Easy Bat Marshmallows – The Perfect Halloween Treat
I can’t believe that Halloween is in less than two weeks! We are busy putting together the final details of our costumes, setting up our decorations and getting things ready for school parties. I’m so busy lately. As a blogger, holiday time is our ‘busy time’. It’s also time for holiday school performances, fall breaks, and trying to enjoy those last few nice days outdoors. I really needed a simple treat that kids would love and that I could make in a flash. And I found just the treat!
These bat marshmallows aren’t just cute, but the kids think they are so fun to eat! Plus, you can make up a big batch in no time.
Ingredients & Supplies
- Marshmallows
- Brown Candy Melts
- Halloween Straws or Lollipop Sticks
- Candy Eyes
- Oreos
- Black Decorating Gel
- Parchment Paper
Instructions
- Spread out a piece of parchment paper on your counter. You will want to use parchment paper because once the marshmallows are coated, they won’t stick!
- Melt brown candy melts according to the package directions in a bowl.
- I cut my straws in half. This is really up to your personal preference! Lollipop sticks are another option if you don’t want to use straws.
- Twist the Oreos in half. Don’t worry about buying double stuffed – we won’t use the cream side for this project. We just sandwiched up the two unused cream sides to create our own ‘Double Stuffed Oreos’ and put them back in the Oreo box. 🙂
- Once you have the Oreo cookie, use a knife to cut it in half. I found that even pressure helps to not have the cookie break into several pieces. The Oreo is going to become your bat’s wings.
- Arrange the wings on the parchment paper where you would like to have your first Bat sit to harden. **See note below
- Add a marshmallow to the end of the straw and evenly coat in the melted candy.
(TIP: If you are planning on the bats standing on their own, be sure to use a knife to even out the candy coating on the end so it is flat.)
- Lay the marshmallow on top of the bat wings. Since I cut our straws in half, I added a second marshmallow on the end to help even out the weight. Later I just removed the plain marshmallow.
- Before the candy hardens, add two candy eyes. Allow to sit and harden.
- Once it has hardened, use the black decorating gel to add a smile.
NOTE: The way you arrange your bat wings and position your eyes will depend on how you are going to position your bats for presentation. If you are planning on having them straw/stick down (like we did for our wrapped bats) then you will position them like you see in the photos below. If you plan on the bats standing on their own, you will want to construct the bats ‘upside down’ as shown here
These sweet treats are perfect for setting out at your Halloween party or package them in gift bags to hand out at school events or treat bags.
Looking for more fun Halloween treats?
Oreo Spider Cookies and Cream Cookies
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Halloween Dinner Idea: Mummy Meatballs
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. We love coming up with fun costumes and dressing up. We take our pumpkin carving very seriously. And the whole house is decorated. So why would we not have a fun themed dinner? These mummy meatballs completely made my son’s night when I served them up. In fact, he’s requested them several times since! I’m more than happy to oblige since they are SO simple. This Halloween dinner idea is a winner!
Because these are so simple and you can make a big batch at a time, they also make the perfect party food. Not to mention, they are so fun!
Dunk your mummy in a side of marinara sauce (or brains as my son so elegantly put it!) and dinner is served. Yum, yum, yum!
Supplies & Ingredients:
½ lb ground Italian sausage
½ lb ground beef, turkey or chicken
1 egg
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
Olive oil
1 package crescent dough (find it in your refrigerated section of the grocery store)
Candy Eyes
Black decorating gel
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to the crescent dough’s instructions. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pour a bit of olive oil in a skillet and heat on medium heat.
- In a mixing bowl, add your meat, egg, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasoning.
- Using your hands, gently mix everything together. One of the secrets to making great meatballs is to not over mix your ingredients.
- Form your meatballs and place in skillet.
- Brown your meatballs, cooking them almost all the way through.
- While the meatballs are cooking, unroll the crescent dough.
- Cut the dough into long strips.
- When your meatballs are done, pat dry and wrap one of the crescent roll strips.
- Place on your greased baking sheet.
- Bake according to the crescent dough’s instructions.
- Once baked, use a small drop of decorating gel on the back of a candy eye and attach to the mummy meatball.
- Serve with a cup of marinara sauce (or brains as my son put it) to dunk into.
Don’t forget to pin!
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Halloween Frankenstein Treats
Can you believe that it is October already? It’s time to get started with the Halloween treats! And these Frankenstein treats are a great place to start! They are so cute and super easy. Heck, if I can do them then you can totally pull it off!
You will need:
Snack cakes of your choice ( Twinkies, Hoho’s, etc. We used Sara Lee Devil’s Food Creme Cakes.)
