11 Halloween Food Ideas

I spent some time searching for fun and creative Halloween food ideas, and thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Orange Witches' Brew Punch

Mini Pumpkin Pies in a Muffin Tin

Halloween Puppy Chow

Jack-O-Lantern Layered Mexican Dip

Halloween Cake Pops

More Halloween Cake Pops

Sand "Witches" 

Mummy Dogs

Owl S'mores

Frozen Chocolate Banana Ghosts

Halloween Bundt Cake

DIY: Mail Holder

Having realized that my pile of mail-to-be-read was not very aesthetically pleasing, I realized a solution must be found.  Of course, Pinterest inspired again.  Noodlehead includes instructions on a beautiful and functional holder that not only allows me to organize my mail-to-be-read, but also my magazines. 

Mail Holder

Mail Holder

Recipe: Shipwreck

Shipwreck

From the Kitchen of Cindy Jackson

Ingredients:
3-6 medium potatoes (I used 6)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can kidney beans
1 can tomato soup
1 medium sliced onion

Instructions:
Peel and slice potatoes into a greased casserole.  Crumble hamburger on top of potatoes.  Season with 1/2 the salt and pepper.  Slice onion thin and spread over ground beef; top with 15 ounce can of kidney beans.  Cover all with undiluted tomato soup.  Season with salt and pepper.

Cover baking dish for the first 15 minutes.  Bake 1 1/2 hours in preheated 375 degree oven.

DIY: Many-Pockets Purse

Feeling blue because the Vera Bradley purse I wanted was way too expensive and way too not-on-sale, I decided I'd make my own purse (which is much more fun anyway).  I found instructions at allpeoplequilt.com, though I realized after finishing the project that the straps were too short for my liking.  So, if you do make this purse, I suggest making the straps longer.  

Pick-a-Pocket Purse

The benefit of making your own purse is that you can customize the pockets.  In mine, I added a nice zipper pouch and then some sectioned pockets, including ones to hold pens and tic-tacs.

Sectioned Pockets

Zippered Pocket

DIY: Extra Toilet Paper Holder

We have quite a small bathroom, so having a cute little paper towel rack taking up space is out of the question; however, this easy sewing project is a great solution.  Tracy's Treasury has excellent directions with many photos of the sewing process.  I was able to use some leftover fabric from a plastic bag holder I had made earlier.

DIY: Flower Scrapbook Wall Art

Needing another summer project, I again searched Pinterest for fun ideas.  I came across The Hazel Bloom's Website with a very fun and colorful wall decorating idea.

Here's my version:

DIY: Scrapbook Paper Wall Art

This is actually very fun to make.  Cut scrapbook paper into various size petals, arrange and mod podge onto a painted 11x14 board, then enjoy!

DIY: Plastic Bag Holder

Recently I borrowed my mother-in-law's sewing machine to make items for our sugar gliders' cage... once those were made, I scavenged Pinterest, looking for easy and useful sewing projects.  This quick project was found on Make it and Love it.  The bag has an elastic top and bottom, with the top being bigger (to allow for easy bag stuffing) and the bottom being smaller (to allow for single-bag grabbing).  I hung mine on our pantry door.

DIY: Menu Board

The bane of my week is menu planning.  I despise getting close to dinner time and having the typical conversation in which both people claim to not care what is for dinner... what's worse is when we decide upon something and realize we don't have the ingredients! I found this idea on Once Upon a Chocolate Chip Pancake... and it's helped tremendously.

At the beginning of the week I pull out 7 menu cards and clip them to the board.  Each card has the entree (and possible sides) listed on the front, and then the ingredients on the back.  This means that I can simply throw the cards in my purse and have a ready-made grocery list.  Once a week I do the major grocery shopping with these cards, then the remainder of the week I rest easy knowing I have all we need to make dinner for the week.  

Creating this board is easy and cheap... check out Once Upon a Chocolate Chip Pancake's website to see how.

DIY Weekly Menu Board

Getting Started

For a while I've been discovering the domestic aspects of life... cooking, cleaning, crafts.  Pinterest has made this much more fun!  See some of the recipes, DIY projects, and other tips I'm discovering as I become "domesticated."