Spooky Halloween Tricks and Treats

I didn’t go all out this year as I have in the past, because I’ve been so busy with work. No haunted gingerbread houses this year! But I did make Jamie’s costume again. I also had fun practicing making faux flesh wounds on my hands this afternoon.

Faux Hand Wound

I used liquid latex and fake blood and a little makeup.

I did a tutorial last year here.

Jamie wanted a high tech costume that incorporates a smart phone. He saw this youtube video about Digital Dudz, which sells these cool phone holders and has free animation apps on their site which you can play and freak people out. Jamie is too small for an adult sized one, so I made one for him using an old shirt and some latex from a Bald Head “wig”.

Latex pocket

First I made a pocket out of the latex and cut a hole out on one side.

Pocket with phone inside

Then I glued it to an old T-shirt and cut a hole out of that. I added a bit more latex on edges and “decorated” with fake blood.

Add MediaHere’s what it looked like when it was finished:

Striking a pose

The animation here is of a beating heart with sound. But I think he is going to go with intestines tomorrow night. Check out all the animations here.

Enough of the tricks, now for the treats!

I made these really simple bat, ghost, and cat Rice Krispie treats by coloring part of the batch with black food coloring, and cutting the shapes out with cookie cutters:

I was going to use mini chocolate chips for the eyes, but when I consulted with my son (a.k.a. candy expert), he said Nerds would be much better, and he was right!

Nerds candy in red and yellow

1. Line two rimmed baking sheets with a Silpat mat or parchment paper or foil sprayed with nonstick spray. Set aside.

2. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoon butter in a large bowl in microwave for about 45 seconds.

3. Add 20 marshmallows to bowl and stir to coat. Then microwave for about 55 seconds, until melted. Add 3 cups of rice cereal and stir until combined. Dump out onto one prepared baking sheet. Using a large piece of saran wrap, flatten evenly to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cool completely (I put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes).

4. Do the same with the next batch, but add a couple drops of black food coloring to the mix before dumping out onto second prepared baking sheet and flattening out. Cool completely.

5. Cut out ghost shapes out of the plain layer of rice treats. Cut out bat and cat shapes out in the black layer of rice treats. You can re-stick the extra scraps together and cut out more shapes. Add eyes using colored Nerds candies.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!!