31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 31 - Today's the Day!

 Today is Halloween! Or is I put it in my original poem, Hallowee! I hope everyone has a good time, safe and courteous and reaping in the candy!! Today I created a hybrid project, which is a mix between digital and paper crafting.

I pulled together several images that were free clipart, adding them to a paper from Rucola Designs, paper #7 from her Dead or Alive paper set. I printed them twice so that I cold cut out the figures and add them with dimensional tape. I added highlights with a white gel pen, and outlined th figures with black marker.

The poem is an original by yours truly. I was complaining to my daughter that I had lost my mojo (here, mojo, pretty please come back, mojo) regarding Halloween crafting. Shocking, isn't it? She suggested I write a Halloween poem, since I've been working on an e-book of Haiku poetry. What I came up with today is not Haiku. It's an adaptation of the little kids' poem called Five Little Pumpkins.

To qualify as a craft project, I needed to first write the poem, then use it on a papercraft project. I used Photoshop Elements 2022. The text is called Viner Hand ITC Regular. I cut out the cats, mummy, ghost and flying witch with my special scissors that I use for what I call "fussy-cutting". It's shaped like tweezers and about the same size. I can get into really tight places as you can see.

I hope you've enjoyed my series of 31 Days of All Hallows Eve. I promised one lucky person who visited and commented on my posts a prize. It's a culmination of all my coloring pages/Zen doodling I've drawn. Some have been published on this blog; others have not seen the light of day. I am putting together a coloring book early next year. I'll let you all know who won this prize during November. 

Challenges I am Entering:

Crazy for Cats - Anything Cats Goes/Meow-o-een

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Most Magical Time of the Year - HAlloween/Christmas

Classic Design - Anything Goes

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - Mostly Black

 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 30 - Skull Lamp

 

Today brings a little light on the subject of altered items. Namely, a cheap pumpkin light from who-knows where... Here is the lamp unaltered:

I removed the pumpkin and, after cutting a hole through the $ Store skull I had in my bag o' Halloween tricks, hot-glued it to the fixture just below the lightbulb. Oops, before I attached the skull, I pierced a hole thru a styrofoam pumpkin and placed it all the way down the lamp post.

Once the pumpkin and the skull were in place, I glued on some Autumn flowers and leaves on top of the pumpkin. To set the scene, I placed more flowers and leaves around my new skull lamp and added a  Unicorn skeleton (just for kicks).

 So, tomorrow is THE DAY. I hope you have fun, get all the trick-or-treaters you have candy for, and enjoy the day. Happy crafting, y'all!

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 29 - Spooky Skull Candle

 

Halloween is so close I can taste it!! I'm hoping to get more than a handful of trick-or-treaters this year. I don't want to have that candy sitting around my house, hypnotizing me into taking a bite...and another...and another...LOL

Today I made a candle for Halloween. Well, I didn't pour melted wax into a mold and make it. I used a thrift-store-bought candle that was still wrapped in its plastic. Tearing off said plastic, I used a leftover Halloween napkin and peeled the two layers of paper apart. I adhered it to the candle, and I'll tell you how I did it:

I cut out the napkin to fit my candle, then cut out a longer piece of wax paper. I covered the candle first with the napkin, then the wax paper. Holding tightly to the ends of the wax paper to get a smooth surface, I used my heat gun to melt the wax from the wax paper onto the wax candle. It looks and feels like it was produced that way. I've had success with selling my candles at craft fairs, separate or in sets.

With my skull candle decorated, I added a line of adhesive pearls to the top and bottom. If I were selling this, I would place it in a plastic gift bag and tie some Halloween ribbon to keep it closed. But I'm not selling any of my Halloween makes this year. I have a whole basement of collectables and trading cards, etc., from my mom's basement to inventory, photograph and list to sell. I want my basement back in livable condition!

 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 28 - Apothecary Shelf

 

Hey, crafters! We have three more days until Halloween! Anybody going to a party to celebrate the big day? My daughter and I spent last weekend at my trailer. The park is near Starved Rock and they hold a Halloween weekend celebration. We shared the trailer with my nephew and his family. The park is closed to anyone not an owner or friends of owners with guest passes, and during the 2 hours of trick-or-treating, there's no cars allowed to drive on the roads inside the park.

The kids always rake in tons of candy, and adults go to a concert on Saturday night. There was a taco bar, kids' crafts, costume parade and contest, and a pumpkin decorating contest. I won a trophy for decorated pumpkins for three years before I stopped entering mine. I had a Rubbermaid tub filled with Halloween costumes for everyone.

Anyway, today's make is Halloween decor. I inherited the three colored bottles after my mom's passing. I filled each with different things: one is oil and skeleton parts, another is a set of $ Store twinkle lights, and the last is filled with sparkly stones. After placing Halloween stickers on each bottle, I set them aside to "set my scene".

