While Halloween has all the fun of costumes and parties, let’s face it, it’s mostly an excuse to eat candy, right?? It’s always fun to make extra special treats for a themed party (especially if you are having a Halloween that involves kids), so I thought I would make a version of the “balloon chocolate bowl” to look like a jack-o’-lantern that would also hold some candy treats. We are partnering with JOANN on this post and I took a quick trip to the store to gather my supplies for my bowls and I always love to browse their candy/baking area of the store as it has so much to choose from! I snuck in a few Halloween cookie cutters to my cart as well while I was there so I can make some cookies with Lola for the season—they’ve thought of it all! OK, back to how to make these chocolate bowls …
Supplies:
–orange melting candy (12 ounces should be enough to dip 6-8 bowls)
-shortening
-microwave-proof bowl (or double boiler for stove)
-small balloons (like water balloon size)
–edible food color markers
-wax paper
-candy for bowls
First, you’ll want to blow up some small balloons so you have ones that are about 3-4″ at the widest part (you’ll need one balloon per candy cup, but I would make a few extra in case some break). If your balloons feel coated in any sort of powder or substance, you can carefully wash and dry them before dipping. Then, melt your dipping chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals (or use a double boiler with water in the bottom pot), stirring between each interval, until it’s all melted. If your chocolate feels too thick for dipping, you can stir in a few spoonfuls of shortening and that will thin it out. You want it to drip off a spoon a little, but not be too thin and runny, so try and aim for a good in between.
Once your chocolate is melted, wait until it is just barely warm (too hot will pop the balloon) and line a tray with wax paper. Dip each of your balloons and roll the balloon around until the chocolate has coated all the way up to the widest part of the balloon. Try and use a bowl for dipping that’s just a little larger than your balloons so it creates a nice pool to dip into, as a super wide bowl will create a shallow pool for dipping.
Once you dip your balloon, place it on the wax paper. Once all your balloons are dipped, place the tray in the fridge for 20-30 minutes until the chocolate is set.
Once your chocolate has set, cut a small hole in the top of the balloon near the tie and let the air out slowly. I did have some balloon stick to the bottom of the cup once all the air was out, but I was able to gently pull it off the bottom (it may be easier to get off the bottom as the chocolate warms up a bit too).
Use your food coloring marker to draw the outline of a jack-o’-lantern face, fill it in, and your cups are ready to use! You can alternately pipe black or brown melting chocolate as the face, but I like the ease of the markers, so I went that route.
Fill your cups with candy and you are ready to party!! 
How cute are those?! You can make these shells a few days ahead of time as well, so that can be a big help for party prep too (just keep them in an airtight container). Obviously, these bowls are delicate, so you don’t want to handle them too much. But they were totally fine being filled with a ton of candy and sitting out for several hours on my counter. Lola thought it was amazing that she could eat the bowl, so it was a big hit with the kid in our house! Hope these bowls make it to your Halloween party this year! xo. Laura
Hello friends. Welcome to our spooky home tour! It fills me with pure joy to decorate our home for the seasons for our family.
This is our spooky village. 
These little 
Orange Blocks / 
The skeleton flamingos 
Nova was on fall break the week we did these photos and so she was my “big helper” this day. 😉
Our friend 
Thank you for taking a peek inside my spooky home! I’ve collected these decorations (both store-bought and homemade) over the past 3-4 years and I love adding a bit more to our collection every year.
Why, hello there from me and my new friend, “Bones.” We are both very excited for Halloween this year. Ha. But seriously, I bought a few life-size skeleton decorations for our holiday house and I kept talking to this one every now and again. It started as a joke, but I think it’s morphing into something else. Send help!
We created two different Halloween theme designs you can 
Supplies:
Next, cut out your design. I like to cut the design out and immediately put each piece on top of the garment I plan to transfer it to (as opposed to stacking in a pile or something). I find this helps me keep organized and also keep the spacing between letters and other elements more true to the template.
Last, transfer your design to the garment. Simply follow the instructions of your fabric transfer paper (they vary some depending on what brand/kind you use). Most of the time this involves carefully ironing into place.
Super simple project that I hope gets you as excited for Halloween as me and Bones are feeling. You could easily make these for your whole family or a group of friends/office buds. This would also be a really fun and easy project to make at a party—just have everyone bring their own garment. Lots of options! Tag us if you make your own sweater—we want to see! xo. Emma
I’m sooo excited to share today’s post! I put together three different party boards with the fall and Halloween season in mind, because adults deserve a fun experience too after all the festive parties! And to be perfectly honest, you don’t need a party to enjoy one of these—they’re perfect for a date night at home as well (the ULTIMATE date night at home).
There are few things I look forward to more than wine and cheese when our kiddos go to bed at night (woooo!!!!!). I’m really into this all-white board because it has all my favorite things: soft cheese, cheddar popcorn, pumpkin seeds and macadamia nuts. Oh, and chardonnay!
Products used: William Wright Chardonnay, Happy Farms Preferred Transylvanian Romanian Cave Cheese, Crumbled Blue Cheese, Happy Farms Preferred Camembert Soft Cheese, Happy Farms Preferred Goat Cheese, Parmesan Garlic & Herb Pita Chips, Southern Grove Pumpkin Seeds, Southern Grove Macadamias with Sea Salt, Clancy’s White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn.
I love a board with tons of veggies, olives and a variety of nuts and dried fruit. If you have a chance, ALWAYS add apple chips to your board … it’s so delicious and surprising.
Pumpkin Spice Cheese. Yep, that exists. This board was so delicious, I wish I could have shared it with you! It’s perfect for a Halloween or fall-themed party!
Next up, a cheese and chocolate board. The ultimate! This one would be amazing at a Halloween party. I added caramel apples, pumpkin spice pretzels and truffles. Cheddar and chocolate are such a good combination! It’s great paired with a fun rosé too!
Products used: La Rue Rosé Cotes de Provence Rosé, Emporium Selection Halloween Freaky Franken Sage Derby Cheese and Emporium Selection Halloween Bat Knit Crazy Cheddar Cheese (available 10/16), caramel apples, Moser Roth Luxurious European Chocolate Truffles, Choceur Pumpkin Spice Yogurt Covered Pretzels, Choceur Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Almonds, Specially Selected Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels, Benton’s Chocolate Cream Filled Wafer Rolls, Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn.
Cheers!! I hope you are feeling inspired and ready for some wine and cheese!