happy halloween!

Wherever there is injustice, you will find us.

Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there.

Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find...

the 3 Amigos!

We hope you had a fun and safe Halloween. 

dinner in a pumpkin [tradition]

A few nights ago, we were the lucky dinner guests of a good friend who let us be a part of one of her family's favorite Halloween tradition: Making Dinner in a Pumpkin. 

This is something that has always been on my Fall bucket list, but I've never been brave enough to try it. However, now that I have  done it  seen it done (she did all the work!), I think we'll be adding this to our list of Halloween traditions as well.

The recipe she used contained hamburger, rice, mushrooms, water chestnuts, cream of chicken soup, and a few other things. Although, I bet there are a million different recipes out there that you could find one that satisfies your style of cooking. I've heard of stews, soups, and other casserole type dishes. 

If you've done this before, share the recipe with us! 

One more day until Halloween! Are you ready? We are excited.  

the switch witch [tradition]

image

I heard this fun tradition from my cousin whose friend gave her this Halloween tradition idea. 

For the full story, visit her blog, but the gist is this: It's called the Switch Witch.

After the kids get back from trick-or-treating, they get to keep some of their favorite candy.

Then, they leave the rest in a place for the Switch Witch.

While they are sleeping, the Switch Witch switches out the candy they left for a toy. 

You can then save the good candy for when you need a treat 

and throw the rest away that you don't want to eat. 

The kids are happy with their new toy and they don't eat too much candy! 

If you try it out, let us know how it goes. I won't be doing this for a few years. :) 

a new way to carve pumpkins

If you haven't already carved pumpkins this year, try something new!

I saw this idea on Martha Stewart and I knew I had to try it. 

I wouldn't recommend it for children, but there are so many possibilities with this method. 

What you need: pumpkins, newspaper, and a drill

How to: Clean out your pumpkins like you normally would.  Then instead of using a knife to carve, use a drill to make holes of all sizes and patterns.

I loved it so much because usually my pumpkin carved looks like a 10 year old did it.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, but just saying :)

a halloween music mix

Every season needs a good music mix to get you in a festive mood. We've been playing songs from a Halloween Music Mix I created. Simply playing this music while cleaning up the house, doing dishes or laundry makes even the most of mundane tasks festive. And let's not forget that it can create a spontaneous dance party that is suitable for any age. Here is what we've been listening to...

Turn on some festive music and have a happy weekend!
And don't forget to check out our weekend posts coming up...
a new way to carve pumpkins and more!

Trick or Treat Bags

Hey this is Andrea popping in with a fun little idea today.  Snag some cheap cloth bags from Walmart, or your local craft store, and spruce them up to make them just a little more festive!

I don't know about you but these "Three Little Pigs" are getting pretty excited for Halloween!

our favorite event of the year + halloween preview week!

There are only 8 days left until Halloween! Here on So Festive this week, we're going to be featuring all things Halloween. Stay tuned for recipes, costume reveals, and more! 

the last few spudnuts

To begin, I'm going to show you some snippets of our Sunday Spudnut Sunday party that we host every year. Here were the invites I made up:

I can't believe we've been doing this for 5 years as a Sunday family. Although to keep the record straight, this tradition started decades ago in my grandmother's kitchen. She found this wonderful recipe and decided to dedicate a day each year to making spudnuts. My mother did this with my family each year, and I loved it so much, I have done it each year since I've been out of the house. It was a hit in college. And I even made them when I was in Germany! I made sure my husband would be on board with this before I married him. And good thing he is, because it definitely is not a one-man show. 

Every year it gets better. This year, we made sure we had extra lighting in the backyard by using tiki torches and orange twinkle lights. And we made sure to have plenty of cups and apple juice. We ran out last year!

Here are few pics of the pre-event. It is too crazy to ever manage getting photos during the event. 

If you'd like to host your own Spudnut party, let us know! We'd be happy to share some tips. 

Here is the recipe I posted last year.

halloween dinner decor

This was the spread for a Halloween dinner party we hosted last year.

The favors are jello popcorn.

candy corn

I don't know what it is about candy corn, but how can you not love it?

Even if you don't like to eat it, it sure makes things festive this time of year!

halloween rice-krispy treats [recipe]

I needed a quick, but festive treat to take to a get-together.

Rice krispy treats are always a winner, but sometimes they can look a little boring.

I experimented sprucing them up a few years ago, but this time they turned out even better. 

I followed this simple recipe:

Festive Rice Krispy Treats

1/2 cup butter

10.5 oz marshmallows

6 cups rice krispy cereal

orange food coloring (or red and yellow)

Melt butter and add in marshmallows on medium heat. Once the marshmallows are 90% melted, add in the food coloring. For a bold color, use about 20 drops. Once you have reached the color you want, stir in the rice krispy cereal. Make sure you seperate the marshmallow mixture before you add food coloring if you are going to do two different colors. Mold into desired shapes before its sets up. Cool on wax paper and then store in air-tight container. 

