gourd ghosties
October 22, 2012 § Leave a comment
Well Halloween is almost here, and the annual ghosties have appeared on our front porch. I have made these clever squash ghosts with my girls every year since they were little using white paint and Sharpies. We look forward to it and have fun picking the sizes and shapes of our squash (the largest for Mom, middle for Bella, and smallest for Sophie) and deciding on the faces we’ll draw. It’s our favorite Halloween crafting tradition. Boo!
chalkboard pumpkin
October 16, 2012 § 4 Comments
I am trying out some new Halloween projects this year, and here’s one of them. Such an easy craft, I spray painted a pumpkin with chalkboard paint, embellished with black ribbon and a spooky bird, and wrote my message with a chalkboard pen. This cool countdown-to-Halloween pumpkin is going to look perfect on my front porch!
spooky signage
October 8, 2012 § 2 Comments
I don’t know how it went so fast but another year has flown by, and I’m back around to the start of my absolutely favorite time of year and crafting season. From Halloween to Christmas, I’m full of project ideas and in the perfect mood to curl up in my house cozy and crafting. This time last year my friend Stacy and I began our obsession with making banners, and we started with our awesome Trick or Treat Halloween banner. Stacy even inspired a few more of her friends to join in, and she hosted a craft night for them a couple of weeks ago. We both had fun coaching but, of course, needed our own new project to tackle.
This BOO sign idea was at our Ben Franklin Crafts store. We “Modge Podged” Halloween papers on each of three wooden plaques and stained the rims of the plaques black by sponging on stamping ink. We used more Modge Podge (I love this stuff!) to attach the die cut letters and seal the top, and then we hot-glued on some cool embellishments. Getting the plaques – strung together with ribbon – to hang straight down is a little tricky, but the finished project is the perfect size for a door. The creative wheels are spinning, and I’ve got several more fun Halloween projects in mind (not to mention a Greek Goddess and a Cindy Lou Who costume to work on for my girlies). Now I just need to carve out a bit of time from my busy life to get busy crafting, and I’ll be a happy girl!
welcoming summer
May 25, 2012 § 2 Comments
With the long weekend, it officially feels like summer around here. Ever since our Halloween banner project, my friend Stacy and I have been in production mode making banners for most of the holidays. And just when I was beginning to get tired of repeating the same design, my favorite craft store Ben Franklin got in fresh supplies. In addition to their other banner-making embellishments, Paper Accents is now selling extra-large chipboard pennants and, as is usually the case at my Ben Franklin, one of the employees had made a sample inspiring me to try my own. I combined some pretty blue and yellow papers and buttons from My Mind’s Eye and made flags to string across the top from my collection of Washi tape. I love the results: a cool new banner for the front door to welcome guests – and summer – to our house.
halloween crafting
October 31, 2011 § 1 Comment
My very crafty partner in crime Stacy and I have been loving the Halloween banners we made this year. Some great chipboard pennants and circles from Paper Accents made the project so easy. We found a wonderful new collection of papers from Authentique, cut them to size and “Modge Podged” them on. We cut the letters out of a piece of black glitter paper and added some amazing orange and black ribbon. Voila: an awesome banner to spook up our mantels!
I love Halloween. Since I was a little girl I can remember almost every year. I carry with me all the memories of every costume my mom ever made me. Halloween was embraced by my parents, and the selection and production of the costumes was always such a big deal. My mom poured her heart into sewing us the best outfits. I will never forget the perfection of my Wonder Woman, or 50’s Girl, or Dorothy … I loved watching her work at the machine and seeing our vision become a reality. It was such a wonderful way of embracing our little dreams. While I could never compete with my mom at the sewing machine, I do try hard to carry on the tradition of making Halloween a real occasion in our house, of listening to my girls’ ideas of the perfect costume and helping to realize them. It’s a family tradition that makes me smile.
little things i love 