Terrorific Tuesday - Week 4

Vanessa shows us how to make a Cute Felt Pumpkin in just a few minutes!

Get creative with Eileen Hull with her Pop Up Bat card. Super festive!

Glory makes a beautiful Autumn Wreath to hang on your door or wall.

Erika shares with us her cute Halloween bandana that her dog Sebastian loves wearing!

Cheryl Ball wows us with an adorable Jack-o-lantern Pin perfect for the season!

Sew a sweet Pumpkin Placement with Phyllis Dobbs!

Crafty Chica gets her glow on with this Sci Fi Senorita Head that is totally spooky!

Crafterella offers up some downloadable custom labels that are super spooky and fun!

Make a spooky Undead Terrorarium with Silvia Chenault.

Whip up some cute and quirky Moss Monsters with Missy at Marvelously Messy!

Kate Pullen offers up a fun Pumpkin Favor Box perfect to hand out at Halloween parties!

Get into the fall spirit with this Pretty Fabric Flower from Ann Butler.

Pattiewack crafts up some Mummy Barbies perfect for a haunting Halloween display!

Alexa a.k.a. Swelldesigner makes a bold Orange and black Mary Jane candy wreath, perfect for hanging or eating!

Spooky Bottle Labels

I love spooky bottles, I save interesting jars and bottle all year long.  A friend of mine (thanks Lisa) has been saving her iron supplement bottles, they are brown glass and very creepy looking.  I’ve been wanting to make some new labels for these all year (you can download last years spice labels here).  I drew up four different labels, if you would like to use mine you can download them here (my labels are for personal use only). I printed my labels out on regular paper and then tinted them with watercolor.  I just wanted to add a little bit of interest.  I used dull colors.  I also added a wash of walnut ink to age the paper a bit.  Use whatever aging technique you like.  I thought about sanding the label a bit or even staining the edges more with a stamp pad.  While they were drying I soaked my bottle in warm water to remove the original label.  I added some black paint to the lid to tone down the shiny gold color too. I used matte Mod Podge to apply the label to the bottle and embellished the top of the bottle with torn muslin, string, hem tape, and seam binding.  I also melted some bronze and silver crayons in a candle flame to hold some seam tape in place across the top of the bottle.

I’d love to see what you guys come up with, leave me a link to your projects using my labels.

Mushroom Canisters In Progress

In July I scored this awesome vintage mushroom canister set for $10.  The set was a little beat up, but still really cute.  We had a set of mushroom canisters when I was a kid and they really bring back happy memories. I love orange, but I really wanted to use these in my kitchen and they just had to be painted red. I carefully masked them with tape, I just wanted to paint the orange caps red.  They have been sitting around waiting to be painted for months.  I guess I was a little nervous that I would ruin them, but yesterday was the day! I used Krylon high gloss paint and did two coats.  Orange to red is a pretty easy transition and the few spots where the coverage could have been better still blend with the red. The paint did leach under the tape, but I think a sharp razor blade can scrape it right off.

I’m going to use acrylic paint to touch up the white areas where the original glaze is completely gone and maybe add some touches of turquoise.  Then I’ll finish it all with a coat of sealer. Luckily the original glaze is multi-colored and I think the touch up should blend well.  BTW, I’m not using these for flour and sugar, they are for decoration and kitchen clutter storage.  I wouldn’t use them for unwrapped food storage after all that painting and sealing.

I think they’re going to turn out really fun, now I just need to get back to that giant spoon and fork!  Have a super crafty weekend!!!

New Halloween Dress (Sienna Dress)

I found these fun orange shirts on one of my last Goodwill shopping trips and decided to whip up a new Halloween dress for Little Miss.  I used the Sienna pattern from Lilblueboo again (see the other dresses I’ve made from this pattern here and here and here). I made the size 5 this time, so she could wear this next year too.  I may need to add some length or maybe a new skirt to the top next year, but right now the length is perfect and it goes with the legwarmers I made.

I really wish this pattern came in my size!

Terrorific Tuesday Week 3

Use a 2-liter bottle to make a super cute Halloween cupcake dome with Pattiewack!

