Halloween Wreath

Full disclosure - this one was a teensy bit tedious.  It took me weeks to make all the pom-poms that make up the bulk of this wreath.  Mostly because lazy.

My grand plan is to make the accessories exchangeable, so I can flip it from Halloween to a Thanksgiving or harvest theme.  The orange color pallet makes for a nice autumnal blank slate to play with, and I think it looks nice just on its own, without adding any accessories. 

Supplies are pretty simple:  a straw wreath form, two different tones of orange yarn, floral pins, and scissors.  I used two packages of the light orange yarn, and 1 for the darker orange. 

The pom-pom tutorial I followed can be found here.  Super easy, by one of my favorite crafty gals, Miss Mustard Seed.

I interspersed the darker orange yarn amongst the pumpkin colored yarn, which I chose as the primary color.

Once you've made the pom poms, it's just a matter of attaching them to the wreath using the floral pins.

I hung  a few Halloween-themed whimsical guys I've had for a while inside the wreath, and on the bottom.  I got them at Pier One years ago, and I just love them.  I break them out every Halloween.  They make me happy.

Here's the full wreath in all its fluffy glory:

I think in a few weeks, I'll either replace the less than menacing monsters with pine cones or just leave it plain, so it's not Halloween specific, but just autumnal.  It's a multi-functional wreath.  Happy fall, y'all!

Ta-ta for now.

Classic Monster Pumpkins

I decided not to do any pumpkin carving for Halloween this year.  Instead I tackled painted pumpkins.  I went with classic monster characters for this year:  Dracula, Frankenstein, a mummy and a vampire bat.  What fun this was!

Certain parts turned out to be a little more challenging than I expected, and I wasn't really crazy about how some of the eyes turned out.  Eyes are hard! 

I used paint, felt, crafting foam, and hot glue.  I don't have much of a step-by-step for these because I just used pictures I found online for inspiration.  The rest I sort of free-styled.

I think I like the carved pumpkins I've done over the last few years better than my painted project for this year.  But out of the four from this year, my favorite is the mini-bat pumpkin.

Just too damn cute.  The hubby thinks it looks like Toothless from the movie How to Train Your Dragon.  I can see it!  So, along with the bat, as I mentioned already, I painted a Dracula...

And a mummy...

And a Frankenstein...

Those eyes!  They make him look a little...special.

My favorite part of Frankenstein is the bolts in the side of his "neck."  In this case we're working under the assumption that pumpkins do in fact have necks.  I can't help making the MREEEEEHH Frankenstein moan in my head whenever I look at him.

So, here are all of my monster pumpkins out on our table in the front.

These were fun to do, but like I said earlier, I think I'll go back to carving next year.  They're cute, but I think last year's zombies and the year before's vampires came out better.  19 more days till Halloween!

Ta-ta for now.

Zombie Pumpkins

Halloween crafts this year are courtesy of the Queen, yet again.  That would be Martha.  Stewart, for those who don't immediately think of her when the words "craft" and "Martha" are used in the same sentence.  And who are those people, anyway?  Downright Un-American.  Just kidding.  I've had a rum cocktail & I'm feisty at the moment.

So, I'm fully in love with how my zombie pumpkins turned out.  Granted, they're not exactly menacing.  They're more whimsical and kind of cute. - Which is why I was compelled to add blood dripping from their maws.  I came up with a full back story for them, too.  See, they look all innocent and sweet with their happy, but also somewhat maniacal faces.  That's to lure you closer.  And that's when they strike and gnaw your face off.  Don't be fooled by the smile.  Those blood shot zombie eyes are of the UNDEAD.  Tread carefully.

So, this pumpkin craft was pretty straight forward and not hard to pull off.  The nice part about this project was that there wasn't any major carving, thereby avoiding the inevitable messy pumpkin guts that go hand in hand with jack-o-lantern type crafts. Then again, no toasted pumpkin seeds to snack on, either.  Booo.

My inspiration and step-by-step instructions can be found here, but I'll give you a run-down of what I did, too.  I used ping pong balls for the eyes, and you could also buy those chocolate eyeballs they sell this time of year. - But, I think it's more fun to DIY the eyes.