To mold, I found it easiest to form them directly into the cookie cutter, as opposed to putting them in a pan and then cutting the desired shape. For the pumpkins, as soon as I molded them, I put them on wax paper and then sprinkled green sprinkles on the stem before they cooled.

And here are the ghosts. I think mini chocolate chips would look even better, but when you don't have time to run to the store, just use what you have! 

Enjoy these simple, cheap, and festive treats! 

orange + white

Aren't these mini gift bags adorable? I couldn't resist them.

It makes me SO excited for Halloween!

room on the broom

We've been reading lots of Halloween/Fall stories around here.

But this is perhaps one of my all-time favorites.

I've always been a big fan of Julia Donaldson books, 

so it makes me happy that she has one that ties in with a holiday.

how to make a witch

My mom made this witch years ago. I have always liked it and finally got around to making one for me. This is a very inexpensive and fairly easy craft.

What you'll need:
-a piece of dog-eared fence. (The older, the better. If you don't have a scrap of it, you can buy one piece of fence for $2 that will make 3.)
-2 tree branches about 12 inches long
-Raffia
-Scraps of Halloween fabric or ribbon
-Green and black paint
-Plastic spider

Here's how to do it:
1. Paint the top 5" of the wood black (the dog-eared part--this will be the hat)
2. Paint the tree branches black and set aside.
3. Paint the witches face green and let dry.
4.Once the face is dry, paint two black dots for the eyes
5. Tie about 20 strands of raffia together in the middle. Then hot glue it at the top of the face in the middle.
6. Hot glue the one of the branches for the hat brim right above the hair.
7. Hot glue the ribbon above the hat brim.
9. Put a little raffia at the end of the other branch for the broom. Attach some ribbon.
10. Hot glue the broom. Add a spider for even more festiveness!

15+ festive activities for the fall

halloween dinner + happy halloween!

My sister planned a super festive dinner for our Halloween party on Saturday. We ate chicken chowder in pumpkin bread bowls and had a black and orange dessert of vanilla ice cream dyed + hot fudge + brownies.

Happy Halloween! I hope you have a safe and festive one!

Who would have thought that dyed ice cream could taste so good?

Spudnuts [recipe]

I have had a few people ask for our Spudnut recipe. I posted it last year, but here it is again in case you are wanting to make some of your own! I have also included more detailed instructions this time around so it is not confusing! Enjoy! This is one of my favorite things about Fall!

Spudnuts
1 quart (4 cups) milk, scalded
1 Tbsp. yeast and 1 Tbsp. sugar dissolved in 1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar
8 Tbsp. shortening
4 eggs, beaten
12-13 cups flour
2 Tbsp. salt

Glaze
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix together.

Directions: 
Make 2 cups of mashed potatoes. (I like to do this the day before to cut down on dough time)
Scald milk and let it cool enough so that it doesn't kill the yeast. While the milk is cooling, put yeast and sugar into the hot water to let rise. (Make sure the water isn't too hot that it kills the yeast.) Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.

Meanwhile, cream sugar and shortening together. Add in beaten eggs and mix. Then add yeast mixture and milk. Slowly add in flour and salt. (You will probably need a few extra cups of flour so it isn't sticky). Once it is mixed well and smooth, let it rise in a large bowl with a clean towel over top. Let rise for 1-3 hours.

To roll out and cut, flour a surface well. Roll out dough into 1/2 inch thick. Use a donut cutter or a cup with water bottle lid to make donut shapes. Let them rise again another 1/2 hour to 1 hour before frying. Fry in vegetable oil.

After they have been fried, let them sit on a paper towel to let some of the grease drain. Then dip them in glaze and eat warm!

mini mummies

what you'll need:

prepared pie crust + little smokies

let the dough sit out for 15 minutes to thaw. then cut into 1/8th inch strips.
wrap the strips of dough around each smokie starting from one end to the other.
leave a little space for the face that you can make with ketchup or mustard.
lay on a pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

a fun and easy Halloween appetizer! 

creepy food game

In preparation for our ward Halloween carnival, the youth I'm over decorated these boxes. There will be a "creepy" food in each one. The idea of the game is to put your hand inside and try to guess what Halloweenish item the food represents.

the flap reveals the right answer

This is a list of the food that will be in each box and what it represents:

peeled grapes= eyeballs

frozen water in plastic glove= rotting hand

head of cauliflower= brain

wet noodles= worms

popcorn kernels= teeth

Bugles= witches' nails

raisins= warts

dried apricots= ears

banana peel= tongue

Try it out at one of your Halloween parties!

Sugar Cookies [recipe]

We love decorating sugar cookies for holidays. This is my mom's sugar cookie recipe and it's a winner! Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies
1 lb. margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
6 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix eggs, butter, and sugar first. Add remaining ingredients. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

if you are in town..