Halloween 2021 Wrap Up

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween season.  I know Halloween has been over for nearly two weeks now, but I thought it would be fun to give you a little window into what Halloween looked like for Brian and me.  Let's start with our day-of costumes.

I went as a scarecrow.  I put together a look similar to this one during October of 2020 (I dress up all throughout October) and liked it so much that I wanted to make it my Halloween day look this year.  Since Brian and I do a couples costume for Halloween day, I needed a corresponding costume for Brian, and I thought a crow would be the perfect counterpart.

This was another costume idea that originated in October 2020.  If you've seen my 15 Halloween Costumes from My Closet post, you may recall that I included a scarecrow and crow couples costume as a bonus idea.  That time, the crow look was fairly simplistic, essentially just a black paper cone beak.  This year, I wanted to make Brian a crow mask.  I freehanded some feathery shapes on black felt and came up with this design.  I'm planning on including the crow mask template and directions in my Halloween 2022 lineup, so if you like this mask and want to make one of your own, keep your eyes out around August or September of next year.  I'll probably include a scarecrow makeup tutorial then as well.

Now let's turn to decorating.

I didn't do a lot of decorating this Halloween season, but I did deck out the front lawn a little to spread some holiday cheer.  When I was little, my dad used to have us paint pumpkins as opposed to carving them because carved pumpkins rot faster.  Also, no pumpkin guts to contend with if you paint.  Last year, I ended up painting a pumpkin for our doorstep as part of a Halloween challenge, and I had enough fun with it that I wanted to try it again this year.

I had this idea of painting a silhouetted nighttime cemetery scene.  I don't really do a ton of art, so I was kind of expecting this to go disastrously, especially since I just kind of winged it.  But I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

The other piece of my Halloween setup was my cemetery.  This is my favorite Halloween setup each year.  Six of the headstones I carved myself, and I have tutorials here, here, here, here, and here if you'd like to see how I made them.  It has a special place in my heart, and if I could only set up one thing for Halloween each year, this would be it.

We decided to set out premade Halloween goodie bags again this year.  We placed them in the graveyard this time around and once again, they were a big hit.  We only had four left over at the end of the night.  Even if things are safer next year, I'm thinking about putting the treats outside.  Not everyone likes being social or feels comfortable interacting with strangers, and some folks may worry about being judged for being "too old" to trick-or-treating.  If more people are able to enjoy Halloween this way, I'm all for it.

Let's move on to the treat bags themselves for a sec.

Since we've started making treat bags, I like to include a mix of chocolate, non-chocolate, and non-candy options.  That way, hopefully there's something for everyone.  Here's a look at some of the candy.

And here are some of the non-candy treats.  Aren't they adorable?  I had to keep reminding myself that these were for the trick-or-treaters, not for me.

We also made an instructional sign, since the bags did blend in a bit with the leaves.  I used one of the free templates in Canva, and it took me under five minutes to make.

Here's a close up on the sign.

And that's a wrap!  Hopefully you enjoyed this little tour of our Halloween setup.  I know it wasn't as elaborate as it has been in the past, but hopefully next year I'll be a little less busy and also have the motivation of a Halloween party again.  Also, Halloween is not a one-day affair in our household, so even though I didn't have as much of a setup, I still celebrated all through October with spooky costumes and outfits as well as spooky reads.  And editing my horror novel, which I'm *almost* done with, for now.

How did you celebrate Halloween?  Are you missing Halloween, or are you ready to move on to other holidays?  Things will be taking a Christmas-y turn on my blog here soon, but if you're looking for more Halloween content, I post almost exclusively Halloween content August through October.  Sometimes May through October if I have a spooky-themed birthday party.

Halloween Rag Doll Nail Art

Halloween is almost here.  Need a Halloween manicure idea?  These rag doll nails are the perfect addition to a creepy doll look.

Materials:

*Nail polish in a variety of colors of your choosing

*Nail art dotting tool

*Ultra fine nail art brush

*Black acrylic paint

*Painter's tape

*Scissors

*Nail polish base coat

*Clear nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Paint nails with a base coat.  Use a regular base coat, not a peel off base coat (or the painter's tape will peel up your polish).  Let dry.

*Choose three colors for each nail and plan out your color scheme for each one.

