Clay Owl Earrings

Materials:
*Oven bake clay in white, orange, black, and a color of your choice (I used green)
*2 ear wires
*2 head pins
*Wire cutters
*Round nosed pliers

Directions:
*Shape the clay in the color of your choice into two owl shapes.
*Make 4 small circles of white clay for the eyes and add smaller black circles for the pupils.
*Make two small orange triangles for a beak.
*Poke a head pin through each clay owl.
*Bake in the oven according to the directions on the clay packaging.
*Snip off part of each head pin with wire cutters, leaving enough excess to create a small loop.
*Use round nosed pliers to create a loop at the top of each head pin.
*Attach the ear wire to the loop.

Thanksgiving/Fall Perler Fuse Bead Magnets

     Last week's craft centered around what is most important to me about Thanksgiving: family.  This week's craft focuses largely on the second most important thing: pie.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pudding pie topped with whipped cream . . . so many delicious choices.

Basically I am Pusheen.  I also like seeing the leaves change color this season, so I made a fall leaf magnet for good measure.

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler beads kit)
*Iron
*Magnetic backing
*Glue (if your magnetic backing is not self-adhesive)
*Scissors

Directions:
*Design your fuse bead creations by arranging beads in the desired pattern on a large square peg board.
*Cover your beaded project with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side, then remove from the peg board, flip over, put waxed paper on top and iron the second side.  You can find more detailed directions here.
*Cut off a small section of magnetic backing about 1" in length and about 1/4" to 1/2" inches in width
*Adhere magnetic strip to the fuse bead craft.  If using glue, let dry before placing on the refrigerator.

Family is Love Fall Leaves Journal

     To me, Thanksgiving is all about family.  When I was brainstorming ideas for Thanksgiving crafts, I wanted to find some way to incorporate this notion.  I had seen someone make glitter edged book print leaves and had some issues of the Bangor Daily News kicking around.  I had helped my sister and the student group she's a member of, Maine Business School Corps, put on a march against domestic violence and I had needed a couple copies of the paper to scrapbook the story they did on the event.  The red edged leaf actually has text from the story, which I thought would go along well with the family theme.  Anyway, this is what I came up with.

Materials:
*Glitter in 3 different fall colors
*Spiral bound notebook
*Glue
*Newspaper
*Small black and white family photos
*Silver gel pen
*3 different leaf templates
*Pencil or ballpoint pen
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cover your workstation in newspaper.
*Trace the leaf templates onto the newspaper and cut out.
*Add glue around the edge of one of the newspaper leaves and then cover it with glitter.  Set aside to dry.
*Repeat with the other two leaves.  Once the leaves are dry, shake off excess glitter and pour it back into the container.
*Print out small, completely desaturated photos of your family, however you choose to define family.
*Arrange the photos and the leaves on the notebook cover and glue down.
*Brainstorm a list of what family means to you.  Using the silver gel pen, write out that list, starting with "Family is . . ." followed by the various items.  Mine says, "Family is . . . hugs . . . hope . . . togetherness . . . memories . . . past . . . future . . . joy . . . sharing . . . acceptance . . . transcendence . . . respect . . . chaos . . . friendship . . . trust . . . compassion . . . guidance . . . silliness . . . support . . . messy . .  . wisdom . . . strength . . . a helping hand . . . good times . . . hardships . . . remembrance . . . a choice . . . celebration . . . holidays . . . traditions . . . always changing . . . home . . . stories."
*Toward the center of the journal, write "Family is love."

Hair Chalking

     Rather than buy a wig for to be Daphne Blake for Halloween (see this blog post for Mystery Inc. costume ideas), I decided to try hair chalking,  All you need to do this are chalk pastels and a hair straightener.  It's a great way to change up your hair color for a day and should wash out completely after a couple of shampoos.  Check out my video below for step by step instructions.

Last Minute Costume: Mystery Inc.

