Easy Halloween decoration- Candy Corn Stack of books

If you have a stash of books why not make an easy Halloween decoration with them by stacking them by color to form a candy corn.

Cost: Zip!

And best yet when the holiday is over no need to worry about where you are going to store your out of season decorations simply pop them back on the shelf where they belong.

Mummy cat rubber stamped and redacted recycled book page Halloween decoration

Have you tried redacting book pages to make quotes and fun phrases? I love it. It's like a puzzle but creative.

I thought I'd make some more book cover art with the redacted book pages and adding my favorite new Halloween stamp - a mummy cat from Judikins.

 This page I actually found Kat and craft on the page!

The other 2 say

"One of the problems...an ordinary...person....is to keep a covert eye on him. He....would...hide behind.....tombstones.....of course.

and

What do we know?....asked....the....tail....he's....to...destroy....incriminating.....information.

Try hide and seek with words!

Wiggle eye planner clips oh my!

Fun and easy project for you today.

Simply grab your stash of wiggle eyes in a variety of sizes and some paper clips.

Heat up the hot glue gun and attach the wiggle eyes to the single bend end of the paper clip.

These wiggle eye planner clips are so easy you could make a whole bunch and give them out as treats to all your friends.

This project approved by my pompom candy corns.

How to make yarn cone candy corn Halloween decorations

As a recycled crafter I think my eyes have this way of looking at things and seeing something else....or it just could be my declining bad eyesight :) When sorting through my yarn stash I ran across a yellow one and thought it would make a fun candy corn decoration.

So I went to my other boxes to see if I could find more and it turns out I had 5 cones of yarn in various sizes.

 Next step was to gather up the white, orange and yellow yarns, I even made a candy corn out of the boxes - I swear I didn't think of this it just happened when I placed them on the floor to photograph and there it was!

I had fun picking out different shades and textures of the yarns.

TIP: Start with the top and bottom of the cones then wrap the middle section I found it easier to get the proportions right and get the yarn to stay in place.

Oh and if you like the little guys on top- they are simply acorns painted orange and then little jack-o-lantern faces drawn on with a Sharpie.

Giant eyeball Halloween decoration

Today's Halloween decoration was a total surprise project. I was out for my morning walk and one of my neighbors had put this lamp out by the side of the road in the "free zone" and I instantly saw its possibility to be turned into a giant eyeball with just a bit of paint and a circle of black cardboard.

That's really all there is to this. I freehanded a blue circle of paint and the red bloodshot lines. I used a plate as a template to cut the circle. The kids are loving it as they walk to school :)

This is the latest in my recycled eyeball series. I have made eyeballs from yoga balls, bowling balls, ping pong balls, paper weights, and have needle felted and crocheted them. I see a happy Halloween in your future!

Halloween decoration: Pumpkin jar filled with Pepperidge Farm Goldfish

This falls under the so quick and easy you won't believe it category. Hey wait that should be a hashtag. I will be using that one!

Step 1: Fill clear pumpkin shape container with Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.

I did however put all my jack-o-lantern bowls, candle holders, salt and paper shakers and a mug with it as a collection seems to have formed. Hmmmmm how did that happen?

How to make a see-through skull shirt with a Sizzix die cut

I haven't done too much with clothing lately but today's post is my latest favorite thing to do with clothing- die cutting it! With my new Sizzix Big Shot. I thought it would be fun to do a skull on the back of a black shirt for Halloween.

I found a plain black shirt in the stash and gathered up:
white tulle
Heat n Bond
press cloth
Inner ironing board with scrap press cloth
Sizzix skull die

The first step is to turn the shirt inside out and iron on a square of Heat n Bond to the area you are going to die cut.

Next die cut your shape. The  Sizzix Big Shot makes all the difference as you have tons of space for all the extra fabric of the shirt.

Then Iron on the tulle. Be sure to use a press cloth under the shirt surface and on top so you don't get adhesive on the front side of the shirt or your iron.

Then flip the shirt right side out and peal off the paper backing on the die cut eyes and nose and iron them onto the tulle. Be sure to use the press cloths on this step too!

Here's another photo you can see how translucent the shirt die cut is with the window light coming through.

I'm A Good Witch Most of the Time - Adult coloring page

I thought I'd design a coloring page for Halloween and so I went poking around for a good quote and "I'm a good witch most of the time" jumped out as the clear winner. If it calls to you too feel free to download and color away my fellow good most of the time witches!

I used a combination of BIC markers  and  Chameleon Markers.
Leave a comment with a link to your finished page or tag me on Instagram @StefanieLGirard
I would love to see how yours turns out.

