Halloween Eyeball Treats

I found the "cutest" eyeball treats online and just had to make some for my family. (those are not words I ever thought I'd say!!)

I've had the stuff to make these for quite some time and unfortunately a few life events meant we weren't at work as much as usual and I didn't get to make these for either of us to take in.  I did remember at the last minute yesterday and ran in and made a small batch just because I could!  We ate some and I gave some to the neighbor kids next door, who did proclaim them to be "cool".

Finding red sprinkles during the fall season wasn't easy, but my trusty cake decorating supply store of course had some.  And what fun would eyeball treats be without the bloodshot effects?

When I made these yesterday I couldn't find them on the blog that originally inspired me, so I had to wing it.  I did find it today though - eighteen25 blog.  I used white candy melts so mine aren't zombie eyeballs, but I still like them.

I'll put how I made them and feel free to click over to the original blog as her method is slightly different.

Ingredients

square pretzels

white candy melts

m&m's

red sprinkles

mini hershey's milk chocolate bar

(I used the convection feature on our microwave and made them in very small batches, but obviously this would work quite well in a regular oven.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pretzels on a cookie sheet or small pan, then place a candy melt on top of each one.  Put in the oven just long enough for the candy melts to appear shiny, then remove pan from oven.

Carefully put an m&m UPSIDE DOWN on top of each candy melt, then sprinkle some red bloodshot sprinkles on each.

It was at this point that I realized I needed a pupil for each eye and couldn't remember how the original blog did it.  Keith pointed out the plethora of Halloween candy we had waiting on the trick or treaters to come, so I unwrapped a small Hershey's milk chocolate bar and microwaved it just until shiny.  I used a small, pointed butter knife, dipped it in chocolate and made a small pupil on each.

The salty and sweet taste go so well together and I might do these at Thanksgiving with an orange candy melt with brown m&m's..... and no bloodshot eyes ;)

4th of July Candy Bark

I think I've mentioned - many times - that 4th of July is one of my absolute favorite holidays.  It speaks to my sense of pride in our nation and it also has always been a time that our family and friends get together to celebrate.  This year isn't going to be as big of a celebration for us as what we usually have, but that really won't slow us down.

My Pinterest feed has been filled with so many fun treats to choose from, but since we are still working on the kitchen remodel I don't have a stove/oven/sink in the kitchen and was afraid my hands were tied.  Then I started noticing all the candy bark, trail mix and popcorn and it was a light bulb moment.  I kind of pulled from all of them to come up with mine.

Easiest thing ever to make and the only appliance needed was a microwave!

I will warn you it's one of the sweetest things I have ever eaten.

And doesn't it look all festive in the Longaberger Basket??

Here's the general directions to what I did and feel free to adjust to what you want.

4th of July Candy Bark

6 Oreo Cookies

a handful of pretzels

Wilton vanilla candy melts

red and blue mini m&m's (I bought a bag and meticulously pulled out the colors I needed!)

red and blue sprinkles

optional - mini marshmallows, chex cereal, Cheerios

Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.  Crush the oreos and pretzels and spread loosely over the paper (I just crushed them in my hand).  

Place about half a bag of candy melts in a microwave safe bowl and melt about 1 minute at 70% power.  Stir, then repeat until it is all melted, but do not overmelt - it gets yucky.  Drop in generous blobs over the top of the oreos and pretzels, then lightly use the back of your spoon to smooth it out.  While the candy melts are still wet, sprinkle the top with m&m's and sprinkles.

I placed the cookie sheet in my refrigerator to help it set, probably about 15 minutes.

A tip:  the blobs need to be pretty generous.  The first half of my candy melts I tried to just use the spoon and ended up with a dirty looking batch as the candy picked up the cookie crumbs.  Tastes the same, but not nearly as pretty.

Shared on:  A Diamond In The Stuff, Take a Look Tuesday, One Project At A Time, Terrific Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It, The Scoop, Brag About It, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday

Valentine Berries and Flowers

What a fun surprise yesterday afternoon - my beloved came home bearing gifts!!! 

