Literary Halloween Crafts

I actually own (very different) books about Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde, the classic is on my e-reader and the other is pictured below and is also a good tale written by Beth Fantaskey.

Being the book nerd that I am...The Strange Case of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde along with a few other tragic tales has always been a favorite of mine to read during Halloween time, so this year I thought I'd tie in a extra spooky craft to go along with it! I love this particular story and I've always been drawn to Victorian Era literature style of writing, there is just something romantic about it, even in this novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In this craft I decided to change the idea of Dr. Jekell being a man and created him actually into a her... cool right?!? Maybe a part of me wonders what it would be like to dabble in the realms of my subconscious and see if I have a Mrs. Hyde of my own? LOL!  These crafts were way easy to construct and were VERY inexpensive too! Most of the materials came from the dollar tree and Micheal's with their fabulous coupons that I normally get in e-mail, text message or mail anyway. I think all together I might have spent about 10 bucks total!

My Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde Skull came from the dollar tree, as did the candle stick and glass plate that I hot glued together. While waiting for those pieces to set, I spray painted the skull black first, once the black dried I then pulled a old fishnet stocking over the face of the skull and sprayed (in small bursts) a bit of the purple spray paint I had left over from making the spell books. I then let that dry completely and started to paint the paper mache pumpkin from Micheal's ($3.00 on sale). After the pumpkin dried completely I took a sharpie and one of my favorite excerpt from the book and started to hand write it over the outside. I sprayed the pumpkin with some Krylon clear coat and wrapped a Halloween ribbon (from the dollar tree) around the stem and wa-la! Once my skull was completely dried, I cut the top hat off headband I got from Micheal's ($3.99 on sale), fired up the glue gun and glued it to the top of the skull. I added the black and green flower by clipping it on the side and then painted the lettering for the sign onto some heavy card stock. I threw some of the cheap dollar tree spider webbing under neath the glass stand I constructed and placed last years cupcake sprinkle test tube rack near my new Dr. Jekell and Mrs. Hyde skull and ta-da! Instant fabulous and spooky literary Halloween craft! What do you think?

My little pumpkin patch by the fireplace. The monogrammed pumpkin is from Hobby Lobby and was bought last year and the black and orange was made by me using a maple leaf for the outline, inside it says 1692 which was the start of the Salem Witch Trials, another of my favorite non-fiction reads!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge, My First Recipin!

So I have actually been owning up to what I've pined on pinterest lately, I have been super bad about this kinda thing in the past. I think the Dos Equis man said it best... "I don't pin things on pinterest very often, but when I do I pin 1,000 pins in one sitting." LOL! Yes, that is sooooo me! Is that you too? Well anyway after looking through all my recipe pins I picked about 10 of them that I figured I could try them out in the next few weeks. So when I went shopping earlier this week I decided I'd try my hand at making fudge... I love sweets so I figured what better way to start than on a small scale like this! I found a great recipe for "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge" on pinterest and thought oh man... what could be better! I love cookie dough and I love fudge so BAM! Perfect! I have never ever made fudge before and I was seriously hoping I wouldn't fudge it up... LOL! Like that little pun? ;) Well, it honestly turned out pretty awesome! The only thing is... is VERY sweet and I am so glad I have great neighbors to share this all with! LOL! Here's the recipe below if you want to try you own hand at it, it wasn't time consuming at all... I literally made it last night and it took about a half hour. I've also attached the link to the pin here if you want to see it on pinterest.


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge

Yield: 64 1-inch pieces

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours chill time
Ingredients:

For the cookie dough:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons half and half
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
For the fudge:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup butter
pinch of salt
1/3 cup half and half
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil, leaving a 1 inch overhang. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
To prepare the cookie dough, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, salt, and half and half. Stir in the flour until incorporated. Set aside.
To make the fudge base, combine the brown sugar, butter, salt, and half and half in a saucepan. Stir over medium low heat until the butter has melted and the brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Stir in the vanilla.
Add the cookie dough to the fudge base and stir to combine. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Chill until set, at least 3 hours.
Keep in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Yield: 64 1-inch pieces
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours chil time

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons half and half
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
For the fudge:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup butter
pinch of salt
1/3 cup half and half
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Read more at http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2013/02/12/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-fudge/#ovDT06SdHZ565rfj.99