*Paint nails in a variety of colors.  You probably want to start by painting each one using the lightest color you'll be applying to each nail.  This will end up being the middle color in your pattern, though, so choosing the lightest may not always make the most sense.

*Let dry for several hours.  I usually recommend painting the base color in the evening and letting the nails dry overnight.  You're going to be applying painter's tape on top of this coat, and you don't want to risk peeling up some of the polish.

*Cut wedges of painter's tape and place over the middle portion of each nail.

*Paint the tops and bottoms of the nails different colors.  Make sure these colors are also different from the base color on that nail.

*Carefully peel off the painter's tape.

*Using an ultra fine nail art brush and black acrylic paint or a black nail art pen, paint on lines separating the different colors.

*Paint x's over the lines to look like stitching.

Simple Chucky Makeup Tutorial

Makeup can be a great tool to help a store-bought costume stand out.  The great thing about this Chucky makeup is that it doesn't require any specialized makeup, just two shades of eyeshadow and an eyeliner pencil.  You can also use this technique for other characters with scars, such as Frankenstein's monster.

Materials:

*Red eyeshadow

*Deep purple eyeshadow (like the color of a dark bruise)

*Black eyeliner pencil

*Eyeshadow brushes

Directions:

*If you normally wear makeup, apply light, natural makeup as you usually would.

*Pull up an image of Chucky's scarring.  Using the red eyeshadow, map out the scar pattern on your face.

*Next, follow the lines you drew in red with the deep purple eyeshadow.  You may want to use a slightly thinner brush for the purple so that you don't cover up the red completely.  You should end up with something like this:

 *To finish this look off, go over the lines with a black eyeliner pencil.  Use the pencil to draw straight lines across some of the cuts to look like stitching.  You should end up with something like this:

And that's it!  If you want the look to hold up for longer, you can set it with some setting spray.  I didn't find it to be necessary because I wasn't going anywhere, but if you're going to be out and about for a while, it may be a good idea.

Harley Quinn Birds of Prey Jacket

 

 

So this is one of those crafts that I don't want to post a tutorial of my own for because I went about this one in the wrong way.  You see, I bought a mesh jacket for this project, which meant I couldn't adhere the streamers to the sleeves with hot glue.  So I used packing tape.  Which worked for a few pictures, but left a lot to be desired.  So instead, I'm linking you to the tutorial that inspired this project.  If you want to attempt a Harley jacket of your own, definitely check out that tutorial.

I do want to try this jacket again sometime, though.  This iteration was thrown together over the course of a couple of hours the night before I needed it.  Which meant I didn't have the time to fill out the sleeves like I wanted to.  But hey, for a last minute project, it came out okay.  I would just not recommend following my example here.

Any Halloween costume plans yet?  This year I'm trying to put together Halloween costumes, cosplays, bounds, and looks for each day of October.  You can see what I've come up with so far over on Insta @all_of_my_outfits.

Zombie Candy Corn Earrings

Looking for a spooky accessory that's almost good enough to eat?  Why not try these zombie candy corn earrings?

Here's a comparison of the clay earrings with a variation I made using actual candy corn.  The candy corn was a bit harder to work with, but I was ultimately pretty pleased with how both versions came out.

Materials

*White oven bake clay

*Sculpting tools, e.g., toothpick, nail art dotting tool

*Orange acrylic paint

*Yellow acrylic paint

*Red acrylic paint

*White acrylic paint

*Black acrylic paint

*Brown acrylic paint

*Ultra fine nail art brush

*Ear wires

*Jump rings (I used head pins and bent them into a loop, but jump rings would probably be easier) 

*Pliers

Directions:

*Shape white clay into two candy corn shapes.

*Insert a jump ring into the top of each candy corn.  Use a toothpick or a similar implement to smooth clay over the top of it, so that the jump ring is buried about halfway in the  clay.

*Use a nail art dotting tool to create eye sockets in the candy corn pieces.

*Use a toothpick or similar implement to carve mouths into the candy corn shapes.

*Create two eyes for each candy corn by rolling little spheres of white clay.

*Place one eye into an eye socket on each candy corn piece.

*For the other eye, take a little piece of white clay and roll it into a long, thin line.  Attach one end to the eye socket and the other to the end of the eyeball so that the eye is dangling out of its socket.

