Werewolf Meatloaf

I made Werewolf Meatloaf for my kids tonight so we could have something a little different. I didn't make the meat any differently than usual, just shaped it differently. My 5 year old son wouldn't even touch it. He thought it was really a werewolf paw. Ha ha! My older kids loved it, especially when they got to add the "blood" (ketchup).

Here's my meatloaf recipe:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. soy sauce
1/2 chopped white onion
1/4 - 1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg salt and pepper to taste
5 pecans or almonds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients together by hand until well mixed. Shape into a hand shape, placing a nut on the end of each "finger". Put onto a cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Top with ketchup.This is the cooked meatloaf. I couldn't even get it out of the pan and onto a serving plate before the kids were eating it. The onions stayed at the top which my youngest thought was fur.

Terra Cotta Mummies

I got the idea from Inspiring Creations. I tweaked it a bit because I liked the mummies being thicker in the middle.
Supplies 2 same size of terra cotta pots White Paint Googly eyes Strips of white material Hot glue/glue gun Black or dark brown ink pad Foam brush Directions 1. Glue together the lips of the pots and press together until dry. 2. Paint the pots white. Use a couple of coats, but they don't have to be completely perfect since you're covering them with the material.
3. Glue the eyes on the pots.4. Take a strip of the material and adhere it to the top of the pot and wrap it around, gluing every so often to keep it on. Make sure to avoid the eyes!5. When you're done with the material add some ink to it to make it look older. I used a black ink pad and a brown ink dauber to get the colors I wanted. (Here's one that I hadn't distressed next to the one that I had.)Display with your other favorite Halloween decor!

Halloween Wreath

I saw a picture of a cute wreath in a Woman's Day Magazine a while ago and decided that I had to make it. This project was actually pretty inexpensive. I already had the paint, foam sheet, glue and eyes. At the dollar store I found the wreath and the bag of balls. I got the bag of orange feathers from Hobby Lobby for less than $2, and the black pipe cleaners for less than $1 at WalMart. Here's my inspiration photo.

Supplies
12" grapevine wreath (you can do larger, just get more feathers)
1 bag orange feathers
1 bag of multi-sized Styrofoam balls
Black, orange and purple paint
Black foam sheet
Google eyes
Black pipe cleaners
Glue gun/glue
Craft tweezers

Directions
1. Paint the balls purple, orange and black. You may need to do 2 coats. Set aside to dry.
2. Put glue on the spine of the feather. Place it on the wreath, and press firmly to make sure it's on there tight. Continue until the entire front of the wreath is covered. (The directions in the magazine called for using an orange feather boa, but neither Hobby Lobby nor Joann had on in stock so I used the feathers. If you use the boa instead just do a small section at a time with the hot glue.)3. For the spiders- Cut out small sections of the pipe cleaner for legs. Press them into the balls and bend to look like legs.
4. For the bats- Cut out bat wings from the foam. Hot glue to the back and hold for a few seconds while the glue hardens.
5. For the pumpkins- Put a piece of green feather or foam onto the top of the orange balls to make pumpkins. 6. Using the craft tweezers pick up the eyes and put hot glue on the back. Place onto the balls.
7. Glue everything to the wreath and display.

Marshmallow Shooters Made from PVC Pipes

If you have a Cub Scout you have probably seen marshmallow shooters at some point.They also sell them at the stores, but they're so cheap and easy to make it's hard to justify the extra cost. These shooters are popular with kids of all ages. These are quick and easy to make, and I got supplies to make three of them for less than $7.

Supplies
1- 1/2" PVC pipe (They are 10' long so you'll have some extra pipe after cutting out the pieces you need.)
2- 1/2" PVC elbows
2- 1/2" PVC T's
2- 1/2" PVC caps
Hack saw or PVC pipe cutter
Optional- Spray paint or decorative duct tape

Directions
Cut four 4" pieces, two 6" pieces and one 8" piece. This is what it looks like when you've cut the one pipe and the fittings you'll need. Assemble according to picture below, making sure fittings are tight. This is how it looks when it's done. You can spray paint it or cover it with decorative duct tape to personalize them.

