Spooky Cute Halloween Brownie Pops!

Eeeeeeeeek! Halloween is right around the corner! I have a really fun project to share with you today!

I made some adorable and delicious Halloween Brownie Pops to give out as spooky gifts for Halloween.  I made the cute box the pops are standing in too - the box displays them so nicely!

Believe it or not, the hardest part of making the pops is the time spent deciding how you want to decorate them and shopping for the supplies.  Many of the ingredients you can pick up at your local grocery store or Target.  For more variety in decorating supplies, I recommend taking a trip to your local Michael's or Joann's as well.

Ingredients:

Box of Brownie Mix & Ingredients to Make Brownies per Box

Lollipop Sticks

Wilton Candy Eyes

Wilton Candy Melts - I used melts in Black, Vibrant Green, Orange, and Lavender.

2 Boxes of Baker's Premium White Chocolate Baking Bar (4oz Box)

Twizzler's Black Licorice Nibs (For Frankenstein's Bolts)

Wax Paper

Mini Pretzel Twists

Styrofoam Square

Toothpicks

Instructions:

To make the brownie pops, I used the Brownie Pop Recipe by Betty Crocker linked here.  Below, I have listed some helpful tips/tricks when making the brownie pops (incorporate these into the recipe's instructions if you would like).  Also, I have listed specifics on how I made each pop into a Halloween character - Mummy, Frankenstein, Jack-O-Lantern, and Three-eyed Monster, and how to make the cute gift box to display the pops:

Tips/Tricks:

1) I recommend adding an extra egg to the batter.  It will help with forming the cake pops later.

2) After the brownies have cooled, remove any hard edges from the brownie pan.  I did this by cutting one large rectangle in the pan excluding 1/4" from each side of the pan.

4) Cut the brownies while in the pan into 1.5" squares - each square can be rolled into a ball and ensures each pop will be the same size.

5) Add additional flavor by adding a few butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips to the melted candy mixtures.

6) Use white chocolate with food coloring instead of colored candy melts.  If using chocolate chips, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil for every cup of chips when melting.  See additional info on melting chocolate here.

7) Cover decorated pops with mini clear treat bags and close using twine or ribbon.

Decorating Pops as Halloween Characters:

Mummy - Dip pops into melted white chocolate.  Add candy eyeballs before chocolate hardens.  Place pops into refrigerator for 30 minutes so chocolate hardens.  After cooled, add strips of melted white chocolate to create the mummy (tip: over a bowl, let the melted chocolate drip off a spoon onto the pops while you turn them).  Cool in refrigerator for another 30 minutes.  After cooled, add the mouth using a toothpick dipped in melted black candy.

Frankenstein - Cut Black Licorice Nibs into two pieces using a scissors.  Dip pops into melted green candy.  Add bolts (Nibs) and candy eyeballs before chocolate hardens.  Place pops into refrigerator for 30 minutes so chocolate hardens.  After cooled, add strips of melted black candy to the top of the pops to give Frankenstein hair.  Add the mouth and scars using a toothpick dipped in melted black candy.

Jack-O-Lantern - Break mini pretzel twists into pieces that look like pumpkin stems.  Dip pops into melted orange candy.  Add pretzel stems and candy eyeballs before chocolate hardens.  Place pops into refrigerator for 30 minutes so chocolate hardens.  After cooled, add the mouth using a toothpick dipped in melted black candy.

Three-Eyed Monster - Dip pops into melted purple candy.  Add candy eyeballs before chocolate hardens.  Place pops into refrigerator for 30 minutes so chocolate hardens.  After cooled, add the mouth using a toothpick dipped in melted black candy.

Lollipop Gift Box:

The box, fence, bat, and pumpkins are digital die-cuts (SVGs) by SVG Cuts.  If you don't have a electronic die-cutting machine, you could use a small gift box and pop small holes in the top to place the pops - just make sure you place Styrofoam inside the box to hold the pops in place.