I confess that I adore fresh flowers.  I know they die quickly, too expensive, so on and so forth.  But every time I walk in this room and see them I smile.  I love the way they smell and I love the deep red color. 

 

I also love that he knows me well enough that he started taking pictures of the flowers for me.  That’s some true love right there!

 

He also brought these beauties home – and you might notice in the 1st picture there are only 2 on the plate.  Yeah…      It was a gorgeous afternoon here, so we each took a strawberry and sat in the backyard.  Such a wonderful time sitting and talking together.

We did go out for dinner and had a nice time.  We had considered going to a movie dining theater, but there just wasn’t anything playing right now that we’re dying to see.

One last thought – so many people posted on FB yesterday about how it is a ‘made up’ holiday and they don’t need that just to show somebody they love them, that it should happen every day.  They are absolutely right!  But I also don’t think it’s a bad thing to slow down one day a year and remind those you love how important they are to you.

Card #1–I’ve Got My Eye On YOU Valentine!

I love it when you can send a card that has special meaning between the sender and the recipient.  That’s the case with this Valentine for our granddaughter.

The back story – we sometimes do Face Time on the iPhones with her so that we can see her and chat.  Papa and Brooklyn started doing a close-up of their eye and saying “I’ve got my eye on you” which made everybody laugh.

 

This was such an easy card to make – I used the Monkey Eyes 4 You set from Scrappin Doodles for the pink dotted background, the monkey and the hearts at the bottom.  The sentiment I just typed out.  I bought googly eyes to fit and that graphic is raised a bit on pop dots.

I think he’s just darling!

Happy New Year 2012!

January 1st has always been a favorite day of mine, which is kinda funny since we don’t usually do much for New Year’s Eve – a dichotomy I tell you!  There is just something about having the whole year in front of you – a blank slate ready to be filled with all kinds of wonderful days, events and moments!

For New Year’s Eve my brother and sister-in-law flew into town and we went with them, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter out to eat, where amazingly we ran into our daughter and her roommates!  Even if you’ve never been to the DFW you must surely realize the odds are against just running into anybody as it’s a large city.

 

We went to Texas de Brazil for dinner and it’s the first time Keith and I had ever been there.  Our little granddaughter was seasoned pro since she’d been already – LOL!  This photo is my sister-in-law Michele and granddaughter Brooklyn…. and the remnants of the communal chocolate cake for dessert.  :)

After dinner we headed back to our house and chatted a bit, then everybody left for their own homes.  I tried my hardest to stay awake until midnight, but ended up drifting off on the sofa.  I did, however, wake up just seconds after midnight due to all the fireworks in the neighborhood going off!

Today I spent the day with friends at a 2nd Annual Craft Day at one friend’s house.  I was there for pretty much the entire day and evening and the only thing I accomplished – besides a lot of talking and some eating – was cutting out the fabric for an American Girl doll dress!  Never even plugged in the machine!  But oh what a grand time I had.

 

Crazy, but this is the only picture I took today!  One of the things she served was vegetables in a cup and they were fantastic.  It has dressing at the bottom, then all these vegies ready to go in a clear flower pot looking container.  A fabulous way to serve veggies and they were sensational!

On the drive home I kept thinking about how wonderful 2012 is looking to be.  And I wish the same for all of you. 

Brooklyn Loves the Easter Bunny!

Hope everybody had a beautiful and blessed Easter today. We had a wonderful service at church this morning and right now we’re getting ready to weather more fierce storms coming through the area.

Here’s a quick picture from yesterday’s egg hunt and carnival at our church.  Brooklyn was a little unsure about Mr. Bunny, but we finally coerced her into going over to see him. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope that Happy Cupid visits your home today to help spread the love!

I’m not sure what we’ll be doing this evening.  We don’t really buy gifts for Valentine’s Day, but we do usually go out for dinner and spend some time gazing into each other’s eyes…even after all these years.  And that’s what love is all about!

