Happy Halloween
Hope everyone has a spook-tacular day!
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Just a few until BOO!
I had a collection of random Halloween stickers left over from previous projects, so I opted to put them to good use making a couple cards:
I've never seen a less menacing-looking Frankenstein in my whole life.
A hunchback witch and some simple circles.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Creepy Crawly
More Halloween-ness. 
I'm really happy with the non-traditional pink thrown into this Halloween card. And the little brad shaped like a spider was a bit of kismet at the end of the process... I knew buying that pack of embellishments from the Target dollar spot would pay off eventually!
Friday, October 9, 2009
DIY Candle
Such a simple way to dress up a basic candle you may already have at home, or can pick up at any dollar store, Walmart, Michaels, or garage sale for cheap. Here's what I used and how I did it:
Supplies: plain pillar candle; wire ribbon; scissors; tacky tape (available at craft stores, or Walmart).
Step 1: Measure the length of ribbon you'll need. I simply wound the ribbon around the candle, and cut so that the ribbon overlapped slightly.
Step 2: Make a clean edge for the ribbon, by folding over the cut end. Then place a strip of tacky tape on the inside of the ribbon. Tacky tape is double-sided, permanent adhesive; it's an awesome adhesive because it hold so many different materials, but it will stick permanently, so use carefully.
Step 3: Roll the ribbon around the candle, and overlap the tacky tape piece on top of the other end of the ribbon. Pull the ribbon tight enough to have it fit snuggly around the candle, but with a little bit of give - that way, you can slide the ribbon off and change out the candle decor for a different holiday.
Step 4: Embellish the ribbon and/or candle with any other holiday elements you want (again, just attach things with tacky tape). Here, I added a rubber spider to the outside. Like I said, very simple, but so much nicer than a plain candle. And since the ribbon isn't attached directly to the candle, it can be slid off when I want to dress up the candle for a different season. Gotta love cheap decorating!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wedding Tricks and Treats
In honor of Halloween, a fellow blogger posted several examples of Halloween "tricks" common at weddings.
Check out the post here.
Editor's Note: Tricks, pranks, and other things you may think funny will not be appreciated at a certain wedding in May 2009.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Halloween Costume Suggestions
Oh you poor saps who have to dress up for Halloween at work or school this Friday. I do feel bad for you, enough so in fact that I will help out those of you who have slacked and neglected to plan your perfect costume until the last minute. Below are my humble suggestions for fast/cheap/easy (but still creative!) costumes you can throw together by Friday.
1. Bubble Gum Underneath a Shoe.
I have in fact rocked this costume, so do not be hatin'. Here's all you need: a pink shirt, pink pants, and a tennis shoe. Tie the tennis shoe on top of your head, and you're good to go. Check Goodwill or Walmart for cheap pink sweatpants (or even nurse's scrub pants will work).
2. Artist
Cut out a piece of cardboard (use an old cereal box) in the shape of an easel, use markers and draw on a color palette. Carry a paintbrush in one hand, the easel in another, and wear all black. Bonus points - use an eyebrow pencil and draw on a thin obnoxious mustache.
3. Teacher/Librarian
Glasses (on a chain around your neck). Hair in bun. Seasonal-themed sweater. Tights. Loafers. I pulled all this together from Goodwill (plus a plaid skirt) for less than 10 dollar. Extra credit if you throw in a seasonal turtleneck (or dicky!), plus as many apple, children, or pencil pins you can tack onto the sweater.
4. Fried Egg.
Take a white bedsheet, and cut a hole for your head. Find yellow material (old t-shirt that can be cut, fabric a store, felt, old rags, etc.) and cut a circle. Using double-stick tape, apply the yellow "yolk" circle on the front of the white sheet, and voila - egg over easy.
That's the best I can offer at the last minute. Of course, one can always throw on devil ears, a mask of some sort, or an old graduation cap and gown if you become completely desperate. Sister - my vote would be for the gum or the fried egg (unless you can squeeze in Lucy's bumblebee suit).
A few more ideas for you...
From Real Simple.com (Last minute costume ideas - gotta love a good pun).
Fright Fest Films
Even if you're not dressing up in a costume or going to a party this year, you can still celebrate Halloween -- with a good old fashioned film festival, chock full of fantastically scary flicks! I love watching scary movies, despite the fact that I usually end up then sleeping with the lights on in my bedroom. So for you fellow masochists out there, here's a few recent horror films that I've seen:
The Messengers (Dylan McDermott, John Corbett, Kristen Stewart; PG-13; 90 min.)
The basic plot is: New family moves into haunted farm house. Only the kids see the creepiness that ensues. Not a great movie, but if you watch it at night by yourself, you'll still be startled a few times. FarmerWife - this one's a no no for you living out in the country mostly by yourself.
Vacancy (Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson; R; 85 min.)
