Easy Scarecrow Cake

Easy Scarecrow Cake

1 box cake mix (any flavor)

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

1 container vanilla frosting

1 tablespoon chocolate-flavored syrup

1 box (4 ounces) waffle ice cream bowls (10 bowls)

1 box (4.5 ounces) fruit by the foot chewy fruit snack rolls (6 rolls)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Make and cool cake as directed on cake mix box for 12-cup fluted tube cake pan.

Place cake on serving plate. Stir together frosting and chocolate syrup; reserve 1/4 cup of the frosting. Spread remaining frosting over cake. For straw hat, place 1 waffle bowl upside down in center of cake. Stack 5 more bowls on first bowl.

For hair, cut fruit snack into 14 (6 inch) strips and 14 (5 inch) strips. Cut each strip lengthwise to within 1 inch of top of strip. Place one 6 inch and 5 inch strip together, pressing together at uncut ends. Repeat with remaining strips. Randomly press pairs of strips on top of two-thirds of cake, overlapping as needed and allowing strips to hang over side of cake. Spread reserved 1/4 cup frosting over top of hair.

For brim of hat, break remaining waffle bowls into 5 or 6 pieces each. Randomly press waffle pieces on top of cake, overlapping and tucking pieces as needed. Allow waffle pieces to hang over side of cake and over fruit snack strips. Cut pieces of remaining fruit snack for eyes and nose; press on cake. Store loosely covered.

Recipe and picture from BettyCrocker.com

Pining for a Snack

Pining for a Snack

Cream cheese

Round crackers

Almond slices

Pretzel stick

Celery, thinly sliced

For each, spread a gnerous amount of cream cheese onto a round cracker. Starting at the bottom, layer almond slices on top of the cream cheese for the scales. Add a small piece of a pretzel stick for the stem and serve with thinly sliced celery pine needles.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Mini Pumpkins

Mini Pumpkins

Circus peanuts

Green gumdrops

Granulated sugar

For each pumpkin, cut one circus peanut in half. Cut a small piece from a green gumdrop and trim away the sugar coating so you have a dot of the sticky inside. Use this piece as glue to stick the two halves of the peanut together, bottom to bottom.

Roll the pumpkin in the palms of your hands to make it round. Press lightly; you don’t want to compress the candy too much.

Use a skewer or toothpick to poke a hole in the top of the pumpkin and draw lines down the sides. Cut another small piece from the green gumdrop and roll it in granulated sugar, molding it into a slightly conical stem shape with your fingers. Insert the stem into the hole on the top of the pumpkin.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Scarecrow Cookies

Scarecrow Cookies

Shredded wheat hay

Fruit leather patches

M&M’s and M&M minis for eyes, noses, buttons, jewelry

Gummy candy or circus peanuts hats

Candy corn noses

Banana candy mouths

To prepare, use a gingerbread-man cookie cutter to shape a batch of your favorite cookie dough and bake the cookies.

After they have cooled, add the finishing touches, using colored frosting for scarecrow clothes and white icing to stick on decorations.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

A Campfire You Can Eat

A Campfire You Can Eat

12-inch flour tortilla

Red licorice rope

Peanuts

Peanut butter

Fried Chinese noodles

Tootsie rolls

Mini pretzel sticks

White grape juice

Hot cocoa powder

Candy corn

Lay down a tortilla fire base and wrap a licorice rope safety circle around the tortilla about an inch in from the edge. Build a peanut rock ring halfway between the safety circle and the center of the fire base. Spread a circle of peanut butter in the center of the fire base, then lay a small handful of fried Chinese noodles on top for kindling.

Lay tootsie roll logs around the peanut butter circle. Use mini pretzel sticks as fuel wood to build a tepee inside the ring of logs and over the kindling, sticking the pretzels into the peanut butter at a 45 degree angle.

Add another layer of logs, setting them across the corners of the first layer to form a box around the tepee. Lay a few more pieces of fuel wood across the logs.

Make sure buckets of water (white grape juice) and dirt (hot cocoa powder) are nearby. Light the fire by adding candy corn flames.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Acorn Dough Nuts

Acorn Dough Nuts

Chocolate frosting or peanut butter

Donuts

Crumbled toffee

Pretzel

Frost a thir or so of a plain or glazed doughnut hole with chocolate frosting or peanut butter.

Roll the frosted top in crumbled toffee (look for it in the baking section of grocery stores), then add a small piece of a pretzel for the stem.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Pumpkin Roll-Ups

Pumpkin Roll-Ups

Cream cheese or American cheese

Sun dried tomato tortillas

Cilantro or parsley sprigs

Spread cream cheese or lay American cheese slices on sun dried tomato tortillas.

