Gathering Quite a Pile of Halloween Cards

 

Here's my newest Halloween card for the "Halloween & Other Occasions Challenge blog. If you're looking for a cool way to have a stack of cards ready for a holiday, choose a challenge blog and enter a card each month with the same theme, like Halloween for HOOC . There are several Christmas challenge blogs as well!!

My card today features a stamp from Queen Kat Designs. She no longer offers stamps, but has renewed her inventory to include crocheted animals and "Adults ONLY" coloring books. Look her up on Amazon.

Meanwhile, I used a few die-cuts I found while organizing my craft supplies. using one to frame the stamped image. I used an old punch on the corners of my cards The witch is a puffy embellishment I found on my basement floor while packing away Halloween for the year! 

The rest is cardstock and patterned paper. I hand-printed the greeting on the front, as well as the sentiment on the inside that reads:

 "Don't wait dinner on me. Traffic is a nightmare."

 

 

THE ITSY BITSY HALLOWEEN SPIDER

 

My Halloween project today features a couple of small wooden signs, wall decor if you like. I found a bag of five thin pieces of wooden boards about 6 inches long, 2.5 inches tall and about a 1/4 inch thick. I used Tim Holtz's Alcohol ink (Rusty Hinge) to stain 2 pieces of wood before adhering felt spider web borders horizontally onto them. From each I added a thin ribbon and attached a black plastic spider.

I used Viner Hand ITC Regular font in Photoshop to make the plaque with the poem. Since I had a bag of these wooden boards, and enough felt border for two, I doubled my project.  When I was finished, If you can't quite read  rhyme, here it is:

The Itsy Bitsy spider was hanging on a thread

When a bird swooped down, she thought she was dead.

The bird missed the spider and sadly flew away

and the Halloween spider lived to spook another day.

Hope you like my newest Halloween project. The Halloween & Other Occasions Challenge Blog accepts all types of projects, as long as its theme is Halloween, Birthday r the monthly occasion. See you there!

 

Can't Get Halloween Out if My Head (and off my craft table)

 

Hello, Halloween lovers! Today I made a square card featuring skeletons. The background paper featuring Mr. Skeleton is from the Dead or Alive Paper collection from Rucola Designs. The Copic-colored skeleton child is from Kenny K Stamps. I haven't bought cardstock in months due to a towering stack leaning precariously in my basement, so all papers are "leftovers".

I framed my card face with lacy die-cuts I made from a scrapbook crop (and I haven't been to one in years!).  It showcases the paper well, I think. After coloring my image, which is called "Skull Man", I fussy-cut him out to place under the outstretched hand of his parent. He's so very anxious to go trick-or-treating like all the little goblins and ghosts.

I had forgotten to print my greeting, so I used my circle punch and wrote on black cardstock with white ink the words Trick or Treat. The only other embellishment I used was the cloth Autumn leaf in the top left corner.

I hope you like my Halloween card today. I am building a nice new stack of cards to send out this year. Unless I find a craft fair before the holiday, and on make a little money (m-wa ha ha). All's fair in love and crafts, right? Don't forget to check out the challenge at Halloween Crafts All Year 'round

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 30

 

Today I'm upcycling one of my own pieces of art! Last year I tried Acrylic pour canvas painting. This is one of my pieces, a 6x6' stretched canvas for Halloween. Nice, but boring...

I reached into my bag of Halloween tricks and pulled out a plastic skeleton (I bought so many of these throughout the year that I haven't had to purchase any in forever). Using his lower legs and a larger one from another bag, I formed the latter "B"., brushing it with white paint before adhering it with hot glue. 

A couple black silk leaves and white felt flowers formed the letter "O" twice, and now my artwork has a title, "BOO". I added a few die-cut leaves and a small wooden gravestone to finish off my project. I hope I didn't overload the canvas, but I am NOT a fan of "white space". It's difficult for me to stop when it comes to embellishments. I hope you've enjoyed the 31 Days of Halloween here at 'Patacake's Pages. I have one more day to entertain you with my imagination and creativity this spooky season. See you tomorrow.

Challenges I am Entering:

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 28

 Definitely was in a dark place when I thought this one up. I think I might just do a creepy cute 31 days of Halloween next year. I hope it doesn't give me nightmares!

The wreath is made from branches of a weeping willow (I had to look it up). Around this I wove wired ribbon with a Halloween print. Next I used up ALL my plastic skulls. I had three different kinds! After I adhered them with hot glue and E6000, I left a small space for my Skull King. Actually it's a diffuser that was broken that I had bought from Bath & Body. Looking sad and plain, so I added a small bow made from orange and black netting (tulle). 