Semi-Sweet Chocolate (I used Baker’s) or Brown Candy Melts
Green Melting Candy Wafers
Green Sixlets (Find them in the wedding and cake decorating section of Walmart for $1!)
Small Candy Eyes
Black Decorating Gel
White Frosting
Parchment Paper (Parchment paper is so important for this project! Nothing will stick to the parchment paper making it a perfect choice.)
Here is how to make them:
- Put a sheet of parchment paper down on your counter. You will also want to open the candies and put them in their own bowl. This is a simple project, but it’s easiest to have it in an assembly line order.
- Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl according to the package’s instructions.
- Unwrap the snack cakes.
- Start with the hair. Dip one end of the snack cakes into the semi-sweet chocolates. For Frankenstein, we just dipped the ends. For the Brides of Frankenstein, we dipped about half of the snack cake in the semi-sweet chocolate. You may need a knife to help spread the chocolate.
- Lay the cakes on the parchment paper to allow to harden.
- Melt the green candy wafers according to package instructions into a bowl.
- Once the hair has hardened, you will dip the opposite corner in the green mix.
- Using the decorating gel, attach two eyes on each snack.
- Dip a Sixlet in the green candy melts and attach the nose on each snack.
- Use the decorating gel to create a smile, eye lashes or scar marks on your Frankensteins.
- For the Bride of Frankenstein, use a drawing tip or a ribbon tip and make some waves with white frosting on her hair.
- Add to a treat bag and you are finished!
*Note: These were a HUGE hit! I will be making some for my son’s class closer to Halloween. Next time, I will replace the chocolate with the brown melting wafers. The melting wafers harden much faster and are so easy to work with! But if you love the idea of an extra layer of chocolate, the chocolates work just fine too! 🙂
Don’t forget to pin!
This post contains affiliate links.
Super Easy 4th of July Patriotic Snack Mix Recipe
I’m always on the look out for easy snack ideas, whether to serve at a party or just for fun at home. This Patriotic Snack mix is perfect for the 4th of July! Full of my kid’s favorite treats it is definitely a snack that I won’t have to try to hard to talk people into eating. In fact, I may have to make my own ‘secret’ batch for myself!
- ⅔ Cup Rice Chex Cereal
- ⅔ Cup Wheat Chex Cereal
- 6 oz bag Chex Mix Muddy Buddies
- ½ cup Bagel Chips
- ¾ cup Pretzel Sticks
- ⅔ cup Red, White and Blue M&M;’s
- ⅓ cup Red and blue chocolate-covered almonds
- ⅔ cup Brach’s Red, White and Blue candy corn
- Add all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and toss to mix well.
- Pour into desired serving bowl and ENJOY!
- Optional: Melt ½ cupred Wilton baking chipsin the microwave and drizzle over the Chex mix
These star dishes are perfect for your Patriotic Snack Mix!
Don’t forget to pin!
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UE Boom Review – The Ultimate Gift For Music Lovers
This year I have been working hard on finding perfect gifts for a few hard to buy for people on this year’s list. You know the ones….tweens and teens. You ask them what they want and they say things like “cash” or “gift cards.” While these are great options, I am a gift giver. I love it. I love thinking up the perfect gift. I love wrapping it up. And I love watching it get opened and the recipient’s face. There is something so fun about getting that perfect gift. And I have found it! Logitech has a great wireless speaker called UE Boom and I am in love.
First, can we talk about the packaging?
Your speaker will come in a tube that kind of reminds me of a tube you use at the bank drive thru.
Not only is this create a safe way for your wireless speaker to ship, it makes for a cool presentation.
There are two compartments, one above and one below and it contains the charging cord and wall charger.
Using the speaker is so easy. Just simply turn on the blue tooth on your device (I used my phone, but you can also use your tablet or computer.) Then hold on the power button on the speaker and it will connect. That’s it!
There is a large plus and minus on the front that are not only cool looking, but will control the volume.
And speaking of volume. This little speaker can pack some serious sound! The sound is really amazing. It’s only a great size to go with you on the go. Speakers are water and stain resistant which means they are perfect for taking on trips, to the beach, the pool, even just to the bathroom to listen to while you shower. And this wireless speaker will last up to 15 hours on a single charge! WOW!!
Another fun thing about the UE Boom is the variety of colors. They even have some patterned speakers!
You can get a high quality, fun speaker for under $200. This is one of my top gift ideas this year! We are big UE Boom fans!
I received a UE Boom in exchange for my honest opinion for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
Candy Sprout Dirt Cupcakes – A Perfect Earth Day Treat!
Earth Day is April 22nd and today I’m sharing these adorable Candy Sprout Dirt Cupcakes that are sure to make for a fun treat! This is a super easy and cute dessert to make. Served in mini terra-cotta pots they look just like the real thing!
