Witches' Brooms

 Can you believe Halloween is just a week away?!  I'm all about making festive treats that do not take a long amount of time to prepare, but have a strong visual impact (as seen here), presentation is everything after all.  These little witches' brooms are salty, sweet, and chocolaty, always a winning combination in my book.  They are not only simple to make, but they will be a hit with all trick or treaters big and small.

 

DIY Halloween

{this is the one!}

So, I officially decided on my Halloween costume.  For some reason I always end up with a Mexican themed getup.  I don't know what it is, but it just happens.  I found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest.  Here are some pretty cool DIY costume ideas.  You can follow me on Pinterest here.

 

Halloween

Yesterday we went Trick or Treating with Jada and Josiah.  No matter what,  I can always count on those funny little babes to make me smile.

Scenes From The Weekend

{bought a "pumpkin tree" at Trader Joes}

 Here's a brief look into my weekend....

 {couldn't believe there was a mini blizzard in October}

 {loved seeing Jada's reaction to the jack o' lantern Chris carved out for her}

 {enjoyed my favorite meal; white rice with pigeon peas and green banana dumplings aka arroz con gandules y bollitos care of my momma}

{prepped my Halloween costume via my closet}

DIY: Native American Headdress

 I am not one for spending a lot, if any money on Halloween costumes.  I usually go through my wardrobe and figure out what I can put together.  This year I concocted a Native American get up using the contents of my closet with the exception of the headdress.  For this I took the DIY approach.

You can use whatever materials you would like, but these are what I used:

- Assorted colored feathers

- A strip of suede

- 7/8" black grossgrain ribbon

- turquoise beads

- gold glitter puff paint

- glue gun

-scissors

Take the strip of suede, fold in half and make small snips about 1/2" away from each end.

 Loop through enough ribbon to be able to secure the band around your head.

 Decide where you want to place the feathers.

 Hot glue to the back of the suede.

I hot glued a peacock feather and turquoise beads to the front.

 I filled the bead holes with some glittery gold puff paint.

Ta da!  The end product.  I will show you pictures of how it looked on next week ; )

Halloween Mini Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes

This simple recipe is sure to get you in the Halloween spirit.  The orange Halloween Oreos would have been ideal to use for the crust, but the supermarket was all out so I went the traditional route.  For this yummy recipe click here.

Hope Your Halloween Was Happy

This year Chris (aka Baby Joker) and I (Lil' Smiley) decided to dress as a cholo and chola.  We really got into character.  I watched a bunch of chola makeup tutorials on Youtube like this one and this one to ensure my brows were perfectly arched and my darkly lined lips were on point.  It didn't hurt that we watched Mi Vida Loca for some lingo practice.  It was all in the name of fun.

I must say this was the most comfortable costume I've ever worn.

Did you dress up this year?

What to be for All Hallow's Eve?

Still don't have a Halloween costume?  It's going to be ok.  No one is judging.  For the second year in a row I plan on making up a last minute costume using items straight from my closet.  Check out my DIY Frida costume from last year...

I had everything on hand except for the flowers which I took from my mom's autumn wreath.  Of course I put them back on when I was done ; )

I'll let you know how this year's costume came out next week.

Have a Happy Halloween, ya'll!

Food Porn of The Week: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

What enticed me about these cupcakes was the fact that they took on the flavor of a traditional cup of Mexican hot chocolate, which I absolutely love.  The recipe starts with a box of store bought dark chocolate cake mix.  Add in some pumpkin, cinnamon, eggs, and chocolate chips and the end result is one of the most moist and light cupcakes you have ever had.  The star of the show has got to be the cinnamon.chocolate.cream cheese.frosting.  Need I say more?  I chose to decorate these lovelies with some Dia De Los Muertos flair.  Perfect for any Halloween themed festivities this coming weekend.