I finished off my newest Halloween decoration by attaching a spooky black floral deco that I had bought after last year's Halloween. I think you have to zoom in to see it. A single spider on a skull nearest the king finishes my project for today. And it is on my front door now (do you think I'll get any  solicitors?)...  

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 26

 

Last year I created Skull sunflowers. This year I've made eyeball sunflower! After rummaging thru mt flower supplies, I grabbed the sunflower bunch I had purchase last year. They're smaller than the ones I glued skulls onto,  so I gathered a couple of plastic balls from my stash (I feel like Felix the Cat and his Magic Bag of Tricks-anyone old enough to remember that vintage Saturday morning cartoon?). I cut them in half and spray-painted them white.

I used Posca markers to draw on the irises of the eyes, decorating the "whites of the eyes" with dark red lines to look like veins. They didn't look much like real eyeballs until I used Gloss Varnish on each and then they really popped. I had to trim them to fit into the center of each flower, adhering them with a combination of E6000 and hot glue.

I stuck my flowering eyeballs in a black plastic cauldron and filled it with foliage, autumn leaves, fake pumpkins and spiders, as well as adding a couple of bricks to keep my cauldron from falling down or blowing away. I placed my decor in the middle of my small garden surrounding my front light post. I also added a few other bits of decor from this year and last year and am almost finished with my Halloween garden...

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 24

 There's a thrift store near me (well, an hour away) where everything in the store is 50% off on Mondays!! So I had purchased some Halloween goodies (as in crafting supplies) before the hordes came and polished it all off. This is one of my finds from 2 months ago.

I had to do a little repair painting, as well as drew a few Halloween symbols and lettering to get it up to snuff. I also upcycled my "new" wall art by adding the bow at top, a sticker here and there and making a small broom out of a chopstick and pipe cleaners (now known as chenille sticks). There used to be little numbers to hang on this but since they were MIA, I put the broom on the hooks and changed "days 'til" to "almost". I also added the words broom parking.

welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 23

 

Rummaging through my drawer of metals, I found 2 charms (?) that screamed Halloween, so I pulled out my jewelry bin and attached each to chains. I now have two new necklaces to wear or sell for Halloween. The dragon's eye was "framed" enough so I used it by itself. The skull, however, needed a little something to jazz it up, and I love feathers, so my skull is styling that pink feather for a little fun spooking.

In pulling out my jewelry stash, I realized I had an overabundance (would that be an oxymoron?) of supplies. So I think I'll be creating some new jewelry; maybe not for Halloween, but Christmas is coming up and I have ideas (and supplies) aplenty. 

Writing about selling my jewelry, I had posted earlier in the month how excited I was to participate in a Fall craft Fair. When I returned home from a week's vacation, I had 6 days before the Fair, which was okay because I had prepped, priced and packed everything I needed.

But when I walked in the door with my suitcase, my daughter was sicker than sick, and the next day she tested positive for COVID. Two days later I tested + as well, and my dreams of selling my Halloween and Christmas crafts were dashed against the rocks. So here I am with plenty of inventory. I am now seeking a local craft fair and hoping to sell my Christmas crafts soon.

Meanwhile, I can decorate my home  to its full potential with all the stuff I've created this year, as well as the decor I created last year which you can check out on my blog starting HERE.

welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 22

 

Ok, this one is totally digital, but what fun I had!! I used so many elements and added so many layers, but I really like it. It screams, "This is not your usual sing-around the-Girl Scout campfire". And believe me, I am a lifelong girl scout since Juniors (grade 4). I have been a leader, assistant, day camp crafts guru, day camp first aider, as well as grade 4 through 9 girl scout and cookie mom. I'm not counting my years with Cub Scouts...

The paper is from the Dead or Alive set from from RUCOLA DESIGNS by Ildi Geist. as well as the digital element dancing around the fire (skeletons 2,3 &4). the campfire is actually from a photo taken by my sister-in-law in Arizona. The bats and hands reaching up from the ground are free clipart found on Google. I'm going to frame this so it will keep in perpetuity...(forever). Mwahahahaha...

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 19

 

Next up today is an embroidery canvas. I had to paint the material black first and let it dry. I am typing with blackened fingers because I am an impatient person... Anyway, I drew a spider web across the material with a white pencil. Then I grabbed a skein of white yarn and stitched my lines. The white against black shows up really well, don't you think?

