Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

-
Image
Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

Make a Halloween Folk Art Candy Container from a $1 Blown Plastic Pumpkin

-

Do you remember the Paper Mache Black Cat Trick-or-Treat Bucket I shared last year? Using a plastic candy bucket that I picked up at Target for only a dollar, homemade paper mache paste, scrap paper and paint, I transformed this:


Into this:


I was excited for the pumpkins to be back in stores again this year.  As soon as they arrived, my girls and I picked up a bunch and brainstormed a plan for this year's creation.  We decided to create lidded candy containers -- the perfect place to store your candy for trick-or-treaters.  Decorative by day, functional by night!

This year, I had a few new tricks up my sleeve.  With this basic tutorial you can upgrade your cheap-o pumpkin any way you wish:

Folk Art Pumpkin Candy Container


  • Materials
  • 1 blown plastic pumpkin bucket
  • Masking tape
  • Homemade paper mache paste (my favorite recipe is at the end of this post)
  • Newspaper or kraft packaging paper 
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Paintbrushes
  • Paint pens (for detail work)
  • 1 paper mache witch hat (in the paper mache section at most craft stores, seasonally -- approx. $1.99)
  • 1 strip of black poster paper cut to 16" x 3" 
  • glue gun
  • Embellishments for the hat such as crepe fringe, vintage scrap paper, glitter and paint
  • Clear acrylic spray
 
 

Step 1: Remove the handles from the bucket.  Unless you plan to use the pumpkin's features for your design, use masking tape to tape over the features.  This will give you a more evening surface on which to paint your features or words.


Step 2: Tear newspaper or kraft packaging paper into small pieces.  Dip a piece in paper mache paste.  Swipe off excess with fingers.  Smooth out on to pumpkin.  Continue to cover the entire pumpkin -- outside and bottom -- with paper mache.  Covering the inside is optional.  Set aside to dry.


Step 3:  While the paste is drying, construct the inner band for the witch hat-lid.  Take the poster paper strip and roll it to fit just inside the mouth of the opening at the top of the pumpkin.  Use hot glue to seal the roll.  Next, cut 1/2 slits around the edge of one side of the roll.  Bend the tabs in toward the center of the roll.  Dry fit inside the witch hat.  If it fits, remove and apply hot glue on top of the bent tabs.  Working quickly, insert in hat and press tabs in place.


Step 4: Time to paint!  Paint the hat, inside, out, and band included, black. Paint pumpkin.  I used DecoArt Americana "Bleached Sand".  Set both pieces aside to dry.


Step 5: Decorate the hat.  I made decorative fringe by sewing black and creme crepe streamers together with a gather stitch.  Then, I folded it in half and fringed it with pinking shears.  I painted the polka dots and affixed a piece of vintage sheet music.  Around the edges of the hat, I spread Tacky Glue, then rolled it in German glass glitter.


Step 6:  For a face, sketch out your design with pencil.  Then, go over it with paint or paint pen.  For the rosy cheeks, I blended in an oil pastel.


For lettering, print out your desired lettering on regular copy paper.  Cut out around the edges.  On the reverse side, rub with pencil until the whole surface is covered with graphite.  Set paper in place on top of pumpkin.  Tape all around the edges.  Use a pencil to trace the lettering.  When you remove the tape and paper, the lettering will have transferred in graphite.  Go over the tracing with a paintbrush or paint pen.


Step 7: The final step is to seal your artwork.  I used Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Spray in the Gloss formula on both the pumpkin and the hat.  After the first coat dried, I applied a second.

Once the hat and pumpkin are completely dry (I recommend waiting 24 hours just to be sure that the hat and pumpkin don't fuse together), you're ready to assemble.  Fill with candy and enjoy!
    

  
------------------------------

Paper Mache Paste

(From Family Fun Magazine)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups cold water

2 cups boiling water

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar



Whisk together flour and 2 cups cold water in a medium bowl.  Add this mixture to a saucepan of 2 cups boiling water, gently whisking, and bring to a boil again.  Remove from heat and stir in the sugar.  Let it cool.  Paste will thicken as it cools.  When it does, it's ready to use.

Popular posts from this blog

Vintage Folk Art Style Paper Mache Snowman Tutorial

-
Image
With the Christmas tree curbside, and the ornaments all neatly packed away, I'm thankful for my small collection of winter decorations that can be left out a bit longer to grace my home with their snowy sparkle and winter whimsy. I would have loved to have had the time to share this sweet little tutorial earlier in the season, but the holidays were busy (as they always are).  Now that things have slowed down, this may be, perhaps the best time of all to fix yourself a mug of cocoa or coffee and enjoy the process of creating a vintage style paper mache snowman at your leisure.  He is sure to bring smiles to all that behold him, all winter long! This is the snowman that my 7-year old made. The real stick arms were her wonderful idea! This is a fun project t o do with children as well. The process is very simple , versatile, and inexpensive.  The fram e for the figure is ma de from aluminum foil which can be worked into the shape of characters for any occasion .  I&#
Read more

Recipe: New World German Brown Bread -- "Squaw Bread"

-
Image
I recall, as a child, going to The Chart House restaurant and looking forward to the basket of freshly baked breads.  My favorite was always the dark brown, slightly sweet bread that the servers called "Squaw Bread".  I've heard that a similar bread is served at The Cheesecake Factory.  The name has gone out of fashion, since "squaw" is a derogatory term for a Native American woman.   The history of this bread can in fact trace its roots to Native American origins when German pioneers combined their traditional German Brown Bread recipe with ingredients available to them through trades with the native people during their westward travels. No matter how you slice it, this New World German Brown Bread is easy to bake and so wonderfully delicious to eat.   Print With Image Without Image New World German Brown Bread Yield: 1 large loaf Author: Jenn Erickson Prep time: 1 H & 50 M Cook time: 45 M Total time: 1 H &am
Read more

Vintage Style Folk Art Black Cat Halloween Bucket
(made from a $1 plastic pumpkin)

-
Image
One of my favorite characters from vintage Halloween folk art is the black cat ~ always sporting a mischievous look and a cheeky grin.     Last year, I transformed a trio of styrofoam pumpkins from the dollar store into paper mache folk art .   This year, with the same $1 budget in mind, I set to work on a classic blown plastic jack-o-lantern treat bucket -- the same jolly guy that's been around since I was a kid.     Although I'm nostalgic for his familiar orange mug, I thought it would be fun to transform him into a wiley black cat.  So, one afternoon, my daughter and I grabbed an old newspaper and our Mod Podge and set to work... Vintage-style Halloween Folk Art Black Cat 1 blown-plastic pumpkin treat bucket, any color Newspaper Mod Podge or Paper Mache paste E ar template (download HERE ) Heavy card stock or a manilla folder for the ears pencil and scissors Paint brus hes of various sizes Black acrylic paint Assorted acrylic pa
Read more