Valentine Oven Decoration

And the Target Dollar Spot comes to the rescue again!  I bought the oven mitt and a little bag of pink plastic cookie cutters there over the weekend and really they didn’t have a purpose, other than being so cute.

 

I used some white grosgrain ribbon that I already had on hand and tied jaunty little bows, securing the cookie cutter and oven mitt to the front of my oven.

 

I’m pleased with how it came out – just a little hint of Valentine love in the kitchen – and so inexpensive!  I can see this as a great way to add a little something in the kitchen for each holiday.

Now I can’t wait for Keith to get home from work because I have a feeling he’ll roll his eyes at it. 

 

** Linking to: SYS Blog Party (lots of fun Valentine ideas here!), Thrifty Thursday, Frugalicious Friday, Flaunt It Friday, Hodgepodge Friday, Sundae Scoop

Valentine Subway Art

“Love is in the air” most definitely around here.  I never did much decorating for Valentine’s Day when the kids were young and I find myself wondering why not.  It’s fun and what’s not to love about LOVE?!?!

 

I found the free download at Eighteen 25 and fell in love with it.  I chose a solid black frame from Target to offset the white background and pink/red words.  LOVE IT!

 

The hearts tickle me – I found them in the dollar spot at Target.  They are called “Table Scatter” and I find that amusing. 

So for the amazing low price of $2 for “table scatter”, $5 for the frame and the negligible amount it cost to print I have a cute little Valentine display on top of the dresser in the guest room.

And it makes me smile.

 

* Linking to:  Valentine Party

And A Happy New Year!

So thrilled to be online again!  Apparently when our new neighbors moved in and got their telephone connected the tech knocked out our phone, internet and TV service.  And of course this happens over the holiday period, so we were without our entertainment devices for far too long – LOL!  But as of today we are back in business.  I wonder if this is what we will all feel like if the EMPs ever really happen?  And have you read those books…the series that I can’t think of the title right now?  I’ll have to look those up.

Anyway, New Year’s Eve is never a big holiday for the two of us and really never has been.  We’re low-key kind of people that really prefer to not be out and about, though we have been known to do that on occasion as well.

This year we weren’t able to do our usual watch the ball drop in Times Square since we had no TV.  Honestly, when you CAN’T do something is when you most WANT to do it!

So we headed out to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner, then came home and played ROCK BAND!!!  Yes, the kids got us ROCK BAND for Christmas and I think our inner rock star comes out every single time we play it.  I am seriously not good at all at it as my timing isn’t all that great, but it’s a very fun thing for the two of us to do together.

That lasted until about 10:00 and then I think we went to bed shortly after.  We are truly party animals. 

I hope that everybody had a safe holiday and celebrated it in your favorite way.  Here we are at the start of 2011 and I for one am certain it’s going to be great!

A Glimpse of Holiday Lane

Isn’t this beautiful?  Keith and I did quite a bit of Christmas shopping this weekend and were happy to have stopped at 3 different malls.  We thoroughly enjoy seeing all the decorations and seriously, watching the kids and families will always bring a smile to our faces.

This particular scene was inside Macy’s at one of the malls and housed their Christmas décor.  The room was tucked into a corner of the crystal and china section and it was almost magical walking down the red carpet between all the gaily decorated trees.

Did you notice the 60% sign at the lower right of the screen?  We managed to buy one new stocking:

…cause we’re proud of Texas y’all….      The only other thing we bought inside Holiday Lane was our Christmas Cards.

It really was a great weekend.  We ended Saturday having our traditional dinner, well really we go for a particular appetizer and salad, at our favorite steak place.  The last 3 or 4 years we’ve done this while out Christmas shopping and I suppose it might be kind of a gift to ourselves.  We’re able to stop, regroup and focus on what’s important rather than get caught up in the wrong things. And for that I am so thankful.

