Halloween Keepsakes & Recipes

By Renee Kaas

I was inspired to create a series of characters for my scrapbook that are unique. They are all squares and rectangles. Below you will find the basic shapes, sizes, and materials list with instructions. Also, some patterns are included. Now you can create your own cube characters for Halloween. Think “IN THE BOX”! What about putting these in a 12” X 12” shadow box frame to display your pictures from Halloween this year? By the way, I have fallen in love with the new Core’dinations™ cardstock Roberts is carrying now. Check it out! You will love, love, love it.

BASIC CUBE

4” X 3” piece of cardstock (in appropriate color for character)
15 mm black animal eyes with shanks removed
GlueDots® to attach eyes to cube
Foam Adhesive Squares (we have different brands to choose from)
Zots GlueDots® (red box)
Adhesive of choice
Personal trimmer (I love the full sized Fiskars™ Cutter)
Scissors
Chalks
Glossy Accents

Were-Cube

4” X 4” piece of brown Core’dinations™ cardstock (with grid pattern)
2—1” circles of brown Core’dinations™ cardstock (with grid pattern)
1 black Core’dinations™ cardstock triangle for nose
1—1” X 3” piece of White Roberts cardstock for teeth
Glossy Accents
2—15 mm Black animal eyes with shanks removed
Sand paper
Trace the were-cube pattern and circles on the back of the brown cardstock and then cut with sharp scissors. Sand lightly. Cut teeth out of white cardstock with sharp scissors to resemble wolf teeth and glue in the center of the were-cube. Cover slightly with the circles to create the illusion of wolf cheeks and then glue black triangle nose to the top of where the circles meet. Glossy Accents placed on the nose makes it shiny and looks like an animal nose. Using Zots GlueDots®, attach the eyes to the face above the cheeks and nose.

Franken-Cube

Use lime green Core’dinations™ cardstock for his head. Cut into a 3” X 4” rectangle. Chalk the edges lightly with green chalk. Cut a 1” X 3” rectangle of black Core’dinations™ cardstock for his hair. Cut one edge of hair piece with pinking shears. Glue to the top of the head. Remove the shanks from the 15 mm black animal eyes and glue with Zots GlueDots® to the face. Set two metallic brads (one on either side of the head) toward the bottom of the rectangle to represent the bolts.

Mummy-Cube

Cut a 3” X 4” rectangle from the lime green Core’dinations™ cardstock. Cut 5/8” wide by 4 ½” strips of white Core’dinations™ cardstock that has a rough texture and a blue interior. This one is great for creating the illusion we are going for. Glue them on at different angles to make it look ‘wrapped’. Raise a few of the strips using the pop-up squares to create the look of wrapping (leave a space for the eyes). Trim the ends so they have a rounded appearance and leave a few slightly longer than the cube is wide. Cut the shanks from 15 mm black animal eyes and glue to the face with Zots GlueDots®.

Jack-O-Cube

Cut a 3” X 4” rectangle of light orange Core’dinations™ cardstock. Chalk lightly around the edges. Cut out a small oak leaf and a vine from lime green Core’dinations™ cardstock. Cut a ½” X 1” rectangle of lime green cardstock for the stem. Glue the stem, leaf, and vine to the top of the orange rectangle at a slight angle and then remove the shanks from 2—15 mm black animal eyes and glue on with Zots GlueDots®.

Vampi-Cube

Using violet Core’dinations™ cardstock cut a 3” X 4” rectangle. Chalk lightly around the edges. Cut a black hair piece with a peak where the center of the forehead would be from black Core’dinations™ cardstock. Glue to the top of the head. Remove the shanks from the black animal eyes and glue to the face with Zots GlueDots®. Using a very sharp pair of scissors or an Exacto™ knife cut a slit mouth. Cut two triangles from white cardstock for teeth. Glue the teeth through the slit onto the back of the mouth.

Witch-Cube

Cut a 3” X 4” purple rectangle from Core’dinations® cardstock. Cut a nose from the same cardstock using your imagination or the pattern included here with the directions. Chalk with purple chalk around the edges of the face and nose. Pop up the nose with a ¼” foam adhesive square. Cut out witch’s hat and brim from black Core’dinations™ cardstock. Glue hat to the top of purple rectangle. Either crimp wire for hair using the flat blade of a pair of beading pliers or cut metallic ribbon into strands and use that for hair. Place several GlueDots® across the bottom of the hat. Place several strands of crimped wire across the rectangle for hair and bangs. Remove shanks from back of 2—15 mm black animal eyes. Glue hat brim to bottom of hat with Zots GlueDots® covering the hair.

Skele-Cube (not shown)

Cut a 3” X 2 ¼” rectangle from white Roberts cardstock. Cut a 1 ¼” X 2 ¼” rectangle from white cardstock. Cut rectangular teeth with a pair of sharp scissors. You need about 6. Chalk around the edges with light gray chalk. Also, make a nose using the chalk. Glue large rectangle to the top of project and smaller one at the bottom of 1st rectangle. Ink around the edges in a dot-dash pattern. Ink around the edges of the teeth and also make a line across the middle of teeth (for upper and lower teeth). Pop up teeth with ¼” foam adhesive squares and glue across the mouth. Remove shanks from 2—15 mm black animal eyes and glue to the skeleton face using Zots GlueDots®.

Ghost-Cube (not shown)

Cut a 3” X 4” rectangle of white cardstock. Cover rectangle with 2 layers of cheesecloth and trim to size. Glue at the back. Remove the shanks from 2—15 mm black animal eyes and glue to face of ghost with Zots GlueDots®.

You can find the shadow box frames, the new Core’dinations™ cardstock (can you tell I am a big fan of this?), and all of the supplies at Roberts. Yeah, Roberts!
I have really enjoyed the comments on the blog and on facebook by all of our Robert’s devotees! Keep them coming. I love the creativity out there. So, share your Halloween Traditions with us!
Here is another thought: I do not have nearly as many Thanksgiving Traditions to pull from. Do you mind sharing some of yours? I am anxiously awaiting your comments!
Now, here is a non-Halloween project for October. Many of us scrapbook 12” X 12”, but for a quick and simple idea, why not make an 8” X 8” scrapbook? Check out the October’s Party pages. This allows you to save a few pictures for the month without spending too much time or money. The leaves are from The Cuttlebug™. If you haven’t tried this wonderful machine, you are really missing out on adorable dies and embossing possibilities. It works great with other tools, as well.

Below are a few fun Pumpkin Recipes I wanted to share with you as well.

Pumpkin Bars

1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
¼ cup oil
¼ cup water

Spray 17” X 11 ½” pan with Pam, set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Stir in pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water. Mix well. Spread batter into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost. Cut into 24 bars.

Frosting
¼ cup light cream cheese
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel

Beat together the cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, vanilla, and the peel until mixture is light and fluffy. Gradually add the rest of the sugar.

Pumpkin Bread

Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Baking Time: 50 to 60 minutes
Equipment: 9” by 5” by 3” loaf pan, measuring spoons, measuring cups, large bowl, medium bowl, spatula, cooling rack

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup raisins or chocolate chips (optional)
2 eggs
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
½ cup water
1 cup (8 ounces) pumpkin, canned unsweetened
Or pureed fresh cooked

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom only of a 9” by 5” by 3” loaf pan.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and raisins. Make a well in the center. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Add the butter, water, and pumpkin, and mix until blended. Pour the mixture into the well of dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix. The batter will be thick.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool 5 minutes. Loosen the sides of the loaf from the pan and remove. Cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Yield: 1 loaf, approximately 12 t o 14 slices.