Even though, Halloween is not widely celebrated in Switzerland, I have decided to have a festive Halloween Party complete with decorations!! Because the availability of Halloween trimmings is very limited here, it has been necessary for me to come up with a few of my own decorations. Here is what I created to adorn my front door as an ominous indicator of what may be lurking inside!
The Halloween Tentacles are very simple to make!
What do you need? Air Drying Clay – Rayher & Crayola make clay that is perfect. It is nice and light and it comes in many colors! Large Paper Clips Wire – I used 22 gauge. Floral wire will work perfectly! Wire Cutter Paint or Tape – If you wish to embellish your terrifying tentacles! I find electrical tape is wonderful to use here because it can be stretched a bit to fit tightly around the tentacle!
Recently on Pinterest, I found a picture of some adorable Halloween candle sculptures! The sculptures were fabulous, but I was disappointed by the fact that they could not be used as candles! For Halloween there is nothing better than the ominous glow of candle light! Lots of candle light!!
The wonderful thing about Pinterest is the inspiration it provides and that’s exactly what happened! Seeing the adorable Halloween candle sculptures on Pinterest inspired me to create my own Halloween candles!
This post is about molding candles into eerie faces, with eyes that ooze out of their sockets as the candles melt!
Now that’s a Halloween candle!
Spooky Halloween Candle
First things first – What kind of candles?
After much trial and error, I discovered that the candles with a rough texture on the surface work the best. Why? The wax is consistent throughout the entire candle.
In the picture below, you can see the two rough candles to the right and the smooth candle on the left. Do not use the candles with the smooth outer layer. The wax beneath this smooth layer is different and crumbles as you sculpt.
Also, as much as I hate to say it, beeswax candles are very difficult to use for this project. The wax is just too hard. Save those candles for all the other holidays!
Spooky Halloween Candle
On to the eyeballs! I used FIMO clay. I formed different sized and shaped eyeballs, baked them for the appropriate length of time and viola – eyeballs!
Clay for Halloween Candle Eyes
Some of the eyes I painted ahead of time and others I painted later, after inserting them into the candle! It’s totally up to you!
Halloween Candle Eyes
Softening the candle!
I found the best way to do this was to put the candle in the sun and create a greenhouse effect by covering the candle with glass. The candle will become warm and soft enough to be molded into a face.
When working with wax you must always be careful because it is flammable and can be dangerous! I found the candles, when heated this way, became quite warm and did begin to melt so you must watch them because you do not want a puddle!
Bottom line – always be careful with wax!
Spooky Halloween Candle
Now on to the molding of the face!
Once the candle is soft, push in a couple of eyeballs and start molding. I have wooden carving tools shown below that I use, but it’s not necessary. Kitchen utensils will work too!
Spooky Halloween Candle
Using your hands and tools, mold a face onto the candle. Along with eyebrows, nose and mouth, I like to add lots of wrinkles!
Here is a short video showing the molding and painting process!
One more thing, while the candle is still soft, press the bottom flat against your working surface to be sure the candle stands straight. We don’t want any tippy candles!
Spooky Halloween Candle
On to the painting!
As you can see in the above picture, it is difficult to see all the features of the candles face. By adding color in the right places on the wrinkles, nose, eyes… all those features will pop!
Below you can see that I covered the candle with paint to fill in all the wrinkles and features I added in the molding process. Once I have all the crevices filled, I removed most of the paint with paper towels. That way all that is left are the accents in all the right places!
Spooky Halloween Candle
To lengthen the drying time of your paint, which will make it easier to remove the excess paint from your candle, I mixed in an acrylic medium. You will find it right along side the acrylic paint and it is translucent white. This is useful stuff to always have on hand!
A few finishing touches around the eyes and the candle is ready for Halloween!
Spooky Halloween Candle
What a fun way to create the ominous glow of candle light for Halloween this year!
I am so glad to be back working on my blog! Life has been crazy with this and that, but now I am back!
As I am currently living in Switzerland, it is difficult to find affordable home products so my go-to retailer is IKEA. One of the really great things about IKEA is not just their fun and inexpensive products, but what you can create with them. There is even a website called IKEA Hackers which contains a vast collection of IKEA products that have been transformed into something else! The IKEA “hack” I am showing here, doesn’t really change its original use, but it vastly improves it!
