Last Minute Halloween Projects

I always seem to have a stack of projects waiting to be done.  You know how it is!  You see something cute, a project, a pattern or a kit that just calls your name . . . and you know "it will only take a few minutes" so you buy it and add it to the ever-growing stack.  Well I finally finished a couple of items in the Halloween project stack this week.  Even if the project is completed on the day of the holiday, it still counts doesn't it? 
Sharing time:

1 - I love creative people who think up all these cute wood projects.  And even more, I love going to a craft store/specialty shop and being able to purchase ALL the things I need to do those cute wood projects all at one time.  It really does make the project quick and easy!  There are certain icons of every holiday that I seem to be attracted to - one of those icons for Halloween are cute little bottles of unknown, dangerous potions.  These wooden bottles just called my name.  I need a piece of cute  ribbon to go around the taller one - it's final addition - that will happen next year!

2 - This little bat was sweet and super quick.  Enough said!

 3 - I saw these adorable spooky crystal balls over at Flamingo Toes.  I HAD to make them!  I gathered all my supplies and brought them home.  The first thing to do is to put some smoke inside the clear GLASS balls.  Well - the key word here is g.l.a.s.s.  Somehow (I think it was the cheap in me) I ended up with plastic balls.  After melting a bit of the opening to one of the balls, I realized I either needed to run out and spend the money on the glass ones or figure out a different way to put some "smoke" in the balls.  Husband suggested some tempura paint and it worked as well as I could have hoped.  Not quite the smoke Flamingo Toes created, but good enough.  And some days, I'm ok with "good enough". 

 Each one of these crystal balls still needs some spooky ribbon around the joint between the candlestick and the ball, but again . . . next year!

We choose the skull . . . .

and the bat. 

And as we were putting away Halloween decorations yesterday I saw one of my favorite decorations sitting on the table.  Who can resist a cute Frankenstein.  But even better - one with a bowl full of eyeballs.  Eyeballs are another of those icons of Halloween I just love!  I painted each one of these many years ago.  Love them!

And finally - I got to go help at son #1's class Halloween party at school on Thursday.  He wanted me to do a craft.  So we got looking online and came across this cute idea for some Frankenstein Stained Glass Window Art at Mrs. T's First Grade Class Blog.  I had to do all the prep work myself ahead of time since I only had a few minutes with each group, but we worked fast and they each got their Franky done and ready to go home. 

 


I do love Halloween decorations!  I don't love dressing up, but I love the decorations and always will!


 

Witchy Gams

I've been meaning to make time to make something Halloweenie - before Halloween passes me by.  I finally got around to making this cute little craft - - A Witch Leg or as I like to call it - - Witchy Gams.  The pattern is actually called Glinda's Gams and it was a really quick, easy project.

 This particular witch leg was taken to our good friend who had us over for dinner tonight.  My own witchy gam is part-way finished and will soon be hanging up ready to celebrate a little Halloween with us. 

I had just a tiny piece of this super cute spider/pom pom trim left over from a Halloween craft a few years back.  It was just the right size to add to this witch leg. 

The rest of my good intentioned Halloween projects will probably go on hold until next year.  I'm having a bit of trouble getting my son's new quilt actually quilted.  Plan B, C, and D are being invoked.  More to follow.

Candy Corn Cookies

Well this is what happens when you only have boys in your house!  My boys have become lovers of "arts and crafts" (that sounds more masculine than "crafting") and cooking.  They mostly love the tasting part of cooking, but they indulge me still the same. 

I saw a great idea over at The Crafting Chicks for "Candy Corn Cookies" and we decided to try the recipe out this weekend.  The boys give it two thumbs up, especially for the frosting in the middle.  I'll add that the cookies are pretty darn tasty too. 

No candy corns were harmed or used in the making of these cookies.  It is simply the color scheme that makes them "candy corn" cookies.  We had a fun time mixing and rolling and baking and frosting.  Our neighbors are happy too because we gave almost all of the cookies away.  Happy Halloween!

My Halloween Banner

Is it too late to post my cute Halloween Banner? It is still (barely) 24-ish hours before the official Halloween holiday arrives. Sometimes life and good times just get in the way of my good crafting intentions. Anyway . . . I finally had time tonight after the boys were in bed to finish the last parts of putting this banner together. Now it is hanging on my mantel and I absolutely love it!

It was so simple - cut some 6 inch black burlap squares. Using the amazing freezer paper stenciling technique I previously blogged about HERE, paint Halloween silhouette images on the burlap using white acrylic paint. Let them dry well - in my case, that turned in to a few weeks :-).

