Halloweenie

Sometimes my creativity runs out.
In particular, I have trouble coming up with anything original for Halloween.
So instead, I stalked some blogs and copied some things.
Hooray for plagiarism!
Even if it does make me feel like a (hallo)weenie. LOL

First - this adorable "Trick or Treat Frame" from Crafts & Sutch
I made my own - and I love it :)

Next - I loved these cute "Scrap Spookies" from Diary of a Preppy Mom
So I copied them, too.

The Pumpkin (mine had a wood stem and glitter in the paint)

The Mummy (mine is wrapped in white burlap instead of muslin, and I used buttons for eyes)

The Frankenstein (no fabric on mine, and he has button eyes like the Mummy)

I did manage to come up with one additional scrap spookie...
A Bat! (his wings are cut from leftover hardboard)

The one original Halloween decoration I made this year was a wreath for my front door.
I died black tulle (and a tiny spot of purple, for interest) around a metal wreath. In the middle I attached a metal spiderweb I've had for years. Then I added some scary spiders. I love it!

Happy Halloween, everyone! And thanks to Erin @ Craft & Sutch and to Preppy Mom for making such cute projects! I had a blast copying them :)

Gorgeous Stocking Tutorial (and Giveaway!)

****Comments are closed! Sherri from Design2Shine is the winner and has been emailed! Thanks, everyone!****

If you're here from The Girl Creative's Creating Christmas Party, welcome!

If you're not, you really should go check it out!

Todays link party is all about creative wrapping, and I posted my pretty patchwork stockings.

I promised a tutorial on them, so here it is!

First, my customary sewing disclaimer...
I am not good at sewing. I don't do anything the right way - only the way that works for me.  If you read this and you think to yourself "how did this airhead ever sew anything?!" The answer is...idunno!

Step one is to make yourself a template/pattern.  Make sure to add extra room for seam allowances!
I drew out my stocking (on a brown paper grocery bag from Target!)
Once it was all adjusted to my liking I cut it out.

Use your pattern to cut out all of your fabric pieces.

 

The foot is the hardest part.  So that's where we'll start.
I'm going to show you the jester style foot, because it's the more difficult of the two.

Once your foot is cut out, sew it, making sure the right sides of the fabric are together(!)

Now turn it right side out.  I use a chopstick to get the tiny ends turned out.

The inside of the foot needs to be stuffed with batting for it to stand up and look right.  I use my chopstick again, and just push and push until it's all filled up to my liking.  The boot style foot is done the same way - it's just a bit easier without that awful curl at the end!
The foot is done, for now, so we'll move on to the leg.

 

Sew your leg fabrics together (right sides facing in) and then press your seams so they will lay flat.
You should have a rectangle of fabric now.

Then you take the right side of your bottom fabric and line it up with the outside of your boot (leave some room to sew the leg up later) and sew them together.
This can be tricky.
I take the removable portion of my sewing machine off for this part, so I don't have to work around it.

At this point you have an open leg sort of draped over the foot.

 

You COULD stuff the foot here, instead of before all this. I never do, though - I prefer to work with the foot first so I can see it better.

Now you sew the leg up. The foot will be inside, be careful not to catch it in the needle, otherwise you'll have to un-pick and you'll be cursing me.

Now...turn it right side out, and you're basically done!

All that's left is to add the internal sock and the embellishments.

To sew the inside sock use whatever scrap fabric you have laying around.
Take the pattern off the completed stocking and then sew it up.

 

Leave it inside out and place it inside the stocking, then sew the two pieces together.
I just let the seam show here, then press it under with an iron and sew an embellishment over the top.

 

Once that's done I add ruffles, trims and bells - usually where the fabrics meet, over the seams, because I like how it looks best there - by hand.

And that's it!

Now...if you got this far...

You can enter to win the boot stocking we just made!

Just leave a comment.
Followers get an extra entry!
You can post through Tuesday, and I'll drop it in the mail 1 week from today.  That will be Thursday, December 17.  I'm not positive that it will get to you by Christmas, but we'll try!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS...I'll be linking up everywhere! Go check out these parties!

     

Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage
Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special
The DIY Showoff
It's So Very Cheri's Monday party
Newly Woodwards Dare to DIY party
DIY Day at ASPTL

Another re-post

This is another re-post for The Girl Creative Party!  Forgive me if you've already seen it!
I needed to repost - rather than just link to the original - because back then it was a giveaway.
Anyway - here we go!

I like to get ready for Christmas early, mostly because so much of what I give is handmade and I need the extra time!