*Bake clay in the oven following the directions on the packaging.  When you're finished, the candy corn should look something like the upper candy corn shapes in this photo:

*From here, it's a matter of painting.  Use an ultra fine nail art brush to paint candy corn, following the colors shown in the picture at the top of the page.  Let dry.

*Use pliers to open up the bottoms of the ear wires and loop them through the jump rings.  Now your earrings should be finished.

Comic Style Nail Art

Considering a comic-themed Halloween costume this year?  Why not paint your nails to match?

Here was an attempt of mine at cartoon makeup.  The nails go quite well with the look, in my opinion.

Materials:

*Nail polish base color (in my case red, but could be any color)

*Nail polish base coat

*Black nail art pen or black acrylic paint

*White acrylic paint

*Ultra fine nail art pen

*Nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Apply nail polish base coat.  Let dry.

*Apply nail polish base color.  Let dry.

*Using a black nail art pen or black acrylic paint, paint around the perimeter of your nails.  Let dry.

*Using white acrylic paint, add white highlights to look like light reflecting off of the nails.  Let dry.

*Seal with a clear top coat.  I only have glossy top coats, but a matte top coat might work better here so you don't have actual glinting light on your nails in the photos.

Halloween 2021 Earrings

One of my favorite things to make each Halloween season is a new set of spooky earrings.  I don't always share them with you, because I've already done a tutorial on how to make basic earrings, but I thought you might appreciate seeing the new earrings.  Plus, it's a relatively straightforward craft, so if you're looking for something you can actually make, this is a bit easier than foam tombstones or hand-sewn cosplays.

Since did write a tutorial for making earrings previously (see above link), there isn't a tutorial with this one.  However, I did want to tell you a little more about where I get my Halloween charms.  Joann is my go to, and their Hildie & Jo charms and strung beads feature heavily in my Halloween jewelry.  

Here are the beads, charms, and jewelry I bought from Joann this year.  As you can see, I haven't had a chance to make all of them into jewelry yet.  The tombstone, crow/raven, spiderweb with spider, and skeletal hand charms appear to be new to Hildie & Jo's 2021 Halloween collection.  You can buy them here, and you can see their full Halloween 2021 charm, bead, and jewelry collection here.  There are so many cool pieces this year, and I definitely recommend checking them out if you love Halloween jewelry.  The rounded charms are also from Hildie & Jo.  I bought them last year, but it looks like they have returned this year, and you can find them here.  The charms are already 40% off at Joann, so if you're interested, you'll probably want to grab some asap.

The tarot card charms are from Etsy.  If you do an Etsy search for "tarot charm," you'll turn up all sorts of neat designs, although some are pretty pricey.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a peek into my Halloween jewelry this year.  Are you planning on making some Halloween jewelry?  I'd love to see what you come up with.

A Craft that didn't Make the Cut: Audrey Jr.

I make a lot of crafts.  In fact, as I've been posting a new project just about every week for the past decade, that means I've shared with you somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 crafts.  However, as you may guess, not every craft I make ends up on the blog.  Some are abject failures, but others are kind of good, but with issues.  Audrey Jr. falls into the latter category.

I have a couple of zombie garden gnomes that Brian's mom got me for Christmas ages ago.  They're pretty neat, but I usually just stick them by my doorstep because I'm not sure what else to do with them.  Last year, I decided to give them a couple of creepy plants to watch over.

I made a couple of little plants reminiscent of Audrey Jr. from Little Shop of Horrors.  I used clay to shape heads, toothpicks for teeth for one of them, and stems from artificial flowers for stalks.

They came out looking okay, but the big issue is that they're lacking in structural integrity.  The clay heads are pretty heavy and cause them to lean.  Also, they don't have any sort of base.  Brian and I just buried them as deep as we could and it kind of worked?  Which is fine for my personal use, but not really something I'd feel comfortable writing a tutorial on.

So there you have it, one of the many crafts that I've made that hasn't appeared on this blog before.  It's certainly one of the nicer ones, and I thought it was still worth showing, even if I didn't think it merited a tutorial, since it has some issues.  Would you like to see more of these unblogged crafts in the future?  Let me know in the comments.

