Caramel Apples

// The Sweetly Salted Caramel Apple
(Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate & Peanuts)

Sweet, salty and crunchy, who can say no? //

Halloween is days away and the weather is just now cooling down here in Los Angeles. With the weather finally acting its season, I decorated my apartment with pretty Fall paintings and flowers and whipped up a couple of Halloween treats-- including these Caramel Apples.

I searched the internet for some ideas. Mouthwatering and inspired I decided to come up with my own creations:

Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate & Peanuts

Caramel, White Chocolate Chip & Rainbow Sprinkles

and

Dark Chocolate, Cayenne & Cinnamon

(recipes are at the bottom of this post)

To work I went; tasting, testing, eating and enjoying. I have to say the The Sweet Heat Candy Apples are my fave with just the right amount of sweet and heat. Caramel Apples are really easy and fun to make. Give it a try and let me know what you come up with!

 

// The Party Time Caramel Apple

(Caramel, White Chocolate Chip & Rainbow Sprinkles)

Colorful and sweet, this treat is a party in your mouth //

 

  // The Sweet Heat Candy Apple

(Dark Chocolate, Cayenne & Cinnamon)

More on the savory side, this treat pack the right amount of sweet and heat //

In case none of these strike your fancy, here are some other awesomely delicious 

Caramel Apple recipes I found.

// The Apple Pie Caramel Apple  //

// Ghostly Coconut Covered Apples //

// The Reese's Caramel Apple //

// The Snickers Caramel Apple //

// Triple Dipped Smores //

// The Rocky Road Caramel Apple //

- - - - - - - - - - - R E C I P E S- - - - - - - - - - - 

Each of these Caramel Apples start out the same. You want to pick out proportionate, healthy looking (organic if possible) apples and wash them really well.

Cut out the stem of the apple and insert a candy apple stick, a cleaned stick from a tree or a chop stick (what I used).

Take a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray or wipe down with a little vegetable oil.

There are many options when it comes to how you want to make your caramel. You can make it from scratch, or, being new to this, I opted for ready-made caramel dip which you simply heat over the stove. Once the caramel is warm, tilt the pot and roll your apple, coating it in an even layer of caramel. Follow one of the recipes below from here or come up with your own creation!

The Sweetly Salted Caramel Apple

(Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate & Peanuts)

Sweet, salty and crunchy, who can say no?

Coat apples in melted caramel.

Put back on the baking sheet and let it cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Melt dark chocolate over medium to low heat, stirring constantly. This part can be kind of tricky. There's a thin line between melting and burning your chocolate. If it becomes doughy, you've burnt it and your going to have to start over. Once it starts to melt, keep stirring and lower the heat.

Take your caramel covered apple and dip it in the melted chocolate.

Transfer apple to a plate and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and peanuts (or any other kind of nut you want to use).

Put back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then enjoy! 

The Party Time Caramel Apple
(Caramel, White Chocolate Chip & Rainbow Sprinkles)
Colorful and sweet, this treat is a party in your mouth.

Coat apples in melted caramel.

Transfer caramel coated apple to a plate and sprinkle with white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.

Put in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and eat!



The Sweet Heat Candy Apple
(Dark Chocolate, Cayenne & Cinnamon)

More on the savory side, this treat pack the right amount of sweet and heat.

Melt dark chocolate over medium to low heat, stirring constantly. This part can be kind of tricky. There's a thin line between melting and burning your chocolate. If it becomes doughy, you've burnt it and your going to have to start over. Once it starts to melt, keep stirring and lower the heat.

Transfer chocolate coated apple to a plate and sprinkle with desired amount of cayenne pepper and cinnamon.

Put in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and then it's ready to eat!

i make pretty: Magical Halloween Card

We're a little over two weeks away from Halloween and I've finally finished making my latest Halloween card! This one is called Magical Halloween. I was inspired by the beauty of Fall and the magic that exists in the history (and idea) of Halloween. All of the artwork was done by the same hands typing this very post, yours truly. Oh, and of course, the stars are dusted in glitter.