     Halloween is right around the corner.  Still looking for a costume?  Why not go as a member of Mystery Inc.?  Also, check out these other easy and inexpensive last minute Halloween costume ideas.
     Brian and I happened upon this costume idea by accident.  Brian wore brown pants and a green shirt to our Halloween party.  When he mentioned that he was not dressed up, someone pointed out that he looked like Shaggy.  We had not yet settled on a Halloween costume idea, so this gave us the inspiration we had been needing.
     Basically all you need for Shaggy is brown pants, a green shirt, and a scruffy appearance.  For Daphne, you'll want to wear all purple.  I went with a purple sweater and purple pants and I also have a pair of purple heeled boots (not pictured).  I bought a green chiffon scarf from Amazon.  You can't really tell from the picture, but I have a headband on.  I went over to my parents' house and dug around, looking for the old plastic headbands my sister and I used to thing were the most fashionable accessories.  I couldn't find a purple one, so I had to alter one a little.

Daphne Headband

Materials:

*Headband

*Mod Podge

*Paintbrush

*Purple glitter

Directions:

*Cover your workstation in newspaper.

*Coat the outer part of the headband in a layer of Mod Podge.

*Pour glitter over the Mod Podge and then set aside to dry.

*Once dry, add another coat of Mod Podge and another layer of glitter.  Set aside to dry.

Here's a slightly better picture, although the headband still is not completely visible:

     The last thing to consider for Daphne is her hair.  In these photos, my hair looks a bit redder than it is in reality, so for Halloween I'm going to have to do something to get Daphne's color.  There are of course always wigs and temporary dyes, but I'm planning on chalking my hair instead.  I didn't have enough orange chalk pastels to try this out beforehand, but on Halloween morning I'll try to give an update on how it went in case you're interested in trying it (Update: here's my hair chalking tutorial).  Chalking your hair Daphne's color will probably work best if you have light hair.

     You should be able to devise costumes for the other members of Mystery Inc. using similar ideas.  For Velma you'll need red pants or skirt, an orange top, some plastic black glasses frames, red shoes, and orange socks.  If you don't already have hair like hers, you will also need some way to replicate it.  For Fred you'll need blue jeans, a blue collared shirt, a white sweater, a red ascot, and tan loafers.  If you don't already have blonde hair, you will probably need a wig unless you want to bleach your hair. 

     Also, here's one more costume idea I stumbled across when I was on YouTube yesterday: Disney Princess Belle.  I'm not a huge fan of the Disney princesses, but I have to admit that I love this Belle costume.

Cheap and Easy Halloween Sign

     Looking for easy, inexpensive ways to decorate your home for Halloween?  This sign may be the perfect craft for you.

Materials:
*Inexpensive frame (such as from a thrift shop, dollar store, etc.)
*White cardstock
*Printer or writing utensil
*Crimson paint
*Paintbrush
*Spider webbing
*Plastic spider

Directions:
*Type out the words for the sign using a word program and print on white cardstock.  Alternately, you could hand letter the sign.
*Cover your workstation with newspaper and then splatter crimson paint onto the sign.  Set aside to dry.
*Once the paint has dried, frame the sign.  Add some spider webs and a plastic spider to it.

Mod Podge Halloween Plate and Halloween Party Ideas

     This past weekend my partner Brian and I invited some family members over for a Halloween party.  I've wanted to have a Halloween party for some time now, but never have been able to, so I was glad to finally host one.  This post includes instructions on how to make one of the crafts I made for my party, the Halloween egg platter, but also some ideas for party snacks, food related crafts, indoor and outdoor decor, and activities for your party.

Halloween Plate

Materials:

*Plate

*Halloween paper napkin

*Mod Podge

*Paintbrush

*Scissors

Directions:

*Trim napkin to fit the bottom of the plate.

*Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to the backside of the plate and then stick on the napkin.  Let dry.

*Once dry, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge over the napkin to seal it.  Let dry.  The plate should be hand washable, but I wouldn't recommend submerging it in water if possible and I also doubt it would fare well in a dishwasher.

Halloween Party Snacks and Food Related Crafts

     Serve your guests these deviled eggs that will keep an eye on them.  Just make deviled eggs as you usually would (or use Brian's recipe, given below) and then cut up a few olives into thin slices and use those for the pupils of the eyes.  Also, if you're interested in making your own witch costume, here's how I made the one I'm wearing in the photo.

