Tombstone Valentine's Chocolates

If you saw last week's post on repurposing a Valentine's chocolate box to give it a spookier touch, you may be wondering what you should fill your creepy chocolate box with.  Why not make some tombstone chocolates?  If you don't have any spooky molds on hand, keep an eye out around Halloween season.  I got the silicone tombstone molds I used from this project from Joann this past fall.

Materials:

*White chocolate baking chips
*Black candy melts
*Silicone tombstone molds
*Microwavable bowl
*Spoon

Directions:

*Pour some white chocolate baking chips into a microwavable bowl and add some black candy melts.  The black candy melts can be pretty overpowering, color-wise, so I'd recommend only putting in about a quarter as much of the black candy melts as you did the white chocolate.

*Microwave for about 1 minute, then take out and stir.  The candy melts and baking chips will likely not be completely melted yet.

*Pop back in the microwave for another 40 seconds, and then pull out and mix.  My chocolate was completely melted at this point in time, but if yours isn't, pop it back in for another 30 seconds.  Be careful not to over microwave, though, or the chocolate will harden up and won't pour correctly.

*Pour melted chocolate into molds.  Tap against a hard surface to minimize air bubbles and get the chocolate into the crevices of the mold.

*Freeze for 10 minutes.

*Pull the chocolate out of the freezer and pop it out of the molds.  Now you've got some spooky candy for yourself, or to give to someone special.

Pop Up Anatomical Heart Chocolate Box

 

Over the cutesy red chocolate boxes that are everywhere this time of year, but still love the chocolate?  Why not give your box a ghoulish makeover?

Materials:

*12" x 12" sheet of scrapbooking paper in spooky paper pattern of your choice

*Red 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock

*Printer

*White printer paper

*Scissors

*Double sided tape

*Glue

*Pencil

Directions:

*Trace the shape of your chocolate box onto the back side of your scrapbooking paper.

*Cut out the heart shape.

*Tape the heart shaped scrapbooking paper to the front of the box.

*Print out your favorite anatomical heart image onto red cardstock.  You can find several different free options from the Graphics Fairy.

*Cut out the heart shape.

*Now we need to fold the paper supports that will make the heart pop out.  Cut four strips of plain white paper about 1/2" thick and 8 1/2" long.  Take two and place them perpendicular to one another, taping the ends together.

*Fold one strip over completely, so you still have a right angle, but now that strip is facing the opposite direction.  Do the same for the second strip.  Repeat the process, alternating which strip you're folding over.  This site has a bit better of an explanation of the technique, if you need more details.

*When you've folded your two strips as much as possible, glue the free ends together.  Trim any excess.  You should end up with something like this:

*Repeat the process with the other two strips of paper.

*Tape the two paper columns to the center front of the box, and attach your heart to them.  Now your heart should pop out from its surroundings.

DIY Zombie Manicure

 
Looking for the perfect manicure for your zombie Valentine's Day shindig?  These nails will have you looking like you just crawled out of the grave.

I've done a post on zombie nails before, but if you're looking for a simpler, more wearable undead manicure, this one may be a better bet.  Also, this one has a photo tutorial, so if visual cues are helpful to you, then this one may be more useful.

The fake bruising actually looks a bit more muted in person than the above photo shows.  I've included a picture from the book review photo shoot I was using this nail art for to give you a better sense of what the end result looked like:

Materials:

*Semi opaque nail polish in a shade close to your natural nail color (I used arm candy by Sally Hansen)

*Light purple nail polish (I used tempest by Sinful Colors)

*Dark purple nail polish (optional)

*Nail polish the color of dried blood (I used garnet by Sally Hansen)

*Nail polish base coat (I used the regular base coat by Holo Taco)

Directions:

*Paint on a base coat and let dry.