Cut out some larger (at least 7 inch, preferably slightly larger that that even) squares of cute Halloween fabric. Zig zag stitch the burlap centered on the Halloween fabric. Then find some cute clearance trim at Hobby Lobby and sew the blocks on to the length of trim that you need for your mantel.And wa - la, there you go. The cutest Halloween banner ever! I like the pops of color from behind the black burlap blocks.
Plus - best news ever - I used fabric and burlap from my super giant stash of fabric. The only thing I bought was the roll of orange/black trim for $1.19. Thrifty and cute - even better!Happy Halloween!

Halloween Bingo

I love the fun printables people take the time to create and share - - all over blogland. This is one that I found the other day over at Artsy Fartsy Mama - Halloween BINGO.

A quick print, a stop at the store to laminate all of the cards and pieces, and now we have a really fun (and cute) game. The boys love it!

Freezer Paper Stenciling

I'm probably the last person on earth to try freezer paper stenciling . . . but I officially {LoVe} it!
I've had a new little Halloween decoration brewing in my brain for a while and I had some unplanned time on my hands today. So I decided to get brave and try it out. The project is still taking shape and I'm using lots of inspiration from other craft blogs. But hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a finished project that I love. Just a couple of little peeks at step one of the whole project. For a great tutorial on Freezer Paper Stenciling go HERE.

Halloween Pillows

Slowly, but surely I'm getting in to fall. I really hate to see summer end, but at least we're having a beautiful fall to end it with!

I wanted to decorate the house and yard for Halloween this weekend, but it was too nice outside to be stuck cleaning the garage - to get to the decorations. So I rounded up a few things to put up so that it felt like we acknowledged the fact that it is now October - like our Halloween Advent Calendar.

I also whipped up these adorable Halloween pillow-cases for the boys. I'm completely in awe of these super easy and incredibly cute pillowcases from Little Birdie Secrets. I made the boys each a custom pillowcase earlier this year and they have been a huge hit. I think I'll work on rounding up some cute Christmas fabric and make them each one for December.

So quick, so easy . . . why not have one for every holiday? Love them!

A Halloween Quiet Book

If you know me - or if you read my blog - you know that I {LoVe} a good quiet book! I've made my fair share including one for my boys with lots and lots and lots of interchangeable pages. I've also made a couple of Pirate-themed quiet books using a pattern that I bought over at Everyday Celebrations. Well LeAnne has lots of other patterns for quiet books with other themes. I fell in love with her Halloween Quiet Book and finally had some time to sit down and make it. My first "fall craft" of this year - - it kind of makes me a little sad. But then again, it turned out so cute, you have to love it!A cute little softie ghost and a witch.An adorable spider (probably my favorite page!) and a bat.A black cat and a pumpkin with three little finger puppets to store inside (pumpkin, bat, and ghost). The front and back covers.

LeAnne's patterns are super easy to follow and really, really cute! My biggest hint is to take the time to prep all of the pages before you sit down to sew. It makes the whole process go quickly and smoothly. Oh - and don't sew the pages together until you're sure that you've finished every last detail! Or you can just settle for some hot glue instead of sewing on a few buttons that you might have forgotten to put on - it all works out in the end. {LoVe It}!!!

Now I'm searching for a Christmas/Winter themed quiet book. I have narrowed it down to a couple of patterns. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

My Halloween Night Secret

I have a little secret . . . . I'm not necessarily proud of it, but it's true all the same. There's no point in denying it any longer. Every Halloween night (or tonight in this year's case - since we're celebrating on Saturday), after we close down the front door to trick-or-treaters, I turn off all the lights, and sit down on the floor in front of my iTunes library . . . . and I play C H R I S T M A S music. Yes, it's true!!! I love Christmas music and it's all I can do to keep myself from playing it all year round. So my "line in the sand" is Halloween night. That is my FIRM rule - no Christmas music . . . until tonight.

And then, stand back - it's Christmas music 24/7 until around the day after Christmas.

There - I feel much better. It's never good to keep secrets!

More Halloween Crafts I Love

I had hoped to get more crafty things done this week, but instead my week has been filled with work, work, and fun adventures with the boys. My philosophy is that we should get as much wear out of Halloween costumes as we can since you really only wear them this time of year (although I have been known to let my boys dress up in their costumes anytime they feel the urge and wander through the neighborhood). So we've been dropping in to any old thing happening around our local area this week that calls for costume wearing and candy collecting. The boys have been loving it.

So since I have nothing new to blog about, I present for my viewing pleasure, some of my latest fun blog finds for Halloween:

#1 - I have yet to sew a Halloween costume for either of my boys. I've made costumes in the past for friend's kids but just haven't worked up the energy to do it lately. However, this idea just might change my mind for next year. Homemade by Jill created this adorable Skeleton Costume and I just might willing to give this one a try - - - if I can talk son #2 into being a skeleton next year. He is incredibly independent and has an opinion about everything. So we'll see, but at least the idea is in my head now.