DIY Jigglypuff Ears: Pokemonbounding Ep 10

Here's a fun and relatively inexpensive item to make for your next Pokemon-inspired look: Jigglypuff ears.  You can also use this technique for making other ears.  Just modify the ear shape and felt colors to suit your critter.  Otherwise, the steps are the same.

Materials:

*Headband

*Pink felt

*Black felt

*Scissors

*All purpose adhesive

*Fabric chalk or pen

Directions:

*Draw and cut two Jigglypuff outer ear shapes from pink felt.  I think I used my Meowth ear template for this, but you could also freehand the ear shape.

*Draw and cut out two Jigglypuff inner ear shapes from black felt.

*Glue the inner ear pieces to the outer ear pieces.  Let dry.

*Glue the ears to the headband.  Let dry.

DIY Ursula Shell Necklace

Ursula's gilded shell necklace is a key piece of her aesthetic.  Both stylish and functional (great for storing voices), this may be the perfect accessory to finish off an Ursula cosplay, costume, or Disneybound.  See this post for one of my Ursula Disneybounds which uses this necklace, as well as more information about Disneybounding.

Materials:

*Oven-bake clay

*Gold paint

*Paintbrush

*Toothpick

* Jump ring

*Knife

*Necklace chain

Directions:

*Roll out clay into a log shape that is thick at one end and thin at the other.

*Beginning at the thin end, wind the clay into a spiral.

*Once you have wound the clay into the desired spiraling shell shape, trim any excess clay with a knife, if needed.

*Insert the jump ring into the top of the shell.  Use the toothpick to smooth over the clay around the jump ring.

*Use a knife or toothpick to score three lines in the clay, mimicking the look of Ursula's necklace.

*Bake clay in accordance with the directions on the packaging.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

*Once the clay is cool, paint gold.  Let dry.

*Slide the necklace chain through the jump ring to finish off your necklace.

Clay Tentacle Earrings

Looking for a fun, spooky accessory?  Why not try these clay tentacle earrings?  I've used the purple ones for Ursula Disneybounds, and the green ones give me strong sea monster vibes, so I'll probably be putting together a look based on that at some point.

Here's what they look like on me.  This was one of my Ursula Disneybounds.  I also made the shell necklace, so if you want more details on that, let me know, and I'll make sure to include it in a post.

Materials:

*Oven bake clay

*Nail art dotting tool

*Paint in colors of your choice

*Jump rings

*Ear wires

*Round-nosed pliers

*Fine paintbrush, such as a nail art brush

Directions:

*Form clay into two tentacle shapes.

*Insert a jump ring into the top of the tentacle, covering it halfway in the clay.

*Create small disks from clay.

*Use the nail art dotting tool to attach the disks and give them a suction cup shape.

*Bake in the oven in accordance with the directions on the packaging.  Let cool.

*Paint in a color scheme of your choosing.

Toilet Paper Tube Spooky Eyes

Looking for an inexpensive way to provide some Halloween ambiance?  These spooky eyes are made from empty toilet paper tubes.  This craft first appeared in my Halloween 2020 'zine, but I figured I'd post it here too, in case you missed it.  

If you're a Halloween lover and haven't checked out the 'zine yet, I'd definitely recommend it.  There are crafts, recipes, activities, a quiz, and more.  While some of my projects are rather elaborate, the ideas you'll find in here err on the simpler side to make it more accessible for a wider audience.  There's fun for the whole family, assuming the whole family loves Halloween!

Materials:

*Toilet paper tubes

*Pencil

*X-acto knife or box cutter

*Glow sticks

*Waxed paper

*Black duct tape

Directions:

*Draw a spooky face onto a toilet paper tube.

*Carefully cut out the face using an X-acto knife or box cutter.

*Tape a toilet paper tube to either end of the tube with the face using black duct tape.

*Snap a glow stick so that it lights up and wrap it in waxed paper.  Slide the glow stick and the waxed paper into the tube.  The waxed paper helps diffuse the light from the glow stick.

*Tape the ends shut with duct tape.  This will help prevent light leakage, so that the glow comes only through the face and not from the ends.

Zombie Stitches Necklace

This picture is from a Clueless x Universal Monsters challenge I did.  This was my attempt at a 90s rendition of the Bride of Frankenstein.

