Ghost Rider Costume

Here was an easy and cheap way to make a costume. All I purchased here was cheese cloth. I cut 2 pieces of cheese cloth at 3 ft long. One of them I cut a hole in the center big enough to put his head in to drape over his shoulders. The other one I draped over his head. He loved this costume and ran around on his stick horse all over the place.

Pumpkin Ghost Cupcakes

This Recipe was a hit at our Trunk Or Treat on Wednesday.

I made Pumpkin Cupcakes and then frosted them with Cream Cheese Frosting.

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES 

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten until frothy
• 1 cup mashed cooked or canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, all spice and cloves into a bowl. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs. Blend in mashed pumpkin. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending until batter is smooth after each addition. Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin pan cups.

Fill about 2/3 full.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.

Makes about 24 cupcakes

Next you Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

1 package Cream Cheese (softened)

1 cube butter (softened)

1 tsp. vanilla

Powdered sugar

Preparation

Mix together the  cream cheese and butter.  Slowly add the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.  Add the vanilla.

I put the frosting in a big ziplock bag and cut a little hole in the end.  I went around the cupcake with the frosting working my way up to a little point.
You then add CHOCOLATE CHIPS for the eyes.
Enjoy.

GIVEAWAY Winner and Guest Post!!!

The Bitty Bundles of Joy Giveaway is over and we have a winner!

The winner is number #34!!!

SHIRLEY

We will be contacting you shortly!  Congrats!!!



And we did a guest post today over at Blissful and Domestic! We made a fun little Halloween treat with a printable we call Pumpkin Brains! So head on over there and take a look!

Marshmallow Fondant and Ghost Cupcakes

Aren't these ghosts the cutest thing? They are so easy to make. We made these two years ago and I almost forgot about them.  I'm so glad I didn't!

Start off by making some yummy cupcakes.

I love using Cream Cheese frosting!  (Recipe is at the end of the post.) It's my all time favorite!

And we dyed it green.

To make the ghosts, we stacked two mini reeses peanut butter cups on top of each other followed by a whopper.  We "glued" them together with the frosting.

Next, we rolled out some fondant (Recipe is at the end of the post) and cut them into circles.  Don't forget to put down some extra powdered sugar when rolling out the fondant.  We cut out little circles for the eye and the mouth.  And then we draped the fondant over the "ghost tower".

 

We had an assembly line for the kids to walk down and put together their ghosts.  They thought it was the neatest thing!  

Perfect for a fun Halloween activity.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package Cream Cheese (softened)

1 cube butter (softened)

1 tsp. vanilla

Powdered sugar

Mix together the  cream cheese and butter.  Slowly add the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.  Add the vanilla.

Marshmallow Fondant 

My sister-in-law and I went to a cupcake class a couple years ago and was introduced to this fondant recipe.  It is easy to make and tastes good too!  I've kept in stored in my fridge up to a year and use it whenever I need it.

16 ounces white mini- marshmallow (use a good quality brand)

2 to 5 TBS water

2 pounds powdered sugar

1/2 cup Crisco shortening or butter (you will be digging into it so place it in a very easily accessed bowl)

Note: This first stage can get very hot, so please be careful

Melt marshmallows and 2 TBS of water in a microwave.  Stirring every 30 seconds until melted.

It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes total.  Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.

Grease your hands generously (palms, backs and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow and powdered sugar in the middle.

Start kneading like you would bread dough. It will be hot, so be careful!  You will see why you grease your hand at this point!

Keep kneading, this stuff is very sticky at this stage!  Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.  Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking.  If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add water (about 1/2 TBS at a time and then knead it in).  It usually takes about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cupcakes.

Store in ziplock bag in the refrigerator.

Gathering Foot

I know that there are so many of you that are sewers.  I usually go through different phases: sewing, card making, jewerly making, etc.

Well, I am in my sewing phase.  And after having 5 boys, I am having so much fun sewing for my two little girls!