#2 - Over at She Wears Flowers, this super cute Witch Candy Bag gives me all kinds of ideas for future crafting projects. Another LOVE it!
#3 - making the transition to Thanksgiving now, I too have always believed that the Thanksgiving holiday gets shorted in its spot between Halloween and Christmas. We have loved our new Halloween Advent this year and have always loved Christmas Advents. Keeping it Simple - guest post from Project Naptime made this Thanksgiving Advent.#4 - But my most favorite for today . . . Oopsey Daisy made this Gratitude Advent Calendar. Love, Love, Love it! I like the idea of helping kids learn to be thankful. I'm printing the leaves out right now and will be making my own very soon (hopefully this weekend). Thanks for sharing!.

Advent Calendars

How can you not love advent calendars? They're everywhere these days, but I think I have some of the cutest ones around.

This Happy Halloween countdown is a new addition for us this year - a great find from one of my local craft fairs. My boys have really enjoyed finding fun little Halloween treats in the pockets every day this month. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've moved things around and added fun new finds into this as the month has progressed. Christmas is, of course, the traditional advent calendar time of year. Nancy Halvorsen at ArttoHeart.com has designed patterns and fabrics for a couple of my most favorite Christmas Advents. As you might guess, I've made more than one or two of these over the years. This is her "Here Comes Santa" advent. It is surprisingly large and we L O V E it! The ornaments are adorable - obviously one ornament gets hung on the advent per day. She includes a matching pattern for a bag to hold the ornaments as well. This one hangs on my wall in December, but my sister and a few friends have been lucky enough (if I do say so myself) to be gifted with the same one through the years.

This advent is another one of Nancy's that I made for my mother and father. This is her "Glad Tidings" advent. If I could force myself to not obsess about a collection, I would definitely be a Nativity collector - I can't even start though because there just isn't enough room in my garage to store another collection. Nancy has also designed some pre-printed panels with pre-printed ornaments that you can buy and put together. These make for really quick gifts with very little sewing. The first one of hers that I found a few years ago is from her Santa Claus is Coming fabric line - my neighbor was gifted with this particular advent calendar a few years back.

I just noticed on the ArttoHeart.com website that Nancy has a new line out this year with another pre-printed advent panel with ornaments. It is called "Good Tidings of Great Joy" and the instructions are available for free on her website. Since I am a fabric "collector" I better run right out and grab a few of these panels to have on hand for future gifts.

Wait until you see all the matching Christmas Stockings Nancy has for all of these advents . . . . and yes, I've made a million of them. That's for a future post.

My Blogging Finds

Regardless of the fact that my crafting To Do List is plenty long, I can always seem to find cute new things to add to the list. Here are some of the fun Halloween crafts I've been seeing around blogland in the last few days:

2x4 Wood Scrap Spookies

Diary of a Preppy Mom made these incredibly cute Halloween decorations. If there was only a few more weeks before trick or treat day, these would definitely end up on my mantle.

Spooky Pillows

Army Wife Quilter expanded on a bat pillow idea and created these vampire and Frankenstein pillows. Spooky Bowl of Eyeballs

Flamingo Toes made these great Spooky Eyeballs from dollar store plastic balls. She even includes a free printable pdf of the eyes for us. I do love it when people share.

Halloween Count Down Blocks

My sister has the great fortune of having an October birthday - I won't say how old she'll be this month (41) but I will admit that I am older, at least the calendar says so. The reason this is a fortunate thing (the October birthday, not the age) is that October is usually right around the time that I get seriously crafty after a nice long summer spent mostly outdoors. She often ends up with some fun, handmade birthday presents.

She sent me an email a week or so ago which consisted of two lines - I want this! And a link to this over at How Does She? So since it was really cute . . . I promptly ordered a kit and son #2 and I spent a fun evening making it for her. I love my power sander . . . but it tore a nice big chunk of paper off the top corner of the bottom block - let's call that "character". Happy Birthday "J"!By the way . . . I found a great new "tool". I wanted to stain the blocks but I was dreading pulling out a can of stain and a brush to get the look I wanted. I was smart enough to wander through the paint isle at one of my local craft stores and came upon this wonderful little thing . . . a stain pen. It worked like a charm!

Holiday I Spy Balls

We've all seen the typical I Spy bags - here are a few that I have made. They're fun for the kids (and adults too!) and super easy to make. I love these because they're made from fleece - everything is better made from fleece. Finding the items to be "spied" inside the bags is probably my favorite part. And here's my newest twist on the I Spy theme - Holiday I Spy Balls. You can find these large plastic ornaments at any craft store (these came from Joann's). Find a few holiday themed items to put inside - don't add too many. Top it off with some Poly Pellets (again not too many . . . in fact, less than you would think). Hot glue the ornament halves together (probably the hardest part - you definitely need four hands for this step). Add some ribbons and a tag - and you have a holiday themed I Spy Ball. Here's one for Halloween.

And here's a Christmas ball. A fun twist to the I Spy idea. My boys love them!