Homemade Halloween Donuts! *The Easy Way!

There is do denying around our house that we like food. Mix a fun holiday like Halloween with it and we are totally game! 

I would love to give credit to the originator of this ridiculously cute idea, but I have no clue who that is. I remember seeing a version of this while scrolling through my Pinterest feed a few years back and knew that eventually, we would have to do it! 

All the ones we had seen though, used store bought donuts. We loooooove making homemade ones. They are so easy! All you need are two main ingredients. TWO! That's it!

• Oil (we use Canola, but whatever oil you prefer should work fine)
• Biscuits (Just use the good 'ole cheap buttermilk biscuits)

Now, to get them tasty, you need a few more ingredients. Here are some we use:

• Powdered Sugar
• Cinnamon and Sugar (our favorite)
• Melted Chocolate
• Glaze - You can make this by simply mixing together powdered sugar and water to the right consistency.

Now that you have your ingredients, let's get started! Before you open the donuts, go ahead and heat your oil. You'll want about an inch or so of oil in your pan for these. I suggest using a smaller pan so you aren't wasting any oil. These donuts cook pretty quickly, so unless you are making some for an entire football team, a small pan would work perfectly. I put my burner on four, so not quite half way. We don't want them to get too brown. 

First, get your biscuits out and lay them out. I lay mine on a cutting sheet, but you could use some wax paper, aluminum foil, or even a plate. 

We have tried a lot of things to cut the center out and I have found that the best one is a medicine cup. I'm sure everyone has a few of these (especially if you have kids!) in their house, so no need to buy anything for this step. 

Press the biscuits down a bit with the palm of your hand just to flatten them a little. 

Cut the center out by pressing down the medicine cup and twisting it back and forth. 

This is what it will look like.

Now you have a donut and a donut hole!

Your oil should be hot by now so go ahead and gently put your donuts in.

Sorry I only have photos of the donut holes! I got a phone call and my daughter went on without me. All she had left when I came back were the holes! :)

Let them get a nice golden brown. We turn ours with long tongs so no one gets burnt by the oil.

Once both sides are done, lay them on a plate covered with paper towels to soak up excess oil. 

Once they have a few seconds to sit (while they are still warm), go ahead and coat them with whatever topping you want. Here we have a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

To make them as cute as can be, add a few dots of melted chocolate for the eyes and a pair of vampire teeth! Our vampire teeth came from Target. It was a pack of eight for $1. 

The kids love making these and eating them! It's a super fun way to start your Halloween! 

Happy Haunting everyone and hope you have a great weekend!

Love&Hugs

No Tricks, Just Treats *Free printable tag!

Halloween is almost here and what better way to celebrate than with baked goodies? Then again, I say that for every holiday....or really any day ending in y. What? I like cookies. Don't judge me. 

On any given day my daughter or I will be making cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bars, or dipping something in chocolate. That is special bonding time together for us.

My smaller girls (three and five) enjoy doing that too, but it can get a little complicated for them sometimes. So, this time we just bought a pre-made sugar cookie roll for them to do. We got ours from Aldi, but I know Pillsbury makes some as well that you can get in most stores.

I helped the girls slice the cookies. I would suggest making them on the thicker side because they stay softer that way. If you like crunchy cookies, go thinner. I kept turning the roll as we sliced so one side wouldn't get flat.

Follow the directions for oven temp and baking time. Thank goodness ours only took about 8 minutes to bake. You know how impatient little ones can be when there is waiting involved!

Here they are! Super easy and they actually look like jack-o-lanterns! So cute!

I pulled out my baggies and jute to package them up all cute like so the kids can pass them out to friends. My bags came from a local craft store called Pat Catan's, but I have also seen them at Hobby Lobby. Can't remember exactly where the jute came from, but I know Dollar Tree and Dollar General have some. 

     

You can print the FREE sheet of tags here. 

*You may print as many as you need, but please do not claim them as your own. You may attach them to an item being sold, but you may not sell them outright.

Once you print the sheet, cut out the tags, hole punch the corner, and string it through! So easy! 

I hope you enjoy the tags! Be sure to add them to your Pinterest board! That way, if you don't use them this year, you will have them handy for next year!

If you use the tags please share your goodies! I'd love to see! Have an awesome day!

Love&Hugs

Dollar Tree Skull Makeover

All of my kiddos are very crafty. So much so, that even when my craft room is clean...it doesn't stay that way for long, whether I am in it or not. So, I wanted to do a craft with my two oldest daughters to get some time together.

The skulls came from the Dollar Tree. I have seen them there for several years and we actually have one that we put a mustache on a few seasons ago and we set him out during Halloween too. His name is Bojangles.

Here are the supplies you will need to make one. Depending on your style, you may want to try a few different techniques.

Plastic skull (Dollar Tree)
Xacto knife
Spray Paint
Glue (I used E6000)
Rhinestones, pearls, buttons, flowers,sequins, beads, or other accents

Because these are so cheap, they aren't made very well. The seams where the plastic was fused together were pretty big, so I used an Xacto knife to smooth them out, followed by a few swipes of fine sandpaper. This isn't a 'have to' step, but I feel it made ours look better in the end.

Once I was done with that, I wiped her (yes, it's a she) down with a damp rag and then spray painted her with a cream colored spray paint made by Krylon. She got two coats of the cream and then a coat of the Rustoleum clear matte spray. Make sure you give them enough time to dry in between. Once the sealer is dry, the fun begins!

I started looking through my supplies and liked the idea of gold and teal. So, I pulled out some different things and started gluing sequins on, adding rhinestones, and then using my Sharpie marker to add some swirls and dots.

Here she is all fancied up!

Here is one my daughter made. I love how she used the metallic spray paint! Her design is really cool, but you could just spray them gold or silver and they would be a perfect addition!

Since we had all of these supplies already on hand, we only had $3 out of pocket for the skulls!

You could get really creative with this. Some ideas would be painting it ombre style or using artificial flowers for the eyes. You could add large googly eyes to make it funny, Possibilities are endless.

I say this was definitely a win and I think this is beginning an annual tradition for my kids and I.

If you do this craft or something similar, please show us in the comments!

Have a blessed day!