Blog Posts by The_Stir

brain cupcakesBrains. BRAINS! Halloween zombies want brain cupcakes! Gross out your little trick-or-treaters with this deliciously ghoulish cupcake decorated with brain-like frosting. It's easier than it looks. Just pipe on that brain-colored frosting on any flavored cupcake, though we think red velvet makes the best brain cupcake. We've hunted down the recipe and a how-to video right here.

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Brain Cupcakes Recipe via Epicurious

Ingredients

• Pink or white paper cupcake liners
• 1 recipe batter for Red Velvet Cupcakes
• 1 recipe Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
• Red and black food coloring
• Pastry bag and large round tip

Directions

1. Line cupcake tins with the liners. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with the batter and bake the cupcakes as directed in the recipe.

2. Mix a drop of red and black food coloring into the frosting to make it a pinkish gray brain color.

baby diving off couchMy boy, before he dived off the couchSo, you know all those things they tell you about toddler boys being really active and wild and mischievous? You know those warnings from Moms of older boys, that usually come with that, "Oh just you wait" smirk? Well, I guess I really should have listened because now that my twins are upright, they've turned into pint-size stuntmen. God help me!

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They're climbing on the bookshelves, hanging off the baby gates, walking up slides and racing up playground steps. I want to be cool about it, I do -- not hover, not panic, just let boys be boys. But, dammit, they're my little precious baby boo-boo's and they're going to hurt themselves! Am I really supposed to let them learn the hard way?

Their latest stunt, the one that is really giving me heart palpitations, is their desire to head dive off of the armrest of the couch, onto the hardwood floor. They

diaperDo you have a copy of Everyone Poops lying around? Time to pack it up and send it to Seattle! A mom was kicked off a city bus there because her sick baby had a stinky diaper, and it was bothering other passengers.

Oh come on guys, really? You know you did that once too, right?

Come to think of it, just about every mom I know has been in the situation Nichole Hakimian was in this week.

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Maybe it wasn't a city bus taking your sick kid to the doctor (oh, did I mention that part? She was taking her poor little man to the doctor when he had diarrhea in his diaper!). Maybe it was a grocery store, and you'd just put the 24th item on your list of 25 into the cart when you smelled something foul coming at you from the general vicinity of the gurgling, grinning pumpkin perched up in the front. Or maybe it was the post office. Or an older child's school.

Point is, kids poop. And they don't always make sure to

hilary duffBeing that she was just 25 when she gave birth, Hilary Duff is thought of as a "young mom" by most. Yes, there are many women who have babies before then, but by today's standards, for the most part, 25 is considered "young" to be a parent. And Hilary likes it that way. Well, mostly. In a recent interview with Parents, she said that sometimes, she feels sort of lonely, being that she doesn't have many friends her age with babies. She's "at a totally different spot than a lot of [her] friends." But there is a very, very specific upside to being a young mom, as she pointed out.

There isn't that mad dash, oh-my-god-let's-hurry-up-and-have-another-kid-soon pressure.

And that must be nice.

In the interview, Duff stated: "I want to have more kids and I'm looking forward to doing that, but I'm not in any rush. I think sometimes maybe if you start a little later you're in a hurry to get all the kids you want, and I have a little time to spread that out."

Yes, Hilary, you

pinocchioBabies change different people in different ways, but there's one universal transformation for which all new parents should brace themselves -- your baby will make you a liar. Scoff if you will, but it's true. Even if you've been George-Washington honest your whole life, they'll turn you into Pinocchio before you know what hits you.

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Giuliana Rancic recently realized this and told People how before she had a baby, she swore she'd never wave to her child during a live interview and say hi to him. She lied. "Okay, people do that all the time on the red carpet when I'm interviewing them at the Emmys or at the Oscars and I'm always like, 'Really?' And now I've done it twice today!"

It happens to all of us, in a variety of different ways. But it's inevitable really, and as your kids grow, so does the pile of lies. Here are seven ways my children have made a liar out of me.

1. I swore I'd never drive a

woman with phoneIt's a tale as old as time. Girl and Boy go on a date. Girl has great time. Girl starts obsessing about what kind of time Boy had. Girl calls friends to talk about Boy. Girl's excited for the next date. Girl starts to worry when she hasn't heard anything in 48 hours. Girl calls friends to talk about how worried she is. Girl sits and stews. Girl puts cellphone in her pillow at night so she won't miss a call, a text, an email, a Facebook reference, a Tweet, or a goddamn Instagram that might give her a clue as to when or if she'll ever hear from Boy. Girl slowly loses mind and starts to eat hair and paper just to feel something again. Boy calls and says he's been traveling for work, is she available for a drink this week? Girl can't answer with mouthful of legal pad ... and regret.

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Don't be that Girl. Here are 10 ways to distract yourself while waiting for him to call.

1. Drink. What -- you didn't think I was

One of the most fun aspects of Halloween is creating a scary, spooky, or glamorous look from face paint. You can go from normal-looking suburban mom to goddess of the night in 15 minutes of mirror time!

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But those paints do not come cheap and might be good for one use only. And how about this for really scary: HealthyStuff.org tested 31 different face paint kits available at mass marketers like Target and at Halloween stores and found that all of the face-painting kits contained toxic metals. Half had cadmium in them and one-third had arsenic.

That's not the kind of Halloween treat we want! Read on for tips on making your own face paints and using stuff that's already in your cosmetic bag to create the perfect disguise.

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It's actually surprisingly easy to make face paint ... just take organic pigments, like

elle king cat eye makeupThe cat eye makeup look is a sexy, playful, and easy one to achieve. Yes, I said easy. All you need is the right liner, a somewhat steady hand, and a little patience. We can make this look more daring for Halloween, or keep it simple for every day. My friend and singer Elle King (pictured) is really adventurous with her cat eye makeup. And she's the perfect little kitten to guide us on how to get the look -- the many looks.

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You may know her voice from the Mob Wives theme song "Playing for Keeps" off her album The Elle King EP, but now we're going to learn the different winged-out liner looks Elle rocks every day, and on stage. Purrfect if you're dressing up as a kitty cat on October 31.

What you need: As I mentioned ... liquid liner, a steady(ish) hand, patience ... and Q-tips (slightly wet) in case you mess up and need to start again. That's it! I really like the ink pot style and wand of