IKEA Clock Hack
The IKEA Rusch Wall Clock seen below can be purchased for less than $2! I know – even Switzerland’s price is 1.99 franc! Crazy! The problem with this clock is number 1 – the color is boring and number 2 – it is incredibly loud! I’ve read posts from people asking how to quiet it and I have a solution!
IKEA Wall Clock Hack
First how to quiet the Rusch IKEA Clock – Remove the cover using a flat head screw driver.
If you look carefully, you can see where the cover fits into the clock base. A little pressure in the right places and it will pop off easily.
Now – simply remove the second hand.
That’s it!
The second hand is creating most of the noise and the clock will work perfectly without it!
How easy was that?
IKEA Wall Clock Hack
Now – on to that boring color!
It’s so simple! Paint the back side of the clock and because the plastic is translucent, the color will show through and look flawless!
For my clock, I used an inexpensive acrylic paint. I brushed on two coats to the back side of the clock, letting the paint dry between applications. When the second coat was finished, my paint job did not look great. The problem was that light was shining through the clock showing all the imperfections. Once I hung the clock against the wall, where there was no light behind it, it looked perfect!
IKEA Clock Hack
Because my family is spread across the world, I need multiple clocks for all the different time zones!
How to paint and quiet a Rusch IKEA Wall Clock!
I hung my IKEA clock with two different clocks, but it would be really cute and inexpensive to do a wall of Rusch IKEA Wall Clocks in many different colors.
Hot Flash Cupcakes prove that menopause doesn’t have to be all bad! Rich dark chocolate cupcakes combined with spicy buttercream frosting makes for a cupcake anyone would love! Add some fire and you have the perfect gift for your hot flashing friends!
To prepare these fabulous Hot Flash Cupcakes, you need a dark chocolate cupcake recipe and luckily for you, I have one! This recipe makes one dozen rich wonderful cupcakes that stand up well to the spicy buttercream that tops this fun and flashy dessert!
As always, a printable recipe can be found at the bottom of the page!
Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
1 Stick of Butter at Room Temperature
3/4 Cup of Sugar
1 Large Egg at Room Temperature
1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Buttermilk at Room Temperature
1/2 Cup Hot Water
Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Gather all the ingredients!
Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl. Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat well, add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and beat until just combined, Add ½ of the buttermilk, beat until just combined. Repeat with 1/3 of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Finish with the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. At a slow speed, beat ½ cup hot water into the batter until just combined.
Prepare the cupcake tin with 12 paper cups and distribute the batter evenly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
Wonderful Dark Chocolate Cupcakes!
Don’t they look incredible – they taste yummy too!
Now for the frosting!
Spicy Buttercream Frosting Recipe!
2 Sticks of Butter at Room Temperature
3 Cups of Powdered Sugar
2 Teaspoons of Cream
1 Teaspoons of Vanilla
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Chipotle Chili Powder
1/4 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Combine all spices into a small bowl.
For those of you who like it extra hot, you can up the cayenne pepper to 1/2 teaspoon!
In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. At low speed, add the powdered sugar and cream, varying the amounts until the desired consistency is achieved.
Spicy Buttercream Frosting
Sift the spices into the frosting, add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
Spicy Buttercream Frosting
Time to turn that spicy frosting into Fire!
We all know that the hottest part of the flame is yellow, therefore you need to try to make your frosting yellow as it will be the center or hottest part of the flame! The added spice mixture makes this challenging because it lends a brownish hue to the frosting. Just go ahead and throw in some yellow food coloring and mix well. No need for perfection. You will be adding orange and red to the tips of the flames and it will all turn out fabulously. Now it’s time to frost! Fill your pastry bag and frost using whatever tip you want. Try to form peaks like flames of a fire!
Spicy Buttercream Frosting
To finish your flames, add red and orange food coloring to a small amount of frosting. Gently mix the color in the frosting while trying to keep the colors mostly separate!
Hot Flash Cupcakes!
Using a fork, pick up a small amount of the colored frosting and streak it through the piped frosting of each cupcake. Try to make it look like fire by lifting and separating the buttercream into flames!
Hot Flash Cupcakes!
