Fall Follow Up

October went out with a bang!  I enjoyed the fall weather, cheered for my new city, and celebrated Halloween.  Here are a few of the updates:

 Fall foliage finally peaked in Boston...

 Beacon Hill did it up for Halloween.  And I won $200 in the Minted contest for my fall inspiration board posted right here on this blog.

 And oh yea, the Red Sox won the World Series!  People celebrated with cupcakes and statue sized costumes. 

Pumpkin Carving for Beginners

And by beginners I mean this 26 year-old with a fear of knives. 

First, I learned from a seasoned vet that you're supposed to cut the top off by inserting the knife an an angle, not straight down into the pumpkin.  This will prevent the top from falling down into the pumpkin when you're done. 

Second, scoop out the seeds and pulp, also known as "pumpkin guts."  This part is easy, if messy.  No knives required. 



Third, come up with a design.  You can trace it onto the pumpkin with a washable marker if that helps.  Avoid lots of curved lines.  I quickly adapted my design from "moon and stars" to "just stars."  Stars are a super easy shape to do and give you an unconventional, but elegant design.



Fourth, add your candle (or flickering battery powered candle substitute) and display!

Last Minute DIY Halloween Costumes

So it's Saturday and you have a Halloween party to go to tonight.  Or maybe you still have five days until you have to don a costume for actual Halloween.  What can you pull together in that amount of time and limited craft skills?  Plenty!

I'll leave out witch and pirate and other things that you can get ready made pieces for at a Halloween store.  A hat can be a whole costume if you're in a pinch, but let's assume you want to get at least a little bit more creative with it.  Oh and before you laugh too hard at my suggestions, I've been many of these things before. 

Autumn Tree
 
 
You can find leaf garlands at pretty much any craft store.  Wear a brown dress and tights or some brown pants and a brown or green shirt, wrap some of these around your torso, tuck a few extra leaves into your hair and you're golden!

Companion costume idea: flannel + beanie hat = lumberjack

Poison Ivy
 
And where there are fake leaves, you can usually find fake ivy too.  Pretty much the same deal as above, with bonus points for green eye shadow or makeup. 

Companion costume idea: bowler hat + paper question marks taped to a jacket = Riddler

Greek Goddess

 
The early appearance of Christmas decorations is your friend here.  Find a gold garland and turn it into a crown. Pin some bunches of fake grapes to a drapey dress and you'll be worship ready. 

Companion costume idea: sheet + same gold garland = Greek God

Princess Lolly


This one is probably the most involved.  The crown is made of lollipops hot glued to a plastic tiara.  The lollipop itself is a dowel stuck into an circular foam piece that is then wrapped in colorful cellophane.

Companion costume idea: Red plastic table cloth + Twizzlers = Lord Licorice (pictured center)

Floral and Leaves for All Hallow's Eve

Halloween is right around the corner! It doesn't have to all be dark and creepy - there's a beauty to crunchy leaves under your feet, pumpkins on front porches, or a bowl of apples on your kitchen table. Just remember, soon it will be winter and we'll look back fondly on these days - short on light, but long on color.

untitled 1 board by Sara. See more Minted photo holiday cards

Post-Halloween Shake Down - My Treats on Paper Garland

So the snow was a huge party pooper on Saturday and Jake and I never ended up going out.  We ordered Chinese food and it took TWO HOURS to get to our apartment.  Good lord, I miss New York.  Today we went to a quiet little shindig with some people from his law school section, so at least I got to wear my costume in public.  On Saturday I still dressed up and made Jake let me take pictures of us.

I do at least have to be grateful that Boston didn't get the majority of the snow.  Nothing like my hometown of West Hartford where my parents' front yard currently looks like this.  Yup, that's a tree on the house.

My friend, colleague and blogger extrordinaire Paloma posted about my Halloween treats on her blog Paper Garland today.  She is a legit pro so I feel totally flattered.  Her blog is full of all things pretty and wonderful so you should totally check it out.

  Happy Halloween to all! 

The Cupcake Update: Halloween Edition

So some of you may be wondering: Where have all the cupcakes gone?  The truth, friends, is that they have gone the way of my waistline.  I've lost almost ten pounds on Weight Watchers so I've had to seriously cut down on the cupcakes in my life.  But I still love a good cupcake and a good treat.  Especially on Halloween!  So when the lovely ladies of NNAF came over my place for a little pre-Halloween pizza and wine I had to bring back the cupcakes.

These are the pumpkin cheesecake bites with orea crust and caramel topping that I also made.  The recipe (which is a lot easier than it might sound) is below.  Enjoy your treats!

Ingredients:

8 oreos

1.5 Tbs. Butter

8 oz. package of cream cheese

1/2 cup of pumpkin puree 

1/2 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla 

1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

1/4 tsp. nutmeg 

1 tub caramel dip 

cupcake papers 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Grind oreos in a food processor.  Mix with 1.5 Tbs. of melted butter.  Press into bottoms of muffin papers and bake for ten minutes.  

Blend cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Spoon mixture on top of oreo crust, until 3/4 full.  

Bake 25-28 minutes or until set.  Top each with 1 tsp. caramel dip.  

Makes 12

A Homemade Halloween

Let's not let a little snow get us down.  Okay, I admit - it's seriously getting me down.  (Especially living in this city of no cabs and abominable public transportation - okay, done with the Boston rants for the day, I promise).  I remember years past where I could go out in just a costume - no tights, no coats, no umbrellas and I was warm and happy.   This year I'm having to make some minor adjustments.  But I thought I'd look back on some costumes of years past, which I pieced together mostly from Michael's and my closet.

I'm a Tree!

It's pretty simple.  I'm wearing a brown dress and I'm covered in fall leaf garland from Michael's.  Some people thought I was an autumn nymph or something, but I really wasn't even going for something that cute.  

I'm Princess Lolly!

This one took a little more elbow grease, i.e. hot glue gunning.  I bought a tiara at Michael's and a bag of lollipops at the dollar store (the kind you got at the doctor's office or in the bank drive-through, not those fancy ones with bubble gum in them or whatever).  Then I glued the lollipops to the tiara.

For the giant lollipop, you put a small dowel into a styrofoam round and cover it with colored cellophane and tie it with ribbon.  

Note my partners in crime are also Candy Land characters: Lord Licorice and and Mr. Mint

I'm Little Red Riding Hood!

Okay, so this is probably the biggest cop out, because I just bought the cape on Amazon.  It was going to be cuter when Jake was going to be a modern Big Bad Wolf by getting a grey workman's shirt with one of those embroidered name things that says: B. B. Wolfe.  Now he's  going to be the Russian Oligarch from the DirecTV commercials "I also like savingz me ze moneyz."  Pictures to come shortly.  

The problem, of course, is the forecast.  So I'm thinking a red pea coat and jeans might have to be Little Red's new attire.  Wish me luck!