Halloween Party Inspirations~

It’s Amy Belle Isle, from stem parties, and I promise that no paper lanterns were harmed or even used in this guest blog post. (If you’ve seen any parties I’ve done that Jenn has posted, you know how hard that was for me.) In fact, this guest post was almost an entire post about ways to use those bad boys. Instead, I’m keeping it seasonal and featuring a few ways to work with the controversial Candy Vegetable of the Gods: Candy Corn.
Love it or hate it, there’s no denying it looks festive! Here are just a few ideas:
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Serving TraysThe two versions of serving trays pictured a use inexpensive acrylic box frames, candy corn, tape and ribbon. That’s it!
The cupcake tray is simply one frame filled with candy and topped off with the party food of your choice. This could work for anything that is in an individual dish or wrapper. Shot glasses filled with chilled pumpkin soup, anyone?
The drink tray could be used to give some height and pizzazz to anything you’re serving. I’d steer clear of anything too hot on the surface though. Simply take two acrylic box frames, fill one with candy, line the edges of the other one on top of it, put a few pieces of double-sided tape to secure the two together and then run ribbon of your choice along the tape to “hide” the seam. Voila!
You can hot glue the two frames together but I like to encourage tape so you can reuse them. Just think of all the ways and themes in which you can use this idea by changing the items you place inside!
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Party Favors:

I love the look of acrylic obviously. It just makes everything look a little more modern. Even though I don’t love candy corn in my mouth on its own, I do love it mixed with peanuts. Give me salty-sweet any day. Am I right, ladies? Fill the boxes with the mixture, tie with ribbon, add a tag and let your guests know that you’re glad they took time out of the busy holiday season to join you.
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Floral AccentsThe simple arrangement I made here is made by placing a small cylinder vase inside a larger one and then adding candy corn in the gap between the two. Fill the smaller vase with water, pick the flowers of your choice and add a few twigs to give it an extra touch of autumn. I’ve adorned this one with some ribbon for that extra touch.

Candle AccentsShy of buying these adorable candles from Plum Party, nothing could be easier than filling various sizes and shapes of candle holders and vases with some candy corn and placing a candle inside. Give it a glow!
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Invitations{pictured at top} How cute are these Classic Candies party invitations (starring our treat of choice!), and Candy Corn Halloween Cards from tiny prints?!
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Not enough ideas yet?• Fill various sizes of cylinder or square vases with candy corn for a simple and chic display.• Completely cover inexpensive frames of all shapes and sizes with glued on candy corn and make a seasonal focal wall with them.• Use branches from your yard or the craft store and cover the branches with glued on candy corn. Place inside a vase to make an interesting centerpiece.• Hang clusters of orange, white and yellow paper lanterns all around the party space. (I almost made it. So close.)
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Source:
www.hostessblog.com/.../

I thought these ideas were cute! Have a Sweet Day!

Halloween Drinks

What can you do when you're in the mood for homemade pumpkin pie, but you're squashed for time? Whip up a batch of these thick and tasty pumpkin smoothies.

Recipe Ingredients
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk or vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. brown sugar4 ice cubes

Directions

Combine ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.
Pour the smoothies into small glasses (this drink is rich) and garnish each with a dollop of vanilla yogurt or whipped topping. For a fun touch, add a pinch of cinnamon or a few colored sprinkles. Serves 2 or 3.

Most kids won't eat a worm unless that worm is gummy. So we put them in this "rotten" punch to make it extra yummy.


Ingredients

Apple cider (adjust the amount for the number of people you plan to serve; we suggest at least 1 gallon)
Five 1/2-cup containers (we used Pyrex glass dishes; other small containers or cups will also work)
Red and green food coloring
10 to 15 gummy worms
Punch bowl


Instructions

Pour apple cider into all 5 small dishes, stopping about 1/2 inch from the top. Add 2 drops of red and 1 drop of green food coloring to each dish and stir until the colors have blended.
Hang 2 or 3 gummy worms around the edge of each dish and place the dishes in the freezer. If you use more than 3 worms, the rotten apples won't float as well. Freeze until the rotten apples are solid.

Just before serving, slip the frozen wormy apples out of the dishes by setting them briefly in a few inches of warm water in your sink.

Float the rotten apples in a large punch bowl filled with untinted cider. For added creepiness, drape the gummy worms over the edges of your serving bowl.

Tip: Do steps 1 and 2 the day before serving the punch.

Filled with gummy creatures and fish eggs made from tapioca pearls, this sweet, bubbly drink looks like something scooped up from a deep, dark bog. Try making a batch for a Halloween gathering or as a spooky after-dinner treat.


Ingredients

FOR 8 SERVINGS:

1/2 cup small tapioca pearls (found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores)
Food coloring
4 tablespoons sugar
8 gummy fish
Seltzer water
Lemonade
8 gummy worms


Instructions

MAKE THE EGGS: Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce the heat slightly and boil the pearls, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes.

COLOR THE EGGS: Divide the pearls, with the remaining water, between two bowls. Add 4 drops of food coloring (we used 3 drops of yellow and 1 drop of green in one bowl, and 4 drops of blue in the other) and 2 tablespoons of sugar to each bowl. Stir the mixtures, then allow them to sit uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and rinse the pearls with cold water.

ASSEMBLE THE DRINK: Spoon 2 tablespoons of pearls into each glass and drop in a gummy fish. Fill the glasses with seltzer water, then add a splash of lemonade. Place a gummy worm around a spoon as shown.

Source:

http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-recipes/

Halloween is COMING and I thought these drinks were pretty neat! Maybe you can try one at your Halloween party!

Have a Sweet day!