Hot Flash Cupcakes will bring a smile to all your Hot Flashing friends!
For all you Hunger Games fans, these would work well at your next Hunger Games party!
My daughter received one of these as a gift when she graduated from high school and she used it in her dorm and every apartment since for displaying photos.
The great thing about this photo gallery, besides being adorable, is that it is wonderful for anyone with limited space for framed photos! College students, apartment dwellers, and our dearest teenagers will love this clothesline gallery for hanging their favorite photos of their friends, pets and family, especially those special photos of mom!
Make your own Photo Clothesline!
In this post, I demonstrate two ways to make the photo clothesline gallery. One uses mini-clothespins and the other uses decorative brads and magnets!
What do you need?
Picture Wire
D-ring Frame Hangers
Glow Stick Connectors
Mini-Clothespins
or
Decorative Brads and Mini-magnets
Clothesline Photo Gallery
First things first – you need a good quality picture wire. This is a 30 pound coated wire. No – you will not have 30 pounds of pictures, but the wire is a nice thickness for hanging pictures on and it is very easy to bend and twist. We consulted with a professional picture framer on this one and she was right, it works perfectly!
The wire came in a 9 foot length, which was longer than we wanted so we used half of it!
Wire for the Clothesline Photo Gallery
Creating the hooks at the ends for hanging the clothesline, was very simple.
To one end of the wire, slide on a glow-stick connector. It’s the small plastic tube you see in the picture that would normally be used to connect two glow-sticks together. The connectors work perfectly for covering the twisted wire and finishing off the looped ends.
Bend the wire 1.5″ from it’s end and slide the hole of a D-ring frame hanger into the bend in the wire. Wrap the short end of the wire around to keep the D-ring in place. Slide the glow-stick connector over the twisted wire and that’s it! Do the same thing to the other side so you can hang the wire like a clothesline!
Attach D-ring Frame Hangers
When gifting a Clothesline Photo Gallery, I always include a package of command hooks so the gift can be hung immediately!
Command Hooks for the Clothesline Photo Gallery
If you choose to hang your photos with clothespins, it is easy to find them. At Michael’s we found them in all colors and designs. We selected the small white clothespins in order to personalize them!
White Clothespins for Photo Gallery
Here are the clothespins my son decorated for a friend of his! The Sharpie worked fabulously for this project. It is easy to use and permanent!
Photo Gallery Clothespins
If you decide you want your photo clothesline to have magnetic clasps to hang the pictures, find decorative brads. Again at Michael’s or any craft store you will find tons of brads to choose from. I selected my favorite from the larger brads since the brad needs to be substantial enough for a magnet to stick to and to hold a picture!
Attaching the Brads to the Photo Clothesline
Open up the prongs of the brad and with a needle nose pliers, twist the ends around the wire. The prongs are easy to bend and the pliers allows you to pull the prongs tightly around the wire so the brad will stay in place.
Attaching Brads to the Photo Clothesline!
Attach as many brads as you like. Not all of them need to have magnets attached to them. Attaching additional brads allows a few more options for hanging pictures!
After you have finished attaching the brads, you will need to make your magnetic clasp.
I purchased Neodymium Magnets at Michael’s again! The magnets are very strong and 0.25″ in diameter! They were perfect for this project!
Attaching Magnets to Decorative Brads
Open up the prongs on the back of a brad, align the magnet in the center back and wrap the prongs around the magnet!
The magnetic clasp created is strong enough to hold photos between it’s self and the brads you have attached to your wire!
Magnet Clasp for Clothesline Photo Gallery
You are now ready to hang your photos!
Clothesline Photo Gallery
This is a great gift to make for high school graduates heading off to college this fall!
Magnetic Photo GalleryI linked up to iheartnaptime!
Before my son’s graduation party, my daughter and I were sitting in our kitchen brainstorming ideas for displaying photos for his celebration. Since most parties tend to have the same types of displays, we wanted to do something unique! This is what we came up with!
The chalkboard photo frames were made using black paper. The paper was a heavy weight, duo-finish, 4 feet by 200 feet roll from Pacon Corporation in Appleton, Wisconsin. Using the rough side of the paper, I was able to easily write with a piece of chalk and erase using a microfiber towel. For the times that I really screwed up, I was able to lightly wet the towel to help remove all the chalk! Once the paper dried, I was ready to try again!
