Halloween Part 1 - Spooky Damask Fabric / Free Cupcake Wrappers

Wow, I can't believe Halloween is just around the corner! I'm a little sad to see the summer pass, but happy to be moving toward the holiday season. Who doesn't love Halloween with all it's creative kookiness and imaginative imagery. I'm going to be doing a series of Halloween posts with all kinds of crafty goodness from fabrics and stationery to edible delights and decor, including lots of free patterns and downloads!

First up.... some sophisticatedly spooky Halloween fabrics, from my "Spooky Damask" series. These are a twisted take on a traditional theme. I think these would make fabulous table runners, place mats, bunting, napkins, gift bags, you name it!

Assorted colors of "Spooky Damask"

You can see how the fabric looks as a tablecloth in this photo I took of some funny little Monster Mash-mallows I made this past weekend (so easy).

The cupcake wrappers also have my Spooky Damask pattern on them and you can download a free pdf file of them (in all 5 colors) here.

Methinks maybe these Frankensteins might be a little lonely though... perhaps some mummy friends, or mini Count Draculas are in order?

Easy steps to make your own Frankenstein Monster Mashmallows:

To save even more time, you could buy your cupcakes already made from the local grocery store plain or with simple frosting. I bought my chocolate cupcakes with plain white frosting swirls and added orange and yellow sugar for a little pop.

1. Starting with ordinary large marshmallows from the grocery store, stick each one with a lollipop stick through the bottom, then stick them into a foam square to keep them upright.

2. Using green edible spray (I found it at Michael's), spray each one all the way around. (You'll want to protect your work area first, or just go in the garage like I did). Don't worry about coloring the tops or the bottoms as you won't see them.

3. For their tops, I melted some Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips in a small bowl and dipped just the tops of the marshmallows in. Chocolate candy melts work just the same, but I think the bittersweet chocolate is a better choice since the marshmallows are already super sweet. In either case, simply put the choc. chips/melts into a small bowl and zap in the microwave for a few seconds as directed on the packaging.

4. Add black sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.

5. At this point, I go ahead and insert the unfinished monster heads into the cupcakes, b/c it will be harder to do it once you put their faces and bolts on. You can adjust the height of your monsters by cutting off the bottoms of the lollipop sticks until they sit where you want them.

6. Now, draw on his monobrow and garbled mouth with a black colored icing tube. You'll also use the tubed icing to attach pre-made eyes (found at Michael's as well) by putting a dab of icing on the back of each eye before sticking to the marshmallow. 

7. Lastly, Break off small pieces of pretzel sticks and stick in either side of the marshmallow, these are his "bolts". 

8. One thing I didn't get to add was his scar, as I ran out of time, but I think adding one would make him an even better Frankenstein!