Plus, the chocolate eyes that were on sale at the Exchange were smaller than what I wanted.  I was going for big, bug-eyed pumpkins.  My supply list ended up being plain white ping pong balls, red and yellow craft paint, red and black sharpie markers, a red plastic bead to create the über red pupils, and a hot glue gun.

Here's the gist:  use a screw and the end of a pair of scissors to poke and widen a hole in the ping pong ball in order to recess the red bead a little bit, paint a yellow circle around the hole, and go to town with the black and red sharpies and red craft paint to make the eyes as zombie-like as you want them.  Once the ping pong balls are all painted up and dry, use a hot glue gun to attach the red bead inside the hole.  Voilà!  Zombie eyes.

I was digging making
the blood shot eyes.
So much fun to create!

As for cutting out the eyes on the pumpkin, I just estimated the size of the circle I would need and cut out the eye holes accordingly.  Once all the the paint and glue dried, I used the hot glue gun to secure the ping pong ball eyes into the eye socket holes I cut into the pumpkin. 

The mouth template on Martha's site is no longer active, so you kind of have to freestyle it.  Whatever your imagination envisions.  I penciled out a few mouth designs on a piece of paper that were similar to the picture of the sample pumpkins on her page. - That's kind of the look I was going for.

As the instructions say, I taped the template for the mouth onto the pumpkin, and used the tip of a screw to poke through all along the outline to transfer the design.  Then I carefully cut out the mouth and called it done.

It was a fun little Halloween craft!  Here are my finished Zombie Pumpkins, front and center on my little table in front of the house:

I love how the wider yellow eyes and tiny, jagged mouth make the one on the right look completely unstable. He'll eat you. - RAAAH! I almost want to go to town on the big one's mouth.  He needs to be more menacing.  Maybe I'll do a little reconstructive surgery on him.

If you're looking for a fun take on pumpkin decorating, this is a good one to give a shot!  You might also like the vampire pumpkins I did last Halloween.  Check them out here.  They're even easier than these zombie pumpkins. - No paint involved.  Here's to another season of all things harvesty.  And cheers to the Queen of all crafts.  And insider trading.  Just kidding - I love Martha!

Ta-ta for now.

BRAINS.

It's That Time Again, Part 2

Boo!

Halloween crafts, part deux!  I finally got the burlap I ordered from my new BFF Amazon so I could finish my second Halloween project.  I found a fun burlap wreath how-to online last year, but I didn't get around to doing it last Halloween.  I'll give you a little rundown of what I did, and you can check out the tutorial that inspired me here.

I kind of made my own version of it by making a different Trick or Treat sign and using some whimsical Halloween ornaments I already had instead of the crow from the sample wreath.  The Halloween ornaments are from Pier 1, and I just love busting them out every October.  How can those pseudo-scary faces not make you happy?  I'm a little bit of a Pier 1 junkie.  Well, I guess I used to be when I had easy access to the store & didn't have to worry about outrageous shipping costs.  Lower Forty-Eight:  1.  Alaska:  0.

Anyway, for the wreath form, I used foam plumbing pipe liner from the hardware store.  You could also use a pool noodle, but since Kodiak is a little short on pool supply stores, I opted for the plumbing foam.  Just cut it to the size you want and tape it together with some duct tape and you're ready to go.  You could also use a pre-made wreath form, but this worked better for me since the materials were easier to get.

Once you have your wreath form ready, you'll want to cut the burlap into strips, about 1 inch by 18 inches, give or take a few inches.  Then tie each strip around the foam until you fill the length of the wreath.  You may want more or longer burlap strips for a fuller wreath, and you can adjust it as you go.  Just a little FYI:  when you're working with burlap, it tends to shed a little bit.  So, don't be surprised if you have little pieces of black lint to vacuum up after you're done.

When I first started working on this project, I didn't realize I would need so much burlap.  Like I mentioned earlier, I ran out when I was about halfway around the wreath and had to order more online. - Because apparently people in Kodiak don't need to have easy access to burlap on the island.  Lower Forty-Eight:  2.   Alaska:  0.

After the wreath was all filled in, I hung the sign & attached the ornaments to finish it off.  For the sign, I just cut a cardboard box into the shape I wanted, & I glued a print out of "Trick or Treat" onto the cardboard backing.  I used dafont.com for the lettering.  If you're into unique fonts, I recommend checking it out.  Most of the fonts are free, and there are lots of designs to choose from - it's a terrific resource.  The pumpkin and bat pictures are just clip art from google images.

