A Halloween Candy Bag

Hello, it's time for a new challenge with The Crafty Pad. This week we are using a Halloween stamp from The Crafty Pad Design Store. A great place to get digi's! I've taken another craft avenue other than cards again this week. A Halloween Candy Bag for my grand daughter, Emma. She's going treat or treating as the vampire in "Adventure Time". I have no idea idea what that is:)

This bag is digital and handmade. The purple frame is borrowed from the internet. The stamp in the center is from The Crafty Pad and it is computer colored with pop tape layering. The words and skulls and eyeballs come from a K & Company Halloween pack. I cut a black and green circle then corner punched the black for a creepy lace curve and did a pinking cut for the edge of the green circle. I cut both in half to create the top and bottom accents on the purple frame. My ribbon at the top of the bag looks like a spider. Cool. There is also a little bow and spider at the bottom. In this bright sunlight it's hard to see just how much stickle glitter has been used. Orange, yellow, black , diamond and red. I love glitter.

So fun to make. Take any bag and dress it up for a Halloween goodies bag. This is a great project to make for your little kids too. Take a second to visit Victoria Lavender, my other crafting blog. Enjoy.

Thanks for the visit, please come by anytime.

Pumpkins Rock!

Items needed:
Rocks (from your yard)
Base Coat Paint (white spray paint, light colored indoor wall paint, really thick craft paint…)
Orange Craft Paint (it you’re really slick-you might have orange spray paint lying around
from another project)
Medium Paint Brush
Black Sharpie Marker
Green Crepe Paper Roll (or yard twigs)
White Glue

I collected 8 small rocks from my yard. And yes, I carefully picked them for just the right look. I’m weird like that. I washed and let them air dry. Starting with the two smallest rocks I began to paint without an undercoat (silly me, I really should know better). I wanted this project to be quick…..well without a base coat they needed 5 or 6 full coats. That’s just nuts. I had white spray paint, so I used it, and boy it makes quite an improvement. I only needed 2 or 3 coats of orange then. Very easy project, but does take time to dry between coats. So I put them on a cookie tray with a large baggie under them to protect the tray, and placed it on my coffee table. This way I could paint during the TV breaks I took over the day. I left two white rocks for my little buddy to paint when came over the next morning.



Next morning Jake came over and loved the idea of doing some painting with Nana. This 3 year old did a great job and was concerned about covering the rock well. An hour later I took out the Black Sharpie and let him watch me draw on the 8 little pumpkin faces. He especially liked the smallest one because it had a different smile then the rest. Green crepe paper for the stems. I took a 3 inch piece of streamer and folded it in half. Holding with my left hand the folded edge toward my palm, I then twisted it tight from the open torn end down towards the folded end. Stop twisting a little shorter than getting all the way to the end. It creates a little base to glue down at. OR, break off some dried stems from around the yard and glue them on the rock pumpkins, or raffia, you can see where this is going. I just really wanted this project to be a cost free effort. And I love these little guys! I placed them around my rock garden and the pathway lights and few on the porch railing. I already know I need more.


Victoria Swanson

Fall Floral Pumpkin Centerpiece

This is a craft you will want to make no more than 3 days before it's use, the pumpkin will start to deteriorate about the 4th day depending upon it's freshness.


Materials Needed:
Pie pumpkins
Knife
Assorted Silk Fall Flowers
Moss
Styrofoam
Tacky Glue
Aluminum Foil (for stuffing)
Wire cutters

Using your knife, cut open the top of your pumpkin and scoop out all the insides and discard. A parent should always supervise any child no matter what age.


The styrofoam we chose was not as tall as our pumpkins so we needed to stuff aluminum foil in the bottom to raise it up level with the cut top of the pumpkin. Next we carved the styrofoam until it fit into the pumpkin and used the carvings to fill in around the edges and squished it all together so it looked as if it were one solid piece (see photo below). Apply tacky glue to the styrofoam and add a generous amount of moss to hide the foam.


Now the fun begins, start with any large flowers first and work around symmetrically until it looks perfect to you. There is really no wrong way to do it. You may want to start by clipping off all your flowers first or you can clip them as you go along, but you will need to do some clipping with your wire cutters to use only the parts you want for your centerpiece. I suggest the parents also do the clipping, Holly found it was a little hard to clip with her small hands.


This took us approximately a half hour from start to finish and they make a wonderful centerpiece for your fall or Thanksgiving table.


Kemi and Holly Doran

Black Cat Pencil Toppers

Items Used:
Black Pipe Cleaners
Pencils
White Glue
Black Glitter (I used Marcasite)
Detail Scissors
Paint Brush
Sharpie Marker
Optional Spray Adhesive


I recently saw these cute cats at the Better Homes and Gardens website. I re-created a template that turns out to be easier than theirs, but you can click and save the black cat at the bottom of this post for your use.