How to make mini jack-o-lantern pumpkins with acorns

Are you a big fan of the acorn? I am and I thought I'd make some tiny jack-o-lanterns with a bunch of acorns from my stash. They were fun to make. Oh, and easy!

Grab some acorns,
orange paint
pencils
vases or glasses to hold the pencils upright
Tombow adhesive dots
Fine tip Sharpie marker

Use an adhesive dot to hold the acorn upside down on the ends of the pencils to make them easy to hold while painting and rest while drying.

Paint the acorns orange.

 When the paint is dry remove the pencil leaving the glue dot on the acorn. Pop the lid back on the acorn using the glue dot to secure it.

Draw a jack-a-lope face on each of the acorns.

Enjoy!

Skinny scarf turned into a Halloween pumpkin for the season

I have an entire tote of skinny scarves. I was addicted to knitting them as I loved the instant gratification they offered and I loved wearing them. I miss them and thought I should figure out what else I could use them for when I wasn't wearing them. Well, this fuzzy multi-tone orange skinny scarf made a great pumpkin.

The best part of this project is it is made in about 1 minute and can be undone in about 30 seconds. If you want to wear it there is no damage to the scarf.

 

Simply roll up the scarf and pop a few pins in to keep the end rolled up. I stuck a small piece of a branch in the top to form a stem.

I can't wait to see what else I can come up with with the 4,000 (not really) skinny scarves in the stash.

Yarn ball pumpkin fall decoration inspired by Conan O'Brien's Bill Tull Holiday Tips segment

If you watch the Conan O'Brien show and have seen the Bill Tull Tips segment you will appreciate the simplicity of this fall decoration that consists of yarn balls and sticks to make pumpkins. Literally this project took me less than 5 minutes!

Simply go out to your yard or your nearest tree and clip a branch into small segments.

Go to your yarn stash and pull out your orange balls of yarn. Tuck the label inside/under the ball and pop the stick in the center top.

Boom, pumpkin!

P.S. if you wanted to get fancy, cut shapes out of black felt and attach them on to the yarn balls to form Jack-o-lanterns.

When the season is over simply wrap the label back over the yarn ball and return it to the stash zone and pop the sticks in the yard.

How to make a recycled book page coffin Halloween garland

I find reading about other crafters so inspiring and that is just what the pages of are filled with Craft Activism: People , Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In. The photos and stories drove me to....cut....and this being Halloween season.....I thought my plain white string of lights needed something from under my knife.

 That something turned out to be little paper coffins cut from the pages of an old book and stamped with all sorts of Halloween themed images.

 I simply attached them to the string of lights with tiny clothes pins. I plan on leaving these lights up and will most assuredly be adding something Christmasy to them! I scanned in one of the coffins and if you want to make some too feel free to download to use as a template.

More about the super inspiring and packed full of great ideas and patterns book from Potter Craft:

 Craft Activism: People , Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In

by
Joan Tapper, Gale Zucker and Faythe Levine

"Join the Handmade Movement!

We make to give. We make to share. We make to connect with others. Crafters all over the world are using their hands and hearts to make a statement, change the world, and build community.

Craft Activism is an inspiring celebration of this growing movement. Inside, dozens of superstars of this grassroots phenomenon share their experiences, tips, and advice on living, teaching, and promoting a more meaningful DIY lifestyle. Learn to craft for your cause, connect with other crafters, think green, organize a fair, host an online exchange, create yarn graffiti, and more. The book also includes 17 creative projects from designers who challenge you to reimagine how your craft skills can be used to make a difference. Whether you knit, sew, crochet, or collage—and even if you’re not sure where to begin—this book is your guide to the incredible power of handmade."

Crochet mini doily from the book Use Up That Yarn! by The Crochet Dude

I love little quick and easy ....oh and cute projects and that is just what these crocheted coasters featured on the cover and in Use Up That Yarn! are.

I whipped one up, well not even the whole thing, just the inside part out of some black and white variegated yarn and look what I had...a tiny doily for one of my tiny pumpkins.

Got a lot of leftover yarn from projects than Use Up That Yarn! is the book for you!

More about the book from the publisher Leisure Arts:

Use Up That Yarn!

by

Drew Emborsky

"Crochet is so relaxing! But if mountains of partial skeins and "someday" yarns are causing calamity in your closets, it can be difficult to decide what to make next. With Drew Emborsky's quick and easy stash busters, you can clean up the clutter! The Crochet Dude(R) presents 13 practical projects that are fantastically fast at shrinking a stash. Set the table with crocheted coasters, a table runner, or decorative bowls. Use up that yarn to crochet a coffee cup sleeve or tea cozy. For outdoor wear, get toasty in a hat-and-scarf set. These speedy designs will get your yarn collection under control, restoring serenity to your crochet time--and your closets!"

