Lil C is being Mal from Disney Descendants this Halloween so I told her I'd be Evie so we could match. I put together an Evie-like out...

DIY Purse for Descendants Evie

 


Lil C is being Mal from Disney Descendants this Halloween so I told her I'd be Evie so we could match. I put together an Evie-like outfit with a cute blue top, black mini skirt, black tights, and black boots. I also bought an Evie necklace and tiara set and some blue hair spray. I was set on that being my costume until I happened to see a photo of Evie from the first Descendants movie with this cute boxy purse:


Then I decided I needed a purse! (alright, maybe I don't really NEED the purse, but I was feeling crafty and I wanted it!) My challenge was to make it with items already in the house because I didn't want to spend any more money on this costume - or have to leave the house if I'm being totally honest. I remembered I had a pile of large craft foam sheets in the closet so I grabbed a red one and got started - it's about 15"x19".


After some measuring and cutting, I had these two base pieces. The one on the left is 7.5" wide and 19" tall, marked off and folded at 5.5", 9", 14.5", and 18". The piece on the right is 7.5" long in the middle with 5.5" sections at the top and bottom with side flaps for gluing.


Once you have your pieces, the next step is to glue them together as shown above. Then you will fold up the front and back and glue the flaps in place to form a box. I lined the inside of the purse with cardboard to make it sturdier and stiffer. Fyi, it can be a little difficult to fold and glue the pieces into a box because the foam is so floppy - in hindsight, it might have been easier if I had glued on the cardboard pieces first and then glued the box together but I still got the end result I wanted.



Next, I had to figure out a way to attach the shoulder strap (the shoulder strap came from a clutch purse - I never use the shoulder strap so I wouldn't even miss it). I realized I simply needed some sort of loop to attach the clips to. So I searched in our crafting supplies and found a bunch of soda can tabs! I forgot to take pictures during the process but this is what I ended up with. **If you don't have a spare purse strap, you could always just tie a string to the loops - a long shoelace could work or even several strands of yarn braided together - or tie a bunch of can tabs together to make a chain strap!


I cut two identical blue foam pieces for each can tab. I laid the tab on top of one of the pieces and put a big glop of hot glue into the bottom hole and pressed the other foam piece on top. Then I glued the edges of the two foam pieces together and glued the hole thing onto the side of the purse. Repeat for the other side.

At this point I was just so excited to finish the bag I also forgot to take photos of the decorations in stages but it should be fairly easy to see from the photo.


The main part is a 3"x6" rectangle cut from light blue foam. I drew the designs onto it using blue and gold permanent markers. Then I cut and colored a small triangle to extend to the bottom of the purse (the design looks like a sword behind the heart). Finally I cut a 3.75"x2.5" heart out of white foam and colored it gold. IMPORTANT: When you glue the heart on, do not put any glue across the top or middle. As you can see above, the piece from the top slides behind the heart, keeping the purse closed. 



As for the top, I first glued a .75"x4.5" strip of blue foam down the middle of the top. Then I drew a .75"x3" rectangle on white foam and drew the curly mustache-y shape at the top (keep it in the top inch of the rectangle so it doesn't go past the edge of the flap. Color that piece gold, cut it out and glue along the path of the blue strip. The part of the strip hanging down will slide behind the heart closing it. Then all that was left was to clip the strap on! 

I will have to find a little magic mirror to put in my purse and then put some Halloween candy of my own in it! Happy Halloween!

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Bloody Guts Pasture raised werewolf intestines (by pasture raised, I mean we let the werewolf into the livestock pastures every full moon) r...

Halloween Bloody Guts Cinnamon Buns


Bloody Guts
Pasture raised werewolf intestines (by pasture raised, I mean we let the werewolf into the livestock pastures every full moon) roasted until golden brown then smeared with toad mucous and drizzled with an O negative reduction.

Ingredients:
- tube of cinnamon rolls (or a batch of homemade cinnamon roll dough)
- cinnamon roll frosting
- raspberry jam

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and spray an 8"x8" baking dish.
2. Unroll each cinnamon roll and lay them out in the dish, zig zagging the pieces back and forth and up and down so they look like a pile of bunched up intestines.


3. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top. While the cinnamon rolls bake, scoop a tablespoon or so of raspberry jam into a small bowl and mix with about a teaspoon of water until it's drippy and pourable.