I have always sworn that motels are 5000 times creepier than hotels (something about having your door lead right to the outside world). This movie, proves my point. The two leads find themselves trapped in their motel room being watched on hidden cameras. Roomie #1 and I watched this on his brother's recommendation, and we were both completely freaked out. It's got great startle parts, plus an absolutely terrifying premise. (Bonus - if you're a Criminal Minds fan, you'll recognize the general plot from last week's episode).
Prom Night (Brittany Snow, "Stringer Bell" from The Wire; PG-13; 88 min.)
I'll admit right off the bat that this is a very standard teen slasher film - everyone you expect to die gets it, and the pretty girl lives. That said, of the three movies I've seen recently, this is the one that is still giving me chills when I think about it. Giving away the set-up takes some of the shock away, so I'll just say that if you're not seriously disturbed by the first five minutes - you're crazy. The villan has demented eyes and a great serial killer voice, there's lots of startle and scream moments, and no matter how awful your prom night was, this wins.
EW.com is also getting in the spirit with their list of Hollywood's 20 Scariest Movies of All Time. It's going to be a spoooooktacular Halloween!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Halloween Cards - Cut Outs
This holiday seems to lend itself well to cut-out shaped cards. I saw a few ideas online and from there my brain just kept going. My biggest suggestion with this is to test out the card shape on scrap paper first. That way you can make sure to have all the cuts in the correct place, and you can hold up the card and do a "what-do-you-think-this-looks-like?" test on a willing guinea pig in the house. Here are a few of the ones I tried out:
A witch's cauldron... not my best decorative showing, but I do like the shape. (Can you tell the green blob is supposed to be the brew boiling over?)
The card flips open and was taken from a pattern by Zany, Not Crazy.
A ghost... the card is 4x5 1/2, but you need to fold it longwise (in other words, if you open the card up, it would be 11 inches top to bottom). That allows you to have the card flip open at the top (see where Mr. Ghost's head is a little bit flattened... that's the fold in the card). You also can't tell from the photo, but the eyeballs are 3-D (you can use thicker mounting tape).
A Haunted House... It opens along the left side. The front door also opens. Each picture is stamped on the inside of the card so it shows through the windows/door.
A coffin... (the card flips open along the longer left side)
And my favorite... an eyeball! It's another Zany, Not Crazy pattern. I didn't have the stamp, so I just free-handed the writing, but other than that, it was super quick.
Other ideas that came to me that would make good cut-out cards for Halloween: a pumpkin, a gravestone, a bat, or a witch hat (see previous post for photo). If you're in a creative slump, just changing up the shape of the card can make a huge difference. Happy Halloween!
Halloween Cards
The lack of posting yesterday can now be explained - I was living life instead of ranting about it! (I'll save the oven rant for later.) As I noticed on my small Google calendar, Halloween is rapidly approaching, and if I don't finish this card project, I'll have to either send the cards late, or save them until next year (which I'm not above doing, I'd just be really irritated).
Here's a 4 card collection I made with primarily scraps and supplies I already had (I consider it a "collection" because each card shares colors, patterns, styles, or features of another card in the group).
The papers are a Target dollar-spot find. The trees are a punch I got half off at Michael's this year (I punched one tree out of the black paper then made double use of the scraps for a tree outline for a second card.) The stamps are all part of a set I bought last year, and the polka dot ribbon is left over from Sister's rehearsal dinner invites! I also used these nifty shiny gel markers that Mom got me from Archivers (a "you got accepted to grad school" gift), that look wet even after they're dry. Each card is 5 1/2 x 4 so they'll fit regular white envelopes I already have.
More inspiration - this began a plain white card. I added patterned paper on the inside of the card, then traced a roll of masking tape on the upper right side corn to create a half-circle cutout so you could see the cool paper inside (I'll just write the message on the back of the front). The front is covered in purple paper, and the "frame" looking thing towards the top is actually chipboard (again, Target dollar spot rocks). I covered the chipboard with the same Halloween paper from inside the card because the chipboard was originally baby themed or something. Throw a couple more scraps on top, stamp a witch's hat and greeting and you're good to go!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Craft Project: Halloween Cards
For my Halloween greeting cards this year, I am challenging myself to create all of the cards on a budget of only $10. I usually make about 10-15 cards for friends and family, and am determined this year to reuse last year's stamp set that I purchased, as well as the plethora of paper scraps, doo-dads, etc. that I have stocked in my scrapbook area. I figure, if I spend very little on these cards, it will be significantly easier to convince NavyGuy of my need to shell out when it comes time to make Thanksgiving and Christmas cards.
That said, my first card was inspired by a sample I found online last night. (I've included the original inspiration below, which has more detailed instructions on how to cut the shape of the card.) I like this card because of the cute hat shape, as well as the wording - a pun! Fantastic :) The brim of the hat is just a piece of black paper attached to the bottom of the front of the card. There were two types of paper, and I stamped small bats on the patterned paper to make it a little busier. The wording was also stamped with black ink (not my best stamping effort, but I'm a little rusty). I'm also not thrilled with my paper combination, but as a prototype, it turned out fine.
This second photo shows how the card opens.
Online Inspiration and Tutorial
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