I used leftover leaves (from a old garland) on top of a piece of grey cheesecloth, placing the bottles on these and distributing the leaves  to their best. My daughter made the gravestone behind the bottles and then dropped a few sunflower blooms for color.

I placed this scene in my kitchen. I have a corner table-and-bench set I bought from a thrift store. With just two people cooking and eating meals together, my original kitchen table and chairs was just too big for us.  I carefully arranged the Apothecary shelf in the corner of it. The wallpaper in the photo is the original from I think 1962!!

Although I'm looking forward to Halloween I'm disappointed that I only have three ore days to show off my Halloween artwork and crafts! Oh, well, there's always Christmas...

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 27 - Pumpkin Succulent

 

Halloween is in the air! 'tis almost the witching hour, so let your crafty magi flow over blogland! My mission  today was to use up more Halloween craft supplies, especially those styrofoam pumpkins from the Dollar Store. Mine was white, so I didn't have to paint it.

I rescued a fake succulent I had bought from the thrift store for 50 cents and pulled it out of its cheap plastic pot. I dug a hole in the top of my pumpkin base and hot glued it in place. Next I layered fabric leaves around the plant, adding flowers, orange and black deco balls and jewels to fill in the gaps so you can't see where the plant ends and the pumpkin begins. 

I finished off my Halloween decor with a leftover piece of lace, adding adhesive jewels to it for some shiny. It is almost 4 inches wide and 5 inches high with the succulent standing tall. I love how it turned out, and I spent more time sorting thru my faux leaves and flowers than I did on putting the project together!

Are you ready for the BIG DAY? Got your costume and/or makeup at hand? Got enough candy to pass out? Is your home decorated? Just four more days!! Meanwhile, find out your Halloween name from below...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

C.R.A.F.T. - Halloween/Thanksgiving

Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes

Moving Along with the Times - October/Anything Goes

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 26 - Golden Skull Wall Art

 

My make today features the golden skull. Why did I italicize those words? I don't know, it sounds like an Indiana Jones movie title. Anyhow, the skull came off a Dollar Store skeleton. Since he was dead already, I cut his head off his body and took off the back half of his skull. Then I painted it gold.

The "canvas" is one of the few boxes I got from the Dollar Store via the thrift store. I peeled the Easter Bunny decoration off the box and used Mod Podge to adhere part of a Halloween napkin onto it to create the background. 

As I was painting the sides of the box, the gold paint over-ran onto the front, so I made sure the gold made a sort of border. After my skull was dry, I used hot glue to adhere it onto my canvas. I pulled out a piece of laced burlap and some twine. I added some Fall leaves and a sunflower and my project is finished.

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Try It on Tuesdays - Halloween

Unicorn Challenges - Halloween

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 25 - Day of the Dead

 

Today's project is a re-do from one I created last year. Evidently the bin I had placed my DIY Halloween decorations wasn't closed properly and some of them got ruined or needed emergency care. This is one that I salvaged, scraping off the old and adhering a new felt Day of the Dead skull. I added new ribbon, flowers and gems to freshen it up.

Did you know that, here in the States, Halloween is almost neck to neck with the Christmas holidays when it comes to decorations and parties?!

in house decorations and parties 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 24 - Grateful Dead

 

It's a groovy day, crafters! I'm rolling along with my 31 different Fall/Halloween crafts. The big day is just ONE WEEK AWAY! Are you  ready?

Today I used a small plastic skull meant to hold favors or candy. The handle is hidden behind that awesome 'fro. I ripped it off of a pen I had laying around and decided it needed some "barrettes" for added dimension. I drew on hte lines and in the eyes to get my psychedelic on. Adding a few stones to weight it down before adhering it together was a wise choice, as the plastic skull was SO light.

Next time I will put a tea light inside the skull and give the top of the skull the ability to open up. This project brings me back to the 70's, where tie-dye was in style, hair was long, jean bottoms were wide and life was groovy!!

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

  Try It on Tuesdays - Halloween

Unicorn challenges - Autumn/Halloween

A Place to Start - Anything Goes

 

31 Days of All Hallows eve - Day 23 - Jack Skellington Ornament

 

Today I made a hanging ornament featuring Jack Skellington, star of the Disney animated movie, Nightmare before Christmas by Tim Burton.

I was lucky to find a chalk ornament during Hobby Lobby's winter clearance. I thought the black chalk background would be perfect for Jack for this year's Halloween crafting. I drew the facial features with white colored pencil, then added my paint using Posca markers. There are plenty of line drawings of the movie's characters on Google free clipart.

