{Real Parties} Leah's Halloween Printables Party

Leah of Doubly Blessed plus One had a fun toddler Halloween bash this past week and was kind enough to not only use our free Halloween printables, but also to share some of her pics...

It looks like Mummy Dogs are all the rage this year! I might have to make a batch for the party we have this weekend.

I LOVE this photo of her son, the dragon, slaying her husband, the knight!!

And although Leah bemoans that fact that they didn't get a good group shot at the party...

I have to say that it's a heck of a lot better than the ones we got at our toddler group party last year...

At least you could see who was at Leah's party. Ours was simply mass chaos!! And which one is my son you ask... Well, he's out of frame way, way over to the left "mowing" the lawn. He simply couldn't be bothered to try and pose for a picture. We'll see if this year is any different. Two year olds have to be more posable than one year olds, right??!!

Anywho.... Wonderful job on the party Leah!!! If you are interested in seeing more party pics or checking out the madcap world of life with multiples, please swing by Leah's lovely blog.

{Real Parties} Stacy's Halloween Printables Party

I was SO EXCITED when Stacy of Scrumptious Swirls sent me pictures of her Ghosts in the Graveyard party!!!

I LOVE the skulls on the cupcakes!! They really are CREEPY!!

These tombstones are soooo cute!! (Are you allowed to say that about tombstones??!)

Doesn't that Graveyard dirt look delicious?! (Never thought I'd say that about dirt!) And Stacy was gracious enough to post the recipe here.

FANTASTIC party Stacy!! You really out did yourself! 

If you want to see even more pictures from Stacy's party or to check out all of her other wonderful recipes and entertaining ideas, please hop on over to her fabulous blog!!

And as I've mentioned before... if you happen to throw a party using our free Halloween printables, please shoot me few pics or a link so I can share everyone's spook-tacular creations!!

{Tips & Hints} Eerie Edible Eyeball Tutorial

As Halloween draws closer, it only seems fitting to squeeze in this tutorial. (Just in case you are still trying to figure that one last treat to add to your spook-a-licious sweets table!) When I first saw these on Kim's blog Frost Me! (now Party Frosting) I just knew that they would be the perfect addition to my Eerily Elegant Halloween Table! (If you haven't checked out Party Frosting, you should. Immediately! I don't know how Kim does it, but she is an infinite source for all kinds of party inspiration.)

I have to admit when I clicked through for the tutorial, I wasn't quite sure if I was up for mixing up a batch of chocolate ganache. Maybe the more ambitious among you will tear into this delicious recipe with gusto, but I chose to take a little bit of a short cut. So.... here's my "slightly" adjusted version.

I went with the fabulous old stand by, Bakerella's cake ball recipe.  Size-wise I made them a little bigger than the recommended cake ball size. Instead I made them somewhere between the size of a ping pong ball and the size of a silver dollar.

Next you can coat these with white candy melts. Or if you are like me (candy melt challenged) and have issues making your candy coating smooth (I really need to read Bakerella's new book, I'm sure there's probably tip in there that could help me with this!) you can wrap them in fondant. 

First roll out your fondant and then choose a circular cookie cutter significantly larger than your cake ball.

Next gently push at the center of your fondant circle, to stretch it a bit, and then place your cake ball in the center and wrap  the fondant around it.

Pinch off the corners.

And roll the ball around in the palms of your hands to smooth it out.

Next take a little bit of your white fondant and add some green coloring and a little bit more and add some black coloring. Then roll out your green and then your black fondant. If you have little teeny tiny round fondant or cookie cutters, that's terrific. Unfortunately, I'm not so lucky. So at this point I went hunting around my kitchen for the right sized bottle caps to make the iris and the pupil for my eyeball. I lucked out and discovered that the cap for my vanilla was the perfect size for iris and the cap for some of my gel icing was a good fit for the pupil.

Brush a little water on the fondant surfaces to help different layers of the eye adhere to each other before you layer them on your eyeball. And there you have it.... Eerily Edible Eyeballs!!

{Real Parties} Grace's Halloween Printables Party

Yesterday I was delighted to find these fabulous pictures of Grace's Halloween party in my email! So fun and spooky!!

Check out the Graveyard Mexican Dip and Mummy Hotdogs!

She even made some Ghoulish Ghosts, Creepy Spiders and Edible Eyeballs!!

It looks like it was a SPOOK-tacular party. GREAT job Grace!!

And besides pulling together wonderful Halloween spreads, Grace also has a fabulous cake business. If you get a chance hop over to her website to check some more of her creations. (I LOVE her Nightmare Before Christmas cake!!)

If you have hosted a party with our Free Halloween Printables, and have a moment to share, I would love to see your creations too!! 

NOTICE: Regarding Free Halloween Files

I hope that everyone who has requested the Free Halloween Printables has received them. I have sent out all the files within 24 hours (many times within the hour) of the request. If you have not received your files it might be for a few reasons:

- Many people did not leave an email address and their blogger profile is blocked so I have no way to track you down and alert you to your oversight

- My email may have gotten stuck in your spam filter. Please check your spam.