4. Spread the icing (toad mucous) all over the warm cinnamon buns. Drizzle the raspberry jam (blood) over the top. 



If serving this for breakfast, I recommend pairing the bloody guts with a nice smoothie loaded with fruits and veggies like the Franken-smoothie or the Pumpkin Jack smoothie.


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  This smoothie is like pumpkin pie in a glass! To make it extra festive for Halloween, draw some jack-o-lantern faces on your glasses! Pump...

Pumpkin Jack Smoothie

 


This smoothie is like pumpkin pie in a glass! To make it extra festive for Halloween, draw some jack-o-lantern faces on your glasses!

Pumpkin Jack Smoothie

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 3/4-1 cup water
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup frozen peaches, pineapple, and/or mangoes
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender until thick and smooth. 
2. Pour into glasses and enjoy!


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October 21st is a day for celebration - it's national apple day, international day of the nacho, and world reptile day! When I saw that,...

Apple Nachos



October 21st is a day for celebration - it's national apple day, international day of the nacho, and world reptile day! When I saw that, I decided I just HAD to combine the first two and make some delicious apple nachos! (There were no reptiles involved in my apple nachos, but for reptile info and activities, check out my Read and Rise post featuring the story "Verdi" by Janell Cannon.)

These apple nachos are absolutely yumma-licious and reminded me of those crazy caramel-chocolate apples you get from sweet shops or Edible Arrangements. However, they are MUCH easier to make and also easier to eat! Plus you can vary the toppings to use whatever you have on hand (or think is most delicious!).

Apple Nachos

Ingredients:
- 1 or 2 apples
- peanut butter (or other nut butter)
- caramel sauce (or leftover dulce de leche frosting from Halloween Surprise Cupcakes...)
- granola
- mini chocolate chips
- toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:
1. Slice apples and arrange on a large plate.
2. Warm a tablespoon or two of peanut butter in a microwave in 10 second increments until it is pourable. Do the same with the caramel sauce.
3. Drizzle peanut butter and caramel over the apple slices.
4. Sprinkle granola, chocolate chips, and toasted nuts on top.
5. Find a few people to share your apple nachos with so you don't eat the entire plate yourself!
 

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  Reptiles can have a reputation for being creepy and cold and slimy and I get it - they just don't look as adorable and cuddly as puppi...

'Verdi' - Read and Rise October 2021

 


Reptiles can have a reputation for being creepy and cold and slimy and I get it - they just don't look as adorable and cuddly as puppies and kitties! But there are some seriously cool reptiles out there so while I realize I'm not going to turn each and every one of you into a reptile lover, I hope to at least help you see how amazing they are and deserving of our respect and protection.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases - at zero cost to you.

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  This crazy cupcake actually started with an ad from Walmart. The ad popped up online and it showed chocolate cupcakes with orange and gree...

Halloween Surprise Cupcakes (with easy Dulce de Leche recipe)

 


This crazy cupcake actually started with an ad from Walmart. The ad popped up online and it showed chocolate cupcakes with orange and green "slime" oozing out of the middle. The slime was simply made of dyed vanilla pudding and it looked so cute and Halloween-y I couldn't resist. Since Hispanic heritage month just ended and Dia de los Muertos is coming up in a couple weeks, I thought a Mexican chocolate cupcake would be good to use. So then I started searching for Mexican chocolate cupcake recipes and came across this: Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese frosting. I honestly don't even know how I found it. It wasn't one of the results in my original search. It somehow just popped up while I was reading through other recipes but as soon as my brain read "dulce de leche cream cheese frosting" my stomach went "yes, please!!" But I still wanted the surprise "slime" element so I rummaged in the pantry and found a box of pistachio pudding mix, which, being green, I thought would be perfect. And that's how we ended up with this weird not really Halloween-y at all on the outside cupcake with bright green pudding on the inside. It's like the Frankenstein's monster of cupcakes, a random mish mash of ideas and flavors! 

Anyway, here's the process:

Step 1: Make dulce de leche the day before you want to make cupcakes. It's actually SUPER easy to make at home. Just take a can of sweetened condensed milk, put it in a slow cooker, and cover with water - make sure it's completely submerged (you don't have to remove the label, but I chose to so I wouldn't end up with soggy label bits in the slow cooker later). Put the lid on the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 8 hours. Once the time is up, carefully remove it from the hot water using tongs and place it in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. Once the can is cool enough to handle, open it, transfer the deliciousness to a jar, and put it in the fridge until you're ready to use it. Oh, and make sure you taste a little - I mean, quality control, right? 




