Thanks for visiting Hungry Halloween. 

Please join me at my new blog,

Hungry Happenings,

 to see all of my newest Halloween projects 

plus more themed cuisine for every holiday
and special occasion throughout the year. 

As of Halloween 2012, all of my latest Halloween projects will be featured exclusively at http://www.hungryhappenings.com.
So stop by and see what is new!

Dress up your caramel apples!

Black Cat Caramel Apples

Chocolate Caramel Apple Cauldrons

These recipes are posted on my Hungry Happenings website.  Click on the links below each photo and you will be re-directed to www.HungryHappenings.com

Carnival of the Creepy Crawlers Games Part 2

It was so much fun creating all of these games for our Halloween Carnival of the Creepy Crawlers. Some of the games were classic carnival games with a creepy crawler twist like the ring toss pictured above while others were our mad creations like a Fly Swatting game.

I had an idea to have kids somehow swat at a fly.  My husband thought it would be funny to have the kids use a fly shooter to try to swat a fly. I had never heard of a fly shooter, so I searched on Amazon.com for one. 

A Fly Shooter is essentially a plastic gun that has a fly swatter attached to a string. You press down on the trigger and the fly swatter shoots out after a fly.  They are really used to swat flies and they were perfect for our game, so I ordered two.

The big challenge was trying to figure out how to get a plastic fly to fly around so the kids could swat at it.  My genius husband built a PVC frame, fed fishing line through the frame, attached it to a handle on one end and a  plastic fly on the other. The person running the game would pull the handle back and forth thereby setting the fly into motion.  The fly could move up and down and all around.   If a small child played the game, the fly didn't go crazy so he/she could have a chance at swatting the fly.  The older kids were challenged a bit more.  I think the kids really got a kick out of using the fly shooter - I know I did too!

 Last Halloween I was fortunate enough to find lollipops that had bugs printed on them and knew exactly what I'd do with them. As a kid we used to go to our church carnival every summer and one of my favorite games involved lollipops. Some had colored dots on the bottom of the stick and if you were lucky enough to pull out one of them, you won a prize. I have several wooden lollipop holders that I use for my chocolate business so I had no trouble setting up the game.  If you want to do this game, you could drill holes into a wooden base or just use a big piece of Styrofoam. Paint dots on the bottoms of a handful of lollipops and randomly place them in the display.  If a child pulls out a lollipop that has a spot, he/she wins a big prize.  If the pop doesn't have a spot, they get to keep the lollipop.

O.K., this game was a bit out there.  I found a bunch of toy roaches and had to do something with them. Most of the roaches were black, but one was a bright purple. I thought it would be fun to have the kids try to find the purple roach amidst all of the black ones.  I filled a giant bowl with cereal and hid the roaches inside.  The kids would put on a blind fold, reach into the bowl, and grab a roach.  If they found the purple roach, they won a big prize if they picked up a black roach they got a consolation prize. If you make this game, be sure to use a very large bowl and leave room at the top so that the cereal doesn't spill out all over the floor when the kids reach inside.

A traditional bottle toss has players throw rings around soda bottles.  I fortunately found plastic laboratory bottles filled with Halloween candies at a really good price.  I found plastic rings at a party supply store the same kind used at real carnivals. Each player got 6 rings and had a chance to toss them onto the bottles. When a player got a ring around a bottle, their prize was the bottle of candy they just captured. At the end of the party, I did have quite a few bottles left over, so I passed them out to some very lucky trick or treaters.

 I set up these games the week before our party and I spent a lot of time playing them, especially this one. Many of the adults at the party tried their hand at this game too.

I found huge plastic ants and a Halloween picnic basket and wanted the kids to somehow throw the ants into the basket. Once again my husband had to find a way to make this game a challenge.  I didn't just want an open picnic basket, I thought it would be more challenging if the lid of the basket opened and closed. So, my husband attached a rope to the inside of the picnic basket lid then attached some PVC pipe to the back of the basket, fed the rope into the pipe and up to another pipe that was used as a handle. The person running the game would move the handle up and down, moving the lid up and down and the kids had to try to throw the ant into the basket.  If they got one in, they won a big prize. 

Well, that's it for my carnival games.  I highly recommend this theme for a party.  The kids had such a great time playing and I enjoyed the challenge of creating the games.  You will need carnival workers to run the games during your event. I was fortunate enough to have a friend's daughter and her friends help out.  They'll be back this year helping too.   