*Add 2-3 coats of your semi opaque nail polish, maybe even more than that if your skin is much darker than your natural nails.  Our overall goal is to make it look like the nails are peeling away from the skin, so you want to minimize the appearance of the line separating where the nail meets the skin.  It's okay if it's still visible at this stage, as we'll be adding more of our semi opaque polish later, but it should be less noticeable.

*Add some light purple nail polish going most of the way up toward where the nail meets the skin.

*I then dabbed on a little dark purple polish, but I ended up covering over it with the dried blood colored polish and it didn't really show through, so you can probably skip this step and still achieve similar results.

*Now it's time to add the dried blood color.

*The dried blood color shows up pretty dark initially, but with a few more coats of the opaque polish, you can reduce the intensity so it looks like bruising under the nail instead of blood on top of the nail.  The picture below shows what it looked like after a couple of coats of the opaque polish.  I think I ended up adding another coat after that.

I used these nails for a book review, so I didn't do my usual full zombie look.  (I was dressing in the vein of Gertie Shea from The Winter People.  She's not necessarily exactly a zombie, but she is undead.)  Here's what my finished look was like:

The nails may look a little less convincing up close, but from a distance, I think they look pretty convincing.

Got any zombie craft ideas?  General Gothic Valentine's Day ideas?  I'd love to hear them.  Message me in the comments, or tag me @amberscraftaweekblog on Insta.

Zombie Valentine's Day: Five Fave Posts

It's January, which means that it's time to start thinking about Valentine's Day crafting.  If you've been following my craft blog for a little while, you've probably noticed I tend to do zombie-themed Valentine's crafts.  I'm thinking about branching out in the coming years to more general Gothic Valentine's crafts (not decided yet, though), and so I thought it would be fun to look back on some of my favorite zombie Valentine's crafts I've made.  If you're looking for some spooky gifts for a special someone, hopefully this post can give you some inspiration.  Here are my five favorite zombie Valentine's crafts I've made, in no particular order.

Zombie Chocolate Box

Sick of red and pink chocolate boxes?  Find out how to give yours a zombie makeover with a little fabric in this post.

Felt Zombie Chocolates

Need something to fill your ghoulish chocolate box with?  Why not make some felt zombie chocolates?  

Zombie Altered Cameo Pendant

Got a special person in your life who likes jewelry?  Repaint a faux cameo pendant following the tips in this post to create a macabre take on this classic jewelry piece.

Zombie Valentine's Fortune Card

While this craft needs a graphic design overhaul, concept-wise, it's by far my favorite zombie Valentine's card I've made.  Find out how to make one of your own in this post.

Zombie Pop Pom Critters

If you're looking for a zombie Valentine's craft that's fun for the whole family, this one may be for you.  My tutorial does use fabric paint, so you'll want an adult or older child on hand to help with that part if some of your crafters are on the younger side.

What are your favorite zombie Valentine's crafts you've seen?  Any zombie crafts you'd like to see me tackle?  I'd love to hear your ideas.

Hey, Day Challenge Week VII Round Up

     Week seven of the Hey, Day Challenge has come and gone, and it was a busy one.  If you're not familiar with this video series, I challenge myself to try out activities relating to various pages from the book Hey, Day! by Clea Hantman and Keva Marie, a day book filled with things to "do, make, and ponder."  I'm not covering every page in the book, but rather about 10 per month.
     If you've been meaning to follow my Hey, Day Challenge video series, but haven't had a chance to, here's a round up of all the videos that aired between January 9th and February 16th.  I've included a brief description of each video so you can determine whether the videos sound like they're up your alley.

DIY Fake Blood

     In this video, I test out a couple of fake blood recipes, one suggested by the book and one that I looked up online.

Valentine's Placemats

     This video is the first in a three part Valentine's Day party series.  In this one, I show you how to make Valentine's Day placemats using dollar store Valentine's Day cards.  Note that all three party posts are cutesy rather than zombified, so if cutesy Valentine's Day is your jam, you may want to give these a watch.

Valentine's Day Party Menu

     This video is the second Valentine's Day party video.  In this video I show you how to create an elegant looking menu for your party.