I've included the Halloween card that I made last year, too, Three Little Witches. Take a look and tell me what you think! 

 You can purchase Magical Halloween and Three Little Witches from my Etsy Shop.

 // Magical Halloween //

 // card & envelope //

 // close up detail //

 // Three Little Witches //

 // inside detail of Three Little Witches //

Cats in Halloween Hats

Garnet Red Costume Hat by 'To Scarborough Fair'


Need I say more?! How cute and funny are these kitties and their darling Halloween costumes?!?

 Elephant Costume via Kitty Blogger

Hello Kitty via Kitty Blogger

Braided Hair Witch Cat by 'To Scarborough Fair'

Unicorn Cat by Bridgete85

Monster Kitty Hat via The Cat's Meow

Cat in a Cat Hat by Shan329

A Minute of Inspiration: Halloween Makeup Ideas

// Comic Girl: LOVE this one //

Can you believe it's Halloween already!? Knowing this month is going to fly by in jiffy, I've started looking around for some Halloween makeup ideas. Look what I found...

 // Creepy Girl //

// Pretty Clown // 

// Dia de Los Muertos: If it's possible to pull off creepy and pretty at once, this is it //

// Cleopatra // 

// Flower Fairy: this girl cray-cray. I saw this in the "news." If you're intrigued, watch her video here // 

// Zipper Eyes // 

 // Comic Book Look by Mac Makeup Artists // 

 // Black Swan Inspired // 

 // Comic Book Girl: Clearly I'm obsessed with the comic book look // 

// 'Scary as All Hell' Girl: uhhh yeah, this scares me // 

So impressed by the makeup application on all of these ladies. It's truly art! If you like this post, you'll like these Halloween makeup ideas from last year. Do you see anything here that inspires you?

Thanks and photo credit to: Beauty Tips and Tricks, Senseless Style, Stream Woman, eMakeup, Shine Yahoo!, eTrecos, and Beverly Hills Honeys.

A Minute of Inspiration: Maniac Pumpkins

There are three things I love about Halloween: people running around in costumes, the idea of Halloween being a celebration of the end of the 'light' half of the year and the beginning of the 'dark' half and pumpkin art (here are some pretty pumpkins from last year)!

How incredible are these pumpkins?! Childhood friends Chris Soria and Marc Evan, a muralist and an illustrator, had been carving pumpkins for fun until 2009 when the New York Yankees asked them to carve 50 pumpkins in 36 hours for Game 1 of the World Series. The rest is history. Look what these amazing artists can do with a locally grown pumpkin, knives, linoleum cutters and pear-shaped clay loops. It's simply Magic.

'Klimt's Kiss'

// love love love this one //

'Starry Pumpkin'

Watch the making of video here

'Rihanna'

'Zombies'

Check out more of their work at www.maniacpumpkincarvers.com

A Minute of Inspiration: Halloween Makeup

While looking for some makeup ideas for my Halloween costume this year, I came across these amazing gems of inspiration. Makeup decals, face paint, glitter, sequins, fake lashes, hair dye and colored contacts really make for a dramatic Halloween look. If you're like me, and your Halloween costume comes ready to go in a bag-- meaning there is very little room for costume creativity..the way I like to add my own unique flair is through the way I do my makeup. Hope these inspire you to do something amazing with your Halloween makeup this year!

Here's how my makeup turned out (I wish I would have taken a close up, I'm the Queen of Hearts;)...the shadow I bought looked sparkly red in the store...but turned out to be more of a black color :/ Important tip, try makeup colors on your hand before you buy them so you know exactly what you're going to get! Happy Halloween!

All images here are from Summit Fashions (they have really cool makeup kits that come with decals), Solution Lens (huge variety of colored contact lenses), Shel Cosmetics, Eye Makeup Photos, and Become Gorgeous (all great sites for makeup inspiration).