. I'll try to remember to take photos to share them with you. Bring on the candy corn!

You can find the instructions for this project HERE.

Hope you have a wonderful week! 

Easy and Inexpensive Halloween Party Ideas for Kids

October just flew by this year, didn't it? I'll be sorry to see it go. This year in New England we enjoyed one of the most beautiful fall foliage seasons in years. The trees around me are still holding on to their last few leaves and we are expecting temps to hit 70 on Wednesday - definitely not our typical October!

Today over on the Therm O Web blog I am sharing a few quick, easy, and inexpensive ways to put some handmade touches on your Halloween party. I love Halloween and over the years have blogged dozens of projects - you can use the search feature to find them.

All of the projects I'm sharing today are kid friendly. Depending on their age and crafting experience, many of these could be completed without assistance. They also are easy to create in multiples assembly line style.

Here is the invitation:

and some fun party favors:

I mean what says "Happy Halloween" more than a glittered polka dotted coffin filled with candy?

Here is a quick way to decorate store bought snacks:

as well as a kids craft project made with inexpensive cupcake liners and scraps of cardstock:

You can find all the details and additional photos HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a very Happy Halloween filled with all your favorite treats. Mine are Reese's... what are yours?

 

Halloween Cards with Simple Stories

I love that my favorite season of the year is finally here. The days are still sunny and warm, but the mornings and evenings are cool and the leaves are starting to change. Of course that means one of my favorite holidays is almost here... hint: it involves lots of candy corn and Reese's peanut butter cups. 

Today on the Therm O Web blog I'm sharing three Halloween cards made using the new Frankie and Friends collection from Simple Stories. I'm not currently doing any pocket-style scrapbooking, but I love using all the products that have popped up to go along with the trend. The pocket inserts make great backgrounds for quick and easy cards.

With the background done, you can create a quick card using dimensional adhesive to add a few paper cutouts, as I did with the card below. This card came together in minutes.

Or you can spend more time adding details such as die cutting a window in the card and using a few more embellishments. Nothing says "Halloween" like googly eyes.

Thanks so much for spending a few minutes here today. Be sure to head over to the Therm O Web blog to say hello and enter the Simple Stories collection giveaway.

Have a wonderful day!

Last Minute Halloween Decoration

Wishing you a very happy Halloween filled with lots of Reese's! Seriously... why are they so darned hard to resist? 

Today I have a quick, last minute decoration that looks like it took a bit longer to make. The main element is actually a large sticker from Karen Foster Design. The detail on the sticker is incredible - lots of different textures. The rest is made from cardstock, paper, and stickers with the hanger made from a few strands of copper wire twisted together.

"Happy" is made with a clear stamp colored with green glitter glue.

A close-up look at some of the detail on the sticker. This project would only take 10 minutes or so to re-create... not counting the time needed to shop for supplies. :)

Now I'm heading into the kitchen to cook up a batch of one of our favorite fall soups. The perfect thing to serve on a cool Halloween night. This recipe is from the now defunct Family Fun magazine, but I found a copy online HERE. It is so delicious, especially with the Cranberry Soda Bread recipe (which you can find HERE).

Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween Scrapbook Layout

Today is going to be busy with lots to do, but I wanted to pop in here with a quick Halloween scrapbook layout that was created with the latest collection from Karen Foster Design. Boy do I miss the days when my kids got dressed up and went trick-or-treating. This will be our second Halloween with no costumes, although my kids let me know that I should buy lots of candy just in case we get swamped with trick-or-treators.

This is a photo from one of my favorite Halloweens and the first one where I caved in and got store-bought costumes... but they were so cute that I couldn't resist. We definitely got our money's worth as these were worn often and not just for Halloween.

The polaroid die cut frame is from Papertrey Ink.

The bat paper is my favorite from this collection and I love that it can go either way - fun and cute or spooky.

We couldn't find the right colored wig for Stephen's Strider costume so this one is actually a Dorothy wig (from The Wizard of Oz). We just undid the braids and gave it a haircut. He was trying to look like a warrior in this photo, but I think it looks more as if he just wants to get the pictures over with so they can get on with the trick-or-treating. 

Miss those days for sure.

Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween Tag Book and Giveaway Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who visited last week and left a comment on the Green Sneakers' giveaway. I loved reading them and am so happy you all like the Kreate-a-lope templates as much as I do. So excited to announce that the winner of the Create Your Own Mega Kit, as chosen by Random.org, is comment number 60:

Congratulations Ellen Boersen!

Ellen, I'll send you an email for your contact info and will forward that on to Green Sneakers so they can ship your prize. In the meantime, you can check out all the sizes HERE and choose the five that you want. In addition to the Kreate-a-lopes, the prize includes the corresponding liner templates.

With Halloween in just a few days, I wanted to share another idea for using Mambi's Fall 12x12 page kit. This is a tag book that can easily be turned into a mini album by adding photos and journaling.

Sometimes for holidays I like to create mini books that can be left out and used as decorations and then become family keepsakes. With this project it would be easy to add a new tag for each year and would be a fun way to record the highlights along with a photo of that year's costume.

These large sized tags were created from kraft cardstock. To make your own:

• Cut the cardstock to a rectangle in the size you want and trim off one corner. 
• Flip the cut piece over and use it as a template to trim the other corner to create a symmetrical tag.
• Use the first tag as a template for the rest.

Quick, easy, and no special tools required.

For the tab at the top I folded a Jar Label die cut from black cardstock in half and glued it over the top. Having the same element on each tag helps tie them all together.

I nested two circle dies and cut a piece of black cardstock to create the ring. It helps give a little more weight to the owl and helps balance him out with the sticker and tab.

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope this is the start of a wonderful week!

 

Light Up Halloween House

Eight days till Halloween... plenty of time to make one of these. Today over on the Crafts 'n things blog I have a post about this altered wooden birdhouse that I created for Me & My BIG Ideas using their new Halloween collection.

This was so much fun to make - and I love the effect of adding lights inside.

You can find lots more photos and details over on the Crafts 'n things blog.

Also, if you haven't already entered the giveaway below, be sure to check out THIS POST.

If you have a minute, I'd love to hear what your favorite type of project is - cards, layouts, mini albums, home decor, other? It will be a big help in planning things for 2014. Thanks!

Have a great day!

 

 

Halloween Layout - DIY Pocket Page inserts

Have you jumped on board the Pocket Page/Project Life scrapbooking bandwagon? If so, it's easy to use traditional scrapbooking products to create your own pocket inserts. For this layout I used some leftover pieces from Mambi's Fall 12x12 page kit, plus a bit of burlap.

Creating your own inserts is a good solution for someone who a) either has a large stash of traditional products and/or b) someone who loves the ease of pocket scrapbooking, but still wants to do a bit more paper crafting.

The witch and cauldron is a Martha Stewart punch I bought years ago. I usually try not to buy something like that which has such limited use, but couldn't resist. Still love the way it looks.

Love the texture that burlap adds with the bonus that it sill lies very flat on the page.

So hard to believe that Halloween is just around the corner. Have you bought your Halloween candy yet? We did... but then -  big mistake... "oh, maybe we'll just have one piece"... now the bag is empty and I need to buy more. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Halloween Treat Bag and Mini Card

Hope you aren't tired of Halloween projects yet. Today I have a mini card and tiny little pumpkin that is sized to hold a couple of pieces of candy or other small treat. The pattern was something I found in the Silhouette online store. The papers and stickers are all from Me & My BIG Ideas.

It's all about the candy, right? My downfall is Reese's peanut butter cups... so hard to say no. :)

Do you know a little ghost or goblin that would enjoy one of these? 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!