Easy DIY New Year's Eve Crown

     Ring in the new year with this easy to make sparkly crown.

Materials:

*Metallic confetti
*Floral or craft wire
*All purpose adhesive or hot glue
*Wire cutters

Directions:

*Create a loop of wire the size that you would like your crown to be.

*Cut off excess wire, leaving a little extra to glue or twist ends together to form your crown.

*Place glue along a small section of wire and dip in the confetti.  Repeat gluing and dipping until your crown is finished.

DIY Winter Hat Ornaments: Two Techniques

     These winter hat ornaments are easy to make and if you already have some yarn on hand, they cost next to nothing to make.  They're the perfect craft for holiday parties or family time.

Materials:

*Yarn
*Toilet paper tube (or cardstock)
*Ruler
*Scissors
*Pom pom (needed for one technique, but not the other)
*All purpose adhesive (needed for one technique, but not the other)

Directions:

*Cut a 1/2" tall ring from the toilet paper tube.  If you don't have an empty toilet paper roll handy, cut off a 1/2" thick strip of cardstock and glue or tape the ends together such that the cardstock forms a ring with about the same diameter as a toilet paper tube.

*Cut off a 10" length of yarn and fold it in half.

*Insert the yarn into the ring such that the loop pokes out from the bottom of the ring like this:

*Slide the ends of the yarn through the loop like this:

*Pull tight so you end up with something like this:

*Repeat until the ring is full:

*Cut off another piece of yarn and tie it around the other strands of yarn like this:

*Turn the other way:

*To finish, glue on a pom pom.

Alternate Technique

*Once you have finished tying on all the pieces of yarn, flip the other way.

*Cut off an additional length of ribbon and tie around the hat.

*Trim above the place where you tied the additional piece of yarn to create the pom pom shape.

DIY Harry Potter Inspired Magic Wand Ornaments

     These magic wand ornaments are inexpensive and easy to make and are great gifts for magic lovers of all ages.  In addition to ornaments, these could serve as wands for dolls or stuffed animals (see this post for a different miniature wand tutorial).  If you put up a Halloween tree, these ornaments could be great for that too.

Materials:

*Toothpicks
*Clay
*Paint
*Jump rings
*Thread or thin ribbon
*Paint brush

Directions:

*Take your toothpick and form a handle covering the end of it using clay.

*Insert the jump rings into the end of the handle such that about half of the ring is embedded in the clay.  This will be where you hang your ornament from, so make sure it's in securely.

*Add details to the clay if you would like to.  You don't want to do the detail work before adding the jump rings, or you may squish your design in the process.

*Once you're satisfied with the design, bake clay in the oven following the directions on the packaging.  I baked mine for about 8 minutes at 225° F.

*When the ornaments have cooled sufficiently, paint the wands in whatever colors you would like.  Let dry.

*Loop some ribbon or thread through the jump rings so you can hang your wand from your tree.

Christmas Lights Nail Art

Materials:

*Gold nail polish or other "background" color
*Nail polish in the colors you would like the lights to be
*Black nail art pen
* Clear base/top coat
*Very fine nail art brush

Directions:

*Paint your nails gold or whatever color you chose for your "canvas."

*Using your nail art pen, draw two lines that oscillate up and down on each nail.

*Draw 4-5 lines perpendicular to each wavy line, with the first one pointing up, the second one pointing down, the third one pointing up, etc.  These are where your light bulbs will go.

*Using the nail art brush, paint the bulbs.  It's okay if they're not lopsided or not perfectly bulb shaped.  If you look at my nails up close, you can see many imperfections and asymmetries, especially on my right hand.  People will still get the idea.

Homemade Holiday Photo Cards

     Holiday card printing services can be expensive, particularly if you have a long list of people to send cards to.  Printing cards from home can be a cheaper alternative.  Here's how to create nice looking holiday cards from home.

Materials:

*Computer with photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop
*Digital photos for your card
*Holiday-themed scrapbooking paper (optional)
*Color printer
*Matte photo paper in the dimensions that you would like your cards to be
*Glitter or metallic gel pens (optional)
*Glitter cardstock (optional)

Directions:

*Design your card in your photo editing program.  Brian constructed our card, so I can't adequately explain the process, but this tutorial shows you how to create photo cards in Photoshop.

*Insert matte photo paper into the printer and print your card.  You can use cardstock if you're in a pinch, but the pictures won't be as crisp and the colors may be a bit muted.  Here is a comparison:

*Glitter and shiny embossing are two features that can really make holiday cards stand out.  Add some shimmer to your cards by tracing the text with glitter gel pens.