Brian's Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

*1 dozen eggs

*5 tbsp mayonnaise

*1 tsp mustard

*Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

*Place eggs in a pot of water and bring to a roaring boil.

*Once boiling, turn the heat down some and cook for 20 minutes.

*Take eggs off the stove and drain the water.  Set aside to cool.

*Once cool, cut the eggs in half and scoop the yolks out into a blender.  Add the mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth.

*Scrape the yolk mixture into a sealable plastic bag and cut off one of the corners.  Squeeze the mix into the egg whites through the hole in the corner.

     These cemetery cupcakes/cake are easy to make and delicious.  Brian used a devil's food cake mix and his vanilla icing recipe (can be found in this blog post) with some added green food coloring to make it look like grass.  Mys sister Katie and I used ground up Newman's O's (which Brian ground in the blender) for the dirt and chocolate orange Milano cookies for the tombstones.  Like the cupcake stand?  Here are the directions for how to make it.

     Here's the snack table setup we had at the party.  Brian's mom made the witch's brooms by poking pretzels into peanut butter cups.  The gray thing in the very back, which is mostly hidden behind the food, is holding food picks, which we used to skewer cheese cubes.  The directions are here.  Also, if you like the tablecloth, here's how I made it.

     This is what I did for the table setup.  Here's how to make the goblets.  I plan to write about the coasters (which you can't see very well here) in a forthcoming post.

Indoor Decor

     Here are some simple DIY decorations.  Directions for the Halloween curtain are here.  Here's how to make the creepy dolls.  I made the tablecloth using basic tie dyeing techniques described here.  The morphing holographic photos came from Dollar Tree and Rite Aid, but I wrote about how you can make them look nicer here (even though it isn't mentioned in the post title).

     Some more decorations.  The little figurines and light up haunted grove my mom gave me years ago.  The Halloween tree with the ornaments I made and I also made the potion bottles.  Although I didn't include photos here, for the party I also put up my felt sleepy bat, my Halloween fuse bead magnets, and my Halloween banner.

Outdoor Decor

     Now for some outdoor decorating ideas.  I got the eyeball path markers from Kmart.  They light up and play spooky sounds when someone walks near them.  Two of the foam tombstones I made, and you can find directions for them here, while two came from Dollar Tree and I forget where the two little ones came from.

     And a few more outdoor decorations.  This spooky eyeball wreath I made also glows in the dark (directions here).  I printed the door hanger from Family Fun's website years ago, but I can't seem to find the link for it anymore.

Activities

     Looking for some ideas for activities for your party?  We had a Yankee swap at ours.  I used the mini paper witch hats I made a few weeks ago and either hid a little gift under them or adhered a piece of painter's tape to the bottom with a number on it.  Each number corresponded to a particular gift that was too large to fit under one of the hats.  Brian's mom got a bookmark that I made from the swap, as did Brian's sister Alissa.  It wasn't one of these monster ones, but these are pretty popular and they're Halloween related, so I figured I would link to it to give an idea of a possible bookmark you could make.

     My brother Adam got a photo of a giant pink dinosaur skeleton (the one by Perry's Nut House in Belfast),  It can be fun to have some gag gifts, as long as your participants are good sports.

     My dad got a pom pom pal I made.  I also got one, but I gave it to Katie because she had to miss the party for work.

     Brian (who is wearing the vampire cape I made for Halloween last year) ended up with some plastic Halloween rings.  Alissa's boyfriend Kyle ended up with some Halloween earrings and mom got some fall leaf ones that I made by punching leaf shapes out of patterned cardstock and adding ear wires to them.  We had two additional gifts left over at the end, a bookmark that mom got and some googly eyed thumbtacks (just take thumbtacks and glue googly eyes to them) that Alissa received.

     For our other activity, we made caramel apples.  Not exactly picturesque, but they're tasty nonetheless.  Well, that's all for now.  I hope you've enjoyed this blog post and I hope that it has given you plenty of ideas for your own Halloween party!  If you are hosting a party of your own, I'd love to hear what your ideas are/how it goes in the comments below.