Shrunken Heads

I hope you've seen these before, because they are a perfect addition to any Halloween party or home decor.

Start by getting a bowl of water, adding the juice from two lemon wedges and 2 tsp of salt to the water. Then peel your apples.

The fun part is carving your apples. You can make any kind of face, the possibilities are endless. We used whole cloves for the eyes and they worked great!

Then place your apple in the water for 10 minutes. Halloween Alliance recommends 10 minutes for dry areas and an hour for moist humid areas. According to them, "the salt will draw moisture from the apple once it’s out of the water, making the apple dry more quickly and helping to keep it from becoming moldy, and the lemon will help keep the color of the shrunken head light and uniform."

Go to their website and read more about it first before you begin. There are some more hints. Plan for two weeks to dry, but in a pinch you can use a food dehydrator or the oven at 200 degrees for 3-6 hours until dry and shriveled. Our were good for a party we had a week later and they continued to get better.

We actually skewered them on dowels and stuck them in a cookie rack standing up to dry. Place in an attractive arrangement for display and you are good to go.

Here is a sneak peek at how lovely, uhmmm, I mean gruesome and spooky they looked! This was really fun to do with the kids and they loved watching them dry and checked on their progress daily.

CUPCAKES! by Julie

I have been a craft slacker these past couple of weeks.  But, I have a very good reason!  For the last while I have been debating whether or not to open up my own cupcake business.  I finally did it!  Cupcakes! by Julie is currently in the process.  I am SO EXCITED and ready for this.  I am going to try and keep lots of fun creative crafty posts and pictures of delicious gourmet cupcakes!!

Here are a few of my creations!

 What do you think?  I have many more selections to choose from.  I can do any event from family get togethers to weddings! Even if you just want some cupcakes, give me a call!!!

 I am in the middle of putting my blog together, HERE is the link.  I am also on facebook. 

If you live in Southern Utah, make sure to come to the Ancestor Square Farmer's Market.  Every Saturday through October from 8-12.  I am selling my cupcakes there!

Countdown to Candy Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS to TORI!!

Winner of the Countdown to Candy!

Congrats Tori!  Hope you enjoy your Halloween blocks!  Email us at craescreations@hotmail.com with your address!

Candy Corn Bark

Found a yummy looking recipe for Candy Corn Bark over at Your Homebased Mom. Just had to try it. We liked it a lot. Salty, sweet and of course, all things Halloween. Go ahead a make some for your little Gouls and Witches.

We took Halloween Oreos broken up, pretzel pieces, and a few candy corns and placed them in a pan covered with wax paper.

Melted some almond bark and wilton candy melts and poured it over the top and used a spatula to spread it around. I then put a few Halloween sprinkles and some more candy corn on the top. Allowed it to harden in the fridge and then broke it up into pieces and enjoy it! So yummy!

Share with your friends. Makes great neighborhood gifts! Did I mention how "spook"tacularly easy it was? Ya, super easy.

Countdown to Candy Giveaway

Alright, ready for another giveaway?! This is so much fun. We know that this should have been our first giveaway so that you can use it the whole month long to countdown to H-day, you know the fabulous night of absolute bliss, Halloween. Best laid plans aside, here is the countdown anyway. You will be able to use it for half the month and many many more years of fun to come. Come on and enter our 3rd giveaway if you dare!!

There are many many versions of countdown blocks in the blog world, but this is a mini version, can fit in the palm of your hand. (I have one in my kids room in

additon to the regular sized one in the family room)

Here's How To Enter To Win!!1. Leave a comment on this post for 1st entry.
2. Follow this blog for a 2nd entry. If you are already a follower,

leave a comment stating you are!
3. Post this giveaway on your blog for a 3rd entry!

Deadline to enter the giveaway is Tuesday, October 12th at Midnight.

TIME'S UP!
Please see new post for announcement of winner!

Winner will chosen at random (using Random.Org) and announced on Wednesday, October 13th.

Here's wishing you some GOULISHLY GOOD LUCK! Remember, we will post another Halloween Giveaway next week after we

announce the WINNER for the Countdown to Candy giveaway!

Witch Boot Giveaway Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS ADRIAN!

said "So cute, I'd love to win!"

Adrian, I will be contacting you to get your information!

ENJOY and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Remember, sometime today we will be posting another Halloween Giveaway!

Come back and enter for a chance to win!

Follower's Giveaway!

Do you remember a while back when I told you all I was going to give away a super cute hat when we reached 50 followers?  Well that day has arrived!!!

CONGRATULATIONS EMILIEGH!

You are the winner of our Follower's Giveaway!

I will be contacting you for your information and getting your homemade Jack & Jill hat to you!

Candy Corn Wreath Tutorial

Candy Corn is to Halloween like Santa is to Christmas!  You have to experience candy corn or Halloween just isn't Halloween!  Not only is candy corn yummy to eat, it's colors are some of my most favorite!  I wanted to do something with candy corns and a Candy Corn Wreath is what I got!

I didn't want to have to spend any money either, so I rummaged around in my craft closet and wood supplies.  After some searching, I found all of this!

I cut out the candy corns on masonite board using a band saw.  If you don't have the wood or tools to cut wood, you can use the foamy paper stuff...any color will do because we are going to cover it with CUTE candy cornish paper!  I made a candy corn shape template, traced it onto my different paper color choices and cut them out.  I distressed the edges with an orange colored ink.

Now, glue them onto the wood.  I just used a glue stick but Mod Podge works great too.

Once all candy corns are completed, pull out the hot glue gun!  Now, glue all those bad boys to a wreath.  I am sure a foam wreath will work well.  Like I said, I just used what I had in my closet!

I found a piece of fall garland that was the perfect length.  Seriously, how lucky can one get?  I made a circle out of the garland and placed the wreath on top, pulling the stems through to make it look full.

To fill in the gaps, cut six or more long pieces of coordinating fabric.  Wrap them around the garland and wreath.  Not only does this fill in the gaps, but it hides the wire on the wreath.  It was still looking kind of blah in the center and this cream paper with black flowers gave it just the kick it needed.  I cut a circle and glued it to the back of the wreath.

Just like that....that's what the back looks like.

Now, put up your candy corn wreath and enjoy the Spirit of Halloween!

Spooky Halloween Invite

I really wanted to make this invitation from Martha for my upcoming Halloween party. However, when I kept pricing things out, it was very much over my budget, especially the rubber mold stuff.

So here is my knock off version. The coffin boxes I got on clearance last year for super cheap. I got the skeleton hands from Roberts in a ten pack and filled with some Spanish moss and tied a black ribbon around one finger.

Ooooo, I really liked how they turned out. Get going, get those parties planned and set a date. You know you want to party Halloween style.

(pictured on my newly completed table-runner. Julie posted hers long ago.

I am just getting mine done!)

STG 26.2

Ok, TIME OUT from all of the cute Halloween posts for a huge and most well deserved shout out to Julie for just running, TODAY, the St. George Marathon! Seriously! Not only does our favorite gal make such cute things and is so very crafty, she is well......freaking amazing because she runs and just completed a MARATHON. Do you really know how far that is? 26.2 miles. Wow, I am simply impressed. I am just great with being in the cheering section at the finish line. She will kill me for putting this on here, but I think you deserve to see how amazing she truly is.

Julie and her cute family. If you look close, she made her little boy's shirt. In the middle of all this, she still crafts! It says, : "my mom runs like a MOTHER!"

CONGRATS JULIE, such an amazing accomplishment!