Cut out 2 cats for each pencil. After you make the cut out, take your marker to the white side (wrong side) and color around the edges and cut sides. This will fill in any slight differences in the two pieces. Take the marker and fill any white spots on the front of the cat too.


Take 1 cat body (working on the inside white area) and paint glue fully on the head and neck. Stop at the shoulders and run a fine bead of glue them, please check the picture guide. Take the second cat body and place and match together the white sides. You are trying to create a pocket in the main cat body for the tail and pencil.


Glitter time. If you intend to use spray adhesive, you’ll glue the eyes on after glittering. White glue folks may glue the eyes on first, use a paint brush and neatly surround the eyes with glue, and then do the overall black glitter. (check the bottom feet area of the cat-I almost glued them shut during glittering.)


Let dry. Play with you black pipe cleaner pussycat tail. Twist and spiral to your liking. Put glue on the end of the tail (about an half inch) and place into the cat body cavity. Follow with a lightly glued pencil. Let dry and enjoy!

 Thank you so much for the visit....now Click and Save this cat.

Victoria

Pumpkins Rock!

Items needed:
Rocks (from your yard)
Base Coat Paint (white spray paint, light colored indoor wall paint, really thick craft paint…)
Orange Craft Paint (it you’re really slick-you might have orange spray paint lying around
from another project)
Medium Paint Brush
Black Sharpie Marker
Green Crepe Paper Roll (or yard twigs)
White Glue

I collected 8 small rocks from my yard. And yes, I carefully picked them for just the right look. I’m weird like that. I washed and let them air dry. Starting with the two smallest rocks I began to paint without an undercoat (silly me, I really should know better). I wanted this project to be quick…..well without a base coat they needed 5 or 6 full coats. That’s just nuts. I had white spray paint, so I used it, and boy it makes quite an improvement. I only needed 2 or 3 coats of orange then. Very easy project, but does take time to dry between coats. So I put them on a cookie tray with a large baggie under them to protect the tray, and placed it on my coffee table. This way I could paint during the TV breaks I took over the day. I left two white rocks for my little buddy to paint when came over the next morning.


Next morning Jake came over and loved the idea of doing some painting with Nana. This 3 year old did a great job and was concerned about covering the rock well. An hour later I took out the Black Sharpie and let him watch me draw on the 8 little pumpkin faces. He especially liked the smallest one because it had a different smile then the rest. Green crepe paper for the stems. I took a 3 inch piece of streamer and folded it in half. Holding with my left hand the folded edge toward my palm, I then twisted it tight from the open torn end down towards the folded end. Stop twisting a little shorter than getting all the way to the end. It creates a little base to glue down at. OR, break off some dried stems from around the yard and glue them on the rock pumpkins, or raffia, you can see where this is going. I just really wanted this project to be a cost free effort. And I love these little guys! I placed them around my rock garden and the pathway lights and few on the porch railing. I already know I need more.


Victoria Swanson

Pumpkin Globe Votive

Items Needed:
A Glass Container (I chose a globe, you may choose almost anything glass)
White Glue
Paint Brush
Orange Tissue Paper (and a little yellow if its handy)
Black Crepe Paper Roll
Votive candle

(New word for kids: Decoupage)


While shopping the other day at my favorite dollar store "The Dollar Tree". I saw some new pieces in the glass isle, a 7 inch globe. Big enough for a fighting fish. And this new craft idea flew into my head. I’d just left the wrapping paper area and I remembered the Halloween crepe and tissue papers. And suddenly I could “see” jars and bowls and votive glasses and drinking glasses covered in torn tissue with cute black crepe Halloween faces on them.

To start, gather your materials. I took a half page of orange tissue page and ripped it up in squares (kinda) from 1 inch to most about 2 inches big. I grabbed a little bit of yellow into the mix too. The glass container is a great place to store the torn tissue. I used the glue straight from the bottle and painted some patches on the jar (randomly spread spots). These first patches are meant for the yellow squares (if you are using any yellow). At this point I took the first photo of the project. I continued to decoupage with orange on 1 side of the bowl. I am aiming for one layer depth with overlapping for the best effects of dark and light filtering through. It’s fine to be sloppy with the glue, it dries clear and is very forgiving. My side was dry when Jachob began to work on his side. He examined my previous work and just took off with painting and patching. A folded towel beneath his work area kept the glass from moving about. (Don’t take your eyes off a young kid for a moment, glass and fingers and a tile floor do not mix) We tried to be neat where it counts, and that would be the top and bottom. I kept the bottom clear of any glue so that it would sit well and be stable for the candle, and a candle would emphasize a raggy edge around the lip.