I saw some cute chalkboards at a local home decor shop last year.  They were Christmas themed and adorable - which they should have been for $50 each!

I filed the idea away for this year and started picking up cheap (but chunky!) frames at the thrift store and at garage sales late this summer.

Once I had a few, I got started.

Here they are - BEFORE.

(this was actually my second group, I did a couple before this to see how they would work out)

First, I removed the glass and pictures inside.  Then I used needle nose pliers to take out the staples.

I taped off any portion of the frame that I did not want painted (many of these were gold, and since my color scheme was red and gold, it worked out to tape some off.)

Then I spray painted everything with Rustoleum's Colonial Red.

Most took 2 coats, some took 3.

When they were dry I removed the tape and added some decorative painting with gold craft paint.

I'm not much of a painter, so most of my decor was polka dots, lol!

I started out using hardboard, one of my favorite crafting supplies, for the chalkboard portion.  Eventually, though, I did use the back of a few pictures, since they were sturdy and already cut to size.

In the past I've always used spray chalkboard paint, but recently I picked up another type at JoAnn's.

I don't love it as much as the spray on kind, but it worked okay.  It took a lot more time, (and several coats!) but seems like it will last longer than the spray did.

Once the chalkboards were dry and the frames were complete, I broke out the Gorilla Glue.

In my crafting I use 4 adhesives.  Hot glue, if the project might need to be taken apart later and/or doesn't require a 100% permanent bond.  Liquid Nails, if I'm gluing wood to a wall or if I'm gluing a particularly large area that will have plenty of time to set up.  Quick Grip, if I need something that will set up in a hurry and/or I want something that will last forever.

Gorilla Glue, if it's a small area that needs to be bonded fast and strong.

For this project, I used Gorilla's Super Glue.

I ran a bead of glue around the channel that the chalkboard would sit in, and used it to attach the chalkboard.

It requires a bit of time to set up, and a few of my chalkboards (the ones that were the backs of pictures before!) were bowed and needed some pressure to set up.

My colander full of fruit with a teapot perched on top was the perfect solution.

Keepin' it real, friends!

In the end, I have a beautiful collection of Christmas chalkboards :)

And they only cost me...

an average of $2 per frame,

plus $3 for the chalkboard paint and $4 for the spray paint.  I estimate the cost of each finished chalkboard at less than $4.  LOVE it!

The amazing Chalk Ink works best on these, of course.  I bought a package at my local craft store (with a 40% off coupon, of course) the other night.  They are pricey! I'll probably give a marker with most of the chalkboards, but not all.  Even with the coupon they come out to a little more than $2 per marker.

I plan to give the chalkboards (with or without markers) as gifts to neighbors, teachers and a few others.

Gingerbread Ornaments

These cookies aren't to eat, but they sure do smell good!
And they're adorable, aren't they?!

My daughters Brownie (Girl Scout's) troop entered a tree into the Festival of Trees this year.  The theme was Girl Scout Cookies :)
Each mom had an assignment, mine was to make Gingerbread Girl Ornaments.
This is what I came up with.

First, the gingerbread recipe I used is non-edible (see bottom of post for recipe link and tips.)
They bake up nice and puffy, then dry super hard. Oh, and they smell heavenly.
Once they were dried out I sprayed them with polyurethane. I'm not sure how necessary this step is, but the Festival Rules required it.
I painted them with craft paints - SO much easier than frosting!

Here we go!
Mix up your dough.

Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours. Mine was in the fridge overnight.
Once you're done refrigerating, divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.

 

Use cookie cutters to cut out your shapes (this recipe would be great for gingerbread house walls, too!)

Use a straw to make a hole in each cookie before baking.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
Once all the cookies were done baking I placed them all back on cookie sheets and put them in the oven while it cooled off - to dry the cookies out a little more.
Then I let them dry for 24 hours.
This is when I sprayed them (front and back) with polyurethane.
I let them dry overnight, then painted them.

This was the hardest part - because I'm not a great painter.

I also made some for me and the grandparents - a boy and a girl gingerbread ornament for each of us :)
How cute is this little guy?

I have several left over for the kids to paint on the weekend.  These can hang around for ever without going bad!

Recipe Link
Tips: I used almost a full cup more water than the recipe calls for. It needed it!
The recipe made about 30 cookies, and my cutter was pretty big.

After the cookies were done I ended up using sandpaper to smooth the sides on many of them.
If I were going to make them again I would probably reduce the baking soda a bit - they got a little puffier than I would have preferred.

Linking up to...
Dare to DIY
Just Something I Whipped Up
and It's So Very Creative
:)