I am running out of room in my house to hang Halloween artwork and crafts, but found the perfect spot. It's a wall in my hallway where I had put a wall sticker scene, then attached screw to hand my purse or jacket onto. It seems to make a spooky background for my ornaments as well!

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 22 - Cute Halloween Kitchen Scrubbie

 

Today I created a kitchen scrubbie with a Halloween theme. When I was younger, my Gram taught me to crochet. I dusted off this talent from the deep dark corners of my memory, using orange and black netting, or tulle that I had bought over a year ago. Using single and double crochet stitches, I formed a (round) pumpkin shape. I added more black to turn the pumpkin into a Jack-o-lantern.

These scrubbies are great to use on non-stick pans, as they won't damage the coating on the pans. I sold some at a craft fair this Spring, and those who received one as a gift are avid fans of their strength and usefulness. In fact, my nephew snagged a couple more to replace the ones he had.  I had made another one without the face (but my nephew took that one).

I think I'll make a few Christmas-colored ones for stocking stuffers this year...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTWERING

Everybody Art - Pumpkin

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 21 - Day of the Dead Skull

 Today I decorated a Dollar Tree skull and created a sugar skull for Day of the Dead. Anyway, this holiday is getting more popular in the US, especially with movies from Disney like the "Book of Life" and "Coco". It originates from Mexico, and really is more related to the Catholics' All Saints Day and, more so, All Souls Day. It is a day to honor those who have passed before us, except instead of going to church to pray for their souls, families gather together either at home or where their loved ones are buried. They celebrate with flowers and food and bring up good memories, celebrating their lives so they won't be forgotten.

The skull I found was colored with a bokeh-effect over the color silver. I filled the eyes with adhesive jewels, then surrounded each eye with a circle of yellow jewels, and another of pink pearls. After looking it over, I decided it was much too sparkly, so I attached a flower into each socket - much better...

As I filled the face of the skull, I added jeweled flowers, lines of pearls and jewels and finally flowers to cover the scalp. I had to use my Posca paint marker to color the nose socket black, as well as outlining the teeth. My partner, the hot glue gun, was a huge help! LOL

Since the teeth were the swirly rainbow on silver color, I painted them white. My sugar skull, named after special candy sold only on November 1-2, is a bright, beautiful decoration. If I display it my window, it really sparkles in the sun!

CHALLENGES I AM eNTERING:

Crafting Happiness - Halloween 

Simon Says - Spooky

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 20 - Pumpkinhead's Morning After -the conclusion

Bonesy stopped in his tracks, struck still by a terrible thought. His fiance's mother had long dark hair. . She had been a witch, and as far as he knew, she still was. Then he did get sick...

How was he going to get out of this fix? If it were his "almost" mother-in-law, did she tell his fiance about his behavior? "But I didn't do anything!" he argued loud. "It was a Bachelor party!"

He started trotting down the road, being very careful so he wouldn't fall. The way his luck was going, he'd probably lose his the pumpkin on his head, or smash it on a rock, or something else terrible and awful. He made it to the fence marking the cemetery property line. He sat down to think when he saw out of the corner of his pumpkin eye another skeleton...with a pumpkin head!!

He rushed to it and realized it was his fiance! "What happened to you?" he cried.

"What happened to you," she screamed in startlement. She was dressed in her wedding gown and had been crying. "She didn't wait for Bonesy's explanation and blurted out, "Your father saw me with my girlfriends in a restaurant and he thought I was flirting with the waiter. He yelled my name and some words and the next thing I knew the restaurant was clearing out, with skellies screaming, and my head was a p-p-pumpkin."

"Same thing", Bonesy said, "only it was my bachelor party and your mother cursed me." He got down on his bony knees. "Ima, I still love you and I don't care if we both have pumpkins for heads. Let's elope right now!"

Ima Goner smiled through her tears, pulled him off his knees and answered him with a kiss. So that's what they did, and they lived spent the rest of their lives time happily ever after.

The End

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 19 - Dollar Tree Deck Decor

 

Hello, crafters! I have been seeing a lot of YouTube videos of Halloween decor made from Dollar Tree items, but today I wanted to put my own spin on one, using the Skull and cross bones fences. I have a porch light that I wanted to "cover" with the fencing but still let the light shine on for trick-or-treaters. So I cut one fence into three parts using my kitchen shears, cutting off the "stakes" from the bottoms.

Once I measured my light with the pieces I had cut, I first tied some ribbon around the pieces, attaching them long enough to hot glue them into a three-sided square or box. Since there weren't any clean edges from my cutting, I had one heck of a time getting them glued together, but it finally held.

When I put my decoration over my porch light, I discovered I needed to keep it from falling off. So I tied more ribbon above and below my decor and it works beautifully and this design was mine, not just something off of YouTube! 