*Create a frame for your photos from glitter cardstock to give your cards some extra sparkle.

DIY Ornament Throw Pillow

     Here's a craft I've been wanting to make for years, ever since I stumbled across it on Pinterest.  For a while, it sat in a pin board, and I would admire it every time I scrolled past it, thinking, "Maybe someday."  I didn't trust my sewing skills enough to imagine that I could succeed at making something like that.  However, after sewing a romper by hand earlier this year, I realized that I'm actually okay at sewing and decided to take the plunge.  My ornament throw pillow didn't turn out picture perfect, like the ones I saw online, but it still looks pretty decent.
     Since I got the idea and template from Studio DIY, I'll leave it to them to explain how to craft this pillow.  I will, however, describe some of the issues I faced in crafting my pillows explain what worked for me.  So, head on over to Studio DIY for the directions and template, and then head back here to learn a little more about what I found tricky when making my pillow and how I overcame the issues that cropped up.

Tips:

*If you are not used to working with slippery fabric, I strongly caution against using it here.  Yes, it makes for a lovely pillow, but it can be a pain to work with.  Every time I tried pinning it, something slipped somewhere and I ended up with one end kind of lined up while the other was completely not.

*If you're struggling with pinning, try using painter's tape to hold the edges together.  It is still a pain to work with, as it does not adhere to the fabric well, but I had much better luck when I switched over to painter's tape.

*Instead of removing the painter's tape as you go, you may find it helpful to see through the tabe and then cut the tape off at the end, rather than peeling it as you go.

*The ends of the rope I used to make the ornament hook were uneven and a bot frayed, so instead of hot gluing the ends directly to the ornament cap, I cut small slits in the topper so I could slide the ends of the rope inside and then glued them in place.  I'm not sure if that worked out better or worse than hot gluing the ends to the ornament cap, but that's how I did it.

DIY Hand Turkeys

     I have been super busy lately between teaching intro physics and working on my own research, so the craft ideas just haven't been coming to me lately.  Luckily, this week I didn't have to come up with an idea of my own.  Deanna, who keeps the physics department's main office looking festive throughout the year, called on the grad students to make some hand turkey decorations.  I had some paper feathers left over from masquerade mask making and thought they would add a nice touch to the traditional hand turkeys.  This craft is relatively easy to make and works well for crafters of all ages.

Physics department hand turkeys.

Materials:

*Brown cardstock (or whatever color you want your turkey to be)
*Red, yellow, and orange cardstock (or whatever colors you want the feathers to be)
*Scissors
*Glue
*Googly eyes
*Pencil

Directions:

*Trace your hand (or help your crafter trace their hand) onto the brown cardstock and cut out.

*Cut out feather shapes from red, orange, and yellow cardstock (if you search for feather template, you can find all sorts of feather shapes you could use).

*Glue feathers over the fingers of the hand template.

*Glue a googly eye to the thumb.

*Cut out beak and wattle shapes from orange and red cardstock and glue onto the thumb.

DIY Fall Leaves Nail Art

     Here's a technique to make gorgeous nail art even if your artistic abilities are limited.  The keys to this technique are painter's tape and shaped hole punches.  With the right hole punch, you could easily modify this tutorial to create nails with whatever design you would like.

Materials:

*Leaf shaped hole punch
*Base coat
*Nail polish in the color(s) you want your leaves to be
*Gold nail polish
*Painter's tape
*Tweezers

Directions:

*Paint on clear base coat and let dry.

*Paint your nails the color(s) you would like your leaves to be.  Let nails dry for at least two hours before continuing (or else you run the risk of peeling off your nail polish when you peel off the tape).

*Punch leaf shapes from the painter's tape and stick to nails.  Make sure that part of the tape extends beyond the nail, onto the surrounding skin.

*Paint one nail gold.

*Immediately after painting, grab the edge of the tape with tweezers and carefully peel it off your nail.

*Repeat the process until all of your nails are painted.

DIY Spooky Eyeball Nail Art

     Looking for some last minute Halloween nail inspiration?  Why not try these spooky eye nails?
     Also, if you liked my zombie look from a few weeks ago, I've entered this costume into the Dare to Wear Halloween Costume Contest.  Please vote for me if you haven't already and if you have, thank you so much!  I really appreciate it!

Materials:
*Black nail polish
*White nail polish
*Nail polish in color(s) of your choice
*Dotting tools in 3 different sizes
*Base coat

Directions:

*Paint nails with the base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint nails black.  It may take a couple of coats to get your nails dark enough.

*Use the large dotting tool to place white circles where you want the eyes to be.  Let dry.