Now sewing for girls generally requires ruffles, which I love!  I am in the process of making a Princess dress for my two year old and it will have a lot of ruffles.  

I have always made ruffles by sewing a long stitch and then pulling the ends.  There has to be an easier way...

I looked into getting a Ruffler foot and then found this little baby.  I have a Husqvarna Viking sewing machine and this is the gathering foot made by them.  It is different from a ruffler foot.

Ruffler Foot: picture from here.

Gathering Foot, this is what I bought : picture from here. 

  It will gather and sew the material onto whatever fabric you want it to go on in one step!  

If you look at the picture above, you can see the two pieces of material.  The bottom piece is the one that is being gathered.  It is also being sewn onto the top piece of material that is being fed into the slot in the foot at the same time.  I just used it and it was amazing!  You can also use it to gather only. (Which I will have to do for part of the dress.)

I will post the dress another day, I'm still working on it.  But, I have so many other projects I am excited to try!

If you are looking for a gathering foot, you can find them on Amazon for VERY good prices...

Temple Picture with Homemade Mod Podge

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Here is my Temple Picture of the Snowflake, AZ Temple. I used my Homemade Mod Podge recipe on this project and wanted everyone see how easy and well it turned out.

Hopefully my instructions make sense to everyone.

Before you start you need a few things:

10 x 12 board that is sanded and painted black

Homemade Mod Podge (click for the recipe)

8x10 Picture (Temple pictures found here)

(I printed it out on regular printer paper with my inkjet printer)

Hanging Hook (a pop top lid works great also)

Spatula or Credit Card (with a smooth, flat edge for smoothing out picture)

Paper Towels

Opt. Flowers:

Old Hymn Book or Old Sheet Music

Scissors

Clear Tape

Thumb Tacks

I started out ripping the white edge of the paper around all 4 edges.

Then I added a large drop of Mod Podge on the middle of the black board and evenly smeared it around the whole board.

I carefully centered the picture on to the board and started rubbing the Mod Podge into the picture. You may have to add more on top of the picture.

Then you get your spatula and smooth out the picture. We DO NOT want any bubbles under the picture.

Then I got a paper towel and cleaned up any excess Mod Podge that was on the top and sides.

Dab gently...

There you have it. Now let it dry...

Off to making the hymn book flowers...

I had an old hymn book that our church handed out, they were being replaced with new ones. So I picked out a song that I didn't know and gently ripped out the page.

(Make sure you don't know the song on both pages. I found a song that I didn't know and ripped it out, but the song on the back was "Do What Is Right"! Really? Is that a sign?... :oP...)

Now cut 3 different sizes of circles out. I used 2 pages.

Now you are going to cut a swirly cut round and around, like a snail shell...

I did a straight cut on 2 and a wavy cut on one.

Then, from the center, start gathering up the flower to make a tight circle.

There it is. Now let it go...

It pops open.

Here on the bottom, you need to add a clear piece of tape to the pointed end. You really can't see it in the picture, there is some there...

Heres the flower...

Now squish it down and ...

...Fluff up the edges to your satisfaction.

Here are the flowers.

Now you take the thumb tacks and push them in the center of the flowers.

Just like that...

Place them on your board where you would like them. Push them on tight and adjust the flowers how you would like them. (Some more fluffing may be needed)

Now add your hanging hook or a centered hot glued pop top lid. (Make sure it is Centered)

Sorry I don't have a picture of that.

Then you have a beautiful Picture to Grace your home.

Check out Brooke's Version HERE!

Stats and a {Giveaway}

Can you believe it?  

We started this blog in August because we love to craft, cook and just have a fun time!  And now we have 200 followers!  And over 32,000 views!  

Crazy!  We just wanted to say thank you to you all out there!  You all inspire us with all of your crafts and projects!  We have loved checking out your ideas and documenting ours!

We just wanted to remind you about our GIVEAWAY!  So if you want to enter, just head on over here.

And thanks again!  We have the best followers! 