As you can see it looks good during the day as well as at night. I can't wait for Halloween night. I've been getting fewer and fewer trick-or-treaters each year since COVID. I hope I don't have to eat all the candy I just bought!! LOL

31 Days of All Hallows eve - Day 18 - Fall Wall Decor

 Hello, crafters! I'm back again to feature another wooden canvas. This one may be the last of my stash of Dollar Store signs that I've been using this month. Today, I wanted to get away from the creepy, spooky theme and bring more Autumn into our creative world. 

I used designer paper from my mountain of papers I've collected over the years (I just can't resist a good sale or great clearance find). On the positive side, I'm eating away at my Halloween and Autumn crafting supplies; on a sadder side, I'm not really cleaning out anything because if I don't sell these projects, I still have to store them when Halloween is over! Yikes!

Meanwhile, I used spray adhesive for my new wall decor. I added a Fall border from the same pack that the paper came from. Then I picked up two leaves off the floor from an earlier project (it was under the table) and cut them to form a border at the top. I didn't really like it, but it was already stuck in place, so I covered them with a leftover piece of lace. I used some Tim Holtz ink to change the lace's pure white color to a softer brown. 

It still looked too empty for me, so I sorted through my die-cuts until I found the paper butterfly. I'm satisfied now, and I hope you like my 18th Halloween project! 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - day 17 - Pumpkinhead's Morning After, part 2

My make today is a quickie craft using a women's black trouser sock, some wire, leftover felt and yarn. I used heavy wire that is lightweight enough that I could manipulate it. I formed a circle to start with, twisting at the end to guide the wire up, as this circle will be my base. I made my witch about five inches tall, so brought the twisted wire up and ended it with a small loop. I twisted another, shorter piece and folded it in half around the witch's body for the arms.

I covered it from the bottom up with part of a trouser sock, the thin ones made from nylon. I used another piece of the same material (the sock) to cover the arms, ending with each arm's material longer than the arms.

Her head was made with a small plastic eye ball that I painted black. I cut out two tiny pieces of felt with which to make a witch's hat, and glued it together with short pieces of black yarn for her hair and stuck it on her head. Her broom came from a wooden skewer I cut down in size and some thin strips of orange paper I crumpled before attaching it to the broom. I propped her against one of my canvases.

***I created this little witch as I continue the telling of Pumpkinhead's Morning After short story. You can find Part 1of Pumpkinhead's story HERE. Let's continue...

"Where are my buddies? Why am I alone?" he wondered angrily.

He wished he had a cell phone so he could call them, but people didn't get buried with their cell phones, as his dad always said. He nearly stumbled when something flew off his head. 

"A frog," he exclaimed. "Where did you come from? There's no pond anywhere I can see!"

The frog stuck out his tongue at him, let our a grunt and hopped away. Bonesy decided to follow him. As he walked, parts of last night began to come to him. There was a lot of drinking and he was no slacker. The more he drank, the more social he became. There was a woman at the bar who looked just like his soon-to-be mother-in-law. Then he got distracted by the exquisite barmaid. He remembered getting friendly with her, maybe a touch too friendly. But he kept drinking and making advances on her.

The rest of the night was still foggy in his addled brain, but he could swear one of his buddies was keeping him upright and walking him out the bar. Was it J-Bone? Or Lumpy? No, he couldn't quite remember. Ooh, was it that hot skeleton he was hitting on? He remembered long hair hanging over a face. No, she was a bleached blonde. The hair was black as night...

Bonesy stopped in his tracks, struck still by a terrible thought. His fiancee's mother had long dark hair. Wasn't she at the bar for a short time? That memory swirled around his pumpkin's head like a tornado until he thought he would be sick. She had been a witch, and as far as he knew, she still was. Then he did get sick...

to be continued

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 16 - Gaze into my Crystal Ball

 

My bins of craft supplies are like Mary Poppins' carpet bag. Today I pulled out a crystal ball I had bought from Dollar Store last October. It was decorated...okay, but not what I really wanted. So I removed the ball from its base and covered it with Black chalk paint.

After it dried, I added my accessories: part of a necklace chain that had broken (I swear I don't know how to throw anything out), a couple of leftover skulls from the Dollar Store skeletons, some moon and star buttons, and these weirdly-shaped glass beads that looked like leaves (part of a necklace I bought at Savers for $1.50) and a string of sees beads I had got on clearance who knows when (I don't).

There was a little color clashing going on, so I brushed some gold acrylic paint onto those accessories. Then I had to edge both the top and bottom of the base with gold. Before putting the globe back onto its base, I put batteries in a set of twinkle lights (I inherited a shoe box full of these) and placed the lights into a ball of batting. Once the globe was on with the lights glowing eerily through the batting, I was very happy with the effect! and since my bf had ordered the polyester batting from Amazon, she had tons of leftover, which found its way to my house (the bag of batting was as big as Santa's bag on Christmas Eve).

