Easy Halloween Recipes & Food Ideas

We're less than a week away from one of the most fun holidays for kids - HALLOWEEN! And, what's the most important thing about Halloween?  The yummy treats, of course!  If you're looking for one special Halloween recipe to make for your family or ideas for an entire Halloween party menu, I've got lots of super easy ideas from this Halloween party I threw for some of my little friends.
 

Spooky S'Mores

These just make me smile!  Break a graham cracker in half, and slide it in a clear treat bag with Ghost Peeps and a couple mini Hershey's Chocolate Bars.  If you want to jazz it up even further, add tag from my Halloween Printable Collection. If you want to eat them warm, you can pop them in a microwave for 10-second intervals.  Of course, I found the kids had a great time just eating all the parts individually.

Candy Corn Popcorn Balls

Candy Corn Popcorn Balls are a tradition at our house. Year after year, I get special requests for these, so you know they're good! This recipe from Cooking Light is super easy and, if you can believe it, LOW CAL! (Just 212 calories each...okay, not super low cal, but pretty good for a homemade dessert.)  I added a little extra cute to them this year by pushing in a wooden candy apple stick and tying a little ribbon to the top of the stick.  I also slid some into clear treat bags and tied them shut with twine around the base of the stick for some cute take-home party favors. To complete the look of this platter, I added a tent card from my Halloween Printable Collection.  This is one of the pre-formatted menu labels, but you can also type right in the PDF to create your own custom food tags and treat label tent cards.

Halloween Cupcakes

As busy moms and working gals, we can't do it all, but we can come pretty close.  That's why I love taking store-bought treats and adding a little of my own flair.  These Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes are perfect for Halloween with their deep black chocolate color and swirly white frosting detail. I auditioned the more famous brand of these cupcakes, but they didn't win the taste test...there was a clear difference.  To make these even cuter, I just added Halloween Cupcake Toppers from my Halloween Printable Collection and tied a little "Cupcakes" tag onto my glass dome. Easy, quick, and done!

Witch's Potion Punch

Sometimes, an easy name change is all it takes to go from ordinary to extraordinary.  Take some orange soda, call it "Witch's Potion Punch", and voila!  You could use sugar-free Kool-Aid, too, if you wanted to reduce some of the sugar intake at your party.  To make my soda look even more fun, I poured it into some recycled Target latte bottles and added Halloween paper straws from Hey Yo Yo.

Monster Mix

Halloween can be sweets overload, so it's good to have a little salty on hand, too.  Going with an easy, store-bought approach + name change again, I created Monster Mix by pouring Chex Mix into adorable orange candy cups from Hey Yo Yo. The tent-card label is from (you guessed it!), my Halloween Printables Collection. I also saw a fun Halloween recipe on Pinterest by In Katrina's Kitchen that would be fun to use, as well.

Halloween Cookies

At any party, it's really nice to have one special sweet.  Lindsey at Tickled Pink Cookie Boutique definitely knows how to make a party special.  Her cookies are so gorgeous in person with a light shimmery lustre...absolutely stunning and super delicious with a hint of almond extract. Bewitching!  I love how she was able to perfectly match the designs in my Halloween Printables Collection.  Of course, she can match any party theme, so be sure to like or bookmark her Facebook page.  She ships, too!

Halloween Mini Candy Bars

Details, details, details!  Here's another easy trick for personalizing your Halloween Party.  Wrap Hershey's Miniatures in festive orange and black paper (3 x 1.5" strips work well).  Or better yet, use the Halloween Mini Candy Bar Wrappers that come in my Halloween Printable Collection.  

Cutie Clementine Oranges

Looking for a healthy Halloween snack?  Load up on some Cutie Clementines.  These are the perfect shade of orange for Halloween, are easy to peel, and oh so delicious!  Don't they look super cute all piled up in the bottom of this basket stand?!

Halloween Candy

And, finally, what Halloween Party would be complete without candy?!  I love to make a bold visual impression, and this big jar of orange gumballs from Party City does just that. To save money when filling big candy jars like this, I always stack clear plastic cups upside down inside the jar to make a hallow center. Every little bit counts! I also used some of Party City's black-and-white striped candy sticks that have a great grape flavor that won't stain your mouth all up. Since I love candy corn, a jar of this is a must for me, too!

All of the amazing photos in this post were captured by Click Photo Designs by Sarah Brewer, a fantastic event and family photographer in Huntsville, AL.

Back to School Party Fun

Back to School is such an exciting time of year.  Lots of anticipation for the school year ahead, butterflies in the tummy, and reuniting with little friends you haven't seen in what seems like an eternity. I miss those days, so it was a thrill to get to style a Back-to-School Party for the cover of Madison Living magazine's September issue.

For all you sentimental mommies, I think it helps to look at these photos with "This Time of Year" by Better Than Ezra playing in the background...it's my fall jam!