When I reached the end of my yarn I left a length hanging from the bottom-most web part. Then I riffled through my pompom and pipe cleaner drawers and found the makings for my spider. I had to use hot glue to get her to stay on the hanging thread.

That's it! A fun and simple (and not time-consuming) Halloween craft that doesn't take a master sewing expert to make. The canvas is 6x6 so kids and adults alike can try their hands at this project! 

My house and deck are filling up with my handmade decor and I can't wait for the big day. As I watch neighbors putting up huge skeletons and blow-up decorations, I have two thoughts: One, that I saved a bunch of money this year, and two, that I need to go bigger next year. My decor is on the small side, and my house only has so many windows and deck space. A little more yard planning and larger patterns is on tap for 2025...

Welcome to 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 18

 

Another upcycle project from my many previous trips to thrift stores. Here's my nod to witches around the world. Who says they have to be bent and ugly. Mine is most fashionable. She did need a big makeover, as her skirt was hanging by a thread (literally), her hat was gone, her broom needed re-strawing (?), and her shoes had lost whatever color they originally had. She must have had a hard life, or her credit card was maxed out for a long time.

I started with her clothes, giving her a netting skirt and a shiny belt. I re-strawed her broom and tied an orange ribbon around it. I used a leftover piece of burlap for her hat, glued her hat so it wasn't in her eyes, and lastly, added a black cat near her right foot.

I may not ever be a contestant on Project Runway, but I think I nailed my witch's outfit.

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 17

How's the weather where you live? October started in like a lamb, with unusual temps in the mid 70s, cooling off at night to around mid fifties. But as we near October 31, I know it's going to get nasty. Most years the weather is beautiful right up until the Monday before trick-or-treating. Bummer for the kids who want to show off their costumes. 

Today I upcycled a wooden cat figurine. It was originally pink and cute, but 'tis the season so I first out on its black coat. By the time I finished using my white Posca marker, the cat became a hybrid sugar skull skeleton. I couldn't decide on cute or creepy, and I got what you see here! 

While photographing my project, I decided to make the background black & white. Now the cat looks like he's camouflaged into the background. LOL I've put him in my window. I almost put him in between the glass and screen facing in, but my dog was not very happy with that! So Mr. Bones is facing out and behind the blinds most of the day.

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 14

 

I finally broke down and made one of those quaint road crossing signs I'm seeing everywhere on Pinterest. It actually turned out cuter than I thought it would. I dug into my bin of wood pieces and puled out a bag of thin wood pieces about 6"x2.5". After painting them with acrylic paints, I used my Posca markers to letter some of the "mysterious destinations" and also sticker letters for others. I made six, but the ones pictured here are my favorites.

I also dabbed on some Tim Holtz alcohol inks to "age" the signs so they look a tiny but weather-beaten. Instead of spending an hour looking for the "perfect stick" to attach them, My eyes spied a very old 12" ruler that had seen much better days. I hot glued my destination signs onto it and it looks pretty cool up against one of the bushes, half in and half out of the sun.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Halloween here at the Martin homestead. Do you decorate for this Autumn holiday? Do you make cards and send them out to neighbors and friends? Or do you just wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas to let your creativity soar? In my neck of the woods, Halloween is getting to be as popularly decorated as Christmas. 

Challenges I am Entering:

Daisy Chain - Autumn and/or Halloween

Halloween & Other Occasions - Halloween

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 12

 When I go into my basement to find craft supplies, I sometimes feel like Mary Poppins reaching into her carpetbag. I can pull out the most amazing things to work with, most of which I often don't remember having. Today's project uses one of those magical finds.

It was a very used  Halloween wreath made from painted, clipped clothespins on a wire wreath frame. A little burla, some dirty stickers and a crushed bow were all that remained on the original DIY  someone worked on to delight their children in times gone by. I had my work cut out for me...

Taking all the clothespins off I repainted them in bright orange, purple and black colors.. Some had originally been green but the ribbon I used didn't have a speck of green in it, so change of color scheme. While they were drying I rummaged around my Halloween supply box and found some wooden shapes that would look well on the finished wreath and cleaned them.

The wire frame consists of three attached circles. I clipped the pins orange, purple black so that in theory the same order would go around the whole wreath. I didn't allow for the broken clothespins I had pulled off and didn't replace. Their empty "slots" would be where the large orange and black ribbon and bow are hiding them...

Once pins were in place as well as the ribbon, I hot glued the wooden shapes asymmetrically, adding some small skull buttons to fill in what I though of as gaps. I used black carabiner rope for a hanger and my door now showcases a "new" Halloween wreath. I think I gave this wreath the fresh breath it needed. What do you think?