Glory shows you how to make Creepy Spider Biscuits with spider Halloween stencils and edible color spray!

Make a funky and functional Plaid Skull&Crossbones Skirt with Excell Crafts!

Vanessa and Erin team up to make Awesome Halloween Cookies in a Jar Crafts complete with free easy to download sticker and label printables!

Cheryl Ball shares her beautiful Embroidery Floss Acorns - the perfect fall accent.

Korinne whips up a spectacular Vintage Style Halloween Wreath on her Crafterella blog.

Make Glow in the Dark Jewelry Using Polymer Clay and Rubber Stamps with Kate at the Rubberstamping About.com page!

Learn how to make festive Pom Pom Pumpkins on the Marvelously Messy blog!

Paint a super easy Pumpkin Pin with Ann Butler to accent your fall wardrobe!

Be a hit at the costume contest with this Corpse Bride Costume by the Crafty Chica!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner shows you how to make a Snooki Painted Pumpkin inspired by the popular Jersey Shore Guidette!

Eileen Hull shares a Cute Halloween Bookmark project that will melt your Halloween heart!

Sebastian is faster than a speeding bullet in his Superman Costume featured on the Sew DoggyStyle blog!

Phyllis Dobbs wows us with this festive Spider Apron perfect for Halloween baking!

Silvia shows you how to make a No-Sew Fuzzy Monster Cuff - the perfect craft project for all ages!

That's it for this week! If you are interested in playing in my fun Terrorific Tuesday roundup, e-mail Alexa at swelldesigner (at) gmail (dot) com and she'll send you the details!

Vintage Styled Halloween Wreath

I was inspired by this tulle and embroidery hoop wreath at My Modish Mood.  I ended up with an great vintage styled wreath and I’m going to share how I made mine so you can make one too!I followed her instructions using a 12” hoop and black netting instead of tulle (cutting strips 3” wide and 26” long).  I folded the strips in half and pulled the cut ends through the loop to attach it to my hoop.  The wider strips gave my wreath a eerie, tattered look. Using scrap cardboard I cut a ring, the outside measured 14” and the inside measured 9”, and painted it black. I cut some pages from an old, inexpensive book and rolled them into cone shapes, securing them with a staple.  I hot glued the cones to the back of my cardboard circle. I made a paste of Mod Podge and orange glitter and applied that to the outer half of my cardboard circle.  The Mod Podge keeps the glitter from flaking off.  It doesn’t look that impressive wet, but once it dried (and it took forever to dry) it was awesome, sparkly, but not over the top!

Using my sewing machine I zigzagged over some string to gather some crepe paper streamers into ruffles.  Zigzagging over string gives perfectly even gathers, it does slightly tear the crepe paper, but once it’s gathered up it is invisible.  The ruffles we then hot glued to the inner and outer edges of the cardboard circle.  I also hot glued my cardboard circle to my tulle hoop.  Be really generous with the hot glue, you want it to hold together well. I aged some white cardstock with walnut ink.  I used the dialtone font in the largest size(72) and printed it at 200% to spell out Happy Halloween.  It came out the perfect size to be punched out with my 1 1/2” circle punch.  I strung the letters onto gingham printed ribbon and attached that to the wreath. Finally I used orange tulle, grosgrain ribbon, paper and buttons to make some flowers/frills for the bottom of the wreath.

Let me know if you make one, I’d love to see how it comes out.

McCalls 5241 Pattern Review

This pattern has been at the top of my must sew list and with cooler temperatures on the way I wanted a quick, stylish cardigan to wear around. I thought it would also be great for breastfeeding, a jacket with a built in drape! The pattern is very simple and only has two pieces, but one of them is huge, so you'll need a lot of space for cutting. I used a rayon spandex knit from Joann's (I had a 50% off coupon). This is a one hour pattern, yeah right!, I wish they would just say it's easy and be done with it, what sort of speed sewer is making these patterns? and that can't possibly include cutting time!