These cupcakes would also be great for a gardening party!
You will need:
- Box of chocolate cake mix
- Chocolate frosting
- Oreos
- Green Taffy or Green Air Heads
First you will need to make the cupcakes according to the box directions. Let the cupcakes cool completely. Place a cupcake in the wrapper into a mini terra-cotta pot.
Crush some Oreo cookies and put on top of the cupcakes. It’s looking like dirt all ready!
Now comes the fun part! Using the taffy or the airheads cut out leaves, blades of grass, or other sprouts. Leave room for you to push them into the cupcakes.
Add to your cupcakes and ta da!
You have some adorable Earth Day treats!
Looking for some Earth Day books?
Here are some fun ideas that would go along well with these cupcakes.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
Super Easy Bunny Pie Pops – An Easy Easter Treat
Spring is almost here which means all kinds of awesome things: warmer weather, flowers, and Easter. I’m a huge Easter fan and everything that it stands for. We make it a huge celebration in our house. We always have a Resurrection Garden and we love making silk dyed Easter eggs. But we also love making fun treats. These Super Easy Bunny Pie Pops are beyond easy and even more adorable.
You will need to have cookie cutters and lollipop sticks for this project.
1 box
Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts
1/2 cup
pie filling homemade or store bought-
Lollipop sticks
1
egg beaten-
sugar -
flour -
cookie cutter
Servings:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray cookie sheets with cookie spray.
- Sprinkle flour on your work surface and unroll the pie crusts onto the flour. Using your Easter cookie cutter, cut your shapes out of the crust. To make additional Easter Pie Pops, roll the excess dough out flat and use cookie cutter to create additional shapes.
- To make your Easter Bunny Pie Pop, press the lollipop stick into the bottom layer of crust.
- Then, top each crust with about ½ tablespoon of pie filling and cover with the top layer of crust.
- Using a fork or extra lollipop stick, press the edges of the two crusts together to seal the Easter Bunny Pie Pop together. Brush the tops of your Easter Bunny Pie Pops with beaten egg and sprinkle sugar on top.
- Bake for 9 minutes or until Easter Bunny Pie Pops are golden brown. Remove Easter Bunny Pie Pops from the cookie sheet and let them cool completely on cooling racks.
These would be easily made in tons of different flavors and with any shapes!
There are lots of fun shapes that would be perfect for Easter.
Don’t forget to pin!
9 Awesome Valentine’s Day Ideas – Moms Check In
Are you as excited about Valentine’s Day as I am? I’m not sure if it’s all of the pink or the hearts, but something about it gets me feeling all happy. Here are some of our favorite Valentine’s Day ideas! #MomsCheckIn
Valentine’s Day is so much fun for us. I mean…chocolate, right? And love. What could be better? One of our favorite homemade Valentine’s are these Rainbow Loom cards. Just print out the free template and attach the bracelets my daughter can make in her sleep. She gave them out last year and the kids loved them. On Valentine’s Day we have to have dessert too (of course)! This Valentine’s Day Pudding Parfait is so easy, pretty, and totally delicious! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
– Lindsay is the mom of 2 and author of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes. You can follow her on Twitter here!
I LOVE Valentine’s Day. It’s fun to create special memories with Sam including home made crafts and treats. We always have a great time together. I also try to do a special dinner date with Mike each year.
– Stephanie is the mom to Sam and the author of Spaceships and Laser Beams. If you ever need party ideas her site is the place to visit! Specializing in all things boy, it’s full of inspiration! Follow her on Twitter here!
Valentine’s Day is just the coolest. We love to make our own Valentine’s Day cards for little man’s classroom exchange. They’re just always a bit more unique and fun, I think. Here are some really great Valentine’s Day printables for cards, treat toppers and more. We also make up baggies of these strawberry muddy buddies to pass out in his classroom. That stuff is SERIOUSLY addictive – so beware!! xoxo
– Jenni is the mom of one and the author of Sweet Pennies From Heaven. A hearth and home website, Sweet Pennies From Heaven focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home. Follow her on Twitter here!
Every year we make homemade Valentines to pass out at school. We try to do something more than candy and super fun. A few years ago I made printable tags to attach to mini boxes of cereal. They were a HUGE hit! This year we are sending in lip balms for the girls and bags of chips for the boys.
– Amanda is the mom to Joshua and owns It’s a Fabulous Life. If you are looking for a one stop place for all things mom, It’s a Fabulous Life is it! Full of recipes, fashion, DIY projects, recipes and parenting articles it’s the place for all of Mom’s favorites to come together! Follow her on Twitter here!
How do you plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day?
Be sure to pin!