*Use the medium dotting tool to create irises in the color or colors of your choice.  Let dry.

*Use the small dotting tool to add pupils to the eyes.

Last Minute Halloween Costume: Lisa Frank Purple Kitten

     Looking for a last minute DIY Halloween costume that's inexpensive, easy to make, and adorable?  You've come to the right place.  I was inspired to create this costume by this Lisa Frank pink kitten costume.  I really loved the idea of the bib, but the ones I saw online weren't cheap, so I decided to make a felt variant for a fraction of the cost.  Not feeling the Lisa Frank vibe?  Pick out some felt in whatever color you likelike be a cat of your choice.

Materials:

*Purple felt
*Pink felt
*White felt
*Headband
*All purpose adhesive
*Pink lipstick
*Purple clothes
*Safety pins
*White gloves or mittens
*Metallic marker
*Scissors

Directions for the Ears:

*Print out the template below.  I used the bigger ear template to make mine, but if you're making a costume for a smaller person, the smaller template might work better.

*Trace two copies of the outer ear shape onto the purple felt.

*Trace two copies of the inner ear shape onto the pink felt.

*Cut out the ear pieces and glue the inner ear pieces to the outer ear pieces.

*Glue the ears to the headband.  Let dry.

Bib Directions:

*Print out a copy of the bib template below.

*Trace the bib shape onto the white felt and cut out.

*Tuck the top of the bib into the top of your clothes and secure in place with a couple of safety pins.

Cat Paw Gloves Directions:

*Print out a copy of the template below (or any cat paw print shape of your choice).

*Trace two copies of each piece of the paw print template onto the pink felt and cut out.

*Glue the felt to the gloves.

Finishing Touches:

*Draw on a nose and whiskers with pink lipstick.

My Halloween 2018 Party and New Halloween Trophies

     This past Saturday Brian and I held out annual Halloween party.  We had a ton of fun and we hope all of our guests did as well.  Here's a recap of our party, including two new crafting and activity ideas.
     Usually I devote a section to food, but Brian and I were too busy to do any food crafting this time around.  We went with pizza and pretzel sticks and our friends Ayesha and Ken brought cookies and ice cream, so there was still plenty to eat.  However, if you're looking for something a bit spookier, check out last year's post for some ghoulish goodies.

Outdoor Decor

     Here's what the front door looked like.  We got a hanger for the Wayton Manor sign so we didn't have to hang it off the mailbox this year.  My spooky doorbell suffered a fall earlier this season which messed up the speaker, but Brian managed to fix it, so it was back in working order for the party.  My jack-o'lantern lights got dashed around during last October's wind storm, but they returned this year, minus the one jack o'lantern that split in two when the wind bashed the door against it.  I also put up my "knock if you dare" door hanger, which I downloaded as a PDF from Family Fun years ago and have not been able to find online in the years since.

     My little cemetery was the core outdoor decoration.  Five of the tombstones are handmade, and you can find the tutorials here, here, here, and here.  The other stones are from Target and Dollar Tree.  The fencing and the zombie fog accessory are also from Target.  The bat gate posts are from Dollar Tree, although I painted them black, so if you see them in store, they won't look quite like this.  My cemetery angel is also hiding out in the back there.  The haunted hedge eyes, which are peeking out from behind the bat tombstone, I got from Target years ago.  The "Haunted: Keep Out!" tape I picked up from A.C. Moore years ago.

     Here's the "Beware of Werewolf" setup again.  It has become a Halloween staple.

     We also had a new display this year, although I almost didn't get a chance to put it out because it was raining at the beginning of the party.  I decided to do a gothic take on Alice in Wonderland, what I call Alice in Halloweenland.  To accompany my costume, I decided to make some decorations, including clay mushrooms, skeleton flamingos, a giant paper mache mushroom (tutorial to come), and oversized roses (tutorial to come).  Unfortunately I don't have anywhere to store all of the oversized props, so this one is probably a one time display.

Indoor Decorations

     If you've been following my blog for a while now, many of these decorations may look familiar to you, although the arrangement is a little different from what I've done in the past in many instances.  For one thing, I moved the haunted mirror and the lenticulars to the wall.  I also reframed some of the lenticulars to give them a more uniform appearance and brought out one that had been sitting in storage because I didn't have a frame for it.  The lenticulars came from Dollar Tree except for the vampire couple on either side of the mirror.  Those two were from Rite Aid, although I got all of the lenticulars years ago, so I don't know if anywhere sells those exact ones anymore.

     Here's an overview of the living room.  My sister loves Stephen King, so I brought out my framed Stephen King DVD cover wall art once again.  You'll also see my spooky sign in the background.

