3 Tasty & Easy Ways to Add Something Fun to Your Halloween Celebrations! #SpookyCelebration #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study about Halloween Celebrations for Collective Bias and their client.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Since I am not usually into Halloween baking, I thought I would share some easy no-bake ways to make your Halloween celebrations more fun.  In our house, Halloween is mostly about creating fun memories for our children.  This not only includes cool costumes and candies galore, but also memorable decorations and unique ways to celebrate.  Nothing makes me happier than hearing the words "Remember one year when . . . ".

Last year, we created some pretty darn cool favors to hand out to trick-or-treaters.  This year, I experimented with a few different ways to use candy to create something fun just for our children. After a week of experimenting (my poor husband was tasked with the job of eating all the failed experiments), I came up with a few cool things that anyone can make, even children.


How to make Eyeballs Ice Cubes . . . 

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 standard ice cube tray

Skittles candy

Step 1.  Fill each mold in a standard ice tray about 90% full with water.

Step 2.  Sort through your Skittles and pull out all your orange, yellow, and purple candies.

Step 3.  Place 2 of the same colored Skittles next to each other flat against the bottom in each water-filled mold of the ice cube tray.

Step 4.  Place tray in freezer and allow to freeze completely.

You will notice that the color coating of the Skittles will dissolve into the water almost immediately.  By the time the ice cubes have completely frozen, much of the candy center will have dissolved also, leaving behind two small pieces of candy that will resemble eyeballs.

How to make Candy Corn Ice Cubes . . . 

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 standard ice cube tray

Starburst candy (yellow and orange only)

knife

cutting board

Step 1.  Fill each mold in a standard ice tray about 90% full with water.

Step 2.  Laying each unwrapped Starburst flat on the cutting board, cut the candy into halves.

Step 3.  Place 3 pieces of cut candy flat into the bottom of each water-filled space in the ice cube tray.  Be sure to line the 3 candy pieces in a yellow/orange/yellow or an orange/yellow/orange pattern.

Step 4.  Place tray into freezer and allow to freeze completely.

Although the Starburst candy pieces do not completely dissolve, the results will be a gradient of color within the ice cubes.

Take a look at our Eyeballs and Candy Corn ice cubes . . . 

Keeping in mind that these ice cubes contain sugary candy in them, you may want to use plain ice cubes to fill 2/3 of the glass and add the candy ice cubes on top.  These taste great served with 7UP alone (which was my favorite) or in a party punch made out of 50% 7UP and 50% Hawaiian Punch.

How to make Ice Cream Sandwich Coffins . . . 

WHAT YOU NEED:

rectangular ice cream sandwiches

M&M candies

tube of white icing (for writing)

knife

cutting board

Step 1.  Lay each frozen ice cream sandwich vertically on the cutting board and cut off the tips of the top two corners.

Step 2.  To form the shape of a coffin, cut off the bottom two corners of the ice cream sandwich, starting your cut about halfway down the left and right sides.

Step 3.  Sort through the M&M candies and pull out the fall colors (brown, yellow, orange, and red).

Step 4.  Push the M&M's into the ice cream all around the sides of the ice cream sandwich, making sure to alternate the colors.

Step 5.  Using the white frosting, write the letters "RIP" on the front upper half of the ice cream sandwich.

Step 6.  Store the decorated ice cream sandwich in the freezer until ready to serve.

I experimented with all types of candy, such as Snickers and Twix Fun Size bars, to finally settle on using M&M's.  If you end up doing some experimenting of your own to make Halloween punch, this ice cream sandwich coffin, or other Halloween desserts, I would love to hear about your results.


For more fun #SpookyCelebration Halloween ideas, visit the Spooky Halloween Celebrations Pinterest board and BrightIdeas.com.  Also be sure to check for coupons on products you may use in these and other Halloween recipes.

Say "Merci For All You Do" with a merci European Chocolates End-of-the-Year Teacher's Gift

Thank you to merci for providing a complimentary prize pack for us to base this review upon and for providing additional products for our contest prize. All opinions expressed are my own.

In some parts of the country, summer vacation has already begun for students.  Where we live, however, students have 3 more weeks of school to look forward to.  They actually lost 5 days of summer vacation due to the abundance of snow days we had this past winter.  If you have multiple children, then you probably have several thank you gifts to buy if you include all the teachers, assistant teachers, and school bus drivers.  One gift that is affordable and always seems to be appreciated is fine chocolates . . . something the teachers can enjoy while celebrating their much-needed summer break.

merci European Chocolates is a different take on the usual box of chocolates.  Inside the box is an assortment of 20 individually wrapped mini candy bars.  Everyone in my family enjoyed trying the seven varieties, which include Milk Chocolate, Coffee and Cream, Hazelnut-Almond, Hazelnut-Creme, Dark Cream, Dark Mousse, and Praline-Creme.  We all had our own favorites.  My husband and daughter liked the classic Milk Chocolate the best, while our oldest son's favorite was the Coffee and Cream.  My personal favorites were the Praline-Creme and the two Hazelnut varieties.