To shoot them place a marshmallow at the end of the barrel and blow forcefully in the top opening.

Fabric Headbands

Here is the first project that I mentioned earlier.
Supplies needed:
Scissors
3 coordinating fabrics. Choose one for the flower, one for the flower base, and one for the headband.
Find two cups (circle cookie cutters also work) of different sizes, one about 1/2" smaller than the other. They should be approximately 2"-3" in diameter. Paper- Trace the circles onto paper and cut out. Cut one of the larger circles from the fabric for the flower base. Then cut out 4 from the fabric for the flower. Cut the headband from the width of the fabric. I taper them on the ends. Button Needle and coordinating thread After cutting your fabric fold the smaller circles in half and then in half again. Place them in the center of the larger flower and stitch them on. I found that it was easier for me to stitch in a circular motion, close to the center. After you're done stitch your coordinating button in the center.Get your headband. You have a couple of options that I've used. The first one is to iron interfacing to the underside. The second is to layer it with a second piece of material with the wrong sides facing each other. That way when you tie your headband it has bright colors showing. It's just a matter of personal preference. The stitch around the headband, leaving about 1/4" raw seam on the entire thing. This prevents excessive fraying. (If you prefer a more tailored look you can sew under and then sew the pieces together.)After you've completed get your headband get the flower and stitch it on. I put it off-center. You're done and ready to wear it.I ran out of buttons for these last two, but it shows how I sewed the flowers on a bit better.

More Fabric Headbands

The brown headbands
The dark headbands
The pink headbands

The blue and purple headbands
The flowers before I sewed the buttons on and sewed to the headbands.

Burnt Satin Flowers

You need scissors, a hot glue gun, satin or satin-type material, a lit candle, hair clip and embellishments (like buttons or jewels).

Cut varying sizes of circles from your material. The great thing about this is that the petals don't have to be a perfect circle. They won't end up that way once you burn them so don't worry about it! Hold the edges in the flame until they start to melt. Don't hold it too long or it will catch fire! When you have the number of petals you want start gluing them together in the center. Add your embellishments to the center. Glue to the hair clip.

For variation use more than one color. You can also add tulle to the flower.

Decorating Flip Flops with Ribbon

Items you need:

2-3 different 1/4" - 5/8" coordinating ribbons or pieces of fabric

Flip flops

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Directions for tied ribbon flip flops:

Get your ribbon and flip flops. Decide which color you want to start with and tie it around the strap near the bottom. (I didn't pre-cut the ribbon.) I cut the ribbons at an angle to reduce the fraying. I only used 2 ribbons so I did every other one. Keep going until the straps are covered.

Covered straps: (Showing children's shoes. Adult flip flops coming soon.)

Choose your ribbon. If there's enough give, push down through the hole, fill it with hot glue and the end of the ribbon. If there's not enough give then just place a dot of glue at the very bottom of the strap, near where you foot goes. Start wrapping, and continue wrapping until the entire strap is wrapped on both sides. Place more hot glue at the end- the way you did when you started. Put a bow or flower in the middle where your toe goes.

Bejeweled flip flops:

Get ribbon with sequins or crystals and hot glue it on the straps. I added a satin flower with a jewel, but you can add whatever fits your style.

Homemade Pillowcases

A few years ago for Christmas my mother made all of the grand kids pillowcases. My youngest son loved his so much that he carried it around everywhere. I mended it several times, but it was literally falling apart because it was threadbare from overuse. I got 3 coordinating fabrics and got started. The finished size of a standard size pillowcase is 20" x 30". Cut the first material to 20.5" x 24.5". I cut the second material, which is the small strip in the middle, to 20.5" x 4". I cut the third material to 20.5" x 8.5". (This allows about 1/2" extra for the seams.)