Valentine's Party

     In the final video in the Valentine's Day series, I show you how to set up a Valentine's Day party tablescape using relatively inexpensive and easy crafting ideas.

     This past week was a busy one for the series.  The next couple of weeks will be a bit slower, since a lot of the February projects I liked happened early in the month, but don't worry.  There are still plenty of videos in store.

Simple Zombie Makeup Tutorial

     What better way to celebrate Zombie Valentine's Day than by dressing up like the undead?  If you already have a makeup collection, you probably have everything you need to put together a basic zombie look.  Check out the video tutorial below to see how you can transform yourself into a zombie.

     Need some fake blood for your zombie look?  I have a Hey, Day video for that.  I was kind of winging it with the blood tutorial, so while this one will work just fine, if you would like to see a more refined tutorial in the future, let me know!  I'm definitely down to test out more fake blood recipes.

     What are you doing for Zombie Valentine's Day?  Let me know in the comments.  Brian and I will hopefully be watching something zombie related.  If you haven't seen Troom Troom's zombie apocalypse video series yet, I highly recommend (although the series isn't finished yet and does end on a pretty big cliff hanger, so you have been forewarned).  It's part horror movie, part survivalist craft tutorial, and highly entertaining.  Here's a compilation of the first five episodes:

Hey, Day Challenge Week VI Round Up

     It's hard to believe we're already through six weeks of the Hey, Day Challenge!  In this video series, I challenge myself to try out activities relating to various pages from the book Hey, Day! by Clea Hantman and Keva Marie, a day book filled with things to "do, make, and ponder."  I'm not covering every page in the book, but rather about 10 per month.
     If you've been meaning to follow my Hey, Day Challenge video series, but haven't had a chance to, here's a round up of all the videos that aired between January 20th and February 1st.  I've included a brief description of each video so you can determine whether the videos sound like they're up your alley.

Conversation Heart Valentine's Cards

     If you prefer cutesy Valentine's Day crafts to the usual zombie fare, you may want to check out this video, in which I make a zombie-free conversation heart Valentine's Day card.  If you'd prefer the zombie version, though, check out this post.

Paper Fortune Cookies

     This craft is one I've had saved to a Pinterest board for a while, but was afraid would be too complicated to make, so I didn't try it.  The Hey, Day Challenge finally gave me the reason I needed to test it out, and it turned out that it was much easier to make than I originally assumed it would be.  If you like paper crafting, I'd recommend giving it a try.

Future Files Part II: Places to Live

     In this installment of the Future Files, we're thinking about where we'd like to live in the future.  If you know me well, you won't be at all surprised to see where I want to settle down.

     This week in the Hey, Day Challenge we'll be throwing a cutesy Valentine's Day party.  There will be three videos relating to the party, so if Valentine's Day is your jam, be sure to keep your eyes out for those videos.

Zombie Conversation Heart Valentine's Cards

     Let the important peeps in your life know you've been thinking about them with a zombie conversation hearts Valentine's card.

Add a box of zombie felt chocolates too for a zombified update to a classic Valentine's gift.

     If zombies aren't your thing, or you have would-be recipients who would prefer a zombie-free card, check out the Hey, Day version of this project, and keep your eyes on my YouTube channel for more cutesy Valentine's crafts.

Materials:

*Pastel pink, purple, green, and yellow cardstock
*White cardstock
*Pink or red gel pen
*Scissors or die cutting machine
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:

*Cut out about four heart shapes of each of the following pastel cardstock colors: pink, green, purple, and yellow.

*Write zombie conversation heart sayings on the hearts using a pink or red gel pen.  Here is the list of sayings I brainstormed for my card:

Brains
I <3 Brains
*Zombie emoji*
Love Brains
Tasty
MMM
Bite Me
Good 2 Eat
U R Sweet
I Chews You
Cutie pie
Dinner?
U R my snack
Too Sweet
Yummy
Love UR Brains

*Fold the sheet of white cardstock in half lengthwise.

