kid-friendly

All That Glitters Sparkly Pumpkin Tutorial

- Mama 5 Comments

Sparkly pumpkins seem to be easy enough to make, and they’re a very affordable way to add a little sparkle to a Halloween party or even your front porch. Plus, because there’s no carving, it can be kid-friendly, too.

You’re going to want to start out with a pumpkin or three or twelve that suits your size. We picked out three pie pumpkins from the grocery store of varying sizes that were on sale for 79 cents per pound.

Grab some spray paint. I got my Krylon Spray Paint in satin black for 30% off on sale at Hobby Lobby. Spray it on in short strokes. Try to stay at least 6 inches away from the pumpkin, because otherwise, the paint will blow right off.

Try to hit the pumpkin from varying angles and heights so you can get every curve and dimple of the pumpkin pretty covered. You will have to flip the pumpkin over once it’s dry and spray paint the bottom of the pumpkin, too.

Let the pumpkin dry for at least two hours before starting on a second coat. If you spray paint your second coat while the pumpkin is still wet, it will just make the paint bleed, so waiting helps you really see the areas that need a little extra attention and prevent it from bleeding.

While the pumpkin is still wet, choose your glitter and start sprinkling it on while the pumpkin is still wet. If you let the pumpkin dry first, you’ll have to give it a coat of spray adhesive or brush on glue with a large brush, but since the perfect amount of glitter will stick directly to the pumpkin’s spray paint, why add more work for yourself?

We decided just to glitter the top of our pumpkin, and we also decided that large glitter flakes would stand out more than fine glitter. You can choose the best options for you and your style. Polyester fine glitter also works very well. If you plan to glitter the entire pumpkin, you can put on some rubber gloves to avoid getting paint on your fingers and roll the pumpkin in glitter or sprinkle it on the sides.

Let that dry for several hours. Shake off the extra glitter, and display!

We chose black-on-black for our Death By Chocolate Girls’ Night In Party, but you can go with any color scheme you want… pink on pink, blue on blue, or even your favorite sports team’s colors…. like a Sporting Blue pumpkin with dark blue glitter, or, if soccer’s not your game, a red pumpkin with golden yellow glitter for the Chiefs. There are tons of color schemes you could do, and since the pumpkin is SO easy to create, it’s up to your imagination!

Plus, you can display them in all kinds of fun ways. What about pink-painted glitter pumpkins displayed on black cupcake stands on a little girl’s dresser this fall, or harvest browns, greens, and yellows of different sizes displayed on a mantel? You could have glitter pumpkins in every room of the house!

So, grab your kids, the can of spray paint, and the big can of glitter, and you’re set to go for a budget-friendly no-carve option for Halloween Decorations!

 

 

SNAP!

Holy Cake Mix Brownies, Batman! (With Cookie Dough Frosting, of Course!)

- Mama 5 Comments

I’ve found lately that I really like to make things in threes. Last week, you saw a dip trio from me. And today, I present you with a yummy brownie trio. Yes. Not one, not two, but THREE kinds of brownies.

And they’re so easy. As easy as buying a brownie mix even, except for the fact that these are WAY better, and have way more variety. It took me a couple of tries to get just the right consistency down, but these, these are just right. And delicious, and ooey-gooey.

Take a box of cake mix (My three varieties were dark chocolate, red velvet, and yellow, respectively). I use Duncan Hines, because I think it produces the moistest brownies, but you can go with whatever mix you have in your pantry.

Pour the box of mix into a big bowl. Add in 1/4 cup of oil (vegetable, canola, whichever floats your boat. Probably not olive oil. That would be weird), a beaten egg, and 1/4 cup milk. Mix it up. It’s going to be really really thick. Almost impossibly thick. That’s a-ok.

If you want to add anything, now is the time to do it. For my yellow cake mix, I added in 1/3 cup of sprinkles, and in the red velvet ones, I added in a couple of handfuls of something called “Vanilla chocolate chips,” which I’m pretty sure has no actual chocolate in it, just vanilla, but you get the point. I left the dark chocolate ones without any additions, because I gave it the royal treatment with some awesome cookie-dough flavored frosting.

Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. And then wait. And wait. And wait some more. These are so ooey-gooey that if you don’t wait, they’ll ooze all over the pan. If you wait, though, when you slice them, they’ll be perfectly gooey inside, but they won’t fall apart.

Oh, and you’ll want to know this yummy little tidbit. The yellow cake mix funfetti blondie? It doesn’t taste like cake. It tastes like BATTER. Pure, delicious, cake batter.

The frosting is equally easy. Cream together a stick of room-temperature butter, just under 1/2 cup of white sugar, and just under 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Really cream it together until it’s light and fluffy (if you’re using a hand mixer or stand mixer, it’ll take a couple of minutes). Gradually add in 1 cup of flour mixed with 1 cup of powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar). Stir in 3 Tablespoons of milk (until it reaches desired consistency) and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Make sure it’s all well mixed, and you’re done! After frosting whatever you’re frosting (in this case, brownies, but this frosting is awesome on cupcakes, spoons, and yes, even cookies), sprinkle it liberally with mini chocolate chips. Yum.

And, without further ado, here are the full recipes:

Funfetti Cake Batter Blondies

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Milk
1 beaten egg
1/2 Cup rainbow sprinkles

Mix together first four ingredients in a bowl to form a thick batter. Stir in Rainbow Sprinkles until fully combined. Spread into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing or serving.

Red Velvet Brownies

1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup milk
1 beaten egg
2 large handfuls of vanilla chips or white chocolate chips

Mix together first four ingredients. Add in vanilla or white chocolate chips and mix until fully combined. Spread into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix Brownies

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (or dark chocolate cake mix, or chocolate cake mix)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 beaten egg

Combine ingredients and spread into greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Cookie Dough Frosting

1 stick butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mini Chocolate Chips (about 1 tablespoon per brownie, cookie, or cupcake)

Cream together butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Gradually add flour and powdered sugar.
Stir in milk until mixture reaches desired frosting consistency, then add vanilla extract and stir.
Frost items, then sprinkle on mini chocolate chips. Or, eat with a spoon. Or your fingers. Whatever.

The possibilities are totally endless when you’re making a brownie out of cake mix. Strawberry blondie? Totally do-able. Spice brownie for fall? Yup, you can do that. German chocolate brownie with coconut frosting? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that would be awesome. You could even mix nuts into that batter. Yummy. Carrot? Apple caramel? Banana, orange, lemon, strawberry supreme? The possibilities are literally endless. If you can find a cake mix for it, you can probably make a brownie like this out of it.

What flavor are you going to try first?