Roll them up, then cut them into 1 inch sections. Secure with a toothpick topped with a cilantro or parsley sprig.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Autumn Leaves Cupcakes

Autumn Leaves Cupcakes

1 can (16 ounces) caramel frosting

Cupcakes

Spiced gumdrops

Frost cupcakes. Roll out gumdrops to 1/8 inch thickness; cut out with 1 inch to 1-1/2 inch leaf shaped cookie cutters. Pile leaves on cupcakes as desired.

Recipe and picture from TasteOfHome.com

Sweet Scarecrows

Sweet Scarecrows

Cookies

White frosting

Assorted sugar wafers

Candy corn

Mini chocolate chips

Bran cereal

Chocolate sprinkles

Frost the top of each cookie.

Cut a sugar wafer in half. Add a dollop of frosting to the top edge of the cookie and stick a wafer half to it for a hat.

Place a whole sugar wafer just below the hat top for a brim. Use a little more frosting to decorate it with slices of candy corn or mini chocolate chips.

Press pieces of bran cereal hair into the frosting around the hat.

For the face, press on a candy corn nose, mini chocolate chip eyes, and a chocolate sprinkle stitched mouth.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Aut-yum Leaves

Aut-yum Leaves

1 egg

1 teaspoon of water

Prepared pie crust

Mini chocolate chips

Peanut butter chips

Raw sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk one egg with a teaspoon of water and set it aside.

On a floured surface, roll out a prepared pie crust so it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Use a large leaf shaped cookie cutter to make as many dough leaf pairs as possible.

For each pocket, spread about 4 teaspoons of mini chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on a leaf, leaving a 1/2 inch margin at the edge. Brush egg wash onto the edge, place a second leaf on top, and press the edges to seal.

Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle it generously with raw sugar. Bake the leaves on a parchment-covered cookie sheet until their edges are just beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Let them rest on the sheet a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Monkey Face Sandwich

Monkey Face Sandwich

16 slices whole wheat bread

1 package (6 ounces) boiled ham

8 single slices of cheese

3 tablespoons mayo

1/4 cup raisins

Place bread slices on cutting board. Cut into 3-inch circles using cookie cutter or sharp knife. Repeat with ham and sliced cheese. Reserve scraps. Spread 8 bread circles with dressing; fill bread with ham and sliced cheese to make 8 sandwiches. Decorate with additional dressing and raisins to resemble monkey faces. Used reserved scraps for the “monkeys’ ears.”

Recipe and picture from KraftFoods.com

Ice Cream Clowns

Ice Cream Clowns

1 quart vanilla ice cream

8 sugar cones

24 oreo cookies

Decorations, such as ring-shaped chewy fruit snacks, penauts, decorating icing, marshmallows and assorted candies

Scoop ice cream into eight balls, using medium ice cream scoop. Place on wax paper covered baking sheet.

Top each ice cream ball with sugar cone for the “clown’s hat.” Freeze 1 hour or until firm. Arrange 3 ccokies in circle on each of eight serving plates when ready to serve. Top each with ice cream scoop. Add decorations as desired to each ice cream scoop to resemble clown’s face.

Recipe and picture from KraftFoods.com

Strongman Sticks

Strongman Sticks

1 stick string cheese

2 pretzel sticks

Cut cheese sticks crosswise into quarters. Insert cheese pieces onto ends of pretzels to resemble two barbells.

Recipe and picture from KraftFoods.com

Clown Face Salad

Clown Face Salad

1-1/2 cups torn lettuce

1 ounce sliced cooked ham, cut into thin strips

1 hard-cooked egg, shell removed halved lengthwise

2 slices ripe olive

1 cherry tomato

1 strip red bell pepper

3 ready to eat baby carrots, cut into strips

Favorite salad dressing

Place lettuce on serving plate. Arrange “face” on top of salad using ham strips for hair, egg halves and olive slices eyes, tomato for nose, bell pepper strip for mouth and carrots for bow tie. Drizzle with dressing.

Recipe and picture from BettyCrocker.com

Under the Big Top Cake

Under the Big Top Cake

Bake 2 eight-inch round cakes and a dome shaped cake. Stack the two round cakes with a layer of icing in the middle. Ice the round cakes in a solid color or with stripes of varying colors. Carve the cooled dome cake to come to a point for the top of the circus tent. Ice the dome cake in a solid color or with varying colored stripes. Place the dome cake on top of the round cake. Use the star icing tip attached to a pastry bag to create a shell border where the base and the roof of the circus tent meet. Make a triangular shaped flag out of paper. Attach it to a toothpick or piece of a wooden skewer. Place it in the top of the tent. Add small clown or animal figures around the circus tent cake.