All of these wonderful photos were taken by the amazing, Sarah Brewer of Click Photo Designs.  I love working with her on special events. She's fabulous at capturing all of the special little moments, so I highly recommend her for your children's birthday parties and especially family photos.  If you book a session with her in 2012, you'll get exclusive access to Christmas Cards designed by Belly Feathers.  A special perk just for Click Photo Designs customers.

I love how this pencil vase turned out.  It's just a mason jar surrounded by pencils held on with an elastic band, which is nicely hidden by the green polka dot ribbon. Super easy and super cute! This mini chalkboard was quite a find in Target's Dollar Spot section for only $2.50. I think I'll have a lot of fun with this around our house, too.

One of the best parts of school is snack time.  We had little cartons of pretend apple juice and butter cookies with the little holes in the center strung together with red and white baker's twine.
  

The super adorable outfits the kids are wearing were all provided by Bonnie Blue Boutique.  Isn't the headband above just gorgeous?!  This whole outfit is by Persnickety, and Bonnie Blue Boutique just happens to be the largest retailer of this clothing line in Alabama.  I can see why!  Owner Jennifer is fabulous at helping you pick out a great outfit, and I particularly love Persnickety because all of the pieces are mix and match, so you can create a really versatile wardrobe out of just a few pieces.

All of the decor for the party was simple and sweet.  I based everything off a cute apple rubber stamp and fresh green and red apples. I had my heart set on a chalkboard for the kids to play with, and when we couldn't find one, I made this one out of a thrift store mirror and chalkboard spray paint - a much easier project than I thought.  I love using my cupcake stand in non-traditional ways, and the fresh apples couldn't have been cuter displayed on it.

Hope everyone has a great school year full of bright ideas, special memories, and of course, fun PARTIES!

To see more Back-to-School Party photos, check out the September issue of Madison Living magazine.

Easy Kite Brownies on a Stick

It doesn't get any easier than these super cute Kite Brownies on a Stick for spring...especially since Little Debbie does most the work! These would be absolutely perfect for a school kite day!

Taking a cue from my friend Melissa at Buckets of Grace, who made some adorable skewered Little Debbie hearts for Valentine's Day, I was instantly inspired when I saw these Little Debbie Kite Brownies at my grocery store.

To make this display, I used:

• Little Debbie Kite Brownies
• A jar filled with glass beads
• Bamboo skewers (long and medium lengths)
• Long lengths of organza ribbon
• Short strips of a accent ribbon (mine were satin and grosgrain)

I recommend storing the skewers horizontally on a tray and waiting to assemble vertically right before your event. The brownies are soft, and I did have one of the brownies fall off its stick.  However, it held tight for about a hour before that happened. I'm sure your brownies will be snatched up before that happens.

If you make some Kite Brownies on a Stick, I'd love to see a photo!  Leave a comment on post on my Facebook wall.

Sneak Peek: Bubble Party Favors for Neighborhood Cookout

This weekend, my neighborhood is having a cookout, and of course, I couldn't go without bringing something fun for the kids. Aren't these Bubble Wand Party Favors super cute?!

 

I designed some tags and added a little ribbon to dress up these bubble wands that I found on clearance for $0.25 at Walmart. I couldn't believe what a steal they were, especially considering that they're about a foot tall!

I can't wait to see how they'll all look displayed all together at the neighborhood cookout and see how much fun the kids have with them. I'll share photos from the event next week.

If you'd like some Bubble Wand Party Favors like this for your event, let me know super fast before Walmart runs out. They come in pink, green, purple, orange, aqua, and blue. If you use one of my standard tag designs (ask to see), the fully-assembled bubble favors will be $2.50 each plus shipping. I can also do completely custom tags to match your party's design. Contact me at Betsy@BellyFeathers.com to discuss the details.

Great Party Buys: Ice Cream and Nautical Party Favors

If you're planning any End of Summer Parties, definitely check out the dollar bins at Michael's.  That's where I found these adorable Ice Cream Party Favors and Nautical Notebook Party Favors. Michael's had lots of items for both themes that you could use as party decorations, too.

Michael's Arts and Crafts Store - $1.00 each
Nautical Large Notebook with whales, anchor, or lobster
Nautical Small Notebook with pen featuring lobster, rope, or anchor
Ice Cream Eraser and Pencil
Ice Cream Facial Tissues
Ice Cream Mini Glittered Note Cards with Envelopes, Set of 8
Ice Cream Lip Gloss

Great Party Buys: Marvel Heroes Party Favors

If you're throwing a Marvel Super Heroes party anytime soon, these taffy bars would make perfect standalone party favors or additions to treat bags.

Dollar Tree - $1.00 for pack of 10 ($0.10 each)

Package includes two of each of the following Marvel comic book heroes: Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-Men's Wolverine.

With a new Iron Man movie out this summer and a Captain America movie scheduled for summer 2011, this is the perfect time to stock up for your little hero's next party.

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