Healthy Halloween Treats For The Classroom

This post was originally written by me and published for CraftsUnleashed.com, but in case you missed it I am reposting on my blog.

I know Halloween is all about the candy, but there is only so much candy a kid can eat right?  I like giving out healthy Halloween treats (yes, I am the house that gives out pretzels, toys, and toothbrushes).  This year for my daughter’s school, she needs to bring in treats for Halloween.  I decided to use oranges and wrap them in tissue paper to make them look like pumpkins.  This was so fun and turned out so well.  Originally I wanted to use small “Cuties” but they are out of season, so I just used Valencia Oranges that I purchased from the farmers market.  The oranges are organic so they aren’t colored bright orange like the supermarket oranges, so the orange tissue paper really makes it look like a pumpkin.  Don’t be fooled by the color though, these are the sweetest, juiciest oranges I have ever had! Even sweeter than candy, in my opinion.

I love this take on Halloween treats, because it’s actually a fun craft to do with your kids and something that could help them eat more fruit.

Supplies needed to make your own healthy Halloween treats:

• Orange Tissue Paper (1 sheet will make 6 oranges)
• Scissors
• Green Pipe Cleaners (One for each orange)
• Black Vinyl

Cut the tissue paper into a square that will wrap around the entire orange.  Mine was cut 8×8 for an orange about 3 inches in diameter.

Wrap tissue paper up to the top of the orange, and twist around the top.

Using a pipe cleaner, cinch the base of the orange where the tissue paper is gathered, then twist around the tissue paper tail until you reach the top.  Then twist back down to the bottom of the stem of the “pumpkin”. Leave a little room on the pipe cleaner for the next step.

You should have about 2 inches left on the pipe cleaner.  Take those two inches and wrap around a pencil to create a spiral vine effect.

Once all of your oranges are wrapped, they are ready to be decorated to complete these fun Halloween treats.

Using black vinyl, cut out jack-o-lantern faces.  Get creative!  You could draw it out on the back of the vinyl and then cut it out, but I find that free handing is the easiest.

Now these adorable Halloween treats are ready to be handed out to trick-or-treaters or party guests! They won’t even know there’s fruit inside until they open them up. Sneaky!

I truly love the way these healthy Halloween treats turned out.  They would even make great centerpieces or decor for around the house.

Sterling Silver Jewelry from Teeda.com Review

I'm always looking for great online shops.  I was so excited when I found Teeda.com to find some sterling silver jewelry. I'm always a little apprehensive when I buy stuff online, you never know the quality from the pictures that are on the site.  I ordered six pieces of jewelry from teeda.com.  One bracelet, one ring, one toe ring, one pair of earrings, one ear cuff and one necklace.  The package arrived yesterday and I cannot be more pleased.  The quality of the jewelry exceeded my expectations.  The prices on the site were so reasonable that I thought the quality wouldn't be that great, but I was so wrong.  The jewelry was each carefully packaged in its own box  (note if you buy wholesale then it does not come in individual boxes).   The boxes were also encased in another boxed and neatly package. The jewelry inside was shiny and well made.   My favorite pieces were the ring, necklace and earrings.  The ring was substantial, thick silver.  The pendant on the necklace sparkled and the chain was delicate yet sturdy.  The earrings were a beautiful pink stone that looks sophisticated enough to wear to work but fun enough to wear out.  The bracelet was well made, not really my style, but I gave it to my aunt who loved it.  There is stuff on the site for all ages.  I gave the toe ring to my daughter and she loved the dolphins on it.  Teeda.com really has exceeded my expectations in delivering fine quality sterling silver jewelry for reasonable prices.  The delivery was fast and reliable.  I received a tracking number from fed ex soon after I placed the order and the package took less than three days to arrive.  Overall I would recommend this site to anyone.  You can get wholesale prices for jewelry, but you do not have to buy wholesale quantities!  So if you are in the market for some affordable quality jewelry for holiday gifts, charity fundraisers, dance performances, giveaways or just your own personal use be sure to check Teeda.com out.

My favorite pieces from Teeda.com

Box was well packaged and delivered fast.

Beautiful earrings from Teeda.com

The jewelry arrived each in its own well made jewelry box.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Teeda.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

Easy Watercolor Art

I originally posted this on CraftsUnleashed last year, but I wanted to share this just in case you missed my original post.  

One of my favorite Steve Jobs quotes is:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

I wanted to make an art piece for my house using this quote. So using a crayon and watercolors, I made the piece of art below.  There are so many parts of the quote that could have been used, but I decided on the first part.  I may take the other parts of the quote and put it on separate sheets to make a photo collage if I have time.

Materials:

• White Crayon
• Watercolors
• Paint Brush
• White Paper
• Tape

Directions:

Print out or free hand your favorite quote onto a spare sheet of paper. Tape the quote and the plain piece of paper to a glass door or light box, and trace the text with white crayon. Go over the text multiple times. You want to get a thick coat of white crayon.

Wet the watercolor onto the brush and brush the paper lightly with paint. The white crayon should show through with the text.  Note that depending on the thickness of paper your paper may crinkle a little.  You can iron the paper a little if there is a lot of wrinkling, BUT protect your iron with another sheet of paper so you don't get white crayon wax on it.  This is a cheap technique for resist, so some color will get onto the white crayon, you can scrape some of the water color off if it bothers you.

Now, how easy was that?! Let dry, frame, and enjoy your one of a kind art.