The face is cut from black streamer. I took a long length (who measures a streamer?) and made sure I ‘d folded for six layers. I want the face to be dark when lit up. Then I freehand cut the triangles. And now we have two layers for each eye and nose. With the mouth, I took a random length and sight measured where the smile would lie and how large it should be to complement the face. (I did this thinking on the eyes too, but just now realized it) My smile turns out to be about 5 inches, so I’ll need a foot of crepe. Fold in half and again. Where the fold is—is the largest part of the smile with the open end as the points. Just like cutting snowflakes, cut a nice half of a quarter moon from the whole folded piece. Open it up to the two layers the smile has become, and check if you like the shape. Crepe paper is cheap! If it’s what you like, then fold once and on the fold at bottom of the smile cut a half tooth out. Still folded, on the top cut a whole tooth about an inch in from the fold. Open and you have a cute double layer Pumpkin smile. Better yet!....make the face anyway you want, have fun.


Below is a picture showing how wet and sloppy the item looks while drying. Either almost dry or completely, a light coat of glue re-applied over the whole globe gives it nice finished appearance.


I lit my little craft on my front porch and I’m very pleased with my new Halloween votive. And best of all Jake was happy.


Victoria Swanson

Halloween Bat Clips

Materials Needed:
Black Foam Sheet
Sheet of paper
Googly Eyes
Black Pom Poms (not shown in photo)
Clothes Pin
Tacky Glue
Scissors


Fold sheet of paper in half, then in half again. Draw your wing and body pattern as shown below. I like to put the googly eyes on the paper when I draw the body for some reason, it's not required. Make sure your body is long enough to cover an entire clothes pin. Cut your foam the same size as your folded paper. Place your pattern over the foam sheet and trace with a pencil. (Notice the thawing Brisket in the sink? Mmmm).




Now it's time to cut out your pattern and glue it to your clothes pin. Using the tacky glue, glue on your wings first as shown. The tacky glue doesn't glue instantly so you have to hold it few a few seconds, it will slide around while you work with it, but once you are finished working with your bat and leave it alone for about 10 minutes it will be nice and glued. Glue the body over the wings as shown and hold again briefly.



Now you can wait for the glue to firm up a little or go on working, it will slide around a bit, you could use a hot glue gun I suppose. Glue on the googly eyes and pom pom nose, and whala...you are finished.


Now depending on the direction you glue your clothes pin your bat will either hang upright or upsidedown. You could also glue on a magnet strip to the back of the clothes pin and use him for a refrigerator clip. I hung them from my kitchen curtain. Look how cute they are!


My daughter Holly decided to go a little further on one of her bats, here is her "bling" bat clip.


Kemi and Holly Doran

Black, White, and Gold Pumpkins

Materials Needed:
Black, White and Gold Spray Paint ($$)
300 Pumpkins (Why not, the paint was costly)
Light Wire
Sharpie (for it’s tube shape)
Glitters
Glue
Craft Paint
Small Tip Brush


Wash and dry all of your pumpkins. Make sure they are really dry. Now we can create those cute little wire curlee cues. Take a loosely measured yard of wire and bend in half. I cut a tiny notch on a ridge of the stem to catch the loop end of the wire. This allowed me to wrap the wire tightly around the pumpkin stem about 3 or 4 times. Remember the wire is doubled up, so it looks like you wrapped it more. Separate the two pieces and take out the sharpie. Get comfortable, you might want to hold the pumpkin in your lap. Hold one wire at the base where it becomes free from the stem wrapping. Wrap the wire like a spring around the sharpie. Slide out the sharpie and do the same to the other wire. Stretch them a bit to get the look you like. They’ll be painted along with its pumpkin.


Set up a paint station outside. For me it was the ground. I used an old tree stand and ugly wide mouth vase to hold the pumpkins while spraying and drying. Start spraying the bottoms first, let dry well before giving them the flip. Black will cover nicely and white goes on great! But as for the gold pumpkins, you’ll need to base coat them first with white. Gold paint is too expensive to do several coats. You should find that you’ll only need one gold coat if you made a base coat.


Spray paints are quite an investment for just hobbying around. But using them smartly will enable you to work with many more projects down the road. While your spending - consider a clear coat spray as well. These four paints will complement your craft collection immensely.


After the pumpkins dry...they are simply beautiful! You could stop working on them now and decorate your porch or you may choose to glitter some too. So far this craft could be done with supervised school-aged kids, but now we come to the part that the littlest ones can enjoy too. Glittering! This cute and bright crazy color glitter pumpkin can be done by anyone. Or you could write and draw. I found this to be easier when I first painted my design in craft paint. Choose craft paint color that will work as a backing color to the glitter (this will help the glitter look brighter). And now you’ve got some beautiful pumpkins to display and delight your neighborhood.


Version 2: (You could hand paint them :)
Pumpkins
Craft Paint


Victoria Swanson