31 "Spook-tacular" Days

Thanks Sissy for giving me this idea for the month of October and even naming the segment for me -"spooktacular days" - love it!

Starting tomorrow October 1st,  I am going to post a different Halloween themed idea every day thru the 31st - hopefully I can come up with that many and that you are inspired to try some or all of them! Who knows, maybe this is the start of theme months :)

Personalized Glass Vase

Craft day with my niece - she wanted to make her mom a birthday present and decided on a glass vase that she could personalize.

First we found 2 clear vases (one slightly smaller than the other) and cut a piece of paper to fit around the smaller vase. We then printed a bunch of pictures of her (contact sheet sized), cut them apart, glued them onto the piece of paper and decorated over top of them with stickers (she is 12 so she spelled out "favorite", her sisters didn't find that funny haha!). She finished by wrapping the decorated paper around the smaller vase, held it in place with a small piece of tape, then  put the smaller vase inside the larger one to protect the pictures and keep them dry if the vase is filled with water. An easy, thoughtful, cute gift!

Rhubarb BBQ Sauce

Our friend Steve brought over a bunch of rhubarb this summer; I diced it and put 3 cup portions into sealed baggies (flatten the bags and squeeze out as much air as you can - or stick straw into the top and suck out air to make them even more air tight) and put them in the freezer. I have quite a few bags of rhubarb (yay!) and have been looking for recipes to try - usually I think of rhubarb in sweet dishes (my friend L. makes the best rhubarb pie, and I have a good recipe for rhubarb crisp), so when I saw this recipe for savory rhubarb bbq sauce in a magazine I was intrigued and decided to try it. Normally I would at least double a recipe like this, but I didn't want to waste the rhubarb if it ended up not being so good! I really wish I would have made more though, lots more - it's delish. 

Pumpkin Tower

Thought I'd make a tower of pumpkins to put outside our front door, usually I put a carved pumpkin in the birdbath but this year wanted to try something different. I bought three different sizes of carvable fake pumpkins (10", 12", 14") to stack up - once I did it though I decided three was too tall and it looked like the leaning tower of pumpkin...plus how to anchor so it wouldn't fall over in the wind?

I started by cutting a hole in the bottom of the smallest pumpkin, to fit over the second pumpkins stem - I had to carve off some of the top to make them lay flat against each other, then I hot glued them in place.




For the third/bottom pumpkin I cut off the stem and used 4 skewers to attach it to the middle
pumpkin. It worked fine but was too tall and tippy - so I removed the bottom one and like it much better that way. I'll find another thing to do with the white one...

 I finished by putting an inexpensive grapevine wreath on the birdbath,  stuck down the 2 pumpkins in the birdbath with some museum putty (earthquake proof sticky stuff that almost has the consistency of chewed gum), and filled around the pumpkins with natural excelsior moss.

The Hulk Sized Zucchini

next to a summer squash for size comparison,
and it isn't a little summer squash!

My friend brought this ginormous zucchini over wondering what to do with it - zucchini bread was the obvious thought but then realized it's waaaaaay bigger than just zucchini bread. It's so big we made a few things with it...

We cut it in half and made one huge zucchini boat (I rubbed olive oil, salt and pepper on the skin and placed it in a very large roasting pan; then made 2 boxes of cornbread stuffing to fill the boat; baked at 375' for an hour - big enough to serve 4 people!)

lemon zest and juice in the batter,
then spooned lemon glaze onto
warm loaves. Smells SO good!

Using the shredding disc on my food processor (had to get the manual out to figure out how to use the disc!) I shredded the other half - it made 9 cups!  Ended up making 2 loaves of glazed lemon zucchini bread, chunky garden vegetable sauce, and put 3 bags (2 cups each) in the freezer. That's a lot of zucchini!

I freeze a lot of things this way - portion out and fill
 bags, flatten, then stick a straw in the top and suck out
as much air as possible to make it air tight. 

Soccer Keychains

I was asked to fill in running my 12 year old niece's soccer practice last night - I told the coach (my sister) "sure, if we can also do a craft", she just sighed...I took it as a sign that she thought it was a great idea and why hadn't she thought of it before? Hahaha. I thought making keychains for their soccer bags would be cute and easy...ended up that while they are cute, they were not easy.


To save time I cut the correct lengths of cord before practice, sorted and packaged the beads, and drew out instructions for how to make square knots in between the beads.

After we practiced all the soccer stuff we were supposed to, we all sat in a circle to make the keychains - that's when the problems started. 12 year olds don't seem to have a very long attention span and while I was explaining they were talking, then they wanted to know how they were supposed to start....arrrrghhhhh! So I'd explain again and they'd ask again...then the beads were lost in the grass...hahaha, our 1/2 hour window was up before they had any beads on. This is not the first time I've held craft day for kids though so I did what my husband calls "punting" and told them to gather up their beads and supplies and take them home, maybe their parents can help - sorry to my soccer team parents ;). Yep, it's the last time I will attempt a craft during soccer practice, lesson learned.

