Give Thanks Wreath

Happy Early Thanksgiving! I wanted to share my Give Thanks Wreath that my daughter and I made for the holiday.
Materials:
Wire Frame Wreath
Clothes Pins - I used 80
Paint (I used Burnt Orange, Yellow and Chocolate Brown)
Ribbon
Hot Glue
Wood Sign
Stickers

Directions:
1. Paint all clothes pins (We painted 26 yellow, 26 brown and 26 orange) and allow them time to dry
2. Paint wood sign and allow time to dry
3. Adhere clothes pins to wreath in any color pattern of your choosing
4. Use stickers to spell any saying you would like
5. Glue Ribbon from top to bottom on back side of wreath
6. Glue wood sign to ribbon

Next year we plan to add on to this project and write on the pins what we are thankful for. Enjoy!

Calling All Lil' Pumpkins Halloween Party

As shared in a previous post, we hosted a Halloween Party for my daughter's daycare class. It turned out great and I wanted to share the details.

Menu:
Hot Dogs - For Adults
Mummy Dogs - For Kids
Chips
Popcorn
Popcorn Balls
Cupcakes
Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows
Halloween Chex Mix

Games:
1. Mummy Wrap - Each parent had to wrap their child with toilet paper to make them look like a mummy.
2. Witch Hat Ring Toss - We set up 3 witch hats and the kids had to use glow in the dark necklaces to toss at the hats like a ring toss.
3. Pumpkin decorating - I purchased foam pumpkin cut outs and several decorating items (googly eyes, markers, stickers, glitter, etc.). Each child used their creativity to decorate the pumpkin as they saw fit.
4. Halloween Matching Candy Hunt Game - Each child was provided a brown bag with a picture of a halloween item (witch, ghost, etc.). I coordinated three items (candy bar, fruit snack, and goldfish snack pack) with the same picture that was on the the bag. The children had to go in the yard and find their 3 items that matched the picture on their bag.

Halloween Topiary

For those who have been following, first of all THANK YOU!!! Second, you will notice the fabric scraps from my Halloween Wreath have made their way into this topiary as well. I had several scraps leftover from my wreath so I came up with this.



Supplies:
Terra Cotta Pot
Paint of your choice
Dowel Rod
Black Paint
Styrofoam Ball
Styrofoam block
Fabric Scraps
Screw Driver

Directions:
1) Paint your terra cotta pot in the color of your choice and let dry

2) Paint your dowel rod in black paint and let dry (I learned the hard way and did it after I had already added my fabric scraps)
3) Insert the dowel rod into the center of the styrofoam ball

4) Following the same instructions from the wreath take the screw driver and place it into the middle of the fabric scrap and push into the styrofoam
5) Continue step 4 mixing the fabric as you see fit
6) Put your styrofoam block into your terra cotta pot and insert the dowel rod
7) Fill your pot with decorations of your choosing

Spooktacular Party Invites

We have decided to have a Spooktacular Halloween Party for my daughter's daycare classmates. Invitations were distributed to the class this week. Check it out!
Witch Broom Craft

Supplies for Witch Broom:
Yarn – brown or yellow
Pipe Wire – 3 brown or black pieces for each broom
Scissors

1. Measure out 20-30 pieces of yarn, 7 inches in length. Feel free to change it up for how big and thick you want yours to be. Fold the yarn in half and loop a pipe wire around the center, and then twist it up together. Then split your yarn another way and loop another pipe wire through and twist it up together again.

2. About a 1/2 inch down from the top of the folded yarn, wrap and fold a 2-3 inch piece of pipe wire around, to make it look like a real straw broom. Now trim the yarn if you need to, to give it that straight edge look.

Turkey Meatballs - Yummy, yummy in my tummy!

I know I have been absent from the blogosphere for a while, I got CRAZY busy at work and was traveling a ton.  Then, I got sick...but now I am back! 

So each Fall in addition to allergies, I catch the cooking bug.  Because who wants to cook in San Antonio in the Summer? Not me. In between business trips I have been busy perfecting some of my favorite recipes and want to share them with you here.  I absolutely love meatballs, and for some reason they taste better to me with ground turkey as opposed to beef.  Here is how I do it:

1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 finely diced onion
1 cup mushrooms chopped fine
2 cloves garlic minced (or 2 teaspoons chopped garlic)
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 pieces bread (I use the heels of the loaf)

Place a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat, add a coating of cooking spray.  When the pan is hot, add garlic and cook until fragrant (usually just a few minutes).  Add the chopped mushrooms and onions to the pan and cook until onions are translucent and mushrrooms are nice and brown.  Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Next beat two eggs and milk together in a bowl, tear bread into small chunks and add to egg mixture.  Let soak a few minutes. 

In a large bowl, combine turkey, spices, cooked vegetables and bread chunks.  Mash the mixture up really well with your hands.  I have found the only way to make sure all of the ingredients are well incorporated is with my hands. Once you are satisfied that the meat is well mixed, roll up into balls.  I again use my hands and cook them on a flat top frying pan until brown on the outside and cooked through.  You could cook them in a frying pan in batches as well. This recipe makes a ton of balls, and I serve them two ways.  The first night is over whole wheat spaghetti with marinara and freshly grated parmesan. The next night I slice the balls and top a homemade pizza with them...two delicious nights of meatballs!!

Halloween Fabric Wreath

As promised here is another Halloween craft that I made with instructions on how to do it.

Materials needed:
1 straw wreath (12 inch wreath shown here)
1/2 yard of 4 different fabric patterns
Screw Driver

Step 1:
Cut the fabric with scissors into 1-2 inch x 3-4 inch strips. Place the strips into piles.

Step 2:
Punch the center of the strip into the straw wreath with the screw driver.

Step 3:
Repeat step 2, intermixing the fabric for a nice blend of colors and patterns.

October...One of our favorite months!!!

October is one of my favorite months. Last year at this same time, my husband and I found the house we wanted and eventually decided to build it. As we made it past Halloween last year we said we wanted to begin an annual Halloween party for our daughter and her daycare friends. So this month, my posts will be totally dedicated to Halloween crafts and the preparations for the party!

Last year two of my nephews celebrated their first Halloween. I made them both a pumpkin bag as shown in the picture below. Inside each bag was a bib that said "Too Cute To Spook" with a Ghost on it. Inside the Ghost was my nephew's name. I created the graphic in PowerPoint and then printed this on iron on transfer paper and ironed away. Each bag also had a foam picture frame to capture their little one's first Trick or Treat event. This was super easy and not costly at all!!! Enjoy!
Supplies:

• 1 brown paper lunch bag
• Acrylic paint: orange and leaf green
• Paintbrush
• ¼ sheet brown construction paper
• 6- 12” pieces of green raffia
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Paint the outside of the lunch bag with orange paint.
2. Paint the inside, top portion of the bag with leaf green paint.
3. Paint a second coat of orange paint on the bag, only this time, paint the top outside portion with the leaf green-colored paint.
4. When paint is completely dry, fringe the green section of the bag with your scissors, strips should be approximately ½” – 1” wide.
5. Fill bag with crumpled newspaper (if using as a decoration) or candy and treats.
6. Gather top of bag with your hand and tie a piece of raffia around it, just below the green section.
7. Continue tying pieces of green raffia around the neck of the bag until all of it has been used.
8. Cut a 1.5” wide strip of brown construction paper and roll up into a tube. Insert the tube of paper into the center of the green portion of the bag as the stem. If these bags are used as decoration, you can glue the stem in place.