Halloween Boo Bag Sweet Treats

I'm finishing up our Neighborhood Boo Bags.  Just a few more details and they will be ready to be secretly delivered.

Every Year we try to include a Home Made Sweet Treat.

Our families current favorite is Peanut Butter Bars - but they are not very colorful (shades and brown and beige), so I decided to switch up the recipe and make them more Halloween Themed.

 White Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

INGREDIENTS

20 Halloween Oreo Cookies

1/4 Cup Melted Butter

1   Cup Butter

 1 1/2   Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

2   Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

2   Cups Confectioners Sugar

1/2   Cup Chocolate Chips

1 1/2   Cup White Chocolate Chips

2   Tablespoons Shortening

DIRECTIONS

1.  Melt 1/4 cup butter in medium bowl.  Crush Oreo Cookies (using a food processor) into small crumbs.  Add to melted butter and stir until well coated. 

2.  Spread cookie crumb mixture onto bottom of 9 X 13 pan and refrigerate until firm.

3.  Melt 1 cup butter and peanut butter in large bowl in microwave - stirring frequently until smooth. 

4.  Add graham cracker crumbs and confectioners sugar to melted mixture and stir until well combined.  Set aside.

5.  Melt chocolate chips in microwave until smooth.

6.  Spread melted chocolate over cookie crust (this helps keep the cookie crumbs together and adhere them to the peanut butter layer).

7.  Spread peanut butter mixture evenly over cookie/chocolate crust and refrigerate until set.

8.  Melt white chocolate chips and shortening in microwave - stirring frequently until smooth.

9.  Spread over peanut butter mixture.

10.  Sprinkle with festive Halloween non-pareils, jimmies or quins.

11.  Refrigerate until firm - at least one hour.  Cut into squares.

More tips and details for this recipe are included on my Project Thursday Post over at The Pink Elephant Blog.

I Got Paid....For My Photo Prints

I have a tendency to dabble in way to many things at once (hence the name of my blog).

Sometimes that means I don't spend as much time (as I used to) indulging my passions.  

This week I was reminded of how much I enjoy taking Still Life Photos.  

Have you heard of Society6?  

A while back I set up a few of my favorite Still Life Photos for sale on their site.

They offer a great collection of all kinds of Artists Images.  The images are available in high quality products (like iPhone cases, pillows, stationary cards) and of course - PRINTS.  

 Much to my surprise - I received a notification this week that Society6 had deposited into my PayPal account for the SALE of my photographic products.

How cool is that?

Somewhere in the world - someone has one of my photographs hanging on their wall.  

 

 Someone else has 2 of my photographs - made into Throw Pillows - tossed onto their sofa.  

No matter how much I listen to my "inner voice" and allow my personal vision to guide my creative output.  It's still just a little thrilling to think that someone else might like my creations too.  

You can see more of my favorite Still Life Photos on my Society6 Profile HERE.

I'm feeling the urge gather up my favorite things, create a sweet vignette, dust off my SLR camera and get photographing again. 

 

Homework Station

We have been in school for 5 weeks this year so far - and this is what our Kitchen Counter often looks like:

To tell the Truth - it almost ALWAYS looks like this.

Homework never gets done in one sitting, so the homework supplies stay out all afternoon, and night and usually the next morning (for those last minute study sessions).

I decided it was time to Tame the Beast and Take Back our Kitchen Counter.

Ta Da...We Now have a Designated Homework Station!

 I would have loved to fill it with Fun Bright Colored accessories - but since it's in the middle of the Kitchen - and can be seen from all over the first floor - I decided to keep things neutral.

Everything essential for homework has it's place.

Text Books are covered with Newsprint Wrapping Paper (I added clear Contact Paper for extra durability).

 The books were covered - but not yet labeled - for at least a week.  

 I thought it was fun searching for the right text book - Little K....not so much. 

I used Red bordered labels - and my Old Fashioned typewriter - to make the Subject Labels.

  

Baskets of all different sizes are used to corral the clutter.  

Each one has it's own clever hang tag:

PLUG IT IN (electronic devices and chargers)

TAKE NOTE (note cards and sticky notes)

GO AWAY (erasers and white out) 

KEEP IT TOGETHER (paper clips and glue sticks)

 Cans of different sizes are wrapped with Scrap Book Paper (you could also use the same wrapping paper from the Text Book Covers). 

  
Look at these happy colored rubber bands - tucked inside one of the cans. 

 Colored pencils add another splash of bright.

Smaller baskets keep little bits in place, and cardboard magazine holders hide notebooks and paper packs (I plan on covering the white holders with more newsprint paper).  

 Another wrapped can holds a supply of sharpened pencils (that will somehow disappear completely within a few weeks).  

The bookcase that holds it all - is right next to the kitchen counter where homework is done. 

I didn't expect that everything would be neat and tidy all the time, and the counter is still filled with books and papers most of the afternoon and evening.  But our Homework Station has kept a lot of the little bits in place and made it much quicker to put things away (for her, and for me).

Now I need to do the same kind of organizing for the other place that homework gets done....the car. 

Duck Tape Flowers

Little K has been making all kinds of things from Duck Tape - but until recently - we never attempted making FLOWERS because they looked too complicated.

Nothing worse than getting frustrated with a project because it's more difficult than you imagined.  

We finally decided to attempt one.  

Much to our surprise - they are NOT as difficult to make as you might think.  

After learning a few tricks (and after a few practices) you can make one in under 15 minutes.
 

All you need is a variety of Duck Tape, pen, cutting mat and a utility knife.

Start by wrapping the body of the pen with a thin strip of Tape.  Only go as far as the cap - they fit pretty tightly and won't fit over the duck tape.

 

Here comes the Magic Trick....use a utility knife and cutting mat - instead of scissors - to cut the Duck Tape.

Pure genius.  Can I tell you how much time I've spend trying to de-gunk the scissors after trying to cut through that sticky tape.

The tape easily releases from the cutting mat - and the knife slices through the tape like butter.

Cut the tape into 2" sections.  Since the tape is approximately 2" wide - you will end up with 2' squares.

For this flower you will need:

10 squares for the center

14 squares for the outer petals

4 squares for the outer leaves

Next fold over one side of the square.

Then fold the other side of the square so you end up with a pointed top with exposed sticky tape at the bottom.

I found it's easiest to make all the "petals" at once, before you begin to attach them to the pen.

As you can see - it's not important that all the "petals" be perfect, neat or all the same.  The key is to be sure there is enough sticky at the bottom. 
 

Start attaching the petals around the stem of the pen.
 

I like to add the petals, one after the other, going around the pen clockwise. 
 

I find this method makes it easier to space them evenly.

Once all the petals have been added - it will be a bit messy underneath.
 

 The solution is to add 4 more leaf "petals" - same color as the pen stem - to cover up the messy bits.
 

 One final step was to add some Bling to the centers.
 

 And now we have a collection of bright Duck Tape Flower (pens) sitting by the kitchen phone.  I will never again need to go searching for a pen when the phone rings.

This project was also shared recently at The Pink Elephant.