     This was another little spooky setup I had.  The figurines and ghostly grove came from A.C. Moore years ago.  The "Beware" sign I got from Target a while back.  The spooky radio Brian picked up for me from Joann earlier this month.

     This is how I decorated the couch.  I have tutorials for the zombie throw pillows and the eyeball throw pillow.  The "creepy cloth" came from Dollar Tree.

     Here's my potions shelf.  On this shelf you'll see my creepy rag doll, my Pet Sematary inspired potion bottles, my monster blood, my spell book (plus another spell book I made but have not blogged about yet), my gingerbread zombie, my Halloween 2017 "Best Couples Costume" trophy, more potion bottles, my nebula in a bottle, my spooky faced candle, and my 2016 "Best Couples Costume" trophy.  The skull, test tubes, beakers, and tea light candles are all from Target.  The spider web candle I got from Kohl's years ago.

     Here are my creepy dolls.  The antique haunted radio I got from Target two years ago and the haunted phone also came from Target.  They have a similar phone at Target this year, although I don't think it looks nearly as nice as this one.

     Here is the fortune telling setup, new as of this year.  Brian's mom gave me a Target gift card for my birthday, so of course I saved it to buy Halloween stuff.  The wheel of fate, candelabra, candles, and crystal ball are all from Target.  Brian usually does tarot readings at our party, so I ordered some Alice in Wonderland tarot cards from Amazon.  However, we ended up forgetting about them.

     Last up we have the bathroom, which I decorated as room 217 from The Shining once again.  I put up "redrum" on the wall and added a replica of the invite Jack finds in the Overlook scrapbook, as I have done in previous years.  I also added a paper masquerade mask, a tube of lipstick, and a floor 2 passkey, which hopefully I'll have a tutorial of for next year.  I placed the roque mallet in the bathtub again as well.

Party Hat Craft

     Several years ago I made some paper witch hats to use in a Halloween Yankee swap.  The hats had been sitting in storage for the past several years and so I decided that it might be fun to let people make wearable hair accessories by taping or gluing the hats to headbands.  I had my pom pom critters on the table with the hats and people ended up using them in their hair accessories too.  Both the witch hats and the pom pom critters are relatively easy to make, so if you're looking for a party activity, this could be a fun one.  Make a few hats and/or critters in advance (or let your partygoers craft them) and offer some glue and duct tape to attach to headbands.  The headbands make good party favors too.

Alice in Halloweenland Costume

     Brian and I went as gothic Mad Hatter and Alice for my party.  Here's how I made the pinafore apron, the bow, the White Rabbit plushie and its bag, and the Mad Hatter Hat.  The romper and heels I got from Love Culture and the socks came from Joann.  For more costume ideas, keep reading.

The Costume Contest

     Here are most of our costumes.  Brian's mom was a red hat lady, Katie was Georgie from It, Jacob was Buckethead (see below), mom was a jack-o'-lantern, and Ken was a werewolf.  As you can see, there were a lot of good costumes, but only three trophies.

     Katie won "Best Costume."

     Jacob won "Most Creative" costume.

     Brian and I won "Best Couples Costume."

Halloween Trophies

     Below are the 2018 costume contest trophies.  To make the trophies, I hot glue cat figurines to jar lids and paint the lid and the cats black. Using a nail art brush or something similarly thin, I give the cats red eyes.  I type up the trophy label, print it out, and glue it to the jar lid.

     For the couple's costume, I made the cats into Freddy Kreuger and Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street.  For the Nancy cat, I glued some doll hair to her head.  For the Freddy cat, I painted on the sweater and glove.  To make the hat, I punched a circle from brown cardstock.  The circle became the top of the hat.  I cut a circle around the hole and that became the brim of the hat.  I cut a thin strip of cardstock and rolled it into a cylinder, then glued the cylinder to the brim and the circle to the top of the cylinder.  That's how I made the hat.

     The "Most Creative" costume was inspired by Katie's mock Goosebumps cover.  It's supposed to be "cat got your tongue."  I cut tongue shapes from pink felt, drew a line down the middle using black pen, and glued them to the jar lid.  I then painted red "blood" over the end of the tongue and part of the lid.

     The "Best Costume" was originally supposed to be a dinosaur, but it ended up looking like a multi-finned green shark.  That's probably because I made it basically the same way I made my shark cat trophy last year.

     Hopefully you've enjoyed this glimpse into this year's Halloween party.  For more cool food and activity ideas, check out my posts from 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014, plus my The Shining and Goosebumps themed birthday parties.