I had read several other online reviews and they mentioned that the sleeve hole had stretched. I decided to stay stitch the holes before cutting them out and ended up with the opposite problem, sleeve holes that were too small. I eased the sleeves in by gathering the sleeve cap seam allowances, so putting the sleeves in was a little fiddly, but I got them in. That was the hard part of the pattern, hemming the edges was the most monotonous. I did decide to use a twin needle and I am sooooo glad I did! Using a twin needle is very easy and the results are so professional looking. It gave me two perfect lines of stitching with a small stretch that is just perfect for knits. I absolutely LOVE how this pattern turned out! I love it so much that I was to rush out and buy more fabric to make it in other colors. I would say it's a great addition to my wardrobe and the fiddly sleeves were so worth it! I was fairly easy to sew and I imagine that someone with a serger could really make one of these fast. I have seen this style of jacket in almost every brand of pattern and I also have see directions free online. I, of course, bought mine when it was on sale for a $1.00 and it was definitely a well spent dollar. I would also like to note that I made view C, the longest jacket, in size XXL and it is almost to big (I could take the back in at the center seam). The only thing that I may change the next time I make this pattern is the sleeve, I think I would like a snugger fit and maybe some extra length.

Have a super crafty weekend, see you next week!

Terrorific Tuesday - Week 2

Silvia Chenault turns a toy bat into an instant neckpiece (but will it bite your neck?)

Phyllis Dobbs shows us how to recycle a t-shirt into a really cool Halloween trick-or-treat bag!

Kate Pullen brews up adorable Paper Cone Witches!

Messy Missy makes a super spooky wreath with Duct tape!

Avalon Potter goes glam with her Halloween Masquerade Ball mask!

Patty Cappelluti goes bat crazy making this spooky bat door decoration!

Crafterella is a ghoul gone wild in her Ghoul Scout Costume. Download the custom patches she made for her costume!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner upcycles a Starbucks bottle into a swell Halloween vase!

Cheryl Ball delights us with yummy candy corn cupcakes!

Pattiewack upcycles an apple tray into a festive cupcake carrier. So inexpensive and easy!

Ann Butler crafts up a boo-tiful holder for your ATCs complete with a black cat!

Glory whips up a super fun and healthy pumpkin-inspired muffin meal for her kids. Love it!

Crafty Chica makes the perfect mask to celebrate Dia de los Muertos.

Maya in the Moment has some face painting fun with her little cousin and of course, hilarity ensues!

Eileen Hull has a ghostly good time creating this cute diecut necklace!

That's it for this week! If you are interested in playing in the fun Terrorific Tuesday roundup, e-mail Alexa at swelldesigner (at) gmail (dot) com and she'll send you the details!

Pomp-a-Doodle Yarn

I have been wanting to get my hands on the new Pomp-a-Doodle yarn from RedHeart for a while.  Hobby Lobby doesn’t carry it and I haven’t been to Joanns or Michaels for a while (the less I go the more money I save).  This yarn is interesting, basically it’s string with pompoms at regular intervals and you knit the string, skipping the pompoms. I made the one ball scarf pattern found on the wrapper.  I really like how the scarf turned out (wish that it was a little longer), the yarn is super soft and squishy, I would love to make some pillows out of it.  If you get the chance you should give this yarn a try, it one novelty yarn that is fun and easy to work with!  I think I will be making a few more of these, they will make great gifts.

Ghoul Scout Costume

I made this costume in 2007 and I decided to dig out the photos and the original badges to share with everyone today.  The great thing about this costume is that you really only need to make the sash, everything else can be from you closet.I used a long, skinny rectangle of fabric and made it into a sash by draping it over my shoulder adjusting the fabric to hang nice.  Pinned, seamed and finished the edges.  If you wanted to cut down on all that I would recommend felt (off the bolt, not the squares) it’s easy to find, easy to work with and forgiving to sew or maybe you could safety pin it, the sewing police usually aren’t writing tickets on Halloween.Download your copy of my Ghoul Scout Badges(personal use only, please).  I printed my badges onto iron on t-shirt transfer fabric (don’t forget to reverse the image when you print) and ironed it on to some muslin.  I hand sewed my badges to the sash because I’m crazy like that, but fabric glue would be A LOT easier.  If you want the look of stitching add faux stitches around the edges with a sharpie marker.

