Toddler Halloween Costumes

With a variety of Halloween themed activities we ended up having to war a variety of costumes. Elsa picked out her halloween costume early this year, while shopping she decided she wanted to be a dragon, not any dragon but this dragon.

It's awesome for tick-or-treating but not so great for social activities. The wings are lined with wire so you can shape them, but I'm worried she take some kids eye out. 

For dance class she whipped this classic out of her dress up box, starting off the week with Monday night dance as a pink prince.

 I think she looks like she popped off the stage, this kid knows how to strike a pose.

 Wednesday was our halloween party and she got to rock her dragon, in typical toddler fashion she wore it for 30minutes and took it off herself exclaiming that it was for "Halloween trick or treating"

 Thursday we popped back into princess mode for dance, with her options between blue and pink princesses she decided to mix it up and go blue, declaring that she was 'princess belle' in this dress and insisting on wearing her crown to go with it.

Impressively she kept the crown on through dance class.

We did sone dress up Friday while mulling over ideas of what she should wear to a Saturday night halloween party that is outside (in Minnesota) with an inflatable slide. I didn't think the dragon would be practical and was convinced she'd freeze in a princess dress. Luckily she likes wearing a Spirit Hood I grabbed cheap last year on 6pm.com and thanks to some ipsy liquid eyeliner I got I didn't have to spend money on makeup.

Hocus Pocus Chocolate Covered Rice Crispy Treat Pops

Decided to make some Hocus Pocus book pops for a halloween party we're going to. Totally failed any blogging game I had on this one. Didn't do a great job taking pictures of the steps but here's what I did if you want to try it for yourself.

1. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.

2. Make double batch of standard rice crispy treats. Place treats on lines pan using a rolling pin to get smooth even coverage. Chill for 15 min
3. Use double boiler to melt 3 cups of semisweet chocolate morsels, use a tablespoon of coconut oil to thin chocolate for easy spreading consistency (also gave a slight coconut taste, you can use shortening to thin chocolate if you want to avoid the coconut taste.)
4. Cut rice crispy into 15 rectangles, (approximately 3down, 5 across). Fold treats over popsicle stick and shape as needed (I shaped by putting parchment paper around the treats and and pressing to desired shape). Chill pops.

 5. Working in batches dip pops in chocolate, use spatula to smooth a thin even coating around pop, dip edges on a plate of sprinkles and set on parchment paper. Once batch is complete apply eyes and move to refrigerator to chill.
6. Use Wilson black cookie icing to add details to books and chill until ready to eat.

I used the leftover melted chocolate to make Elsa a pop, I added eyes and sprinkles that were still hanging around. It was a double win since it distracted her from the party pops.

Geranium Halloween 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Dress

I tried this pattern a couple years ago, the sew along was awesome (I have almost no experience, and have learned everything I know from youtube and tutorials like this.) I found awesome Nightmare Before Christmas fabric at JoAnn and with Elsa being obsessed with the movie and soundtrack I decided to give it another crack. I put myself on a strict 48hr timetable to make sure that I completed the entire project (I'm really bad at finishing projects.) It definitely looks like a dress, so I got that going for me.

Even with my shotty stitch work she seems to love it. 

I let her pick out her buttons (because I forgot to buy them when I bought the fabric and was forced to take her to JoAnn with me to meet my self imposed timeline)

I ended up going back and sewing some lace ribbon as a sash to hide the bodice/skirt attachment stitch work, and had made a matching dress for little sister.

Heres a link to the super beginner friendly pattern I used http://shop.made-by-rae.com/products/geranium-dress

Interior Halloween Decorating

I love Halloween 👻 🎃🕸🕷
My oldest is 2 and complete obsessed with Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' so we got to start decorating early. I treat Halloween like Christmas substituting costumes and candy for cards and cookies. This year I let Elsa pick her own costume, and she decided she wanted to be a Dragon that we found very reasonably priced ($15) at TJmaxx. She had also mentioned wanting to be a stormtrooper for Halloween but I knew there was no way she was going to wear the mask and those costumes are hella expensive. However, I did find a stormtrooper mask in the Target dollar bin for $3 that she wears for 3minute increments.

My husband doesn't want me getting anymore stuff since we're moving in the spring, but I couldn't resist Edgar, my daughter loves him and he's become like a family member to us.

This year marks my 10th Halloween with my husband. I found this lovely couple last year.

I love spiders for decor they're classic and cheap

 We also found a skeleton rat, that she's now in love with

Lastly I tidied up the kids bookcase pulling out halloween titles front and center

S'more Cupcakes

Makes one dozen s'more cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

• 1/2C unsalted butter, softened
• 1C granulated sugar
• 2 egg's
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2C all purpose flour
• 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs (about 3 whole crackers)
• 3/4 C milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter with sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping bowl as needed. Add remaining dry cupcake ingredients, mixing until fully incorporated. Finally, slowly add in milk, mixing just until no streaks remain and batter is smooth. Evenly distribute batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Marshmallow Filling:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2C granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together egg white, sugar and cream of tartar, until sugar dissolves. Continue whisking over simmering water until egg white mixture is warm to the touch. Remove from heat. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until still peaks form, about 12minutes. Add in vanilla in last 30 seconds.

1. Transfer marshmallow to a piping bagwith round piping tip or a large plastic bag with the corner cut off. Slice off tops and hollow out the centers of each cupcake, using a sharp knife. Be careful not to cut all the way to the bottom. Fill cupcakes with marshmallow.

Frosting:

• 1/2C unsalted butter, softened
• 5C powdered sugar
• 1/2C cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4C milk

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream 1 stick of butter. Sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder, mix together with butter. Mix in vanilla and enough milk to desired piping or spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes immediately.

Chill in refrigerator for an hour and enjoy

Feather and Fan Baby Blanket

My second baby girl arrived in June and this time around I decided to crochet a blanket for her, I found a great free pattern at Persia Lou and ordered my yarn through http://www.knitpicks.com/ - it's all acrylic and I've even started a large crochet blanket with the same color scheme for my toddler (probably wont be done until x-mas 16, will post when done)

This pattern was super easy and only took me 2-days to complete


Happy with the end result - hope to use it as a centerpiece for my by-the-month baby pics
Will be using this pattern as my go-to for baby shower gifts

Wes Anderson shared girls room

Lana is oficially a month old and to celebrate my huband took Elsa (our oldest) to the park for the afternoon so my mom and I could hang my Spoke Art Bad Dad's collection in their room. We're moving in a year so I'm not very invested in the kids room but for a baby and almost 3year old I think it's pretty awesome 

My mom liked my collection so much she bought me another print today to add to the collection 

It's a small room so the dresser fell just short of making it center, but it did allow me a corner behind the crib between the dresser and the wall where I can store boxed of diapers

Cheap floor length mirrors make the best toys

Elsa transitioned to her bed from the crib after the new year but I never got a chance to get the room together, feeling happy with my end result 

I think they'll enjoy sharing