Halloween is one of the best times of the year for making things. But the scary truth is, many Halloween crafts end up looking a lot more homemade than handmade …eek!

Enter the new book “Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects”by Susan Wasinger from Lark Crafts and Sterling Publishing. Projects in this book will help inspire some polished looking handmade Halloween projects that are especially fitting for adults like these bottle bats.

Continue reading “GIVEAWAY: Artful Halloween book – 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects by Susan Wasinger” »

Lately I’ve been dreaming up Halloween crafts for kids while re-watching Season 1 of The X Files.

Now that Elise is almost 3 she’s really getting into Halloween. She’s already practicing her “trick-or-treats” and directing costume ideas for the entire family (currently all Toy Story characters). So I thought making her some Halloween no-sew bracelets would be fun.

These no-sew Halloween kids bracelets craft is based on my easy no-sew felt flower bracelets. But this time instead of VELCRO Plant Ties I’m using VELCRO Reusable Ties For Wires & Cords.

It sticks to itself (yes, IT STICKS TO ITSELF!!) so there’s no need to make any kind of clasps or put on buttons or size it or measure or cut or anything — the bracelets are truly one size fits all. And you weave the VELCRO ties through slits in the felt to make cute little noses.

You can make this Halloween craft extra easy by just using Sharpies to draw faces. I took the time to embroider the faces because for some reason my husband Shane and I are re-watching The X Files and I need to multi-task to keep from getting too creeped out, especially by the contortionist, oh nightmares!

The skull was a special request from Elise; she’s simultaneously obsessed with ‘ghouls’ (skulls/skeletons) and points them out whenever she sees them BUT she’s also kind of scared of them …kind of like me making kids bracelets to half-watch The X-Files, heh…

WANNA MAKE IT? Free pattern, step-by-step tutorial and supply list for making my easy Halloween no-sew pumpkin and skulls bracelets for kids –>

Continue reading “Easy Halloween No-Sew Bracelets: Pumpkins and Skulls” »

This mini frittatas recipe makes two different kinds: mini spinach and feta frittatas or tomato and basil frittatas. Or really you can use the technique to add any fixings, like cooked bacon, mushroom or caramelized onion. And because you make these mini frittatas using muffin tins you can customize each individual mini frittata as much or as little as you’d like.

My neighbor Susan gets the holy trinity of magazine subscriptions: Us, People and In Touch. And like a good neighbor, when she’s done reading them she puts them on our stoop for me to catch up on the gossip. This week’s People magazine had a mini frittatas recipe by Antonia from Top Chef who’s one of my favorite former contestants and happens to have a new cookbook called The Busy Mom’s Cookbook: 100 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, Home-Cooked Meals.

Now I’ve made my full-size kitchen sink frittatas recipe dozens of times before but somehow I’d never made mini frittatas. And I’ve seen oodles of recipes almost just like this one that are either called mini frittatas or crustless mini quiches. These muffin-tin-sized frittatas are festive …and they also gave me an excuse to gather up some basil and teeny tomatoes from our rooftop container garden.

In the end a very nice little simple-yet-fancy Sunday breakfast.

WANNA MAKE IT? Mini frittatas recipe – mini spinach and feta or tomato and basil versions –>

Continue reading “Mini frittatas recipe using muffin tins” »