- Some email providers need you to accept my email address as someone you would like to receive mail from. If this is the case please add me (GwynnWassonDesigns[at]gmail.com)

- It was simply an oversight on my part

If you have not received your files (and you have requested them more than 24 hours ago) please leave a comment below WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS  or email me directly at Gwynn[at]GwynnWassonDesigns.com and I will attempt to resend you the files. I am so sorry for any inconvenience, but please know that I have made every effort to send out all the file requests in an extremely prompt manner.

I do know that many, many, many of you have received your files because MY WORD people you do write the SWEETEST thank you's!! I can't tell you how happy I am to have some of the nicest followers out there!!!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!!

{Give Away} MAD Hatter Halloween Collection

OMG, when Chris of Celebrations at Home contacted me about the idea of working with her on a MAD Hatter Halloween Tea Party, I don't think that I could have said "YES!!!" fast enough!!! I was blown away. What a fantastic idea!! Alice in Wonderland has been everywhere this year and Chris' twist makes both Alice and Halloween fresh and fun.

Chris was an absolute dream to work with. I can't tell you how lucky I felt through this whole process to be able to contribute just a little to her fabulous idea!!

Here are a few pictures of Chris' tablescape...

Please hop over to Celebrations at Home to see more fabulous photos!!

And the upshot of all this? Well, you my friends and followers can receive yet another FREE Halloween Printable Collection. This collection is a mini one compared to the other two I've been giving away (yes, I have become queen of the free Halloween Printables this year!), but how much fun would it be to throw a spooky Alice themed Halloween soiree?!

In this collections you get:
- 2 Table Label designs
- 1 Eat Me sign
- 2 Drink Tag designs
- 1 Party Sign
- 4 two inch Party Circle designs

And how do you lay your hands on this spooky MAD collection?? It's easy! Just follow these simple steps:

1. If you are not a follower of this blog, become one. You can do this by clicking on that little gadget in the upper left corner of the blog. (I must be able to find you on the follower list, before I send you the files.)

2. Leave a comment here with your  FOLLOWER IDENTITY and your email address requesting the Free Printables before October 31st. (Or email me both pieces of information at Gwynn [at] GwynnWassonDesigns.com)

3. Like magic... I will email you the files! (If for some reason you do not receive your files within 24 hours please explore the reasons why here.)

I hope this all inspires you to host a fabulously MAD Halloween party!!

THIS GIVE AWAY HAS ENDED

The Sweet Scents of Fall

Ah, Fall!! How I adore it. And out here in usually warm and sunny California we're actually getting some rain and cooler weather, which is sprinkling hints of a true Fall here and there. When I had a little more time (like before my son was born), I used to make Hints of Fall baskets for my friends. It was a fun excuse to visit everyone and it helped me to not miss the Falls of my east coast/mid-west childhood as much.

I would carve small pumpkins with lattice designs, bag up homemade potpourri (full of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg of course), include some spiced tea and hot chocolate fixings, and always bake up some ginger snaps and mini loaves of pumpkin bread. There's nothing like the smell of pumpkin bread wafting through your house on a crisp Fall day!

And memories of all of this came flooding back as I read Marianne's post today over at SugarFoot Designs. Not only was she sweet enough to post a fabulous pumpkin bread recipe, but she also used one our free Halloween Printables to decorate her finished creation!

Adorable, right??!

So please hop over to SugarFoot Designs for what looks to be a deeee-licious recipe!

And if you happen to use your free Halloween Printables for parties or holiday decoration, please email me a few pics if you have a moment. I would love to be able to share everyone's creations!

{Tips & Hints} Creepy Crawly Spider Tutorial

When I saw these spiders in my Better Homes and Gardens Special Halloween Issue a few months ago, I knew that I had to find a place for them in my Halloween spread! So cute!! Oh yeah, and... creepy! And the best part EASY!!

Things You Will Need...
- Candy Melts
- Ziplock Sandwich Bag
- Scissors
- Candy Truffles
- Wax Paper
- Decorating Icing

First line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Then melt your Candy Melts. I just use the microwave.

Next, spoon the melted candy into the sandwich bag and squeeze it down into one corner.

With a pair of scissors cut a small amount off the corner of the bag and begin piping the melted candy onto the wax paper in the shape of spider legs. Make sure you create some that have a short end on the left and some that have a short end on the right.

While the legs are hardening, create a circular dollop of melted candy on another wax papered cookie sheet.

In the center of the dollop, insert a chocolate truffle.

Gently lift the hardened legs off the wax paper and insert them into the still soft candy dollop.

If you have problems keeping the legs upright, wait for the dollop to harden and then dip the legs in the melted candy and adhere them to the dollop. 

Continue adding legs on each side of the chocolate truffle until your spider is complete.

Finally pipe on the eyes with a little decorating icing and there you have it... Creepy Crawly Spiders!!