Once the sash is finished the details of the costume are up to you.  I made pompom sock garters, a felt coffin bag, and the black and red pleated skirt, but really anything would good. 

I’d love to see what you guys come up with and let me know if you’d like a tutorial for the felt coffin bag or sock garters.  Have a super crafty weekend!

Terrorific Tuesday is Back!!!

Kate Pullen shares 3 cute digital stamps Free cute spider digital stamps.

Phyllis Dobbs makes an easy Halloween Decopauge Pumpkin Treat Basket.

Jenna Excell shares her super cute and spooky Bones Halloween Apron.

Korinne Zimmerman a.k.a. Crafterella makes a wonderful spray bleach shirt using an adorable Moon Owl Stencil.

Glory's Mischief haunts her house with her Faux Cats in window.

Ann Butler makes this boo-tiful Reverse Collage Decopauge Jack-o-Lantern.

Eileen Hull tucks away Halloween cards in this fun Sizzix ScoreBoard notebook pocket.

Silvia Chenault and Patty Cappelluti share two super spooky projects on Silvia's blog: Vampire Art and Creepy Mirrors!

Pattiewack shows you how to make this cute and Wicked Pillow.

Messy Missy brings the LOLs with her Mean Kitteh.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner whips up a Cute Candy Corn CD Cupcake Stand .

Kathy Murillo a.k.a. Crafty Chica delights us with glittery Skull Bookmarks.

That's it for this week! If you are interested in playing in Swelldesigner's Terrorific Tuesday roundup, e-mail her at swelldesigner (at) gmail (dot) com and she'll send you the details!

Free Full Moon Owl Stencil

I can’t believe that it’s already October 4th. and I haven’t posted a Halloween tutorial yet! I love using bleach to stencil and the eerie reverse effect is just perfect for the season. Using bleach can be a bit tricky, you’ll need to use 100% cotton fabric, synthetic fibers will not bleach. It’s also hard to know how exactly what color any fabric will discharge to, which is what makes it fun.

This project would be cute as a t-shirt or as a tote bag. The shirt that I started with flopped, BTW only spray your stencil once, if you try to do it again the bleach will get underneath and blur the image. Spraying bleach is also a bit hazardous, do not breath in the mist. You could also use a bleach pen or bleach gel for this, but I really like the way spraying give an even color.

Print the Full Moon Owl Stencil, place a large sheet of freezer paper, shiny side down over the image and trace white parts onto the freezer paper. Using an exacto knife cut out all of the white shapes. Use an iron to fuse the freezer paper, shiny side down, to the fabric. I also like to fuse a plain sheet on the inside to prevent the bleach from leaching through to the back. I recommend spraying the fabric outside. Make sure that only the design is exposed, there will be some overspray and we don’t want speckles on our black fabric. The black dye should start fading almost instantly, have a bucket of cool water mixed with about a cup of vinegar to stop the bleaching process when it gets to a color you like. Here you can see it’s starting to discharge and this is where I got impatient and sprayed it again. I did try to salvage the finished shirt, but it was to far gone. Wash and dry your fabric and it’s ready to wear. This is a shirt I previously made using a similar design, I’m hoping to give the new design a second attempt soon.

I hope you enjoy using my full moon owl stencil, but please remember it is for your personal use only. I’d love to see some of your finished projects, leave me a link :)

Friday Favorites

Time for another edition of Friday favorites!

Twisty costume horns – che4u

Creepy pin backs – ticklebuttons

Ceramic owl and owlet - claylicious

Rabbit art – Precious – amberalexander

Bam comic headband – janinebasil

Black cicada pin – MadArtjewelry

Wine and dine Giclee Print – JennSki

Skeleton suit art paperdoll – woolandwater

Siamese twins print – meluseena

Miniature kokeshi – efiwarsh

Peacock cuff bracelet – urbanrose

Black onyx necklace – anakim

Have a super crafty weekend!!!