For SVGs users, cut and assemble the box, bat, and pumpkins based on the default size setting of the file.  The box is from the For My Valentine SVG Kit.  The bat and pumpkins are from the Spooky Cuties SVG Collection.  To make the fence that goes around the box, I used the fence from the Elmhurst Hollow SVG Kit and resized it to 7.25W x 3.862H in SCAL (note: delete the extra wood strips before sizing as you don't need these).  Cut the fence out twice and glue around the box so the ends come together on each side of the box.

Add brads or black pearl stickers to the middle of the bat's and pumpkins' eyes - this makes them look like the candy eyeballs on the brownie pops!  Also, add a sentiment to the box if you would like.

Your brownie pops and gift box are ready for someone special to take home!  I hope you enjoyed this project and give these pops a try!  They are sure to make someone smile!

Melanie

Thank You for Helping Me Grow!

Happy Monday!  Today I am sharing a gift box I made for someone that has been there for me through all of my recent struggles (and there have been many).  I will share my story at some point in the near future - I am not ready yet.  I am so thankful that I am able to craft and share my projects with you all - it lifts me up!

The gift box has a sweet little barn on the top of it!  Isn't it cute!  The gift box and fence are from the Santa's Village SVG collection by SVG Cuts!  All SVG collections at SVG Cuts are on sale for 25% off - use coupon code SPRING2013!  A great time to pick up SVG collections you have been wanting! 

I added lots of fun details to this.  When I start with the little details, I sometimes have a hard time stopping with them!  This gift box is cute from all angles - make sure to see all of the pics below!  There is a garden on one side of the barn and chickens on the other, and a little surprise inside!  :)

 

The sentiment is from the February 2013 Kit of the Month by Unity Stamp Company.
Isn't this sentiment so sweet and perfect for this gift box!!!!

View of the garden and corn stalks:

The pitch fork, corn stalks, and milk jug are from the Grandpa's Organic Farm SVG collection by SVG Cuts. 

View of the chicken coop:

More Details:

I used embossing to create the worn look of the barn and it's roof. Love texture!

I used buttons to trim the box - love this effect!

The patterned papers and stickers are from the Farm Girl collection by October Afternoon.  The majority of the buttons are also by October Afternoon (various collections).  Which gets me to the surprise inside..........................................................

It is the girl from the Farm Girl collection!  She is inside the barn milking a cow.  Wish you could see it in person (the picture doesn't do it justice!).

Thanks for sharing my project with me!  Below is a motivational quote that I felt like sharing - it's a good reminder to live life to it's fullest! 

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” -Tony Robbins

Mel

Materials:
-SVGs by SVG Cuts (mentioned above)
-Unity Stamp Set - February 2013 Kit of the Month
-Patterned Paper, Stickers and Buttons by October Afternoon, Farm Girl Collection
-Red buttons by Papertrey Ink
-Cardstock by Recollections and Bazzill
-Distress Ink in Vintage Photo by Tim Holtz
-Embossing Folders by Sizzix/Stampin Up!
-Gem and Pearl Stickers by Creative Charms
-Mini Wood Dowel (for sign)

The Gift of Memories!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and is ready for the start of the week!  I am sure there will be lots of last minute Christmas shopping (at least I still have some shopping to do!), and holiday parties!  I spent the day celebrating Christmas with my mom's side and we certainly had fun!  Lots of smiling and laughing and for some reason, my husband, the comedian, is usually the initiator!  One of the many reasons I love him so much!

As some of you may know, I lost my maternal grandfather a little over a year ago.  I was responsible for creating the photo boards for his funeral - they turned out beautiful - you can see them here.  So this year for Christmas, I decided to give everyone in my family CDs containing all of the photos I had gathered as well as all of the documents my grandmother had given me about our family's heritage.  I couldn't think of a better gift and my family was definitely appreciative.

I put the CDs in envelopes I created using the Summer Blockbuster SVG kit by SVG Cuts and decorated them using the snowflake from the Clara's Christmas Eve SVG kit by SVG Cuts.  I added the sentiment 'Merry Christmas' from the stamp set "More Merry Messages" by Stampin' Up! and pearls to the snowflakes to make them pop!  The papers I used for the envelopes are from the "Sweet Dreams Holiday Avenue" collection by My Mind's Eye.