And now comes the best part...come closer while I look into my crystal ball. Do I see love entering your life? Should you not travel our of the country until next year? What will my magical crystal ball tell you about your own future???  

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

A Place to Start - Anything Goes  

Corrosive Challenges - Anything Goes

We Love 2 Create - Anything Goes

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 15 - "Pumpkin Head's Morning After"

 

“Oof,” groaned Bonesy. He had just woken from a bad dream to an even worse nightmare. His skull ached. He was disoriented to find himself on the floor of some kind of attic. I must have walked out of the bar, he thought. But where was he? Well, he didn’t know where, but here he was, the morning after his Bachelor party, with a headache that was pounding his skull into pulp.

He managed to sit on a nearby pumpkin and shook his head. That was a mistake! He reached a bony hand up to his head and screeched in surprise. Something wasn’t right. His skull was huge and felt different. Fear ignited in him as he used both hands to feel where his skull should have been. It very definitely was different. He needed a mirror.

Finding the attic’s trap door, he gingerly took the stairs. Yes, definitely a barn as he suspected. Near the doors leading outside was a metal tub. He approached it with trepidation. What would his reflection show him?

“No. No! Not possible!” he moaned.

Instead of his exquisitely-shaped skull and chiseled jaw bone, he saw what his hands had warned him of. He had a pumpkin head!

“Impossible,” he shrieked.

Though it was hard to deny the reflection in the pan of water, he stumbled out of the barn into bright sunlight. The daylight burned his sockets. No, make that his triangular-shaped eye holes. It also warned him that night was over and he should be in bed until the moon rose.

With a start, he remembered where he was supposed to be--getting ready for his wedding. He was supposed to be in his comfortable nest of rotting leaves and rich soil, soon to be married to the love of his life, Ima Goner. He smiled at the thought, then had another thought (he wasn’t used to thinking so much).

“My head’s a pumpkin,” he whispered. What skeleton in her right mind (and skull) would marry someone with a pumpkin head, he thought.  Well he’d have to find out where he was to get to where he wanted to be. He began walking without direction, keeping his hand on his heavy head to hold it up.  

                                                      ...to be continued

Earlier this month I created this Pumpkin Head skeleton from leftover Halloween supplies. Today I adhered him to a pumpkin, used patterned paper (#16 from Rucola Designs from her Dead or Alive paper set) and placed several bottles of BOOze next to him. The story of his momentous morning after will be continued before the end of our Halloween celebration.

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 14 - Easy Shadow Box

 

I am having some spooky fun with the Dollar Store wooden signs I picked up from a thrift store earlier this year. Today, I created a very easy shadow box by taking off the front panel and using just the frame. I adhered a digital scene that I created in Adobe Photoshop with the following digital elements:                 Decosse's Dynamite Digitals, Eerie Scene paper

   Brooke Gazarek's White Skeleton elements

I also used a few small Halloween buttons from the Dollar Store (bats, cat & Tomb stone). To finish off this make, I hot glued some green floral stuff. Altogether this took me a little over an hour, including "setting the scene" in Photoshop. I think it was time well spent...

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 13 - Spooky Sunflowers

Today's make is deck decor. I spook-cycled my deck planter into a frightful floral decoration. The skulls glow in the dark! 

I only used craft supplies that I already had on hand. These include glow-in-the-dark paint spray, large faux sunflowers, my trusty glue gun and the vase formerly holding beautiful red tropical cannas. The skulls were left over from previous Halloweens projects. I can't wait to see them glow this evening!

Did you know that the sunflower is the official symbol for ALS? I didn't know that fact until my husband was diagnosed with the disease. Two out of every 3 people diagnosed with ALS, which has no cure< are veterans. Both my husband and I are veterans. My daughter got a tattoo of a sunflower in memory of her father. Every May is ALS Awareness Day.

On a lighter note, according to Google, sunflowers symbolize unwavering faith and constant orientation to the sunlight. It originated in the Americas, has been known to grow up to 30 feet tall, and its seeds are edible. I had one growing at the edge of my backyard, but I cut the flower off before the seeds were ready. Next year I will be more patient...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Alphabet Challenges - N is for NATURE

365 Days of Halloween & Christmas - Most magical anything goes for Halloween/Christmas

My Time to Craft - In the Garden

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 12 - Halloween Wind Chimes

 

During COVID, I tried several new techniques and media new to me. One of these was making window hangings from branches and sea glass, shells and stones. Today, I dug out my supplies and created Halloween wind chimes decor. This was NOT an easy project for me.

