31 Days of Halloween 2012 ~ Day 4

{Click for tutorial from PlaidOnline.com}

Grab your favoriate craft store's current coupon and get that apothecary jar! They should also have the Martha Stewart glass paint by Plaid. This is such a cute idea! I'm headed to the Hob Lob tomorrow. Don't fail me now 40% off coupon!



For more 31 Days of Halloween....

31 Days of Halloween 2012 ~ Day 1

It's my very favorite time of year again and you know what that means - My 3rd annual 31 Days of Halloween!

I know I've been missing around Peach Street these days and I am very sorry about that. I've been anxious to get back over here and begin blogging again and this is the perfect excuse to do so. If you're curious what I've been up to, please see my other blog, Southern Revivals - my furniture refurbishing and home decor blog. Hopefully you'll see that I haven't totally abandoned the blogging world, after all!

Let's get the show on the road, shall we?

Photo by: Antonis Achilleos/Halloween Celebrations

I want to turn every mirror into a spook show after seeing this project on the Woman's Day website but the effect is permanent and I don't think I could afford the therapy my children might need after seeing a ghost in every mirror in the house for years on end. So, I'll be plundering the junk stores for cheap mirrors because this is an awesome must-do project. Click the picture for the tutorial.
Happy 31 Days of Halloween!

Quick & Easy Homemade Pumpkin Pancakes

I have the greatest from scratch pumpkin pancake recipe. Ever. The problem is I can NEVER find it. Every year the weather gets crisp and cool and I get a hankering for pumpkin pancakes. And every year I cannot remember where I've put it. Today, if I had turned the house upside like I usually have to, I'm sure I would've found it. But since I had a limited amount of time get my pumpkin pancake fix, I decided to explore my options.

I'm glad I did! My from scratch recipes calls for yummy things like spices and melted butter. It is to die for! But who has time for from scratch pancakes every time they want them? This version is the next best thing!

Simple Ingredients

2 eggs
1 c. Milk
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (or canned pumpkin puree)
1 3/4 c. Bisquick Mix
1 TBSP Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional

The Quick & Easy Part

Just mix it all up, pour it onto your griddle and flip when they start to bubble a little.

Supposedly it yeilds 2 1/2 dozen 4" pancakes. I must've made mine a good bit bigger!

Today I am thankful for pumpkins and lazy Saturdays with my family!

NOTE: I always have left over canned pumpkin puree from my Halloween party. I make a yummy pumpkin dip that only uses about half the can of pumpkin. I'm always looking for ways to use up that kind of stuff because I hate to waste. If you find yourself with leftover canned pumpkin puree, you can use it for these pancakes or for Festive Pumpkin Dip - found here.

Sloppy Jacks Recipe ~ Day 29

A fun take on Sloppy Joes. The perfect pre-trick or treat dinner.

What you need:
1lb of ground beef
Small can Manwich
1 Refridgerated Pizza Dough
Chives/Green Onion tops cut in 1" pieces
Orange Food Color Spray

What you do:
Brown your meat; drain
Mix in 1/2 - 3/4 of the can of Manwich(using the whole can will make your meat too wet and the inside of your sloppy jacks will be soggy)
Set Aside

Roll out pizza dough and cut in three sections; across horizontally then vertically making 9 squares of dough.

Place a dollop of meat mixture in the middle of each square. Fold corners in and pinch dough together. Place pinched sides down on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake on 350° for 20 - 25 minutes.

Let cool slightly then spray with orange food color spray. Make a small hole in the tops of your pumpkins and put in your chive or green onion.

Serve to your Ghouls and Boils. Maybe they'll eat less candy that way. Maybe not.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Carving 101 ~ Day 25

I have a confession. Until today, these were the only Halloween decorations in my house. Are you as shocked as I am depressed about it? I know, right?

I was driving through town last night and passed a house covered in cob-webs and Halloween lights and I promply burst into tears. I keep telling myself that the remodeling we've been doing will be worth it and I'll have an even better place to decorate next year. But then I think, next year, like as in 365 MORE days from now. And then I want to cry again.