Challenges I am Entering

Creative Artiste - Anything Mixed Media Goes

LeighSB Designs Inspiration - Anything Halloween Goes + optional twist Catoween

Moving along with the Times - Autumnal Colors

Classic Design - Autumn/Fall

Welcome to 31 Days of Halloween - DAY10

 This happens to be one of my favorite projects this Halloween. I bought these yard flamingoes way back in May or June from the Dollar store and kept them tucked away for this month. I sprayed each with black chalk paint. I loved using my Posca markers to draw the birds' skeletons on both sides. Then made sure to seal them with gloss varnish so they would last more than the first year.

They came with small metal rods to stick in the yard. 

While I was at the Dollar Store last month, I heard 2 moms talking about how most of the Halloween decorations were scary and grotesque and they weren't buying them. I thought about all the younger kids who love to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood, and decided to put on these over-sized googly eyes to lessen the grotesqueness of them. Personally, I think the eyes make them look like naked chickens now, but that's just me and my overactive imagination (or do you see the chickens, too?).

Only 21 days left before Halloween! Did you buy enough candy to go around? If you like this idea, mark your 2025 calendars to buy the flamingoes in Spring!! I have three more to add to my flock if I have the time...'

Challenges I am Entering:

Craft Rocket - Autumn/Halloween

Crafty Gals Corner - AG w/optional Make It Spooky

Shopping our Stash - Halloween

Crafters' Cafe - Include a Critter

Crafty Animals - Must include animal

 

welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 8

 

I went to one of Amazon's reject stores, this one called Arlington Heights Treasure Chest. It's where Amazon dumps a lot of their returns and sometimes defective or "missing pieces/parts" items. They rotate every 7 days, where Thursday is their RESTOCK day. Then the prices stat high and by Wednesday items are $1 each. I've gone twice, once on a Monday and once on a big bargain Wednesday. 

I picked up a closed package for a buck and didn't open it until I got home. Sometimes you can open the packages. Often they're already opened. If you're lucky you can even test them before you buy. I got lucky that Wednesday. When I opened my box, I found a dozen witch's hats -- for $1! I immediately wanted to string them up to add to this year's decorations.

It took a plastic needle, invisible fishing line and large paperclips before I had my line of Halloween hats to hang outside. 

Chicago being the kind of city where the weather is full of surprises right up to the day of Halloween, I plan to put these up only a few days before trick-or-treating starts. Nothing worse than a wet witch's hat (except a wet witch...).

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween DAY 6

 

Today's project is a craft that comes from several different leftovers. I had the swag made of sticks that I had to re-tie. The pumpkins came from a nasty wreath that I had tossed, keeping the wooden pieces for later (or rather now). I had to repaint them to give them life (call me Mrs. Frankenstein).

The leaves are the last of my collection of felt Fall leaves, which I adhered onto the branches after wiring the pumpkins to to sticks . I also made a loop of wire from which to hang my decoration. It was an assembly job, for sure, but worth scrounging around for all the pieces. 

I love to decorate my front porch for Halloween. I put things in the windows, on the door, along the railings, even in the corners of the stairs. Since I created several wreaths, I'm putting the Pumpkin trio in one of my windows this year.

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Crafty Calendar - ANything Goes

Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers - Halloween

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Craft Rocket - Autumn or Halloween

Welcome to 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 3

 

This summer I had bought several plastic serving trays and glasses with which to make tiered dessert trays for an event. Before I had made them all, I discovered that the pastries being plated were going to be too heavy for my platters to hold up. Instead of returning all the pieces, I reinforced the trays and created Halloween hospitality cookie trays.

This first tray uses two thick clear plastic trays held together with a sturdy plastic champagne glass in the middle. Before attaching the two, I spray-painted the bottom of the trays orange. The tops of the trays are paint-free and safe to place cookies or candy on them. For decoration, I simply added a ceramic pumpkin using hot glue and E6000. Isn't he a cutie?! I can see this being used during a school class party.  My days of hosting Halloween parties is over, but I have plenty of neighbors whose kids are in grade school...

Have you ever made Halloween-themed foods or drinks? For the kids, I've made hotdogs wrapped with Pillsbury biscuit slices to look like mummies, a cake that was decorated to look like a graveyard and pumpkin juice, which is just orange soda poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For adults, I've made a few cocktails and Jello shots. The RV park where I have my trailer hosts a Halloween weekend and the treats for both kids and adults is crazy out of this world! My nephew went out with his wife and came back completely snockered!

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 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!