I am the original "fumble-fingers" and today was no exception. I think I spent four hours (!) putting this one together. The beads kept slipping from my grasp, and the balance in it is not quite right. But I finished it, and it's hanging up for all to see, so "live and learn" is my motto. I like it (somewhat) but I don't know if I'll keep it for next year.

Do you know where wind chimes originated? It's believed that they were used as early as 1100 BC in China, although older wind chimes have been discovered. The sound of bells were used to ward off evil spirits aid the flow of chi and increase positive energy. They signify wisdom, charity and compassion. Today, many people give wind chimes to someone who has lost a loved one. It is believed that the sound of the bells means that their loved one is near. 

When my husband died, I didn't know this belief. But I would buy up wind chimes during summer clearance sales. I love the sound of the bells chiming in the breeze. Maybe my subconscious already knew it would comfort me? Either way, I hope my wind chimes scare away any ghosts, goblins or ghouls... 

Challenges I am Entering:

Craft Rocket challenges - Halloween/Autumn 

Get Creative - #126 Purple, Black, Orange, Green

Crafting Happiness - Halloweens

  

31 Days of Halloween - Day 11 - Hallow's Eve - Boho Design

 

I love me some boho decor, so naturally I had to create something with a Halloween twist. I have to admit that I haven't done macrame since college (a long time ago in a galaxy far far away). So when I saw this tiny macrame hanger in the clearance bin at Michael's last month, I had to buy it, and its three mates (that's four altogether).

I reached my arm deep into my Halloween tub o' crafting supplies to find a pumpkin small enough to fit into the "hammock" part of my hanger! I also dug around my flower supplies and found a handful of sunflowers whose size matched my pumpkin. I painted the yarn a coppery color using acrylic paint and hot glued my pumpkin into the cradle, so to speak.

Then I "planted" my sunflowers and added a little greenery between the blooms and the pumpkin. As you can see, my project is very small, hanging from a table lamp in the living room. Therefore, I will be making several of these for this celebratory month.

Nothing spooky, just Fall fun! 

Speaking of Fall, or Autumn, I live in the US in a state that sets their clocks back one hour in the Fall. Do you live where the time changes twice a year? Falling behind one hour in the Fall, and speeding ahead one hour in the Spring? 

How do you feel about this habit that Benjamin Franklin founded? I, personally, could do without it. It's hard enough to keep track of time without going back and forth! And pets like my Morkie, Honeycomb, don't do well with it, especially with meal time and getting up in the morning! Some states have repealed the law and don't change at all, which makes it even more confusing. Inquiring minds want to know...

CHALLENGES i AM eNTERING:

   Tyr It on Tuesdays - Autumn

Unicorn challenges - Autumn/Halloween

 Farmquest Challenges - Anything Goes/optional Autumn colors

 (p.s. this year it falls on Nov. 5)

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 10 - Pumpkin Fever

 

Been busy today, mostly waiting for paint to dry! LOL Today's project is another piece of deck decor, thanks to the Dollar Store. Last year I had bought a handful of Styrofoam pumpkins and packed them away. 

So I pulled them out and painted four of them. At first I was going to adhere each to the posts on my front porch, but decided to create one large decoration for Halloween. 

After painting on a coat of white gesso, I gave each pumpkin its own spooky character. I gave the first pumpkin lowlights by painting the cracks in the pumpkin a darker color, then wiping the excess paint off. The I drew on eyes and a mouth.

The pumpkin sitting on top of him I kept white and drew on a ghost face. On top of her is my black cat and sitting on the cat is the witch. She had to be on the top because she wouldn't give u wearing her hat. I made her hair out of some cording I had bought on clearance and stuffed into my craft bin. 

In fact, I bought nothing this year for my Halloween crafting! I've been on a decluttering binge for months now, only replenishing my adhesives and paints. Anyway, I hot glued my pumpkins on top of each other and placed them in a wooden planter that has seen better days. I put a few bricks in the bottom of the planter to keep it from falling over. I finished my Halloween totem pole by stuffing some greenery around the top.

Even with all that glue, my pumpkins look like they're about to tumble. No worries, though, they're professionals...

Challenges I am Entering:

Mirtillamente Challenges - Anything Halloween

Morgans Art World - Anything Goes

Four Seasons Challenges - Anything FALL Goes

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 9 Spooky Spiders

 

I altered another book box today. This one is all about the spiders. Before covering my box with tissue paper and homemade mod podge, I drew a large spider web with hot glue. Once the paper was dry, I painted the cover black, then highlighted the web with gold paint using a tiny paint brush. This book took me hours of detailed brush work, getting the web strands thin enough to look realistic. I pulled the spiders from my Halloween craft stash, as well as the thin webbing you can get at the Dollar Store.