Crocheted Bracelets

These bracelets are pretty simple to make, I don't have the pattern to share but if you can do a single crochet you can make them no problem! 

String some beads (approx 50) onto thin cotton yarn (make sure the holes in your beads are big enough to thread onto your yarn. I tried using embroidery floss but there isn't enough in a skein to complete the bracelet and with the beads strung on before you start it would be hard to add on). Chain 7 with a very small hook; turn, skip first chain, sc in remaining 6 chains, chain 1, turn. SC across 6 chains, chain 1, turn, repeat until you have an area big enough for your button closure. Then pull up a bead to your hook and crochet it into your sc's, I alternate 2 and 3 beads per bead row so they look a little more random. After you do one row with beads and turn, just do sc's across the next row (the "back side"), turn and do another bead row. Repeat alternating a bead row with 6 sc no bead row until it's as long as you want (mine are approx 7"). Last row I chained 5 (or as many as it takes to fit the button for a closure, slip stitch into last stitch and finish off. Sew button on the area with . Weave ends in. Done. Doesn't take long at all and I think they are a nice easy project - I'd wear them alone or pile 'em on my wrist. Note: you could make this as narrow or wide as you want, just add more or less chain/sc's and beads.

I wouldn't wear these 3 together normally, just showing you how they all look on!

Candy Coated Marshmallows

I saw this in a craft store ad and thought it'd be fun to try (and eat)...it was actually a little harder, messier, and not as pretty as the ad though - that drives me crazy!

The good: a bag of candy melts goes a long way - I made 32 using 4 colors of candy melts (caramel apple, light cocoa, candy corn, orange) and easily have half of each bag leftover, it was a fairly quick project, there are lots of different colored melts to customize to your party or theme colors, and they should taste good (fluffy sugar with sugar coating and sugar sprinkles - what's not to taste good?).

first layer

The bad: it was messy, and hard to get the second layer of candy to look good - even sprinkles didn't help much. I tried applying the second layer by dipping them in the melted candy (which is what they said to do),  using an offset spatula, and finally with a decorating bag and #104 tip...nothing worked to make them look like the picture.

adding second layer and sprinkles

The ugly: I am taking these to my niece and her soccer team tonight at practice - I hope that even though they don't look as nice as I would have liked they still taste good and the girls like them!

Decorated Switch/Outlet Covers

Here's a little crafty idea that is quick and easy - I just put these up in my laundry room and I think it makes the room cuter and more interesting. Some people (ahem, my sister) might wonder why I think this is cute (and also might suggest that I have too much time on my hands)... but I think - why not? We'll leave it at that...

Take the switch plate or outlet cover off of the wall. Cut a piece of paper (scrapbooking, wrapping - whatever you want) about an inch bigger than the cover, I made mine 4 1/2" x 6". Lay the cover on the wrong side of the paper and mark where the switch or outlets are, then cut a slit in the paper for the openings - leaving an edge all around to fold back so you don't see a raw paper edge when finished. See the outlet cover picture for an example of what I mean, I only folded one to show you.  Lay the cover on the paper lining up the openings, fold all 4 sides in around the cover (I turn in the corners to make the edges a little neater), then use double stick tape to stick the paper to the cover - it's helpful to stick down the little edges that go around the openings so when you put it back on the wall they stay flat.

You can easily remove the paper and tape if you want to change to a different paper, or (gasp!) return them to their natural state of plain old beige.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

I have 2 BFF's that are September babies and both happen to love german chocolate cake  - L. always manages to visit me around her birthday so I make it for her, but M. hasn't figured out that I can't ship this cake very easily and if she wants it she will need to come see me haha!! I'm not even going to question if L. only visits for her cake fix...and M. this is a bribe for you to come see me, there will be cake!

I usually make this as a multi-layer cake with layers of filling but this time I decided to experiment and put the filling inside of cupcakes instead - judging by L. eating these for breakfast this morning I'm thinking it was a success!

I doctor a german chocolate cake mix with sour cream, an extra egg, less water, and mini chocolate chips in the batter; the filling is coconut-pecan (see below for recipe); the topping is basic chocolate ganache. I make the filling pretty thick so it's easier to spread and stays between the cake layers instead of squishing out.  For the cupcakes I put 2 T. of cake batter in each cup, topped it with 1 T. of filling, then added another 1 T. of batter on top - this picture is what they looked like with filling on batter and then batter on top. Bake for approx 18 minutes, cool, then drizzle ganache over top. Delish!

COCONUT-PECAN FILLING

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 package (7 oz) sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Place the evaporated milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thickened and golden brown in color, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the coconut and pecans. Cool the filling to room temperature before spreading, 20 minutes.

*I've used this recipe for years, I think it came from the Cake Mix Doctor. I don't use all of the cooked milk mixture so the final product is a little thicker - it's easier to spread and fill. I usually use a 2 cup bag of larger pecan pieces (chop up 1 1/2 cups of the bag for the filling, use the other 1/2 cup pecans to decorate the top of the cake), for the cupcakes I used pecan chips instead.

