This is Halloween

Party on, Garth!

Garth-ception

Party on, Wayne!

Most comfortable costume ever.

And party on, we did!

Aggressive headbanging is always acceptable.

In honor of Halloween, my favorite holiday by far, my sister and I donned our costumes* and made some delicious cake balls … er, cake eyeballs.

(*Little backstory for the costumes: My sister, Quinn, and I love Wayne’s World so much! It’s a great movie to put on anytime. And it's hard not to quote along. So, since we’re such big fans, we got sister tattoos for Quinn's 18^th birthday based around some very famous lines.

This one's mine.

This one's Quinn's.
(Complete with Dean Winchester smoldering in the background).

We’re not dweebs, I swear.*)

Not only are these cake balls pleasing to the eye (herp-a-derp), they’re delicious and pretty simple to put together! Because you never know when you need to make your friends and family some treats the day before (or even the day of!) a party or get together.

Don't panic like Wayne. You've got this!

There are a couple ways to go about making these eyes:

1) You can be master of your kitchen and make the cake and frosting from scratch.

2) You can make things super simple and buy a pre-made cake and just mash it up.

3) OR you can meet somewhere in the middle, like I did, and make a box cake and use canned frosting.

I mean, you want to save your time and energy to make these eyeballs look disgustingly glorious, right? Right.

So, this is what you’ll need for this project!

- 1 9x13 cake (Flavor of your choice! We went with just a white cake).
- 1 can of frosting (We opted for vanilla to keep the color inside consistent).
-  Candy melts (Varying colors).
- Gel food coloring (For whatever color candy melt you can’t find)!
-  Chocolate chips (Use these for the pupils! You’re bound to have some in your kitchen cupboards somewhere if you bake as much as I do).
-  Microwave safe bowl(s)
- Parchment paper
- Toothpicks
- Spoons
- And your imagination! Your eyeballs can be from humans, vampires, swamp monsters ... you name it! Let your mind run wild and come up with something eye-inspiring!

(Optional items: Piping bag and piping tips. Depends on how detailed you want to get)!

Alright! Once you’ve baked your cake according to the directions on the box, you’ll want to let it cool for awhile. You can let it cool overnight or stick it in the fridge or freezer to expedite the process.

Mine hung out in a bag for a few days.

Once your cake is sufficiently cooled, crumble it up into a large bowl. There will be crumbs everywhere!

Try not to lick your fingers, though.

After that, add your can of frosting to the crumbs and mix it up! I ended up using my hands for this part. No use in getting a spoon dirty when my hands work just as well, if not better, at getting all of the cake coated in frosting! Plus, it’s just really fun. But, watch out, this part is super messy.

Who wants a handshake?

Once you’ve gotten everything worked together, you’ll want to cover your mixture and stick it in the fridge for at least half an hour to let the frosting get firm again.

Then it’s time to form all of your eyeballs! Make them as big or as small as you want. Ours were about 1.5(ish) tablespoons worth of cake mix per eye. Roll ‘em up and place them on a plate. Keep going until you run out! (Or save a little to munch on. I won’t judge).

This is when you say, "Oooh, aaah"

When you’ve rolled together as many eyeballs as you care to make, get those little guys in the freezer. They’ll want to chill out for at least an hour before you try dipping them in melted candy coating.

These weren't even all of them!

Speaking of! That’s the next step. When it’s time to start decorating, figure out which color candy melts you want to use and start melting them! Just use the instructions that come on the packet.

Garth approved.

If you want to make human eyeballs, like we did, you’ll need white and blue (or green or brown) candy melts. We melted white candy melts to initially cover our cake balls. Once all of them are covered, stick them in the freezer to hurry up the hardening process.

I apparently like using my hands a lot.

Then we melted some blue candy melts to create the iris of the eye. I went all fancy and used a piping bag and tip to create that design. You can always go the easy route (like my sister did later) and use your mixing spoon to drizzle out the design. It works just as well! And eliminates extra cleanup. Before the iris hardens, stick a chocolate chip into it to make a pupil! Your eye can look straight at you or in some other crazy direction. It’s up to you and your creativity.

All eyes are on you at this point.

To make our eyes even creepier, I melted some more white candy coating, added red gel food coloring, and then used a toothpick to create some lovely bloodshot eyes.

They've probably been staring at the kitchen light for too long.

These poor souls clearly need some red eye relief. And they’ll find it...

In my mouth.

I’ll put them out of their misery. I’m just a kind-hearted person like that.

Quit it, guys. You're making me blush. I'm not that amazing.

And there you have it! Scrumptious, ghoulish delights, sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Never thought an eyeball would make me hungry.

(Psst, if you really want to kick up the ick factor with these eyeballs, pipe some red jelly [strawberry, raspberry, etc] into the center of your cake balls before you coat them in candy melts. When someone takes a bite out of one, they’ll get a yummy, yet slightly disgusting surprise)!

How great is that?! I love it. haha

With these steps, the eyeball decoration possibilities are endless! 

Just like this gif.

You could make septic eyes like Quinn made in honor of one of our favorite Youtubers, Jacksepticeye!

 

Or you could make yellow werewolf eyes that are sure to make some people think twice before taking a bite.

And the flavor combinations are endless too! Why not make eyes with chocolate cake, caramel frosting, and some marshmallow fluff in the middle? Or red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting? Or strawberry cake with champagne frosting?

Or or or … I’ll leave it there. I’m making myself drool.

These instructions are here for you to really have some fun! So have at it, my bewitching readers! If you make any eyeballs, or simply have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below! And be sure to share this post with your family and friends if you like what you see! 