Looking for an inexpensive accessory to make for spooky season?  Why not try this felt zombie stitches necklace?

This project was inspired by one in the book Felt-o-ween.  Unfortunately, the book is no longer in print, although there are secondhand copies available online.  The template is my own design and the instructions are my own, but I was inspired by a project in this book and thus wanted to give proper credit.

Materials:

*Black felt

*Scissors

*Fabric chalk or metallic marker

*Some form of clasp or closing mechanism, e.g., safety pin, jewelry clasp.

Directions:

*Print out a copy of the template below onto a sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper:

*Cut out the stitches shape and trace it onto the black felt, using either fabric chalk or a metallic marker.  Since felt squares are often 9" x 12", you may want to extend the ends out further to make sure that you'll be able to close the necklace.

*Cut out the stitches necklace from the felt.

*The last thing is to find a means of closure.  I just used a safety pin to close mine, but you could attach a jewelry clasp instead if you want a more polished end result.

Horror Bounding (Halloween Costumes from Your Closet Part II)

Halloween season is upon us.  Okay, so maybe it's only July, but hey, now's a great time to start thinking about your Halloween costume.  Or, if you're like me, Halloween costumes.

I'm planning on dressing up for all 31 days of October.  Now, Halloween costumes are not cheap, so I certainly won't be buying a costume for each day.  Instead, I'll largely be working with items I already have in my closet.

Last year I showed you 15+ looks I had put together using mostly items I had owned previously, with some DIY props and accessories here and there.  This year, I'm bringing you ten more ideas.  Each one of these looks is based around a character from a horror book or movie.  Some of these characters are not the most recognizable, but if you carry around a copy of the book or movie the character is from, people will probably get the idea.

I'm calling this horror bounding because I'm using principles similar to the ones I use for Disneybounding for these horror characters.  While I try to get as close to the look as I can, my goal is more to give off the character's vibe than to match their look exactly.  Here are the ten looks I came up with, using clothes from my closet (and, in some cases, Brian's section of the closet).

Sarah Bowman, Day of the Dead

Sarah Bowman is the protagonist of Day of the Dead, the third installment in George A. Romero's original trilogy.  Sarah wears several different outfits throughout the film, but one includes an open blue button up over a white thermal top, jeans, and a brown belt.  I didn't notice the belt when I was planning out this outfit, so I'm missing that element, and also my jeans are a little darker than hers.  I had to borrow both shirts from Brian, and so I had to knot the blue one at the waist so I didn't look like a small child playing dress up.  But even though it's not an exact replica of her look, I think it gives the right vibe.

Judy Rose Larson, Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Judy Rose Larson is one of the characters in the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead.  I don't have the same red patterned shirt that she wears, but this red plaid shirt I think still fits with her aesthetic.  I knotted it in the front, like she does in the movie.  I paired it with a yellow top, jeans, and a scrunchie.  Also, a hammer, because the characters have to board up the house to keep out the zombies.

Shaun, Shaun of the Dead

For our last zombie movie character (for now), we have Shaun, the titular character in Shaun of the Dead.  In the movie, he wears a pretty standard uniform consisting of a white button-down shirt, black slacks, and a red tie.  I actually didn't have a white button-down, so I used a white bodysuit instead and borrowed Brian's red tie.  This look was thrown together, but if I'd had more time, I probably would have made a name tag to finish off the look.

Suzy Banion, Suspiria (1977)

Suzy Banion is the lead in Dario Argento's classic horror film, Suspiria.  This is another movie in which the character wears multiple outfits.  I decided to go with Suzy's ballet practice look, in which she is wearing a black bodysuit and black leggings, and has a white lace scarf tied around her waist.  I didn't have a suitable scarf, so I used a white cardigan instead.

Carietta "Carrie" White, Carrie

Carrie White first appeared in Stephen King's novel Carrie, and has since been featured in a film by the same name, as well as several remakes.  Carrie's prom look is her most iconic, but I don't have a formal pink dress like the movie used, so I opted for a red dress, like in the book.  I added a tiara, sash, and bouquet for some prom queen vibes.  If you dump a bucket of fake blood over your head, you probably won't have to explain the look.  However, I didn't want to go that route, so I grabbed my copy of Carrie instead.