I also put a coat of Mod Podge on the sign to seal it, and used some black string I already had to create the border.  I almost wish I made the sign with wood instead of cardboard so it would be more durable, but I think it'll work fine for now.  I love how the finished product turned out! 

I realized after I finished why a more rigid wreath form would be a better choice for this project.  It's kind of sagging a little bit, and I think it would maintain its round shape better with a more rigid frame.  Maybe next time I'll use wire or flexible PVC pipe on the inside of the foam to give it the stability and structure it needs.  Oh well - hindsight is 20/20, right?  Hopefully it lasts through Halloween!

It's hard to pick because I love all of them, but I think my favorite little guy might be the mummy.  Or the vampire.  Or maybe the devil.  Oh fine, they're all my favorite.  Between mini-vampire pumpkins and a burlap wreath, I think I can call it a wrap on crafty Halloween decorating for this year. - Hope you get inspired to try something Halloweeny yourself!

Ta-ta for now.

It's That Time Again...

Time for Halloween crafts!  I'm in love with this adorable pumpkin craft I did the other day - it's so damn cute.  I got it from the undisputed queen.  That would be Martha.  I'll give you a little rundown of what I did, and you can also get step-by-step directions here.  I wanted to try it last Halloween, but I never got around to it, so I made sure to get the supplies I needed this year so I could make it happen.

ROWR!!

Amazon Prime to the rescue again.  Kodiak is pretty limited as far as shopping goes, so not surprisingly, there's no craft store here.  I was so sad when I learned that bit of knowledge.  I used to love strolling around Ben Franklin, Michael's, or Joanne's for inspiration.  I guess I'll have to "stroll" around the internet for inspiration now.  Thankfully, so far I've been able to get everything I've wanted for craft projects through Amazon, including the vampire teeth I used for the pumpkins. 

It's not a difficult project, and the end result is Halloween-tastic.  First, you'll want to draw an outline on the pumpkin of what size mouth you want to cut, using the vampire teeth to sort of estimate the size you'd like.  The next obvious step is to cut out the mouth.  It's probably a lot easier to use one of those little saws that come in pumpkin carving kits, but I lost mine somewhere between here and there.  That's our go to answer whenever something goes missing.  It's somewhere between here and there. 

So, I used a paring knife to cut the mouth by sort of rocking it back and forth once I pierced through the outer part of the skin.  Kind of tedious, but it gets the job done if you're saw-less.  Once you've cut the mouth out, you'll need to scrape all the lovely pumpkin seeds and guts out.  I was pretty thorough with scraping out all the gunk because the pumpkins will be outside on the table in front of the house and I don't want to attract any Magpies.

A nice little bonus to this project is that you can rinse and toast the pumpkin seeds you scoop out for a delicious, savory snack.  An easy recipe for that is here.  I like to (of course) sprinkle a little parmigiano-reggiano on them along with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  It's a yummy high fiber & high protein snack to munch on while you craft it up!

Once the inside is all scraped out, position the teeth into the mouth.  For the eyes, I sacrificed one of my red plastic bead necklaces.  Between living in the Tampa area and celebrating Gasparilla and living in Key West and celebrating Fantasy Fest, we have our fair share of plastic beads.  I carved out a tiny hole for each of the eyes so they would be a little recessed, and used hot glue to secure the eyes in place.  Voilà!  All done.

I must confess - It's late and I'm a few glasses of wine in.
And yes, I'm cracking up laughing in this picture.
Apparently, the wine told me it's wildly hilarious
to take selfies with vampire teeth.  ;)

I love the way they turned out!  I'm working on another Halloween project that I wanted to include in this blog post along with the vampire pumpkins, but I unexpectedly ran out of one of the essential materials in the middle of working on it.

Since I had to re-order more on Amazon, I'll have to wait until it comes in the mail to finish it.  I also have plans for the bigger pumpkin, but I wasn't able to get it done before this post. So, be prepared for another Halloween crafting post in the next few weeks.  Let's hear it for Martha.  Now, go get some pumpkins!

Ta-ta for now.