Anyway, I tried to redeem myself today by doing a little pumpkin carving with the kiddos. And I have to tell you about the greatest thing ever. Ever.

Meet the Pumpkin Gutter. If you don't have one you must stop reading this and drive on over to the local Wal-mart right now. Go. I'll wait.

Now. I don't know about you but I've owned every pumpkin carving kit ever made and that piece of plastic with teeth that's included never does the trick for me. I'm an avid pumpkin carver, I admit it. But even if you're not this thing is worth all of the five hundred eighty seven pennies it costs.

It's fun to boot. You can even use it in the smaller pumpkins.

Anybody can do it and it makes quick work of the not so fun part so that you can get on with the so fun part.

Next, if you carve even one pumpkin a year, you're going to want to invest in some carving tools. You can get the cheap ones (left) which work great or, for a little more, you can upgrade to one like this Martha Stewart set (right). I like this one because it comes with the gouging tools which really come in handy. By the way, did you know they make a carving kit for your Dremel? That is totally going on my Christmas list. (Along with a scroll saw....just in case any of my family's reading this!)

To make things a little easier you might want to use a pumpkin carving template. Google them. Free. Easy. You can also find some from Southern Living, here. Do not, I repeat, do not let your child try talking you into free handing Mickey off a Disney World bag onto your pumpkin. You were warned.

And last, but certainly not least, spray the inside of that masterpiece daily with a mixture of bleach and water - I use Clorox Anywhere spray - to keep flesh eating bacteria from forming. Or you can wipe the inside with petroleum jelly to keep it hydrated. Don't let all that hard work go to waste!

I have one final tip for you. If you mistakenly thought maggots only eat meat, I am here to tell you they eat pumpkins, too. This is especially good to know if you're keeping your pumpkin indoors. And it rots. Without your knowing it. Because you didn't know you were suppose to spray it with bleach water, no one ever told you, and you find yourself, the day of your Halloween party, cleaning maggots off the buffet, the floor, the walls....BLECH.

Not that that's ever happened to me.

Handmade Costume Ideas ~ Day 12

I don't have anything together for Halloween. I am starting to panic. Just a little. What are you going as?

I found some really cute ideas and thought I'd share with you......

Baby Dragaon

From Parents.com



DIY Superhero

From Parents.com



Cops & Robbers

From Amy @ Living Locurto
This choice could do it for the whole fam and I'd be D.O.N.E.



Alien Abduction

From FamilyFun.com
I'd really love it if boy #1 would let me make him this for Halloween. It's such a great costume! Right!



Pumpkin

From Martha Stewart.com
This looks easy. I like easy.



Spider Web-Mommy & Baby Spider

I wanted to do this last year with the baby but by the time Halloween rolled around he was less than 2 months old and I was more than sleep deprived.

I really think I'm going to do it this year. How bout you?

Madame Has Lost Her Head - Mini Tut ~ Day 11

Just a mini-tutorial on how I made Madame a few years back should you like one of your own...

First wrap entire base in batting making sure neck stays slim. Wrap two lengths of wire (making sure to measure first so they look proportionate) with foam or batting leaving enough wire on each end to wrap around lamp base where shown.

Wrap arms and "body" with desired dress material making sure to bunch it up in the front of the body so that it resembles a bodice. Attach arms by wrapping wire where shown and pull up arm material to cover and also to puff up the sleeves. You may also want to use pins to keep things in place.

Attach collar where shown and wrap with additional dress material to form high neck dress. Adorn with broach. Wrap a strip of material around base to form waist.

Stuff a pair of gloves and tuck the ends of the arms into the gloves.

Carve your pumpkin with a grusome face and adorn it with a hat. I glittered a simple straw hat from the craft store and added some dried flowers and aged crepe paper bow. Secure the hat with long pins into the pumpkin.

Hope you enjoyed!



P.S. Pumpkins rot quickly inside and attrack maggots. Please don't ask me how I know.....

........CONTINUES