These rich merci chocolates are definitely a crowd-pleaser.  The surprising part is that you can find them at your local Walmart for approximately $5.50!  You can check whether merci chocolates are in stock at your local Walmart right on the product page.  At that price, you can afford to buy a box for all your favorite teachers, the school bus driver, and pick up a few for yourself.  For a limited time, you can get a $1.00 off coupon by "liking" merci on Facebook.

Enter to win a teacher-themed merci European Chocolate Prize Pack . . . 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

Easy Craft: Toblerone Party Favors/Place Cards (SpongeBob Theme)

Although it is easier to buy all your birthday party supplies and decorations from a party store, it is much more special when you can create a few things yourself.  For example, one year instead of sending out store-bought birthday invitations, I created a full-page one on my computer and had them printed by a local flyer printing service.  They turned out great and did not look generic, like many packaged invitations do.

For our children's birthdays this year, we had an intimate celebration with just close family members.  All their birthdays are in January, so we were able to celebrate all at once.  Even though there were not other children there, I wanted to do a few things to make the celebration special.  In addition to ordering a SpongeBob cake and blowouts, I made these SpongeBob place cards with Toblerone chocolate and tied SpongeBob mylar balloons to them.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

1 (3.52oz) Toblerone chocolate bar per guest

1 sheet construction paper per chocolate bar

SpongeBob stickers (or whatever stickers go with your theme)

permanent markers

invisible tape

Step 1:  Tightly roll an unopened bar of Toblerone chocolate in a piece of construction paper, making sure each open end forms a neat triangle.  Then secure with a few pieces of transparent tape along the seam.

Step 2:  With the seam side down, decorate the other two sides of your triangle using the markers and stickers.  I chose to write each child's name on one side and "Happy Birthday!" on the other.  Some other ideas would be . . . 

"Thank you for coming!"

"Happy 5th Birthday!"

"Jake's 8th Birthday"

"Let's Party!!!"

Step 3:  Tie a balloon to each wrapped Toblerone bar, double-knotting the ribbon or string so that the balloon is secure.

I only made 3 of these since our celebration was so small, but I think a table set with one at each place setting would look very impressive.  Then each guest would get to take home a bar of delicious chocolate and a balloon as their party favor.  This craft would certainly work with any child's birthday theme, but can also be altered to be used in an adult's birthday or anniversary celebration, a baby shower, or a bridal shower.  You simply need to use more elegant wrapping paper or scrapbook paper.  If you use scrapbook paper, you could even use a printer to add the text.  If you try this craft at your celebration, I would love to hear about how it turned out or even see a photo.

Easy Recipe: Peanut Butter Oreo Butterfinger Brownies

These brownies are what I brought to Thanksgiving dinner over the holidays and they were a huge hit.  Yes, I know it is March and I am just getting around to sharing the recipe.  Hopefully, you'll try the recipe and will love the brownies so much that you will gladly forgive my procrastination.

Recipe:  Peanut Butter Oreo Butterfinger Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

1 box Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix

2 large eggs

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

10 Fun Size Butterfinger candy bars, unwrapped

16 to 20  Peanut Butter Oreo Cookies

Step 1.  Preheat oven at 350 degrees for metal or glass pans (325 degrees for dark coated pans).

Step 2.  In a plastic mixing bowl, crush the unwrapped Butterfinger candy bars.  (A meat tenderizer works great.)

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Step 3.  Follow the instructions on the brownie mix box for combining the mix, eggs, water, and oil.

Step 4.  Grease the bottom of your 9x13 baking pan with cooking or baking spray.  Then pour half of the batter into the pan.

Step 5.  Spread the brownie batter out so that the whole bottom of the pan is covered.  Then  place the Peanut Butter Oreo Cookies into the pan on top of the batter spaced evenly apart.  (Ideally, there should be one Oreo for each cut brownie.)

Step 6.  Pour the remainder of the brownie batter over the Oreo cookies.  Spread the batter to make sure it completely covers the cookies.

Step 7.  Evenly sprinkle the crushed Butterfinger candy on top of the brownie batter.  You can use a little or a lot, depending on your taste.  (Any leftover crushed Butterfinger can be used to sprinkle on top of ice cream.  Yum!)

Step 8.  Bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes.  Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting.

As always, if you try this recipe, let me know how you like it.  I am also curious to know how it turns out using a different variety of Oreo Cookie.  I might have to do a little experimenting of my own.


All ingredients for this recipe were purchased with our own funds and no compensation was received for sharing this recipe with our readers.

Holiday 2010 Giveaway: Gift Baskets & Goodies from 1-800-Baskets ($50 GC) [CLOSED]

For friends and family that live far away, I have always loved to order gourmet foods and gift baskets that the whole family can enjoy. 1-800-Flowers, 1-800-Baskets, and The Popcorn Factory is all on one website, so you can order from all three and only have to checkout once. Take a look at some of the gourmet food gifts my family received to sample from this trio . . .