Heath Bar and White Chocolate Ice Cream

This was a big hit at our house this past weekend!

Heath Bar and White Chocolate Ice Cream

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup crushed heath bar (I found this in the baking isle)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Whip eggs in mixer for a minute or two until nice and fluffy.  Slowly pour in sugar and continue to beat.  Add cream and milk and vanilla.  

Mix according to ice cream mixer's instructions.

During the last few minutes, add the heath bar bits and white chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

My Weekend Project

I cannot refuse a deal, no matter what it is.

My husband was outta town this weekend and I came upon a daybed at a garage sale.  I bought the daybed for $10 and figured that I could give it a quick coat of Spray Paint, post it on Craigslist and sale it before my husband got home!  So on the way home I picked up a couple cans of spray paint.  I put my kids down for a nap and started working on this beast.  While my children where asleep I painted it, set it up, took pictures of it, posted it on craigslist and took it down (waiting for someone to buy it.) 

Here is how the daybed turned out...

Here is a picture before...

I was really proud of myself because I only had the bed for less than 24 hours and it was gone before my husband got home (thank goodness)!  I also made about $45 off of the daybed!

Bitty Bundles of Joy GIVEAWAY!

This Giveaway is CLOSED!

I don't know about any of you, but I am SO into leg warmers right now!  They are SUPER cute and  make any outfit SO precious and they keep those adorable little  babies warm!

We recently found this new etsy shop called Bitty Bundles of Joy, she makes the cutest stuff!

Check out these pearl and ribbon leg warmers...

She has pacifier clips...I just love the flower embellishment!

She has Halloween items like these leg warmers and customized Halloween candy bags...I'm already thinking about how cute these would look with a costume!

She has ruffle socks...I'm loving ruffles!

Ruched baby leg warmers...Darling!

I could keep going on and on about the cute stuff in her shop!  Check it out,  
I absolutely LOVE it!

Now on the to the GIVEAWAY!!

Bitty Bundles of Joy is giving away one pair of leg warmers to one of our viewers.  The best part is that you get to choose the leg warmers! 

There are many way to enter the giveaway!

 1. Go to Bitty Bundles of Joy and tell us what your favorite item is. Leave us a comment to let us know. Make sure you leave a way for us to contact you!!

2. Like Bitty Bundles of Joy's Facebook page.  Leave a comment if you wish! Leave us a comment to let us know.
 3. Follow Babblings and More (up at the top of the page, on the right side, click on the button that says "Join This Site") and leave us a comment to let us know. (If you don't see it, then just refresh the page.)

4. Like Babblings and More on Facebook.  Leave us a comment to let us know.

5. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway.  Leave a separate comment for each one you do.

The winner will be chosen via Random.org

This giveaway is only open to the United States.

The giveaway will run from October 19th-October 26th and the winner will be announced on October 27th!

Bitty Bundles of Joy is offering 10% off to her shop during this giveaway for those who like her facebook page.  Just message her and she will give you the coupon code!

Old Window #2

A couple weeks ago, I posted some old windows that I bought HERE.  (I bought these windows from Craigslist.) I put the 1st window on my back fence for a Backyard Treatment- You can find that post HERE.
Well, I finally finished my 2nd project with these windows.  I made a cork board picture frame for my daughters room. 

Here it is...

 Here is the window before...

This project took me a little longer than I expected because I knew what I wanted, but I was not sure how to do it.  I knew that I wanted cork board instead of the actual windows.  One night I tried taking out the windows and I am telling you- those windows are indestructible!  I broke 3 razor blades trying to get the glass out!  

So my Plan B was to glue the cork board directly onto the window.  I actually used Mod Podge and Mod Podged some fabric to the cork board, and the cork board to the window.  To my surprise, this worked great!  

Then, I had four left over knobs that I put at the bottom of the window.  I also lined each window with some trim to hide any gaps from the cork board.  To finish it off, I just pinned some pictures of my daughter to the window and it was done!

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