Creepy Crawler Carnival Games Part 1

I am busy getting my house ready for our annual Halloween party but wanted to take some time to explain in a little more detail how we transformed our garage into a Creepy Crawler Carnival last year.  We lined the walls with black plastic which we purchased at Lowe's.  It comes in very large sheets which we cut to fit.  Then every few feet I added a strip of plastic orange table runner.  I used push pins to hang all the plastic.

I set up games all around the walls so that there was plenty of room for the kids to play.  I created signs for each game using Print Master (a graphics program that is very easy to use) and some cute cut outs I found at United Art and Education (an art and teacher's supply store.)

I hung a totally gross looking scene setter on the door and added a giant spider image above the door.  Little bug cut outs were stuck to all of the walls to add to the creepy effect. Bat chair covers dressed up a few folding chairs that I sat around for the parents to use while the kids had fun playing games.

I set up a ticket booth at the entrance to the carnival and had someone pass out 15 tickets to each child, so that they could play all ten games at least once and a few twice.  I purchased consolation prizes for each game, so that with every game each child was a winner. These prizes were kept at the game station and passed out after a child played the game. If a child won a large prize, they would receive a gold coin which they could turn in for a large prize at the ticket booth.  That way I could have a large variety of prizes and each child could choose what they wanted to win. It was much easier than trying to have large prizes at each game station. 

A note on prizes:  I always try to decide on our party theme for next year before this Halloween season is over, which for this theme gave me time to purchase prizes on clearance.  I've gotten amazing Halloween themed prizes for as much as 90% off. Also, right before Halloween all the summer toys go on clearance so it's a great time to buy them too and kids love winning toys of any kind.  The only thing I wait to buy is candy. If I don't have enough prizes, I usually will buy them from Oriental Trading Company, which is where I get a lot of my craft projects for our parties too (I just purchased picture frames for the kids to put together at this years party.)

So, on to the games!

Game: Lady Bug Spots

My favorite game was handmade using a large board, plastic cups (the short ones), craft leaves, and some thick black wire.  To play, the kids had to throw balloons at the lady bug. If a balloon landed in a black spot they won a big prize. If they only got their balloons in red spots, they got a consolation prize.  It was so fun to watch the balloons fly through the air and land on the lady bug and then bounce around. This was truly a game of luck and the kids were thrilled when their balloon was a winner.

I created the pattern for the lady bug out of red cups adding black spots and a black head.  Once I was happy with my design I used liquid nails (strong glue) to adhere the plastic cups to the board.  I then glued leaves all around the lady bug and added some wire antenna. 

A close up of the Lady Bug Spots game sign. The lady bug says, "get a balloon into one of my black spots to win a big prize."

Game: Fuzzy Caterpillar Toss

 

A similar game was so easy to set up. I covered a long board with jungle print paper (purchased at United Art and Education) then I set very small bowls on top in a caterpillar pattern.  I drew a line a few feet away from the board where the kids would stand.  Each child got six cotton balls and had to throw them trying to get them in the bowls. One in won a medium prize (these prizes were kept that the game station), two in won a large prize, and all others got a consolation prize.

Game: Fly Fishing

 This game took a bit of work but it was worth the effort - the kids loved it.  I purchased a fishing pole from the dollar store (one that really winds up the string) and attached a very light Styrofoam spider to it. I super glued a small magnet (taken from the end of the fishing pole) onto the front of the spiders face.  I bought some plastic flies and bent part of a paper clip around their necks so that the magnet would have something metal to grab a hold of.  I set a spider web decoration on the floor, sprinkled on some flies and had the kids use the fishing pole to "fly fish."  Even the smallest kids could do this game, so everyone was a winner as is usually the case with fishing games at carnivals. The big cauldron pictured above was filled with all of the prizes.  The kids could choose what they wanted.