Let us start with my absolute favorite . . . the Fannie May Mint Meltaways! These delicious mint chocolates really do melt in your mouth. I have not decided yet if the milk chocolate coating is my favorite or the pastel. I think I am leaning towards the creamy pastel. The box is nearly empty, so I will need to make up my mind soon.

Everyone in our house just loved the 3-way popcorn tin from The Popcorn Factory. How can you go wrong with popcorn, especially in a household with children? I actually do not see this Poinsettia 3-Way Tin on the website any longer, but there is a 4-Way Holiday Popcorn Tin available.

The Cheryl's Frosted Holiday Cut-out Cookies is ideal for sending to anyone who is on-the-go, whether it is a family with children or a busy office. Cheryl's cookies are decadently delicious and individually wrapped for freshness. They can be packed in a lunch box or in a briefcase to put a smile on someone's face in the middle of the day.

The Comfort & Joy Sweet Treats Gift Basket (pictured at the top) is perfect for an individual. There is a sampling of popular gourmet sweets, such as Guirardelli chocolate squares, a Harry London chocolate-covered pretzel, toffee, a jumbo hand-pulled candy cane, and more. I seriously have not opened this basket yet because I need to figure out how to share it with the other four members of my household. Maybe if I hide it, everyone else will forget about it after awhile. Then I could have it all to myself!

1-800-Flowers, 1-800-Baskets, and The Popcorn Factory offers expedited shipping nationwide for your convenience. Visit any of these sites to see the full line of gourmet gifts and holiday floral arrangements while you are considering what to send your friends and family this year.

Thank you to 1-800-Flowers for sending us complimentary product samples to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a $50 gift card to spend on one of the following items or anything you like . . .

• Fannie May Mint Meltaways
• 3-Way Popcorn Factory Tin
• Cheryl's Frosted Holiday Cut-out Cookies
• Comfort & Joy Sweet Treats Gift Basket
• Frosty the Snow Plant

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Visit

1-800-Flowers, 1-800-Baskets, or The Popcorn Factory

. Then leave a comment telling me the name of one item you would most like to send as a gift to a friend or family member. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, download the free Mobile Flower & Gift Center app to your iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Android, or Mobile Web accessible phone. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry each, follow 1800Flowers on Twitter and/or "Like" 1-800-Flowers.com on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment for each with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

<br /> <a href="http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/Busymonkeez/Graphics4Me/NEWBlogButton125x125.jpg" /></a><br /><br />

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Thursday, December 16th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Ruby Tuesday: Lindt Chocolate Party Favors

These beautiful Lindt Chocolate Truffle favor boxes were sitting at each of our place settings, when I and six other bloggers attended an event for BJ's Wholesale Club earlier this month. These were just one of many examples of gifty goodies we had the pleasure of sampling. Look for more photos of this event coming later this week.

If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos, go visit Mary at Work of the Poet!

Holiday 2010 Giveaway: Donate Gingerbread Houses to Children's Hospitals [CLOSED]

There are countless opportunities to make charitable donations during the holiday season. If you are short on time, it is always easiest to donate when it has been made convenient to you, such as adding a donation to your purchase total when checking out in a store. With this in mind, The Swiss Colony has created a way for you to donate a Gingerbread House to a child in a hospital in the approximate area of the shipping address just by purchasing one of their most popular products . . . the 72pc Swiss Colony Petits Fours. If you are shipping this gift directly to the recipient, then the donation will be made in the recipient's name, which makes the gift that much more thoughtful and special.

To my husband's delight, we were sent a box of 24 assorted petits fours, in addition to the new Swiss Colony Melting Snowmen Cookies. Both came in a decorative shipping box with beautiful packaging inside . . . perfect for gift giving or serving to your guests.

I could see why my husband is such a big fan of these petits fours. They combine the best of two worlds . . . cake and Swiss chocolate. My favorite was the Lemon Mist!

The box of 10 snowmen cookies were a huge hit with the whole family. The chocolate cookies inside were thin and crisp, but not too sweet. To my children's delight, the snowman faces were sculpted of frosting.

If you would like to order The Swiss Colony 72pc Petits Fours, which retail for $29.95 per box, in order to have a Gingerbread House donated to an anonymous child in an area hospital, visit SwissColony.com . One box of 72 petits fours would be the perfect gift for an entire household, especially for families and friends that live far away. You will brighten the Christmas of one hospitalized child for each box of petits fours you order. The Swiss Colony sends up to 10,000 Gingerbread Houses to children's hospitals every year.

Thank you to The Swiss Colony for sending us complimentary product samples to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a box of 72 Swiss Colony Petits Fours (to give as a gift or keep for yourself).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of gourmet gifts and gift baskets offered by The Swiss Colony. Then leave a comment telling me the name of one item you think would make the perfect gift for someone you know (aside from the items reviewed in this article). You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, request a Swiss Colony catalog. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry each, follow The Swiss Colony on Twitter and/or "Like" The Swiss Colony on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment for each with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

<br /> <a href="http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/Busymonkeez/Graphics4Me/NEWBlogButton125x125.jpg" /></a><br /><br />

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, December 6th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!