Cookie Sunday: Batch #4 Sugar Cookies

The boys love making sugar cookies, and we have some fun Halloween cookie cutters so I decided we would make some sugar cookies this Sunday.  To make things go a little quicker, I made the dough ahead of time (it has to sit in the fridge for 1 hour) and for a treat later I froze the extra dough (lets face it we really don't need 6 dozen sugar cookies- this recipe makes a ton).  The boys had a blast making, decorating, and especially eating them!

We also used a gingerbread man cookie cutter to make skeletons and zombies lol. The recipe is just the Crisco recipe, but my secret ingredient is Butter Pecan syrup that makes it taste extra good.

Crisco Ultimate Sugar Cookies
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 c. butter flavor shortening
2 eggs
1/4 c. corn syrup or pancake syrup
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Decorations

Heat oven to 375. Combine sugar and shortening in a bowl and mix until well blended.  Add eggs, syrup, and vanilla.  Beat until fluffy.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add gradually and mix on low speed until well blended.  Divide dough into 1/4, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters.  Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart (sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired) and cook for 5-9 minutes.  Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet.  Remove to cooling rack and when cool frost/ decorate as desired.

Makes 3-4 dozen


So I use Butter Pecan syrup like I said before to make them taste really good.  And I always use butter flavored shortening, but this time I ran out so I used 1/2 shortening and 1/2 coconut oil.  I was a little worried it wouldn't turn out, but they turned out perfectly!!  So feel free to use coconut oil.  Not sure how it will turn out with all of it coconut oil but I doubt it would be a problem.

Enjoy!

Halloween Costumes: Specially Featuring Pokemon!

Happy Halloween!  

This year the costumes were a little stressful.  My youngest wanted to be Spiderman (we already have it- yes!) and my 2nd oldest wanted to be a football player (we already have it- yes!) but my oldest wanted to be Garchomp.  The Pokemon Garchomp.  Which you cannot buy in a store. 

Easy peasy right?  AAHHHHH! Is what I am thinking.  He originally wanted to be a shower like the Karate Kid and I tried desperately to try and convince him how cool that would be.  Didn't work.  So I got my brain thinking and myself shopping to try and find some stuff.

And then on Saturday I decided I just needed to bite the bullet and start.  I hate sewing.

After all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon I finished!!!!  Hallelujah!

So now we have babe's costume:

My costume:

My oldest's costume:

Now my second child saw how much fun it was for me to spend all my time making the oldest a costume.  So Sunday he declared he wanted to be Pichu.  Groan.  Kill me now.

I thought- maybe I can do this in time for our church trunk or treat on Wednesday so off I go again- looking for yellow clothes.  Luckily my mom had sent me some yellow dye a few years ago and my son already has some Iowa State football pants (ahem) so I dyed a shirt yellow, he will wear his football pants inside out and he will wear this:

And we are good.

The tail isn't zig-zagged says my husband.  Shuddy (we are using a black cat tail from the costume box). I am done.  Wait, yes I will need to make a collar tonight but I am done.  Oh, now my oldest wants me to make some adjustments to the costume.  NOOOO.  I am done people.  No adjustments.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Treat Tubes

Halloween is all about the treats right?  So why not make some treats with style?

I cut these treat tubes out using my Cricut and a CCR file (cricut craft room).  It makes it super easy!  I also used the Artbooking cartridge- I used the Halloween mini book cuts, made them small, and cut off the binding part.  Then I colored them with some markers (including the silver metallics one).  Way fun!  If you want the CCR file just leave a comment and I will email it to you (since I can't figure out how to have it on this site)

This will be a workshop Saturday Oct. 26th and it is my first ever Kid workshop too!  Kids are welcome to come make these as long as an adult is present- the pumpkin one is easier for little kids to do.  The cost is $3 per tube (including candy) or $10 for 4 tubes.