“May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!”  ~Author Unknown

The “IN” Christmas Trees

In the sermon today, called The Tree, our pastor started off by talking about some of the current “in” Christmas trees.  Now I’m  totally not passing judgment on these because truly beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  However, I can confirm after seeing these that not only do I need to get out more, but I really am a traditionalist at heart.

The Black Christmas Tree (this one seems sad to me somehow):

 

The Upside Down Christmas Tree (I’ll admit this one could be fun):

 

Beer Can Christmas Tree (not sure even what to say about this one!):

 

There’s not a photo of our tree in this post as we just started doing our decorations today.  The tree is assembled, but no ornaments have been placed yet.  I think this year I’m going to go back to a traditional tree and use all the ornaments that the kids made and that we’ve received as gifts through the years.  Our tree the last two years was picture perfect, but it seemed rather cold somehow.  I’m thinking the memories associated with this year’s ornaments will bring the warmth back. 

I’m also looking forward to sharing ornament origin stories with my granddaughter.  I know my kids will roll their eyes because I tell the same stories every year, but I’m going to look at it as me being dependable instead of me forgetting I’ve already told the story! 

 

Tradition: sit with husband in a room lit only by tree lights and remember that our blessings outnumber the lights.  Happy Christmas to all.  ~ Betsy Cañas Garmon

 

** All photos found through Flickr Creative Commons

Post-Thanksgiving

I’m still enjoying all the memories and things said over our Thanksgiving holiday.  Really I think that Thanksgiving is one of my favorites as it’s a time to pause and give thanks and enjoy one another. 

 

I’ll admit that our holiday had a lot of this little lady and every one of us enjoyed that.  Even spending three days at our house we never once saw her pout or do any sort of meltdown.  Truly she’s just fun to be with.  I will admit though that one night when it was the two of us sharing a bed, well, I ended up sleeping at a diagonal because she’d moved quite a bit during the night. Wouldn’t have changed a thing about it though. 

 

And we had a LOT of food!  This picture is a little out of focus, I think because we were shaking with anticipation.

 

There was even time for some serious play in the leaves.  I *love* the sound of a little one tromping and running through leaves.  And she *loved* the sound as well and laughed a lot while she was doing it.

Now as we pack away the pumpkins and scarecrows, the orange and rust colored candlesticks and tablecloths, it’s time to look ahead and enjoy the next holiday!

Frugal Fall Centerpiece

We had the final night of our Mentorship Class at church this week and I know we’re going to miss it.  When we walked into the classroom all the tables were decorated for fall and it looked so festive.

The main reason I wanted to post this is – look at the pumpkins/apples/fruits sitting at the base of the scarecrow.  Y’all those are toilet paper rolls that have been covered with a square of fabric!  The ‘stem’ was cardboard and they have green felt leaves and little green pipe cleaner curly-q’s on them.  It’s really too late to get any done for this year, but they were so cute I’m thinking it might be a great thing to have next year.

So cute and so inexpensive.  And the best part – you really wouldn’t have anything to store because all you’d have to do is uncover that roll and put it too good use!!!  

Pumpkin Candy Bracelet

PROLOGUE:

When I knew that we would be meeting the kids at the pumpkin patch I decided to get my Grandma-ness in gear.  You already saw the cookies, but I also had seen the Pumpkin Candy Bracelet Tutorial and since it was so darling I decided that Brooklyn needed one too.

This was seriously easy to make and took probably 10 minutes!  I used 9 candy pumpkins on this bracelet just as the tutorial did.

 

THE STORY:

It fit and looked darling on her!  I really think she liked it.

 

You can ever so barely see it on her wrist through the window.  This pumpkin patch had a really cute little house made of hay and Brooklyn had fun playing in it with her Daddy and Grandpa.

 

She fiddled with it a lot.  And I think it looked so cute on her!

 

Everything is so much fun when you are 3 and have your parents and grandparents with you to be certain you’re having a grand time!

 

And you can look girly with your pumpkin bracelet even when riding a tractor!

