Candy, Candy, Candy

It is no secret that my family loves sweets.  Take a look at these faces!

But Halloween came and went, and I am still getting caught with my hand in the candy jar.  I don't know how many times Brody has caught me eating his candy.  He is very clever though and would quickly say, "That's alright Mom, I like to share...  Can I have one?"  And I would respond with, "Of course!"

If you are like me, not only are you stuck with a ton of leftover candy from trick or treating, but I actually buy more candy when they go on sale after the holiday.  I also love to bake, and there are a ton of fun recipes for the upcoming holidays where you can use your Halloween candy to make more sweet treats.  At least when I bake, I make sure to get the treats out of my house immediately!  Take a look at these recipes that all use candy as an ingredient.

Turkey Cookies from Pillsbury

These turkey cookies make a fun dessert after a big Thanksgiving Feast!  Get the recipe HERE.

Jolly Snowman Faces from Betty Crocker

These adorable little snowmen can make anyone smile!  You can be creative and use whatever candy you have to make your own special jolly face!  Get the recipe HERE.

Chocolate Teddy Bear Pops from Betty Crocker

These Teddy Bear Pops are great for a playdate or even as a party favor!  Get the recipe HERE.

Hershey's Hugs & Kisses Crescents from Hershey's Kitchen

These yummy crescents are easy to make but are sure to make a lasting impression!  Get the recipe HERE.

Double Kisses Truffles from Hershey's Kitchen

Put these babies in a cute tin and give as a gift and you are sure to make someone's day!  Get the recipe HERE.

Reese's Peanut Butter Temptation from Hershey's Kitchen

Peanut butter and chocolate, need I say more?!??  Get the recipe HERE.

Hopefully you won't get caught with your hand in the candy jar like me!  Have fun baking!

Halloween Fun

Here's my Halloween banner in black light.

 Halloween was so much fun!  I was busy baking treats all day for my dessert table, and in the evening, the kids had a great time trick or treating.  Skylar was a little shy at first, but once she realized that she got a treat by simply saying, "Trick or Treat" (more like "Chick or Tree") to strangers, then she quickly got the hang of it!  Brody's costume was a big hit, everybody loved our handsome little UPS man!  Here are some pictures from our festivities.  

Brody with a delivery!

Our ladybug grabbing a treat from the dessert table.

Trick or Treat!

Treats:

Caramel Apples -  I followed the directions on the caramel bag, but then drizzled with melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and topped with mini-chocolate chips and nonpareils (you can try Giada's recipe HERE on Food Network)

 Bugle Witch Hats - I dipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles into melted chocolate chips, rolled them in nonpareils, and stuck them onto fudge stripe cookies.

 Chocolate Monster Balls - I used the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Haystack recipe HERE and just added white chocolate chips for eyes.

Ghost Nutter Butter Pops and Oreo Pops - I used the tutorial from HowDoesShe shown HERE and HERE.

All of the paper crafts like the "Trick or Treat" banner, "BOO" sign on Nutter Butter Pop display, cupcake toppers, and labels came from the Sweet Metel Moments Halloween collection.  Stay tuned for an upcoming post on what to do with leftover Halloween candy!

Free Printable - Happy Halloween!

I can't believe Halloween is almost here!  Where did this month go?  Brody had a parade at school today and I got to see him and the rest of his classmates all dressed up in their costumes, they looked so sweet!  It is moments like these that remind me why I love Halloween so much.  Plus there are lots of sweet treats involved, which is an extra bonus!  I am planning to make lots of goodies for my family on Halloween like these cupcakes with my cupcake toppers!

In honor of Halloween and all things sweet, I want to share with you my Halloween printable Party Punch as seen above turned into cupcake toppers.  

You can use them to create lots of other fun items like favor tags, napkin rings, jar decorations, wine charms, and more!  To get your own FREE printable PDF file, DOWNLOAD HERE.   

If you haven't already done so, make sure you subscribe to my blog (there is link on the upper right side of the page that says "SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL" or just click HERE) so you are in the loop for any future free printables and giveaways!  I hope all of you have a fun and safe Halloween!  I will make sure to post lots of pictures next week!

Sweet Arielle

This past weekend, my adorable baby niece Arielle Gabriella, was brought into this world.  I am so excited to get to know this precious little girl as she grows up.  In honor of all of her sweetness, I've posted some Fall and Halloween treats below (click on the treat name to link to their recipe).  Congratulations to Ish and Beatriz for their beautiful baby girl.  And I hope you all enjoy making and eating these yummy treats!

Clockwise from top right:

Eerie Eyeball Cookies: Watch these eyeballs disappear as everyone bites into the yummy malt ball in the middle of the treat.

Libby's Pumpkin Roll: With the moist pumpkin cake wrapped around a cream cheese filling, can there be a better dessert for Fall?

Gummy Mummies:  These mummies are too cute to eat, or are they?

Halloween Whoopie Pies:  Use different colored nonpareils to make these Halloween treats as colorful as you like for any season.

Donuts with Dad

Hard to believe another year went by, and yesterday, I turned another year older!  I had an amazing birthday thanks to my wonderful family (who all celebrated with me this past weekend), and my wonderful husband and kids who made me feel like the luckiest woman alive yesterday.  And thank you to all of my friends who called and sent sweet emails.  I don't know what I did to be this blessed, but I thank God everyday for all He has done!

Not only was yesterday my birthday, but it was a big day for Brody and Chris - it was Donuts with Dad at school!!  Brody was extremely excited for this special event and has been talking about it every day since school started.  I made a special banner for his class.  Check out the pics!

My special banner in Brody's classroom - woohoo!

Brody and Chris - what a cute pair!