Dog Crate Cover

I was inspired to make a crate cover after seeing a few pre-made expensive versions and deciding this falls into the category of "I can make that"- mine is a very simple basic version but I like how it looks and the dog seems to like how it functions so everyone's happy. Before this I just a had light blanket over his crate which did the job but wasn't very cute -  if you'd like yours to be a little more "decorated" and done then give this a try... I like to think of it as decorating Sarge's bedroom :) 

The store-bought ones are much fancier and detailed of course (there has to be a reason they can charge so much for them!) with zippers, velcro, and ties but Sarge doesn't need to be sealed up, I just wanted a cozier darker space that hopefully helps him sleep in a little longer in the morning! I also thought he could use more ventilation by leaving it open between the long and short sides - he is one hot dog. 

I bought 2 yards of lightweight brushed cotton material to cover his 21" wide x 19" tall x 30" deep crate (note the door is on the short side, if you have the kind where the door is on the long side you'll have to change the pattern to open that way). Wash the material before sewing it in case there is any shrinkage. I cut one piece of fabric 63" x 32" (this piece will cover the long sides and top in one piece) and 2 pieces that are 22 " x 20" (front and back flaps) and hemmed all four sides about 1/2" seam allowance. I attached the flaps 2 different ways and they both look fine - one way is to lay the hemmed flap right side up over the large piece right side up in the middle where the door will be and sew it on; the other is to put the right sides together of the large piece and the flap (again place the flap in the middle of the large piece where the front or back flap will be) and sew together. Finished product should be approx. 61"x30"x21". I might be making this sound harder than it is, it's just sewing 3 rectangles together! Measure your crate, add an inch or two for seam allowance, hem all pieces, and then sew the 2 flaps on in the correct spot. You could finish it a little more by adding ties or velcro between the flaps and the sides if your dog needs to be enclosed more - Sarge does just fine with the small openings between the flaps and sides. In the morning I just fold the front flap up and open his door. 

Laundry Room

 If I had my druthers (I'm not sure what "druthers" are but it feels right in this sentence...), laundry would magically do itself and I wouldn't have to go in this room. But since I'm not Cinderella and there are no little forest animals doing it for me I at least try to make it as painless as possible.


Here's one example - in the past when I needed to hang something up to dry or to be ironed - don't get me started on how much I dread ironing -  I would put the hanger on the door frame or hinge and hope it would stay up there. Then I had my friend Mark make me this folding arm that he put on the back of the laundry room door. Now I have an easy way to hang things when I need to, and it folds away when not in use. 

Craft Room Organizing

Spent a little time cleaning up and organizing my craft room, thought I'd share some pictures - did you believe me when I said I have tried every craft out there haha?  We made this room using dead space above our garage - it was a mostly unfinished attic space and we put up some drywall, stuck down some linoleum tiles, put in 2 closets, hung up some pegboard. Voilà, my own craft space!

The beauty is that I can just shut the door when I'm done for the day and no one has to look at my mess. Downside is that it doesn't have much insulation since I'm basically directly under the roof, so we installed a small a/c for when it's tooooo hot up there (when it's too cold I just put on more clothes and some fingerless gloves!).

Not shown is another table we have in this space that my niece uses when she comes to craft with me (and she does often, yay!) - she has it organized how she wants which I think is so cute.  It's helpful for me to have a couple different tables I can work on since I usually have more than one project going at a time, and I like things organized in a way that if I can't put it in a box and label it then at least I can see everything - out of sight is definitely out of mind in my craft room, I have too much stuff to remember what I have.

Sprinkles!

Saturday was the 6th anniversary for my husbands ukulele group - yep, I said ukulele group - he asked me to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (the sprinkles were my idea, he's a man and doesn't care if they look pretty!). I didn't want to tell him that I feel like chocolate cupcakes tend to be dry and just made sure to watch them closely so they wouldn't overbake at all. I made the cake using a boxed mix (triple chocolate fudge - why not use a shortcut when they taste just as good as homemade!), it said to bake for at least 34 minutes and I took them out at 30, they turned out perfect. I also measured exactly 3 tablespoons into 24 muffin cups and ended up with uniform cupcakes for once (I usually just eyeball it and get some that are shorter than others!). 

Topped with homemade chocolate buttercream (click for the recipe, it's delish and that totally makes up for using a cake mix in my book. I have an aversion to store bought canned frosting - there really is a huge difference - but I don't know why that wouldn't work the same as homemade in regards to piping in on your cupcakes...but really, homemade is pretty simple and tastes SO much better - just sayin') that I piped onto the cakes using a 1M tip and a #16 decorating bag - I put the tip at an angle at the top of each cake and squeezed the bag while making a spiral pattern. 

Then came the pretty sprinkles - I have found that if I add them after frosting each cake, they tend to stick better than if you wait and do them after you have frosted them all. He didn't bring any home after the party and I'll take that as a sign they were a hit!