*Picture is actually of a piñata. Adapt to recipe above.

Picture from PartySupplies4Kids.com / Recipe from EHow.com

Apple Teacher

Apple Teacher

1 large marshmallow

1 red or golden delicious apple

2 rops black or red licorice

2 teaspoons flaked coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla frosting

2 miniature chocolate chips

1 maraschino cherry

For head, secure marshmallow to apple with a toothpick. Cut licorice into two 1-1/2 inch long pieces for arms and two 3 inch pieces for legs. Secure arms and legs to apple with toothpick halves. For hair, combine 2 drops yellow food coloring and 3 drops water in a small resealable bag. Add coconut; toss to coat.

Spread a small amount of frosting on top of marshmallow. Press coconut hair in place. Dip chocolate chips in frosting; insert into marshmallow for eyes. Cut a wedge of cherry into a smile; dip in frosting and place on marshmallow.

Recipe and picture from TasteOfHome.com

Stop and Go Cookie Pops

Stop and Go Cookie Pops

1 sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

About 30 each red, yellow and green candy coated chocolate candies

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg and flour until soft dough forms.

On floured surface, roll dough about 1/4 inch thick. Cut dough into 3x1 inch rectangles, using pastry wheel or knife. Insert 1 inch of wooden stick into a 1 inch side of cookie. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cookies 2 inches apart.

Bake 7-9 minutes or until eges are light brown. Immediately preess red, yellow and green candies into each cookie. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooking racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Recipe and picture from BettyCrocker.com

School of Fish

School of Fish

Dried apricots

Mini pretzels

Cream cheese

Mini chocolate chips

For each fish, slit one end of a dried apricot and insert the bottom of a mini pretzel. Pinch the apricot around the pretzel to hold it in place.

For a fish eye, pipe on a small dot of cream cheese and press a mini chocolate chipe, tip down, into the cream cheese.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

Chew on Your Pencil

Chew on Your Pencil

Cheese sticks

1/2-inch thick slices of bologna

Mustard

Bugles corn snacks

Raisins

For each pencil, cut off one end of a cheese stick so that it’s flat. Use a paring knife or apple corer to cut a 3/4-inch circle out of the bologna.

Dab one end of the circle into the mustard, then attach it to the flat end of the cheese stick.

Snap off the end of a Bugle so that its edges are even, and gently press it onto the other end of the cheese stick. Slide half a raisin onto the Bugle for the pencil tip.

Recipe and picture from FamilyFun.go.com

School Bus Cake

School Bus Cake

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup shortening

8-9 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons black paste or gel food coloring

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon yellow paste or liquid food coloring

2 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, cut in half

2 yellow gumdrops

6 red gumdrops

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into two greased 8x4-inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to a wire rack to cool completely.

Place cakes end to end on a 22x8-inch covered board. Level if needed. From the top of one end, form the front of the bus by cutting out a section 1 inch deep and 3 inches long.

For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add 6 cups confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla and salt; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining confectioners’ sugar until desired consistency is reached.

Tint 3/4 cup frosting with black food coloring; set aside. Tint remaining frosting yellow. Frost top and sides of cake with yellow frosting. Frost cut edge of cookies with yellow frosting to form wheel wells; place two cookie halves on each side of bus.

Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert a round tip. Fill the bag with black frosting. Outline windows on both sides of bus; pipe stripes under windows. Pipe windshield and back window; fill in with black frosting. Pipe lines on front of grille. Place yellow gumdrops on front of bus for headlights; place red gumdrops on front and back for lights.

Recipe and picture from TasteOfHome.com

Hamburger Cookies

Hamburger Cookies

1/2 cup vanilla frosting

Red, yellow and green paste or gel food coloring

1 cup flaked coconut

40 vanilla wafers

20 peppermint patties

1 teaspoon corn syrup

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Place 1/4 cup frosting in each of two small bowls. Tint one red and the other yellow. Place coconut in a resealable plastic bag; add green food coloring and shake to coat.

Frost the bottoms of 20 vanilla wafers yellow; top with a peppermint patty. Spread with red frosting. Sprinkle coconut over red frosting. Brush tops of the remaining vanilla wafers with corn syrup; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place over red frosting.

Recipe adapted and picture from TasteOfHome.com