Chalkboard Photo Frame
After measuring the pantry cupboards, my daughter cut strips of black paper to fit in the inner door panel. For the rest of the photos, we cut out various “frames”! The frames were very simple to make. We simply laid the picture on the paper, outlined the photo in chalk and with the help of a ruler and some creativity, we made some frames!
Chalkboard Photo FrameChalkboard Photo Frames
As you can see in the pictures, the chalk smudges exactly like it would on a real chalkboard!
I like that realistic look!
Chalkboard Photo Frame
Using full sheets of paper, I made a sheet of “Family” photos and another one of “Good Friends”. I thinks it’s fun for your guests to see pictures of themselves with the graduate so I provided them with lots of pictures!
These full sheets of photos were also great for covering the junky side of the garage!!
Paper Chalkboards Make Great Party Signs!
I found the easiest way to attach the photos was to use painter’s tape. The tape will not harm your cabinets and is easily removed from your photos!
This is a fun and easy way to display photos for any get-together!
Show your graduate’s school colors with two-tone frosting!
This delightful multi-colored frosting would be wonderful for any occasion: weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays…
What do you need?
One 16″ Decorating Bag
Two 12″ Decorating Bags
Coupler and Tips for the 16″ Bag
Frosting and Gel Food Colors
Supplies for Multicolor Cupcakes!
Stir up a bowl of frosting. Here I have made cream cheese frosting, but any kind will work! Divide the frosting into two bowls and color them using the gel food colors. If you want, you could divide the frosting three times – wouldn’t that be cool!
Two-Tone Frosting for Cupcakes!
Color your frosting, cut the tip off the end of your 12″ bags and fill them with frosting!
Multicolor Frosting for Cupcakes!
After placing the coupler base into the 16″ decorating bag, tuck the two 12″ filled decorating bags into the 16″ decorating bag. Make sure both bag tips are positioned into the very bottom of the bag. Place a decorating tip on the coupler and secure with the coupler ring.
Two-Tone Frosting for Cupcakes!
Time to start frosting!
Two-Tone Frosting for Cupcakes!
Pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes. Here I have used the 2D decorating tip!
Two-Tone Frosting for Cupcakes!
These are so fun and delicious! Perfect for any occasion!
It is the time for parties – Graduations, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Weddings… If you need an inexpensive and simple decoration for your tables, I have you covered!
Now go get your decorative paper because I have not one, not two, but three ideas for you!
Paper Stars
Wrapping Paper Table Runner
Extra-large Confetti
First up – Paper Stars
The sky is the limit with this one!
Just toss the stars in the center of your table for a festive center piece or run them all along the table for a table runner. So easy and so fun!
Paper Stars
What do you need?
Craft Paper & Scissors
The stars shown here were crafted from card stock because I wanted a star that was a little heftier and hopefully wouldn’t blow away. Card stock is more difficult to fold than paper, but it suited my needs perfectly!
For a tutorial on how to cut a star using a single cut, refer to this youtube video: Simple 3D Paper Stars
As you will see in the video, cutting stars is very easy to do. I did have to watch the video a couple of times, but after that – I had it!
To create the look I wanted, I used various colors and sizes.
This would be a great decoration for Memorial Day or the 4th of July with stars made from red, white & blue paper!
Paper Stars
Next up –Extra-large Confetti
This is one of my favorite table decorations! Last year, I suggested using this for a cross-country banquet with great success. I gathered a group of volunteers at my home, served them wine and snacks and we punched and punched and punched….
All that punching resulted in easily decorated tables that looked adorable and lots of fun for me chatting, punching and drinking wine with the ladies!
What do you need?
Cardstock
Circle punches
(I used 1″, 2″ & 3″ punches!)
Extra-large Confetti
After gathering your confetti, arrange them on your table.
You can choose to separate the circles like below.
Extra-large Confetti
Or toss the confetti on the tables and let them fall where they may!
Either way creates an adorable table decoration!
Extra Large Confetti
Last paper table decoration for today!
Paper Table Runners!
Wrapping Paper Table Runner
To make these fabulous table runners, I used wrapping paper!
