Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Hoot Hoot

So my friend Krista introduced me to another great blog. There are a million out there.. this was just such a cute owl project I had to post it here so I can remember where I found it. Owl decor is still pretty big right now, so this could be something fun to make for Halloween, or just because it's fantastic.

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Monday, October 25, 2010

Ruffled Pumpkins

So.. I just stumbled across these adorable pumpkins from Jen's blog. I seriously love them a lot. Since Halloween is almost here, I'm probably going to postpone making these until next year, but you better believe I'm going to make them! They are so dang cute and stylish. You can find the tutorial here.

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Friday, October 15, 2010

Halloween Mantel

Here's the final product. I put all of these projects together and I'm happy with the way it turned out.
Definitely an orange theme going on.
The only two things I didn't post about earlier that are included in the picture are the orange runner I added to my wreath and the little damask frame where I just stamped '31 october' on fabric.

Happy Halloween!
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Thursday, October 14, 2010

The great pumpkin improvisation

Like I said, Australians aren't big on Halloween. Case and point: I went to buy a pumpkin at the grocery store and they wanted $5.99 a kilo. Like $25 for a normal sized gourd.
Not happening.
So I gathered together some of that same orange fabric, decorative balls, ribbon, sticks from our yard and a little hot glue.

All I did was cut out a square of fabric and tucked in the sides until I had it formed around the ball. With a little hot glue I secured the top and then used some leftovers from this project to make the green stems. I adhered those to the pumpkins with a straight pin.

I also made mini pumpkins with my small balls. So cute.


Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the whole thing.

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Halloween Pennant

This has got to be one of my favorite Halloween projects completed so far. It is fun and whimsical and best of all, EASY to make. All I did was cut out triangles of coordinating fabric and sewed them between a long piece of black fabric which I ironed in half. Zig-zaged down the length of the black and that's it!
I have one more item to post from my mantel and then I'll show you pictures of the whole thing.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Hallowreath

Desperately needing something Halloween-y to adorn my front door I came up with this CHEAP wreath made simply by tying scrap pieces of fabric around the inside ring of an embroidery hoop (more on what I did with the outside ring of the same hoop later).
I just gathered all of my black, white, and orange scraps, cut them at varying lengths and widths and tied them on. Some I had to double knot, others I just tied one time.
Then I just tied it to my door-knock with a thick piece of fabric.
I love how it turned out.

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Halloween Subway Art


I've seen subway art used in so many creative ways, and wanted to try and incorporate it into our Halloween decor. However, without any vinyl, a cricut, or even a printer I was pretty much stuck. Until tonight when I suddenly realized I had a stash of these bad boys. All in white.

Here's a close-up.


and one so you can see where it sits on my little windowsill.

**Note** Check out hundreds more at Jen's Subway Art party here

A few of the ones that inspired me.

barn owl primitives
Wonderfully Wordy
Tatertots and Jello

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Sunday, October 10, 2010

An easy way to bring in some orange

Since I brought ZERO decorations over here from the states, and also not having a lot of stores that sell Halloween decor, I've had to figure out some easy (and cheap) ways to bring the festive colors into the house. One way is by bringing out my inner scrapper, although not with paper. I've just used some of the random frames lying around and with fabric, ribbon, stamps and a few embellishments created some really simple decorations.




(apologies for these images...taken really late at night with no flash)

The good thing about these is that I can just take out and save what I've created inside them and use them for the next holiday.

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Saturday, October 9, 2010

Halloweening a Mirror


This is such an inexpensive (and removable) way to bring a little Halloween into your home without spending a lot of cash or time. When I first saw this photo I immediately assumed that it was vinyl, and even though vinyl is easy...it can still be pricey and hard to find exactly what you want. Brooke used a cricut machine, she says it cost her less that $5.00. I'm sure with enough time and patience you could even just trace and cut these out of cardstock.
Also, you'll have to check out how she made the spiderwebs here. Who knew there were black glue sticks?

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Friday, October 8, 2010

Halloween Vinyl

This is a fabulous blog if you're looking for vinyl. I particularly love her Halloween corner.


In this post she goes through each item individually. Lots and lots of great ideas. Also, be sure to check out her personal blog here (doesn't she just look like a cute/fun person?)

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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Halloween Part 1

It may seem as if I'd completely given up being crafty, but between living for 4 months without any supplies, and then moving across the world to a little place called Australia, I haven't had a lot of opportunity. However, with a new house to make into a home, there will be lots of crafting going on to make up for my hiatus.

Even though it's already a week into October, Beth and I have decided to do a count-down to Halloween and post some fun things we've either made or would like to make. Australians don't do Halloween, so I've really had to dig in to find things that work. It's amazing how far a metre and a half of orange fabric will go.

My first project is an offshoot of this Christmas project I completed last year inspired by the fabulous V&Co.

Here's how to make your own.

First cut out the fabric you want to back the wreath. I used a thin off-white muslin, but any cotton will work fine.
Figure out how big you want the circle to be and use a bowl or pan lid to trace a circle.

Choose your fabrics. I used 4 fabrics here, but if you want it to be more or less colorful/busy you may use more/less. Cut fabric into strips 3"x1.25". Iron down the middle, like a hot dog.

Then iron both ends down so the middle comes to a point on top.


Once you have 10-12 of each color (if you stick to the 4 total) start gluing them onto your fabric backing.

You might want to lay them out first to see how it looks and make any adjustments.

Then mount it in your frame, securing the muslin with some tape.
I added a little green stem to mine to make it look like a pumpkin and added some text using thickers.

Good luck, and happy crafting! Stay tuned for lots of cheap and easy ideas.

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