 

Other Materials Used:
Sizzix Circle Nesting Dies
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Old Paper
Stampin' Up! Ink in Crumb Cake
Stampin' Up! Cardstock in Whisper White

Thanks for visiting today!  Hope you have a great week!

Mel

I Love You Grandpa and Happy Veteran's Day!

I lost my grandfather this past Sunday.  He was given a few days to live after finding out he had Acute Leukemia at the age of 80 last week.  Myself and the entire immediate family were with him when he passed at his home.  He was an absolutely wonderful man and I admired him so much.  He served in the army during the Korean Conflict and raised his family on the family farm established in 1891 by his great-grandfather.  The farm is still in my family today.

I was so honored when my grandmother asked me to make the photo boards for the funeral.  I have some photos of the boards below.  My sister helped me put these together as we only had a day to make these.  They turned out beautiful and I believe they display my grandpa's memory so well.  I will miss him dearly - I love you grandpa and thanks for all of the wonderful memories! 

The word art was created by Elegant Word Art by Bethany and the horse and tractor cut-outs are SVG files from the Grandpa's Organic Farm SVG Collection by SVGCuts.

Thanks to all of the soldiers, past and present, that are serving our wonderful country.  Happy Veteran's Day!                                                                             

Whimiscal Wednesday Blog Hop is HERE!!! Fab Prizes!!!

Welcome to the Whimsical Wednesday blog hop!!! You should have arrived here from Amber's blog http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/. If you just happened to drop by to say hi please go to the Whimsical Wednesday blog to start at the beginning of the hop. For this hop, we all made banners/wall decor that will be sent to a nursing home. The link to read more about this great cause is posted on the Whimsical Wednesday Blog.

For my project I decided to make a 10x10 shadow box.  My inspiration was the motivational quote I used (word art/digital stamp by Raindrop Echo Designs).  This quote seemed appropriate for all ages including residents at a nursing home.  I enjoyed every minute of making this!!!  When you are making something for a wonderful cause as this, the inspiration just doesn't stop!  I like the end result and I am sure the recipient will too!  I might have to make one for my craft room too!  :)

Other Materials:  Ribbon by American Crafts and Celebrate It; Used Cricut and SCAL to cut flower SVG by Images by Heather M and frame SVG by SVGCuts; Tim Holtz inks and paper distresser,Vintage brad and Gradient Gem stickers by Creative Charms, Glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts; Shadow box frame by Collector's Museum

These our the generous sponsors for our blog hop and what they are giving away for PRIZES!!!

• Patsy from the Prairie Bird Boutique http://www.etsy.com/shop/prairiebirdboutique- Your choice of one bundle of Shabby Crinkle Ribbon
• Babbette from The Kraft Outlet http://www.kraftoutlet.com/store/Default.asp- The Kraft Outlet has generously donated their “Inspiration Play Pack”;  This is a collection of The Kraft Outlet's top selling items valued at over $45. The play pack comes with 10 yards each of the red and brown baker’s twine, an assortment of 50 of the plain and grungy tags, an 8 sheet assortment of their cardstock and text weight papers, an 8 envelope assortment, one sheet of Kraft labels, a set of their vintage dictionary pages, 1 yard of black twill tape and a CD full of 100 graphics and backgrounds.
• In addition the Kraft Outlet is offering 10% off all purchases made during the ENTIRE  month of July. All you need to do is enter the code JULY10 at checkout.
• The grand prize for the blog hop is a Gypsy, donated by Stephanie. In order to qualify for the grand prize you must leave a comment on each of the designers blogs. At the end of the hop please return back to the Whimsical Wednesday Blog to leave a comment saying that you finished the hop and left a comment under all our post. The blog hop will run through Sunday and end at Midnight.

Thank you for joining us for the Whimsical Wednesday blog hop! Your next stop is the very talented Faith-Abigail at http://www.faithabigaildesigns.com/.