I hope you all have a safe and spooktacular Halloween. Don’t be afraid to embrace your weird side and have some fun on this mischievous holiday.

And, as always, bake on with your bad selves!

Or foxy selves, as it were.

Love,

JackieLantern  

I like bragging about my friends ...

In between my encounters with baking (oho, see what I did there?), I thought I'd take a moment to brag about some of my wonderfully, creative friends.

No, not those Friends.

I've been meaning to do this for awhile and finally organized myself enough to get it done! (Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't judge me). The first three mentioned below, I've known since college. They're become some of my best friends in the whole world and college would've been way duller if I hadn't of known them.

(Which it was for the first few years. I studied all the time and had straight A's. My social calendar, however, was rather lack luster...but, I digress).

On with the bragging!

*Amanda G.* - Not only is Amanda a great writer, she is also quite the fashionista, so she's combined her two greatest loves into her very own blog, which you can check out here! She's in the beginning stages, so there aren't too many posts to catch up on yet, but what she's posted so far is wonderful! It really embodies her sense of style and her personality shines through in her writing. And even if you're not into fashion, don't let that stop you from reading. I have a feeling she'll write about a wide array of subjects in the future. Once you're done reading her current blog posts, be sure to check out her Tumblr page. She's been writing daily Drabbles since the beginning of 2015, so that should keep you occupied! There are a few stories that I've become invested in over on that page ...so be careful. She'll try to steal your heart.

Aww, look at how cute we are.

*Bobbi K.* - This wonderful, recent Master's program graduate* has started her own blog, not only to document her own journey in life after grad school, but to also help and encourage others along the way.
(*Her official degree title is Master of Fine Arts in Theatre: Contemporary Performance. BOOM. Instant bad ass).
Called Geeky Girl's Guide to Living a Creative Life (or GGGTLAC for short), her vlog showcases helpful tips on how to embrace your geekiness and creativity while you're trying to figure out how to function as an adult in the real world. So far, she's highlighted how to fit your favorite geeky, fandom wear into your everyday wardrobe, how to ace that acting audition (ahem, look at her Master's degree), and how to connect with other people to build your own, supportive tribe. Take some time to watch her videos and you'll see just how helpful she can be! I bet you'll wanna be best friends with her too. (Psst, I made a cameo in one of her videos, so you'll have to watch to find out which one).

We need to go back and buy these one day.

*Sean S.* - He initially started his YouTube channel, which you can check out here, to help encourage his girlfriend (*coughAmandacough*) start pursuing her own creative outlets and, in the process, ended up finding something that I, in my humble opinion, think really suits him! He's a natural in front of the camera and he has such an engaging, sincere presence... even when he is goofing off. Sean is such a hard worker and it really shows in his videos. His videos thus far range from congratulating his sister on her recent college graduation to a Blind Baking Challenge.
(Where he, another friend, and I consumed something that still haunts my taste buds to this day).
I really miss having his creative energy around and hope I get to make another baking video with him soon.
...
That's a challenge, Sean. Get your butt back to Montana as soon as possible. K, thx.

Most attractive picture ever, right? Right. That's what I thought.

*Quinn C.* - My little baby sister! Well, she's not really a baby anymore ... She turned 18 and graduated high school earlier this year ... and, and ... sniff, sniff ... I'm not crying, you are.  
... Anywho! She's got so much creative talent spewing out of her that it's not even funny. She's a beautiful violinist, an avid drawer, a nail art and makeup aficionado, and such a crafty gal.
(It's really not fair that an 18 year old has this much talent. Genes, man).
Now, Quinn doesn't currently have a YouTube channel or a blog, but she does have an Instagram, which you can check out here! (Or add her on your Instagram app - her username is quinny_harls). She posts pictures of everything that she works on, so give her a follow if you want to see some really cool stuff! My favorite right now is her frostbitten Elsa makeup. It's kinda gross, but kinda great. Make sense? No? Didn't think so.

We make pretty faces like this all the time.

*Grant B.* - I've known this fella for almost a year now and he's become one of my favorite people ever. (Whether he likes it or not). He's probably tired of me gushing over him (#sorrynotsorry), but he's such a passionate and creative person. I honestly don't know how he accomplishes everything that he does.
I'm pretty sure he's secretly a superhero ... it's the only logical explanation.
(Psst, Grant, what's your superhero name)?
Mr. Baciocco is a puppeteer, writer, musician, comedian, producer, pod-caster ... the list goes on and on! So, you should probably check out his website here to read about everything he's accomplished already and to find out what he's currently working on. Or you could always go ahead and check out his production company's page (Saturday Morning Media) to learn more about it and to watch some of the videos that they've made. Or! You could check out his blog.
*takes a breath*
I feel like I'm only scraping the surface of his repertoire, but hopefully that means you'll really want to check out him out!
(Side note: He has a Patreon page too. If you feel so inclined, you can help fund the content that Saturday Morning Media creates)!

We have great cheekbones, yes?

And there you have it! Didn't I tell you all of these people are ridiculously creative? I mean, really, I'm such a lucky girl to be able to call all of them my friends! (Well, Quinn's my sister, but I'll still count her as my friend). =P

And I hope to collaborate with all of them, either again or for the first time, in the future!

...wink, wink ... nudge, nudge ...

...

Guys, don't leave me hanging.

...

Please leave any questions or comments down below! And let me know what you think about my friends! Or, if you know of anyone that YOU think I should check out, leave a link to their page below!

And, as always, bake on with your bad selves!

- Jackie

PS,
I realize there's a lack of gif use in this post. I didn't want to distract from my friends this time around, so you'll just have to wait for my next post!

Patience is a virtue, isn't it? ... That's what they tell me anyway. Not sure if I believe them, either. =P