Monday, October 31, 2011

Alternate Uses for Halloween Candy!


Booooooooooooooooooooooooooo, it's Halloween! The one day a year where anything goes, crazy outfits, candy for dinner, and ringing the doorbells of strangers.

But what about tomorrow? And what about all that leftover candy? Here are 10 fun ideas you might want to consider when the novelty of just eating it has worn off (or made you a little nauseated):

1. Make one of the awesome ornaments seen here. All you need is some colorful hard candy, some cookie cutters, an oven, and a little creativity.

2. Make a mosaic with it! Use sturdy cardboard as your base, cover it with colorful construction paper, then glue on candies (go for the colorful ones!). When you're done, cover it with spray shellac to prevent the candy from getting buggy or rotting.

3. CandyExperiments.com is awesome! Check out some of their fun experiment ideas and donate your candy to an afternoon of science fun.

4. Make Apple Candy Bar Salad or one of the other delicious-sounding recipes on this Squidoo page.

5. Save it to make miniature (and edible) cornucopia for Thanksgiving this year by filling sugar cones with a mix of candy corn, M&Ms, Runts, etc.

6. Chop up the chocolate bars and freeze the shavings so you have a year-round ice cream topping on hand.

7. Operation Gratitude (which sends care packages to US troops overseas) is looking for candy to send to Iraq! This is a copy of their current wishlist, and as you can see, Halloween candy is on it! Scroll down their list for information on donations and shipping. Or see if a dentist near you is participating in Operation Buyback.

8. Try making this candy corn fudge. It's easy and looks delicious.

9. Save some pristine candy to attach to wrapped gifts. All presents are more exciting to open when there are a couple of fun-size candy bars taped to the ribbon.

10. Make your own blizzard in the blender! Try crumbling your Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or all three and placing them in a blender with vanilla ice cream to create a homemade blizzard or flurry.

And of course, there's always the chance that you might just wind up eating it.

Happy Halloween! Be safe trick-or-treating!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Halloween Reads

Halloween is less than a eeek away, making today the PERFECT day to pick up a spooky and satisfying teen read.

If you like being spooked, here are 10 book ideas to get you started:

1. Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

2. Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel by Mary Shelley

3. iDrakula by Bekka Black

4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

5. Ghosts in Amityville: The Haunted House by Michael Marts

6. The Babysitter by R. L. Stine

7. Afterlife by Claudia Gray

8. Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan

9. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

10. A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts: A Collection of Deliciously Frightening Tales by Ying Chang Compestine

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! MWAHAHAHAHA (that's my evil laugh).

Friday, October 14, 2011

Teen Read Week 2011

Teen Read Week officially starts on Saturday! It runs October 16th through 22nd, and this year's theme is "Picture It @ Your Library", encouraging you to read graphic novels and other creative or illustrated books just for the fun of it!

Teen Read Week started in 1998. Libraries across the world celebrate by encouraging teens to read for pleasure and (by using their library) to read for free.

It's important to celebrate Teen Read Week because, even though there are lots of other really great entertainment options out there, reading for fun is free, entertaining, and proven to help improve test scores.

Visit the library for a few awesome graphic novels, or put one or two of these great ones on hold:

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim

Maus I : A Survivor's Tale : My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Miki Falls: Book 1, Spring by Mark Crilley

Mail Order Ninja: Vol. 1 by Joshua Elder

Kitchen Princess 1 art by Natsumi Ando, story by Miyuki Kobayashi, translated by Satsuki Yamashito, adapted by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. Vol. 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Jellaby by Kean Soo

Dramacon Vol. 1-3 by Svetlana Chmakova

Enjoy reading for the fun of it!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

R. L. Stine's Birthday

Happy Birthday, R. L. Stine!

Today, the famous author of Goosebumps and Fear Street turns 68-years-old.

Did you know that before R.L Stine wrote horror novels he wrote humor novels? He went by the name Jovial Bob Stine and his first novel, How To Be Funny: An Extremely Silly Guidebook, came out in 1982! You can click here to reserve a copy and see what it's all about.

Then, in 1986, R. L. Stine released his first horror novel, Blind Date, and that's what started everything. His first Fear Street book, The New Girl, came out three years after that, and Goosebumps started with Welcome To Dead House in 1992.

By now, R. L. Stine is the author of hundreds of creepy, scary, twisted books for children. Celebrate his birthday today, and read one of them!

To view all of his works, click here. Or visit his official website, rlstine.com.

Happy Birthday!
 
Copyright 2009 Laura Druda