Items needed:

1. 3 pieces of coordinating material: Piece A: 20.5" x 30.5", Piece B: 20.5" x 4", Piece C: 20.5" x 8.5"
2. Coordinating thread
3. Iron and ironing board
4. Scissors, cutting mat, ruler, rotating cutting blade

Directions:

1. Cut your material to size. Iron everything flat.
2. Fold Pieces 2 and 3 in half lengthwise and iron them flat. Iron a 1/4" seam on Piece A on the top piece.
3. Sew a seam along the ironed seam of Piece A.
4. Place Pieces 2 and 3 together and sew them together.
5. Sew that piece to the ironed seam on Piece A. Reinforce the corners with back stitching.
6. Iron everything flat then sew the pieces together.
7. Wash and dry and you're good to go!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am always looking for a good recipe, and since my kids always have friends over (most of whom are hungry boys) I need to have things that are quick, easy and inexpensive. And if it makes a lot it's even better! After a recent visit with my grandparents my kids wanted to have the same chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. The cookies were store bought so I had to go online to find a recipe that would work. After eliminating many recipes, this is the one I selected, and they are perfect! They are super-soft and so yummy. The recipe made a TON of cookies, and even though it's the middle of summer they are quickly disappearing.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe George Duran
Prep Time: 15 min
Inactive Prep Time: 2 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Serves: 60 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray.
Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

* I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, and my all-time favorite ingredient ,Mexican vanilla.

Decorating Papier Mache letters

Here's a quick and easy activity that makes for a quick decorating project or gift.
Supplies needed:
Papier mache or wooden letter
Acrylic paint
Decoupage medium (I use Mod Podge)
2 foam paint brushes
Various decorative paper

Directions:
1. Paint the sides of the letter with your paint. Let dry. Paint a second coat, and let it dry completely.

2. While the paint is drying cut or tear your paper. When the paint is dry lay it out on your letter to arrange it the way you want it.
3. When you have the paper arranged the way you like it use your second foam brush and dip it in the Mod Podge. Brush a medium coat large enough for your paper. It dries pretty quickly so don't try to do the whole thing at once! If your paper is large then apply the MP in small sections. Do this until you have all your paper on there. Let it dry completely.

4. When this is all done then brush MP over the entire thing, including where you painted, to seal it. Let it dry completely.

5. Add coordinating embellishments... ribbon, boas, stickers, etc. My daughter did this and she only wanted ribbon.

You can hang them up, have them sit on shelves or counter tops. Fun, quick, easy and cute!

Floral Hairbows with photos

I see these all over the place, and my daughter wanted me to make her one. I've seen them sold for up to $20. I can make several for that amount.

Supplies:

Hot Glue Gun (and glue)

Large daisies or your preferred flower (I buy a bunch from my local craft store when they're on sale.)

Coordinating ribbon

Metal hair clips or barrettes

Small wire cutter OR a pair of sharp scissors

Directions:

1. Cut a piece of ribbon long enough to cover the clip.

2. Use hot glue to attach to the clip. You need to do this in short sections. I started with gluing the ribbon underneath, secured that, then put more hot glue- to about the middle of the barrette, secured that, the other half, secured that, and then the under side and secured that. If the hot glue does harden up before you get the glue down just heat it up with your hair dryer and reattach. (HINT- This also works if the ribbon or flower gets detached.)

3. Separate the flower layers from each other. Use the wire cutters to cut the flower from the stem. When you pull the center of the flower out there will be a little green nub that everything went into. Cut this so it's even with the bottom. Set aside.

4. Glue the flower in layers, from the bottom up. Push down firmly between each layer to make sure that they are attached well. I glue clear across the barrette for the first layer, and then a dollop of glue in the center for the remaining layers.

This shows how it looks as you glue the layers together. It looks kind of funny until you get them all together.

This is how it will look when you end with the center of the flower.

They're really quite quick and simple to make. I made 21 flower barrettes for my daughter's luau party in under an hour.

If you want to embellish further you can add glitter, sequins, etc. Now I just need to make something so I can store without mushing them up!

Here is how it looks in our hair. You can make them big or small.