Traditionally, table runners are 12-16 inches in width and most wrapping paper comes in widths of 24″- 30″. If you want a wide table runner, go ahead and use it as is. If not, be sure to buy the paper with a grid pattern on the back so you can easily and neatly cut it the correct width.
Wrapping Paper
Another option that makes life easy is to purchase short rolls of wrapping paper. Michael’s sells 7 yds of 17″ wide wrapping paper for $1.50. The selection of the wrapping paper is limited, but give it a try. For very little money you can create great looking tables!
Wrapping Paper Table Runner
Another product at Michael’s that I am really excited about is their line of craft paper. It comes in rolls of 20′ that are 14″ wide – Perfect!
The paper is a wonderful weight and comes in so many fabulous colors!
Here are just a few!
Wrapping Paper at Michaels!
Now there is no reason why you shouldn’t have beautifully decorated tables for your next celebration. Whether it is for a graduation, birthday, anniversary or just a simple family gathering, every party will be festive and fun with a simple paper table decoration!
Wrapping paper table runnerI linked up to iheartnaptime!
Here is a delicious, elegant and beautiful breakfast to prepare for company or for those you love the most – your family! If you can make scrambled eggs you can prepare these wonderful soufflés!
What do you need?
1/2 small onion – diced
1 small green pepper – diced
1 jalapeno – diced (optional)
9 eggs
4 sliced cooked bacon – crumbled
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 sheet of puffed pastry
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray.
Puff Pastry for the Egg Soufflé Crust
On a floured surface, roll out the puffed pastry sheet until it is a 12″ X 16″ rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pastry into 12 – 4″ squares.
Puff Pastry for the Egg Soufflé Crust
Line each of the holes of your muffin tin with one of the pastry squares
Dice onions and peppers for the Egg Soufflé Recipe
Sauté the onion, green pepper and optional jalapeno in a small frying pan coated in oil until the onions become translucent. (Coconut oil is my favorite!)
Egg Soufflé
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs and add the sautéd peppers and onions. Season with salt and pepper.
Egg Soufflé Recipe
Using a large spoon, distribute the egg mixture evenly to the pastry lined muffin tin.
Top each of the soufflés with the shredded cheese and bacon.
Egg Soufflé Recipe
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the soufflés have puffed and the pastry is golden brown.
I love popcorn, but popcorn drenched in a peanut butter glaze and drizzled with chocolate creates such a decadent, crunchy snack that you should be prepared to make a second batch! The peanut butter glaze is very simple to prepare and uses just two ingredients. For those who want a healthier option, I have included that as well. Both recipes are delicious!
Because we have a peanut butter allergy in our household, I have used almond butter instead of peanut butter. Luckily, this recipe will work with any kind of nut butter!
What do you need?
12 cups of Popcorn
1/4 cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
1/4 cup White Chocolate
4 oz Chocolate ( milk or dark) for drizzling
The makings of a peanut butter glaze!
Into a small microwavable bowl, mix the peanut butter and white chocolate. Microwave 30-60 seconds or until the peanut butter is warm. Remove from the microwave and stir until the white chocolate has melted and the two ingredients are combined.
After spreading out your popcorn in a shallow pan, drizzle with the peanut butter glaze!
You can toss the popcorn gently with a spoon to help distribute the glaze!
Peanut Butter Popcorn!
Melt 4 oz of the chocolate of your choice and drizzle it over the peanut butter glazed popcorn.
Allow the glaze and chocolate to cool and enjoy!
Peanut Butter Popcorn!
Now for the Healthier Peanut Butter Popcorn Recipe!
This healthier recipe is just as tasty as the first, but it does not set up as well. If you are hoping to keep your peanut butter popcorn around for a day or two, I would suggest using the first option. If you are like me and the popcorn disappears in less than 30 minutes, then this is a great option for you!
Place 1/4 cup of peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a small microwaveable bowl. Heat for 30-60 seconds. Remove from the microwave and mix together until the coconut oil has melted and the two are combined. If you would like to sweeten the glaze, add up to 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Drizzle your peanut butter glaze over the popcorn and finish it off with a chocolate drizzle. Allow your popcorn to cool and enjoy!