How to make a recycled champagne cork acorn

I tend to save champagne and wine corks. Don't a lot of us? Well, now that it's fall, not that you would know it by the 100 degree weather, it's time to start the fall crafting (even if it is in the air conditioning). An that is just what I did.

I cut the top half off the champagne cork's roundish part. Then I carved it back to having a rounded edge. The bottom half I carved down to a rounded pointy tip like an acorn. Then I cut the line where the top half and bottom of the acorn meet a bit more deep.

All then that was left to do was a bit of smoothing of the cut marks and I did that with my Dremel.Oh and glue a tiny bit of a stick from the yard onto the top.

Halloween bead and button spider from the book Artful Halloween

Have you started your Halloween crafting? Well I just did with the super inspirational book Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects.

 I have seen spiders made from beads before but I love how Susan mixed it up and used a button for the spider body. Using the easy to follow tutorial in Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects I whipped up a trio of spiders that looked great on my black sand zen garden (or inspiration word of the day tray).

I tried a lighter weight gauge wire and different beads so this project is super flexible. I bet probably whatever you have in your stash will work great! I can't wait to make more of the projects in Artful Halloween over the next few weeks to dress up ye old casa for Halloween.

More about the book from the publisher Lark Crafts:

Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects

by
 Susan Wasinger

"These 30+ costume, pumpkin, and home-decorating ideas are not just beautiful--they are scary beautiful. From unique pumpkin decorations to a “blood”-splashed dinner-party centerpiece to a Yard Specter made from two poles, a string of lights, and torn, draped fabric, these creepy but stylish Halloween projects will give your home a spooky, sophisticated look . . . with gothic flair!

Susan Wasinger designs houses, products, books, and magazines. Her work has been featured in Metropolitan Home, Stitch, Natural Home, and Piecework magazines, as well as on HGTV. She is the author of several books, including The Feisty  Stitcher (Lark, 2010). She  lives in Boulder, CO."

Happy Halloween from the meat skull

Yup this skull is made of meat! Pretty cool hu?
What else is cool are these links that my fellow crafty bloggers have to share!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to needle felt a bat and a pumpkin with a cute mouse, an early recycled sweater Christmas tree designed with the new Sizzix die, a chance to win a copy of How to Draw Steampunk, how to build garden row covers, a reportage video and a recipe for a fast fruity skillet cake.

Aileen's Musings
Hard to believe but Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Aileen is gearing up by offering you a freebie pumpkin biscotti recipe card and a pumpkin label for you to download and print for your own use.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi creates one special Christmas card using rubber stamps and paint.

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Cindy and her blue fingers review The Handbook of Metal Clay.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Combine some basic crochet skills with soap collecting for this charity donation idea.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Rather than stashing your mom’s jewelry away to tarnish and gather dust, combine some of your favorite pieces into a M.O.M.s (Memories of Mom) necklace.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi's hand stitched silk top quilt is all finished! Whew!!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make a secret window in a glitter decoupaged book with a Fiskars Everywere Punch.

The old saying, "running around like a chicken with its head cut off" photo

Photo du jour that makes me giggle. A friend of mine has a fun little flock of chickens and I felt like I was running around with my head cut off trying to photograph them! This shot made me think of the saying about chickens with their heads cut off because you can't see her head. But rest assured she had a cute one fully intact.

Not onto some cute crafty links!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a blanket stitched felted flower pattern and tutorial, a chance to win a copy of The Wine Lover's Devotional, some high fashion clothing details, and a recipe for an oven smoked roast.

Aileen's Musings
Herm and Ethel have arrived for their annual visit. Stop by and say hi and grab this year's freebie Halloween postcards to download and send to friends and family.

About Family Crafts
The current craft challenge is all about crafting with plastic bags. Submit your project and browse through the pumpkin projects submitted for the last craft challenge.

Cindy Gimbrone Beads
Cindy reviews Craft Activism just in time for Make a Difference Day!

Crafty Princess Diaries
The Crafty Princess takes a trip and talks a little about the benefits of attending functions away from home.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Got tea lights? Look at this darling mini birthday cake favor you can make with them. You’ll find directions for a coordinating birthday card as well.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi's painted silk fabric quilt is almost finished!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
How to make a recycled wool sweater pumpkin with flower die cuts.