Step 2: Bake the cupcakes according the recipe. Here is it again: Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese frosting

Step 3: While the cupcakes cool, make the pudding according to package directions.

Step 4: While the cupcakes cool and the pudding chills, make the Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese frosting.

Step 5: Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, cut out the middle of each cupcake using a sharp pointed knife. 



Step 6: Spoon chilled pudding into the middle of each cupcake while the kids watch and argue over which has the most pudding because maybe that one just looks like it has more because the hole is smaller...



Step 7: Pipe frosting over the top of the cupcakes and add sprinkles or decorations if desired. (Yes, my frosting is droopy. I didn't have heavy cream and decided to experiment and see if half and half would work ok since it's half cream...fyi, half and half only half works, I think I should've seen that coming...but the frosting is still DELICIOUS!)



If you like the concept don't want to mix bold flavors, stick with vanilla pudding and color it green or orange. At the very least, you must try the Mexican chocolate cupcakes with dulce de leche cream cheese frosting. I'm pretty sure it is now my favorite frosting and I will find other flavor cakes to make it with. Oooh, maybe an apple spice cupcake? I have apples and half a batch of dulce de leche left...stay tuned...


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  October 17th is Black Poetry Day , celebrating the work of Jupiter Hammon - the first black published author - and the contributions of al...

'Change Sings' - Read and Rise October 2021

 


October 17th is Black Poetry Day, celebrating the work of Jupiter Hammon - the first black published author - and the contributions of all the black poets who came after him. So I thought it fitting to feature the book "Change Sings" which was published last month and is written by poet and activist Amanda Gorman. Amanda read her poem, "The Hill We Climb" this past January at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, making her the youngest inaugural poet in United States history. 

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Eye Scream Sundae Freshly plucked and frozen monster eye nestled in a bed of whipped swamp slime with a sprinkle of cave-cured earwax (aged ...

Eye Scream Sundae - Halloween Recipes


Eye Scream Sundae
Freshly plucked and frozen monster eye nestled in a bed of whipped swamp slime with a sprinkle of cave-cured earwax (aged 9 months).

I randomly decided that I should create gourmet descriptions of my creepy Halloween dishes and this is my first creation! I presented this to Lil C and Squidgy and they didn't bat an eye when I told them what it was but just picked up their bowls and walked away. However, Lil C did pause halfway to the table, turned and asked, "But, what is it really??"

Read on to find out how to make your own creepy ice cream sundaes at home!


Eye Scream Sundaes

Ingredients:
- Vanilla or other mostly white ice cream (I used chocolate chip cookie dough and just made sure no big cookie chunks were showing)
- Raspberry jam
- Starburst candies or gummy Lifesavers
- Chocolate chips
- Whipped cream (homemade or store-bought)
- Gold or yellow sugar sprinkles

Directions:
1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Using an ice cream scoop and your hands, create an ice cream sphere about the size of a clementine. Place the scoop on lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have your desired amount of eyeballs.

2. Scoop a tablespoon of raspberry jam into a bowl and add water, a teaspoon at a time, until the jam is drippy and pourable. Use a small clean paintbrush to draw 6 squiggly "veins" going down each eye.

3. Place Starburst candies in the microwave for 5 seconds to soften slightly - you will need 1 candy for every 2 sundaes. Cut each Starburst in half, then knead each piece and form into a flat disc. Push a chocolate chip, pointy side down, into each candy disc and gently press onto the top of each ice cream eyeball. Alternatively, you could use gummy Lifesavers instead of Starburst.

4. Place baking sheet in freezer for at least 30 minutes to let the eyeballs firm up.

5. Just before serving, squirt a spiral of whipped cream into the bottom of each serving bowl. (I made homemade whipped cream and added a few drops of green food coloring, but you can use regular whipped cream).

6. Using a large spoon or spatula, remove the ice cream eyeballs from the baking sheet and place them on your whipped cream nest. Finally, sprinkle the whole thing with gold or yellow sugar sprinkles.

Viola! Now you have perfectly creepy and delectable monster eyeballs! Enjoy!


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Today is the last day of Oktoberfest in Munich and that means we should take a little trip to Germany! But...what exactly is Oktoberfest? I ...

'If You Were Me and Lived in...Germany' - Read and Rise October 2021


Today is the last day of Oktoberfest in Munich and that means we should take a little trip to Germany! But...what exactly is Oktoberfest? I mean, most of us adults are familiar with Oktoberfest as a festival with lots of food and beer, but why?

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases - at zero cost to you.

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