 

EPILOGUE:

When we finished enjoying the pumpkin patch we left to go have dinner at a nearby restaurant.  Brooklyn got in her car seat with mom and dad and we got in our truck and met them there.

Loni got out of their truck and walked toward me saying “Grandma!” with her hands cupped.  Uh oh….  In her hands she had all the candy pumpkins and little ribbon ties!  She said Brooklyn was so upset when it fell apart. 

I’m assuming it came undone at the knot and that my 4 or 5 knots in the dental floss were not enough.  So my caution to anybody else planning to make this bracelet is – be certain to tie it very tight!

We reassured Brooklyn that Grandma would either fix it or make her another one.  I’m not sure if she was dismayed that it broke or disappointed that she no longer had the bracelet.  Either way… it was a grandma fail moment.  Fortunately I had a bag of Soft Sugar Cookies to hand to her at that moment and redeem myself somewhat!  :)

 

* Linking to Get Your Craft On, I’m Lovin’ It

Friday’s Fave Five #96

So did y’all miss me?  :)  We are now back from a week at the lake, starting with a fabulous 4th of July weekend with family.  And that vacation will be the subject of my Friday Fave Five this week.  See more at Susanne’s Living to Tell the Story blog.

1. Little Miss Brooklyn -

I love this picture that Keith took.  He told me that she did not want her picture to be taken right then and was running and you can really tell in the picture!  We all had so much fun with her this holiday.  She’ll be turning 3 in a week and when I tell you that even though I’m her grandmother I really am not biased – she’s just so much fun to be with!  (ok…maybe a little biased).

At one point Keith was going to take a group of people out in the boat and when she heard the boat was going out she came running in to get me and told me she needed her “jacket” on (lifejacket).  I started getting her ready and she was jumping on the bed and oh so excited that she had a hard time even telling us about it. 

Toddler joy is a site to behold.

2. Sparklers

It was a very different 4th of July this year because of all the rain we had due to the hurricane remnants.  In spite of that, we still all had a great time.  One thing we all agree on is that the time spent together is more important than what we are doing. And we had a very full house this year – big blessings!

The big fireworks displays were rained out, but the kids walked down to a fireworks stand and got some packages of sparklers for Brooklyn to try for the first time.  Now when my kids were little we happened to read the sparkler package one time and found out they are really “magnesium sticks” and since that time we have always referred to sparklers as Flaming Sticks of Magnesium.  It was with a full heart that I got to see my granddaughter playing with her first Flaming Sticks of Magnesium this year. 

3. Golf Cart Parade

Truly one of my favorite parts of the 4th of July holiday is the golf cart parade.  It has such a Norman Rockwell small town flavor to it and I was so pleased that the rain stayed away for that little bit of time.  Brooklyn had a lot of fun with the different golf carts that threw necklaces and candy out to the crowd.

4. Keith’s Folks

This year Keith’s parents even made it down to the lake for the 4th of July festivities.  What fun that they went out in the boat – and of course Brooklyn is right up front with her daddy!  It was great to see them laughing and riding the boat – Keith grew up with always having a boat in the family, but they sold theirs many years ago.  They had a great time riding in one again and I’m hoping to see them at the lake more often now. And special thanks to my sister-in-law Michele for taking pictures on this boat ride for me!  :)

5. FOOD!!!

Oh what a wonderful meal we had!  We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and corn on the cob, had potato salad, baked beans, fruit salad, watermelon and cake.  Mom and I fixed a hamburger and hot dog, then cut each in half and traded, which was the best way to be able to try everything.

 

Loni found corn on the cob for only ten cents each, so bought a bunch and showed us how to get them ready for grilling.  Loni and Michele set up under the tarp outside and even had Miss B helping at one point. 

And that’s what it’s all about – the helping and laughing and talking and eating.  What a joyous blessing this weekend was!

PS – Just because I happen to love this 4th of July photo of my granddaughter from last year, here’s the link:  Brooklyn Waiting for Fireworks