About Family Crafts
The current craft challenge is all about crafting with plastic bags. Submit your project and browse through the pumpkin projects submitted for the last craft challenge.

How to make a recycled wool sweater pumpkin with flower die cuts

This project came about in kind of a funny way. So you get the story first then the tutorial.
I was recently at a craft show that let's just say had a bit of a slow start. I don't know how many of you, my Sweater Surgery readers do craft shows as vendors but if you do then I bet you have participated in a slow one here and there. Well I first did what the teenage girls were doing across the way and started texting like fiend to everyone I could think of to come to the show.

Then I said to myself, "I am sitting here with a pile of wool felted sweaters and my Sizzix die cutter. Get off your but and make stuff!" So that is exactly what I did.
I cut a whole bunch of flower shapes using all the different flower dies I had out of two different orange sweaters and stacked them up in a pumpkin shape.
To secure the stack of flowers I bent a piece of floral wire into a "u" shape and poked it through the stack from the bottom to the top. I twisted the wire together and trimmed one end short and left the other about 3/4 of an inch long to put a small piece of green sweater over to form the pumpkin stem.

The recycle wool felted sweater pumpkin is crocheted eyeball approved.

How to crochet tiny ghosts for Halloween

Tiny ghosts are just a little spooky, well really they are just darn cute.
I was inspired to crochet these tiny ghosts after seeing these great knit ones featured in the book Teen-Tiny Mochimochi: More Than 40 Itty-Bitty Minis to Knit, Wear, And Give.

When making dimensional projects out of yarn I prefer to crochet, but that's just me. If you like to knit little adorable things than grab yourself a copy of Teen-Tiny Mochimochi: More Than 40 Itty-Bitty Minis to Knit, Wear, And Give and you'll be in cute heaven!

If you like to crochet and want to make some tiny ghosts like mine here is how I did it:

Crochet Ghost Pattern:

I used Lion Wool-Ease White Multi 301 (it has a strand of sparkle in it)
and for a hook I went down a from the suggested size of J to an I

As far as the pattern it's more like a suggestion as each ghost can be a little different and free form as ghosts tend to be, I know this!

Chain 2
Single crochet 8 into the first loop
Slip stitch to join
Single crochet around increasing approximately every 2nd or 3rd stitch until you have a nice dome shape and there are at about 14 stitches.
Then I did about 4 rows with no increasing or decreasing.

For the final row to get an irregular edge I alternated 2 treble crochets in one stitch and then a slip stitch around the base.

For the eyes I grabbed some black yarn and knotted it twice to make each little eye and stitched each one on.

Repeat to make a set, because you know one is not enough!

My crocheted eyeballs look on in admiration :)

More about the book from Potter Craft:

Teen-Tiny Mochimochi: More Than 40 Itty-Bitty Minis to Knit, Wear, And Give

by
Anna Hrachovec

"This title is suitable for advanced beginner to intermediate-level knitters who want fun, witty, irresistibly tiny patterns to make as gifts for friends, cute accessories and decorative items. In "Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi", toy knits designer Anna Hrachovec presents more than 30 super-cute, humorous patterns for miniature toys, plus techniques for tiny knitting; ideas for using the tiny knits as wearables, decorations and gifts; and instructions on how to convert a pattern for a tiny project into a bigger toy.

Anna Hrachovec launched Mochimochi Land (mochimochiland.com), a website and brand of knitted toy patterns, in early 2007. To design her toys, Anna draws inspiration from Japanese kawaii (cute) culture and children's illustrators such as Dr. Seuss. Her original knitted creations have been featured on The Martha Stewart Show and have been exhibited in galleries in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Tokyo. In addition to her website, Anna maintains a blog (mochimochiland.com/weblog) and a Ravelry group for her fans (Mochimochi Land Lovers). Anna's first book of knitted toy patterns, Knitting Mochimochi, was published in 2010."

Pipe cleaner skeletons just hangin' out

These little pipe cleaner skeletons just make me smile. They were made by my friend Bev of the infamous StarPrompt! Pop on over to her site for a giggle and a listen to her on American Public Radio.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a crochet cone flower granny square pattern, how to make a mood board and chance to win a copy of the book One Drawing a Day that it's from and a recipe for slow cooker vegan pizza.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi messes around with the layout for a new quilt made from hand-painted silks.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Did you know that you can recycle greeting cards into cute little gift boxes?

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy takes a look at a crochet book that promises simple projects.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has a cricut cartridge give-a-way this week!

Aileen's Musings
This week Aileen shows you how to make a frightful Halloween mail art tin.