Here is the full blog hop line-up in case you get lost along the way:
1. Whimsical Challenge Blog: http://whimsicalwednesdays.blogspot.com/
2. Stephanie: http://www.alwayscrafting.com/
3. Star: http://starspaperpassion.blogspot.com/
4. Jessica: http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com/
5. Shelly: http://cardsbyshelly.blogspot.com/
6. Chloe: http://chloeandherclipons.blogspot.com/
7. Amber: http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/
8. Melanie: http://inlovewithabug.blogspot.com/
9. Faith-Abigail: http://www.faithabigaildesigns.com/
10. Cindy: http://cindybcreations.blogspot.com/
11. Joni: http://justcounting.blogspot.com/
12. GiGi: http://thecricutbug.blogspot.com/
13. Amber: http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/
14. Carlene: http://misspinkcricut.blogspot.com/
15. Karen: http://kaleidoscopicsparkles.blogspot.com/
16. Glora: http://glorascrafts.blogspot.com/
17. Nanne: http://nannes-creations.blogspot.com/
18. Cathryn: http://inthepinkcathryn.blogspot.com/
19. Whimsical Wednesday: http://whimsicalwednesdays.blogspot.com/

Mel

For My Mom

**For the Disney Blog Hop, click HERE**

Happy Mother's Day!  Today, my siblings and I are taking our mom out to lunch and I can't wait to give her this card that I made.  I am diggin' the vintage feel of this card!

I love to create my own background paper using white or ivory paper, lots of glimmer mist, and digi stamps, and this was my first time adding an embossed stamp.  I love how this turned out so I will definitely be adding more embossed stamps to my backgrounds in the future! 

 

Materials:

• Butterfly silhouette SVG by SVGCuts (cut with Cricut using Sure Cuts A Lot).  SVG is no longer available.
• "Mom" digi stamp by Vickie Fernandez (printed on card using Sure Cuts A Lot)
• Star glitter and gold embossing powder by Martha Stewart Crafts
• Glimmer mists in Tiger Lily, Tuscan Sun, Olive Vine, and Riptide
• Pearl accents by Recollections
• Flourish stamp by Stampin' Up!
• Butterfly embossed using Tim Holtz Cracked template and Sizzix Texture Boutique

I have entered this project in the following challenges and link-ups:
Claudia & Company Challenge 81 - Butterflies
More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday - Mother's Day
Paper Cutz Challenge 90 - Mother's Day
Sentimental Sundays Challenge 54 - Anything Goes
                                                                                 
Melanie

Happy B-Day Horseshoe Card

I just finished making a birthday card for my niece who turns eleven years old this coming weekend.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up.  She lives on a hobby farm and adores horses so I had to include something relating to horses on her card.  I used the cute horseshoe from the Grandpa's Organic Farm SVG Collection by SVGCuts to create the "U" for the "happy birthday to you" sentiment on the card. 

Other materials used:

• I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot to cut the Happy Birthday caption from the Birthday Dinos SVG Collection by SVGCuts and the Horseshoe listed above.
• #2 used for the sentiment is a glittery sticker by Making Memories (used a paper punch for the circle)
• I used my Sizzix Texture Boutique and the Stampin' Up! Elegant Lines embossing folder to create the texture for the card background.  I added distress ink to highlight the texture.
• Used glitter paper, skittles, and ric-rac ribbon to embellish

Thanks for stopping by!                                                     
                                                                                                                           

Spring "Welcome" Shadow Box

My husband and I are remodeling our entry way, so I thought it would be fun to create a welcome sign to hang up in this room.  I was inspired by the challenges going on where you need to use SVG files from SVGCuts because I absolutely love their files!  I decorated this welcome sign/shadow box for spring using mostly SVGCuts files.  I plan to switch out the background of this shadow box for each season.  One down, three more to go!

 

My favorite part of spring is when the Crabapple and Redbud trees blossom so I wanted to include one of these trees in my design.  I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) to cut the shapes for this tree as well as most of the other shapes used in this design.  I used the hydrangea flower SVG file from the Moonlight Garden Party SVG Collection at SVGCuts to create the blossoms on the tree.  The tree trunk I used is from the Camping at Fox Ridge SVG Collection at SVGCuts.

I also wanted to include rain without making it the focus of the design, so I used the scalloped corner free SVG from SVG Cuts to separate the gray/rainy part of the design.  The clouds, rain drops, and Robins are from the Robin's Return SVG Collection at SVGCuts.