Game: Lily Pad Leap Frog

When I was creating these carnival games, I tried to think about games that already used things that could be considered a creepy crawler, like a leap frog game.  I didn't want the kids to just play a game of leap frog on my garage floor, so I created a game board.  I purchased paper with a water scene on it from United Art and Education and wrapped it around a board.  I printed out images of grass and lily pads (I did a Google image search for them) and cut and glued the images to the board.  I set a rug in front of the board so the children could kneel down to play the game. The player had to set his/her frogs on the grass and try to leap them onto a lily pad.  The entire frog had to be on the lily pad to win a big prize otherwise the child won a small consolation prize. It was actually harder than it looked, but we gave the kids 6 frogs to leap, so they had fun playing even if they didn't win a big prize.

I'll get Creepy Crawler Carnival Games Part 2 posted later this week.  If you haven't already, be sure to stop over at my Hungry Happenings blog to enter my current Halloween giveaway (until October 23, 2011). To enter click this link.

A few new Halloween recipes have been posted over at Hungry Happenings

Create an owl by artfully arranging cheese slice cut outs.

Remember the Twilight Quesadilla recipe from last Halloween?

well I thought I'd make another version of the recipe without any food coloring.

My new Halloween quesadillas use chili powder.

Want to try your hand at making your own chocolate cansiters filled with pretzels for Halloween?

I posted a step-by-step tutorial to show you how.

I'm working on a post featuring our carnival games from last year.  Hope to have it posted here very soon.

If you haven't already, be sure to enter my Halloween giveaway. Click here to enter for your chance to win a chocolate canister filled with chocolate dipped pretzels all decorated for Halloween.

New Halloween giveaway announced over at Hungry Happenings.

Be sure to head over to Hungry Happenings to get in on a chance to win this amazing Halloween prize.  One lucky reader will win a handmade dark chocolate canister filled with milk chocolate dipped pretzels which are all decorated for Halloween. Click on this link to enter. Good luck.

A couple new recipe ideas for Halloween.

Sweet Ghost Crisps

Witch Hat Appetizers

I posted two new Halloween recipes this week at Hungry Happenings. Stop by to check them out.

Halloween Black Cat Cheese Ball Recipe

I created this recipe last Halloween for a recipe contest and posted a picture here, but the recipe remained on the contest website. Unfortunately, I lost to a pumpkin puking out pumpkin dip. Oh, well, that's how it goes sometimes. Anyway, I just loved this recipe and wanted to share it with you. Sorry for the lack of step-by-step images. I didn't take any as I only needed the final picture to enter into the contest.

Black Cat Cheese Ball  (serves 12-18)

Ingredients:

8 oz. softened cream cheese, divided

4 oz. shredded Havarti cheese

4 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese

3 roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and seeds removed

1 small clove of garlic, minced

2 oz. blue corn tortilla chips

1 black olive

crackers

Special Equipment Needed:

food processor

plastic wrap

disposable pastry bag or heavy duty zip top bag

Instructions:

In food processor, combine 7 oz. cream cheese, Havarti cheese, Gruyere cheese, roasted red peppers, and garlic. Pulse until creamy and smooth. You will need 1 heaping teaspoon of this cheese for the cat's nose. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Place the remaining cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to mold the cheese mixture into a flattened ball.

Reserve two whole blue corn tortilla chips for the cat's ears. Place remaining chips in the cleaned food processor bowl and pulse to fine crumbs. Pour onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Set cheese ball round size down  on crumbs. Use the plastic wrap to press the crumbs all over the surface of the cheese ball. Set cheese ball on a serving platter.

Put remaining 1 oz. cream cheese into pastry bag or zip top bag. Snip off the tip of the bag. Pipe three whiskers onto cat's face. Remove the reserved cheese mixture from the refrigerator and mold it into a triangular shape for the nose; place in the middle of the cat's face, on top of the middle of the whiskers.

To create the eyes I suggest you scoop out the crushed tortilla chips and a bit of the cheese ball in two circles above the nose. Pipe cream cheese into these holes. Smooth it out into a nice circle. Cut olive in half and lay on top of the eyes for pupils.

Press the two reserved blue corn tortilla chips into top of head for ears.

Refrigerate until needed. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving with crackers.

Googly Eyed Ghost Pops recipe featured on Hungry Happenings

New Halloween recipe is posted at Hungry Happenings.

Click here to view recipe for Googly Eyed Ghosts

This giant spider is hoping to crawl up onto your buffet table this Halloween.

Head over to Hungry Happenings for another addition to the Carnival of the Creepy Crawlers recipes. Click here to see the full recipe and tutorial for this super sized cake ball spider.