Besides lining the box with designer paper. I like to give the sides of the box some gold paint to resemble gilt-edged pages. I have a few more boxes to alter. Do you have any ideas for their theme? I was thinking maybe a witch's cookbook, and possibly a monster book with fangs.

Speaking of cookbooks, I tried to make devilled eggs but with avocado mixed in to make the filling spooky. I also like to make lots of tiny cracks in my egg shells after boiling. Then I put them in cups colored with Kool Ade. They come out almost like dinosaur eggs, with lines all over the whites. Pretty gruesome. They looked great but I'm not especially fond of avocado. It was a hit, though, and I took home my empty container. Here's the recipe:

Halloween Dragon Eggs

Hard boil eggs. I boil them for 7 minutes, take the off the burner, cover them and let them cool off for another 7 minutes.

Crack each egg lightly so that the egg has many cracks but won't fall apart. 

Fill a pot with some water and all the contents of a Kool Ade packet (no sugar added) of any color you prefer (I used grape for purple) Use enough water to cover the eggs completely.

Place eggs in this pot for about 15 minutes.

Dry with paper towel and crack open the eggs. You should have a cool design on the hard egg whites. 

Cut them in half, placing egg yolk in small bowl and egg whites on a platter.

Chop up the egg yolks and add some Miracle Whip and mustard (if you want them to turn green, add half a very ripe avocado. Stir until creamy. Fill egg whites and refrigerate. 

I like to sprinkle on some paprika just for looks. Garnish as you like...

If you try these, let me know how they turned out! 

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 8 - Pumpkin Sign Decoration

 

Remember the signs I picked up from the Dollar Store for summer? Here's the other one that I altered for Halloween. I again painted the back side of the sign so I get double use from my purchase. After it dried, I adhered designer paper, bordering it top and bottom with lace I colored orange.

I then used my white Posca marker to give it a witty greeting. Like it? I hope it made you smile...

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 7 - My very first Meme

A couple days ago, I created two Halloween characters our of skeleton bodies and pumpkins for heads. Today I created my very first meme! And, it being the season, I made it a Halloween meme. 

Using my newly-created Halloween characters, I used the magic of Photoshop to feature in this meme. The background is compliments of Rucola Designs, whose papers I adore and purchased on Mischief Circus. I wanted a speech bubble, but I couldn't find one, so the "punchline"  is just a blurb at the top in quotes. 

What do you think? Should I switch my job from crafter to meme maker? Maybe I should just stick to what I love doing...

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - From Easter to Halloween decor

 

I love October! The scent of the air has a warm and comforting smell. The leaves are falling, making the sidewalks look like colorful carpets. And my favorite holiday for crafting is closer than ever! So, in anticipation of Halloween, I altered another wooden sign from the Dollar Store. 

I altered several of these boxes, which were purchased months ago at a thrift store, a bag of thirteen pieces for $10. Half of them went into summer decor, which you can fins=d on my blog HERE. Today I was a wicked crafter and above is the result of my maniacal imagination.

After removing the Easter decoration, I painted the front white with acrylic paint. I then adhered a Halloween napkin with homemade Mod Podge, after pulling off the extra layer of napkin so that it wouldn't form bubbles.

After it dried, I dabbed at the border of my wooden canvas to highlight the actual scene. Adding a plastic spider as well as some lace seemed fitting for this project. Now I have a cool Halloween canvas to celebrate the season! And all it took me was time to let the paint and the Mod Podged-scene to dry.

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 5 - Pumpkin Heads

 As I continue to create Halloween makes like a mad scientist, I often take items apart, saving the leftovers for another project. Today I created these fun creatures from skeletons whose heads I had used for another project. I have an excess of small pumpkins and I remembered the story of the Headless Horseman. He rode at night, a phantom being scaring the townspeople, no head, except for the Jack o' Lantern he carried in his arm. Poor Ichabod Crane was one of his victims... 

So I attached my pumpkins to these two skeletons since they seemed to be missing theirs. I drew on their faces with my black Posca paint marker. Then I got this crazy idea to pose them by hot gluing their hands to their new heads. They look like they just woke up to find their new looks. I'm thinking about using them in Photoshop to make a Halloween meme. If I create one, it will show up on my blog during the 31 days of Halloween.

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 4- Spooky Signage

 

Among my leftover Halloween craft supplies, I found 2 signs I had bought (and hug in windows) for the summer season. Well, summer is over! And instead of painting over them, I decided to paint and decorate the other side for Halloween. Below you'll see what my signs show for summer:

So I started by painting each backside black for the base coat. After drying, I adhered some leftover designer paper to each. On the sign I'm featuring today, I added a border of orange paint. I also attached some leftover lace to the bottom of the paper. I used a stencil to paint on the greeting BOO and finished it off with a Dollar Store ribbon.