Other materials used:

• Paper - Cardstock is by Baazill and DCWV, Patterned Paper is by My Minds Eye (29th Street Market)
• Robins - Robin's Return SVG Collection at SVGCuts, I used small black pearls for the eyes and embossed their tummies using my Swiss Dots template and my Sizzix Texture Boutique machine.
• Tulips - free SVG file from SVGCuts
• Butterfly Silhouette - free SVG file from SVGCuts
• Picket Fence - a free SVG file by Penny Duncan Creations
• Grass - from Plantin SchoolBook Cricut Cartridge
• Font used for "Welcome" is PMingLiU-ExtB by Microsoft, I made the font thicker using the shadow function
• I used 3D foam squares by Therm-O-Web to pop-up the Robins, grass, tree, clouds, and raindrops.  I stacked the foam squares 3 high for the "Welcome" title so it looks like it is at the front of the shadow box.

I entered this project into the Spring SVG Challenge at the SVGCuts Forum and the current challenge at the Sure Cuts A Lot Challenge Site.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

What is Sure Cuts A Lot and Why I Love It!

Some of you may be wondering what is Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) since I use it for many of my crafty projects.  So, here is my best stab at explaining what SCAL is, and why I have decided to use it with my Provo Craft Cricut Expression Machine.  UPDATE: You can no longer purchase SCAL for use with a Cricut machine.  This post was written prior to this change.  However, you can purchase SCAL for use with many other die-cutting machines such as the Silhouette, E-Craft, Pazzles, etc.

What is Sure Cuts A Lot?

Sure Cuts A Lot is a 3rd-party software that allows you to cut fonts and SVG files on your Cricut machine.  The software works with Windows and Mac computers and is easy to learn how to use.  There are many sites that have SCAL video tutorials and there is a SCAL forum where experienced users are willing to help with questions you may have.  SCAL is available for purchase on the Craft Edge site.  There is a sale right now - you can get it for $59.95!

What are SVG files and where can I find them? 

SVG files are compatible with SCAL.  SVG files are like Cricut cartridge images in that they are available as shapes, captions, and paper-piecing patterns that you can cut on your Cricut machine.  You can find many SVG files for free that are equivalent to Cricut cartridge quality.  There are also sites that sell SVG files and they are very economical.  A SVG set with 15 or more images usually costs $5 to $10 - much cheaper than buying Cricut cartridges and they are extremely cute! 

Here are some examples of SVGs available online for free or for purchase:

SVGCuts:  Many designer SVGs available at their store as well as free SVG downloads on the SVGCuts Blog.  Here are some of my favorite collections they have in their store and their most recent free SVG.
Strawberry Lane SVG Collection

Birthday Dinos SVG Collection

Free SVG File - Family Heritage Sentiment

Lettering Delights (They have fonts too!):  I think Provo Craft has Lettering Delights design some of their cartridges (this is purely my speculation since the images are similar so please do not quote me on this). 

Lettering Delights SVGs - They have over 100 SVG sets and keep adding new cute ones!

Free Monster Love SVG Set thru 2/28/11 (part of Monster Love Bundle)

Is SCAL safe to use with my Cricut?

I have been using SCAL for a year now and have not had any issues.  However, I should mention that using SCAL will void your Cricut machine warranty.  I waited until my Cricut warranty had expired before using SCAL (the Cricut warranty expires 1 year from the purchase date).

What features does SCAL have? 

Below are some of my favorite features, see the Craft Edge site for additional features and for tutorials on how to use all of these features.

• Weld - weld letters and shapes together
• Shadow/Blackout
• Print & Cut - print paper, digi stamps, or any other type of image on your printer from SCAL, then cut it out on your Cricut.
• Trace Image - import a clean-lined image and trace it in SCAL, then cut it out on your Cricut.  Great for cutting logos or other trademarked images.  You can break apart the image to cut pieces in different colors.
• Drawing Tools - design your own creations!

Are there any cons to using SCAL?

The only thing I can't do with SCAL is cut images on my Cricut cartridges.  I use my cartridges separately with my Cricut machine.