Supplies Used:
Artbooking Cartridge
Artiste cartridge
treat tubes
black shimmer trim
bakers twine
hemp
clothes pins

Halloween Fun With Laughing Lola!

Are you a fan of the Laughing Lola paper pack?  I am a fan of anything paper- related, but this paper pack I wasn't sure what to do with being I have 3 boys and am the only female in the fam.  But I love a challenge and I love paper so I was all set when figuring out what to do with Laughing Lola.  Well, it turns out the girlish paper pack can be a bit goulish, hahaha.

Supplies Used:
Artbooking cartridge
Laughing Lola paper pack
Laughing Lola embellishments
black shimmer trim
Pear cardstock
Slate cardstock

This will be a workshop in October so sign up and start the Halloween season!

Boo! Card

 

Happy Haunting!  This card is pieced together using the Cricut cartridges Artiste and Artbooking.  There weren't any cutesy ghosts so I made up my own.  Look later to see this card in one of my workshops!  The card is 5x7 and here is what I used:

Artbooking Cartridge

Artiste Cartridge

Sarita paper

Buttercup cardstock

Goldrush cardstock

Black cardstock

White cardstock

Slate cardstock

Blush ink pad

Olive marker

Autumn Terracotta marker

brown marker

K- so you kinda need the instructions for this bad boy.

All were cut with real dial size on

Ghost- flower p. 74 (artiste) 4"

Pumpkin- overlay p. 73 (artbooking) 2 3/4", pumpkin 4"

Night background- owl p. 76 (artiste) 5"

Moon, eyes, & nose- circle p. 48 (artiste) 2", 1/2", 1/4"

Boo- boo p.71 (artbooking) 3/4"

Contest

Well, here I am in St. Louis at a regional convention for Close To My Heart!  What fun!  They had a contest so I decided to enter it.  The rules were it needed to be 3D and use chalkboard marker and/ or chalkboard paper.  This is what I made:

They are nesting Jack O'Lantern treat boxes!  The new Cricut Artiste cartridge is sooo much fun!!!With these boxes the lid slides up revealing a hole.  I decided to do polka dots because I am really into dots :)  And with the chalkboard paper it is much easier to draw with the chalkboard marker because if you use regular paper it soaks up the ink and you have to go over it a few times. 

I used the back of an "o" for the polka dots and used the cricut to cut out the boxes, leaves, and faces.  For the boxes I cut them out at 3.5", 2.75", and 2".  To shape the hemp I used some liquid glass and wound it around a pencil.  For the glitter I used the silver glitter glue and then colored it with the new autumn terracota marker.  The leaves I colored with the new olive marker.  The stems I freehand cut and shaped out of the kraft paper.

Wish me luck!! The prize is $50 in product credit so I really want it!

Halloween Shadowbox

I LOVE to decorate for Halloween.  I don't like anything gross or scary (because then my boys won't go into their own bedroom by themselves).  The boys had a day off from school so I decided to put them to work making my decorations for me. Here is what I was trying to copy: bat frame

So first I have to explain that I bought a drawer from the local university's surplus store.  I love all the tray scrapbooking decor that is popular right now but didn't think $20-$30 was worth it when I can just use a drawer.  So bought one that is a little bigger than I thought, but hey I only paid $3 for it.  My husband just loved the idea that I bought a drawer too.  Who wouldn't?  While I was at the surplus I also bought an old medical book and some chemistry glassware (because yes I am a science nerd) which actually fits in perfectly for Halloween.

 So here is the drawer- the boys mod podged some pages of the book in the drawer.

 Then I cut some cardboard from an old box to fit into the drawer.  I ripped a big hole in the center and the boys painted it black.

 I cut bats out of shiny paper and the boys put red glitter glue eyes on the bats.

 

We taped the bats in the drawer, hung them with string, and glued them to the frame.  I bought the "Boo" from the dollar section at Target.  Viola!  I think it looks better than the original and the boys loved helping make it.