This was a very fast, very easy craft, which I certainly appreciated. I also appreciate the fact that it is flat, and will store easily in my Halloween decorations bins.

Do you believe in ghosts? My sister bought a house near me that is said to be haunted. She hasn't seen a ghost in the years in which she's lived there, but every time she comes home and it's dark, she calls me and keeps the conversation up while she checks out a noise that came from her basement. No sense in pushing her luck, right?

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 3 - Spooky Door Decor

 Hello, witches! My project today is a welcome wreath, Halloween-style. I unearthed a wire wreath form I had bought from Dollar Store last year and tried to weave black tulle around it. That lasted 20 minutes! So then I pulled out some leftover orange canvas and wound it around most of the form. 

Continuing to pull from my Halloween craft supplies gather over the years, I found a bare wooden haunted house sign that I just painted black...

and a wood and wire fence I painted grey...

and some foam flowers...

and foam ghosts that used to be part of a banner...

and a few miscellaneous pumpkins/jack o' lanterns.

My hot glue gun saw some serious action. I want to be able to show this off for the next several years.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Is it just outside, or do you do the inside of your house, too? My neighborhood goes crazy at Halloween. There are some neighbors' houses that my kids (when they were younger) would not go up to their doors for candy! Coffins and gigantic spiders and zombies, etc. I just like to put my artwork in the windows and on the doors, and a large vase or two of altered flowers/plants.  

Challenges I am Entering:

Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes, no cards

Crafting Happiness - Halloween

Get Creative - #126 Purple, Black, Green and Orange!!!

 Mirtillamente Challenge #25 - All about Halloween

 Two Old Bats - Halloween Mood Board

The Four Seasons - Anything Fall Goes Mood Board

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 2 - Book of Bones (and where to dig them up)

 

Last summer I picked up a baker's dozen of book boxes to alter for Christmas. You can see them on my blog HERE. Since I didn't use all of them yet, I decided to make a few Halloween book boxes as decor. Here is the box before alteration.

Today's make is a Book of Bones and where to dig them up. I pulled out my Rubbermaid tub of Halloween craft supplies and pulled apart a few Dollar Store skeletons. Using their legs and arms as well as a skull and backbone, I hot glued these parts to the cover to spell out the book's title. Leftovers decorate the cover as well. Next came crumpled tissue paper and homemade mod podge. 

After drying, I used various paint brushes to highlight the letters and body parts. I always use designer papers for the inside of my book boxes and then fill them with goodies. Last Christmas, I made five holiday book boxes, filled them with homemade goodies and gave them to my neighbors and my postal worker. This year, a few more neighbors will get Halloween candies inside their boxes. 

I'm trying to use up my stash of holiday craft supplies, but the Dollar Stores are sooo tempting, especially around Halloween. We'll have to see how long I resist all the goodies, especially after watching dozens of Halloween DIY videos on YouTube! LOL

Do you get kids trick or treating at your house? I used to have so many I had hubby go to the store after running out of treats. But over the last few years, I get maybe a dozen kids and I'm stuck with a bunch of candy. I hope it picks up this year... 

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 1 - Autumn canvas

Hello, my peeps! Starting today, I will feature crafts, decor, haunted tales, cartoons, etc. all with a Halloween vibe. Be prepared to be inspired and a little spooked by my offerings. Today, I created wall decor for my home, altering a wooden box/sign from the Dollar store that was an Easter decoration, now bringing in the Fall season. 

I used some of my leftover stash of papers and adhered it to the front, after peeling, scraping and sanding the original clean. Searching through my Halloween craft supplies, I found the sticker letters spelling FALL and added them after placing a line of pumpkins from my ribbon/trim stash.

I finished off my project with tiny leaf die-cuts and a button (the tree). This was a very simple project that took me more time looking for the supplies than to put it together. Don't you love that kind of project? LOL

I will be showcasing a new make every day in October, some cute like this one, others bringing out the creepy, spooky vibes. At the end of the month, I will randomly pick someone who has left a comment on any of my blog posts and send them a digital copy of my new coloring book. This book features a lot of my Zen doodles as well as others I have not published. Being digital, you can print and reprint on any kind of paper repeatedly!

Do you know why leaves change colors in the Fall? While chlorophyl keeps them green in Spring in Summer, the chemical decreases its production as cooler temps appear in the shorter days. According to Science Notes, leaves also contain flavonoids and carotene (orange and yellow) as well as lycopene and anthocyanin (red and purple). As chlorophyl decreases, these chemicals show their true colors. When the temps lower, leaves lose their bright colors, turn brown and brittle and then die. 

The Four Seasons - Anything Fall Mood Board

Challenge Up Your Life - Autumn Leaves

Creatalicious Challenges - Anything Goes w/option Autumn colors