Rebecca de Winter, Rebecca

Rebecca may be dead at the start of the novel, but her presence lives on at Manderly.  This is another book with multiple movie adaptations.  For my take on Rebecca, I went with a flapper-esque outfit, in black, referencing a remark of Maxim's at the beginning of the book.  I could have gone with a faux bob here, but Rebecca had long hair up until close to the time of her death, so my look is a slightly younger version of Rebecca.

Frankenstein's Monster, Frankenstein

Here's another character that has appeared in many adaptations, both book and film: Frankenstein's monster.  The clothes vary depending on the adaptation, but in a lot of them, it is wearing a suit, so that's what I opted for.  The key thing about Frankenstein's monster is that it is sewn together from various body parts, so you'll want to create stitching somehow.  A waterproof eyeliner pencil works well for that.  In a future post, I'll show you how to use felt to create stitching.  I also added some zombie hand earrings as a nod to the monster being an undead, of sorts.

Clare, Voices in the Snow

Clare is the protagonist in Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates, Book 1 of 4 in the Black Winter series.  Near the beginning of the story, Clare wakes up in a strange man's mansion, wearing a dressing gown and covered in bandaged wounds.  She nabs a jacket and a pair of boots from the stranger before she tries running off into the snow.  I don't have a dressing gown, so I took one of Brian's shirts and cinched it with a sash belt to give a similar vibe.  I added bandages around my neck and then finished off the look with Brian's coat and boots.

Since this is a four book series, there are several other looks Clare wears that you could opt for as well, if the dressing gown one isn't to your liking.  And if you're looking for a fresh take on the zombie genre, I highly recommend these books.  Of my 2021 reads thus far, these four top my favorites list.

Kira, aka Creepy Doll, Bunny

Kira is one of the "Bunnies" in Mona Awad's novel Bunny.  The Bunnies are a group of girls in our protagonist Samanatha's MFA creative writing cohort who are ultra feminine, basically joined at the hip, and also practice magic.  Samantha dubs Kira "Creepy Doll" because of her cute but creepy aesthetic, and that's one of my favorite aesthetics.  Kira is always wearing cat ears, so I used a pair of my DIY cat ears.  I can't remember now if the top outfit was inspired by a particular look of hers or whether I went with it because it had general creepy doll vibes.  The axe, though, that does have a place in the story, although I won't say more than that.

The second outfit was inspired by Kira's in-book wardrobe.  She has a lot of kitten dresses, although sadly, I don't have kittens licking ice cream cones or kittens wearing crowns, which are both kitten dresses that appear in the book.  She has a pair of heart shaped sunglasses, so I went with some Valentine's heart-shaped glasses I had on hand.

You can't really see my nails in either of these pictures, but my nails have sheet ghosts with bleeding eyes to match one of Kira's dresses.  For pictures of that nail art as well as a tutorial, head on over to this post.

Miranda "Miri" Silver, White is for Witching

Miri Silver is one of the main characters in Helen Oyeyemi's White is for Witching.  She wears old fashioned, black dresses that are too big because she lost weight, so I went with an oversized black dress I had that had some vintage vibes.  She also wears heels a lot, and so I went with the only pair of black heels I have.  She always wears her mother's stopped watch, so I borrowed a watch from Brian.  There's a rosy smell that follows Miri, so I added a rose necklace to symbolize that.  Lastly, there's the hair.  Before her mother dies, Miri has waist-length black hair.  When she is hospitalized, her hair is cut into a bob.  There's some strangeness about Miri's hair that I won't get into here because of spoilers, but I took pictures both ways.  In the picture above, I put my hair into a faux bob and used an app to darken it.

There you have it, ten outfits inspired by spooky books and movies.  Any other horror looks you'd like to see?  Let me know, and I may see if I can pull something from my closet.

Looking for more costume inspiration?  Check out my Instagram, @all_of_my_outfits.  It is primarily Disneybounds, but on Fridays I post a spooky look for #spookygirlsclubhouse (some of the looks you see here were for #spookygirlsclubhouse.  The rest were for book reviews for my writing Insta, @amber_hathaway_writes).  Plus, for the month of October, I'm planning on wearing Halloween costumes each day.