Hot Chocolate Bucket List: 10 Hot Chocolate Recipes To Try This Winter
Hot Chocolate is a favorite each winter. We love to have a cup for dessert or as a snack after playing outside. And when it is snowing, you can find me curled up on the couch with a cup and my favorite book. While I love a cup of traditional, chocolate-y, creamy hot cocoa sometimes I’m looking for a little variety. This Hot Chocolate Bucket List is full of the best hot chocolate recipes out there!
Yum. I love caramel. Adding white chocolate and that sounds blissful to me! Passion For Savings has a slow cooker caramel white hot chocolate recipe that is divine!
I’m a little bit of a pumpkin nut. Pumpkin cookies…pumpkin french toast….pumpkin coffee. So it’s only natural that I would love a pumpkin spice white hot chocolate too!
Love Starbucks hot chocolate? My Frugal Adventures has a great copycat recipe for some delicious hot chocolate!
If you handed this cup to me, at first I would probably tell you that it was too pretty to drink. But I think after staring at the caramel hot chocolate (and smelling it!) I don’t think it would take long for me to give into temptation!
I love Oreos. It doesn’t to me if they are traditional, Golden, or Double Stuffed, I love them all the same. So I can’t wait to try The Recipe Critic’s Cookies and Cream Hot Chocolate recipe!
This White Hot Chocolate has me dreaming of a snow fall! I absolutely love watching the snow come down while curled up with a cup of cocoa on the couch!
I love Girl Scout cookies! Combining my love for the cookies and my love for cocoa seems like a wonderful idea to me! I’m so glad Your Home Based Mom has a recipe for Thin Mint Hot Chocolate!
I could stare at this. Doesn’t it look amazing?! S’mores Hot Chocolate really seems like a dream come true to me!
Joshua’s favorite thing is peanut butter. He loves it on his toast, his waffles, and in his hot chocolate! I can’t wait to try this Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate recipe out! I’m sure he will love it!
If Christmas had a flavor it would have to be peppermint. I think one taste of this peppermint hot chocolate and you will be dreaming of Christmas!
How many of these hot chocolate recipes will you cross off the bucket list this winter?
Don’t forget to pin!
Fall Recipes with the Holiday Survival Guide
I’m really excited to be a part of a fun series about surviving the holiday season! Fall is my favorite season, but sometimes it seems as if I get so busy it’s hard to actually enjoy it! Don’t worry – these ladies are here to help!
Welcome to the second week of the Holiday Survival Guide 2014! This week we’re talking recipes. Not just any recipes, but recipes that embody everything we love about Fall. We’ve also got your top links from last week’s link party and a new, fresh link party for all your Fall recipes! Just in case you missed last week’s free fall printables you can find them here!
We’re going to get you decluttered, organized, cleaned, decorated, and ready for all the holiday fun…without you needing to be committed to the looney bin before New Year’s.
It takes quite the team to pull this off, but we’re here for you! We’ll be here every Monday through the end of the year to make sure you’re on track and able to enjoy everything you have planned.
Ready to meet the team?
Sheri from Career Girl Interrupted
Dani from Dani Schnakenberg Studios
Katie & Jairus from KatieMarcum.com
Jessica from Jessie Bee Healthy
Kristen from From Son Up Til Son Down
Stephanie from Sharing A to Z
and our lovely co-host Amanda from It’s a Fabulous Life
Each week we’ll take turns bringing you something awesome to help you stay on track preparing for the major Holidays of the season. Be sure to come back and link up your holiday posts each week so we can share the fun!
This week Stephanie, Katie and Jairus are bringing you some tasty Fall-inspired recipes!
Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothee from Katie & Jairus at KatieMarcum.com
Pumpkin Soup from Stephanie at Sharing A to Z
Smoky Bacon Pumpkin Penne from Katie & Jairus at KatieMarcum.com
Pumpkin “Ice Cream” from Stephanie at Sharing A to Z
Pumpkin Pie Spice Whipped Cream
Now, who’s ready to party? Share your awesome Fall-inspired recipes with us this week!
Link Party Rules:
- Follow all hosts: subscribe, FB, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter…whatever you prefer!
- Be sure to link directly to your specific post, NOT your blog’s homepage.
- Don’t link and run! Be sure to visit the last couple links before yours and let them know how you found them through #HolidaySurvivalGuide2014!
- By linking up, you give all hosts permission to pin and share your projects (with links back to you, of course). We’ll also be sharing the top three clicked through with each following week’s project!
- Be sure to follow the Holiday Survival Guide 2014 Pinterest board, too!
Top links from last week:
1. Fall Cleaning Tasks from From Son Up Til Son Down
2. Owl Pillow Tutorial (Free Pattern and Give-away) from Our Life Out There
3. Thanksgiving Menu FREE Printable! from The Road to Domestication
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