DIY Halloween Table Spider & Tricky Treat Trifle Recipe

25 Oct DIY Halloween Table Spider & Tricky Treat Trifle Recipe

As much as it makes me sad sometimes to see my kids get older, it is fun to see changes like them understanding holidays more and what they mean.  They are really excited about Halloween and Christmas this year, and I plan on amping it up a little to match their excitement.  We have nary a pumpkin at our house (this situation is being amended today), but we have already decorated for Christmas.  Go figure.  More to come on that soon…

Thinking it would be fun to have some neighbors and their kids over for a little pre-Halloween party, I decided to try out some recipe ideas first.

Will you laugh when I tell you I have never made JELL-O?  That’s right, but all of this was remedied when I tried out my Fall silicone molds (so cute!  I’ve made brownies in them, too)  to make some fun JELL-O JIGGLERS shapes.  We did this at night after baths, and the kids got to take turns stirring.

After the shapes set overnight, a little squeeze of the mold, and they came right out.  Pretty as could be.  I used Orange JELL-O, Strawberry JELL-O, and Lime JELL-O as my flavors.  Note:  I sprayed my molds with cooking spray so the JELL-O wouldn’t stick, but I don’t know that you have to since they are silicone.

For a cute table centerpiece, I decided we needed a spider.  I took an eight-inch foam ball and cut a bit of the rounded part off so it would sit flat on a table. Then I spray painted it black with a couple of coats.

I went to my local craft store to get black pipe cleaners, but I ended up finding this fuzzy chenille pipe cleaner with wire in it, and I knew it was perfect for spider legs!  (I bought two packages)

I tested out how I wanted the legs to look.

Then I used the end of a pair of scissors to make a hole for the leg.

I placed some hot glue on the end of the “spider leg” and inserted it into the hole.

Eight legs and two googly eyes later, I had a pretty cute looking spider to take center stage at my Halloween party table.

Now that I had tried my hand at JELL-O JIGGLERS treats, I wanted to get a little more creative.  I tried to trade my adult brain for a child’s brain for a moment, and think, “If there was one night where I got to eat all kinds of things I never got to eat any other time of the year, what would that look like?”

And that, my friends, is how I invented Tricky Treat Trifle.  Actually, I need to thank my kids for the inspiration after remembering our trip to the yogurt place this summer.  You know the kind of place where you get the frozen yogurt and then you can add toppings at like twenty dollars a pound?  My stomach hurt just looking at my happy little children’s layered creations, but they loved it and have talked about it ever since.

I would actually like to take a moment here and thank my sweet friend, Micah, for helping me with the creation of these treats.  She is a pastry chef here in Fort Worth, and if you need a cake or pastries made, I would be happy to give you her info.  She is amazing, and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. 

Anyway, Micah made the Orange JELL-O for me, and then we decided how we were going to layer this kids dream world dessert.  It looked like this.

Catch that?  Pound cake, marshmallows, candy corn, whipped topping (we used Cool Whip), Orange JELL-O JIGGLERS cut into squares, and chocolate sandwich cookies broken into pieces.

Repeat the cycle and then layer the top with marshmallows, candy corn, JELL-O, and chocolate sandwich cookies.  When you are done, it will look like this.  Tricky Treat Trifle, my kids are in heaven.

I even managed to capture this priceless face of my little girl taking a peek inside the bowl.

We had a bit of Orange JELL-O left over, so we used little white bowls to put it in.  Then Micah used a swirl piping technique to place some “ghosts” on the top.

We added some sugar bead eyes, and we had another darling treat for the party table!

All of these JELL-O JIGGLERS ideas were super easy, fast, and the kids enjoyed helping!  Plus I love that they can be made ahead of time, because who wants to be running around like crazy before a party?

For more fun Halloween JELL-O JIGGLERS recipes, check out JELLO.com/recipes.  I especially like this cute monster one!

Have a great weekend, I’ll see you back here Monday!!

This post is sponsored by JELL-O and my children’s enthusiasm for the sweet treats of Halloween.