*Arrange the conversation heart shapes on your card in a pattern that you find pleasing.

*Glue down the hearts.

Zombie Altered Cameo Necklace

     Looking for a gift for your undead sweetheart, pal, or maybe for yourself?  Why not give them a cameo necklace - with a twist!

A comparison of the modified and original cameos.  While the original is fine, I'm rather partial to the zombified version.

Materials:

*Faux cameo pendant
*White acrylic paint
*Red acrylic paint
*Black acrylic paint
*Brown acrylic paint
*Green acrylic paint
*Paint for hair (I used yellow and gold, in addition to brown)
*Paint for clothing (I used pink)
*Fine tipped paintbrush (I used a nail art brush)
*Acrylic sealer
*Necklace chain

Directions:

*Mix together paints until you reach a shade that is close to the color of a zombie's complexion.  For a light skinned zombie, you'll want to use mostly white, with a little black and green.  For a darker skinned zombie, you may want to use brown as your base color instead of white, although you may want to add, in addition to the black and green, a little white for pallor.

*Paint the face, neck, and any other exposed skin of the cameo using your zombie skin colored paint mixture.

*Combine colors until you reach the desired hair color for your cameo.  I mixed together yellow, brown, and gold for a dark blond color.

*Paint the cameo's hair and eyebrows.

*Paint the cameo's eyes white.  You may also want to paint any pearl jewelry white, although you could choose other colors for the jewelry as well.

*Paint the cameo's clothing a color of your choice.  I went with pink because blood drips would show up well on pink, but any light color should work for that purpose.

*If your cameo has flowers or other surrounding details, paint those in the color of your choice.  I opted to use a blood red color for the roses, which I made by adding small amounts of black and brown paint to red paint.  I also painted the leaf green.

*Once the base colors are dry, it's time to add some blood.  I made crimson paint by mixing a little black and brown into red paint.  I painted her lips, added a trickle of blood dribbling down the side of her face, and then added some drips of blood along her necklace and across her dress.

*Add in any missing details.  I used brown paint to add some detail to her hair.

*Coat pendant with an acrylic sealer to keep paint from chipping.

*Place pendant on a necklace chain and now you have a stylish zombie accessory to wear.

Fabric Table Runner

     Now that you've got your anatomical heart coasters, what's the next thing a classy zombie needs to host a dinner party?  A table runner, of course.  Unfortunately I did not have zombie themed fabric on hand that was appropriately sized for my table, but my zombie captors, er, associates, assured me this tarot card themed fabric would do.  After all, magic is one of the means by which the living become the undead.

Materials:

*Strip of fabric that is at least as long as your table and slightly wider than you would like the table runner to be
*Scissors
*Needle and thread or sewing machine

Directions:

*Once you've cut your strip of fabric to the desired size (leaving a little extra fabric around the edges for hemming), fold one edge over by about 1/4" or so and sew down to hem that edge.

*Repeat with the remaining edges.

Anatomical Heart Coasters

     (Zombie) Valentine's Day is less than a month away.  While zombiesv are typically depicted as mindless, consumed by their biological imperative to eat human flesh, for at least some of our undead chums, the historical portrayal falls short.  Sure, a zombie's gotta eat, but plenty are appalled by their kin who tear humans limb for limb in public, no less.  For the next few weeks, I'll be showing you how to set up for a classy zombie dinner party.
     Nothing says "I'm a fancy adult" like coasters.  I mean, if you have coasters, their presence insinuates that you have wooden furniture that's worth preserving.  These anatomical heart coasters are perfect for the zombie who wants to make it clear that they are different from their slovenly counterparts.  Even if you're not a member of the undead, these coasters can be a nice touch to a Halloween or Valoween party, and could be nice for everyday use too, if you like a Gothic aesthetic.
     If cutesy is more your Valentine's aesthetic, keep your eye out for my February Hey, Day videos.  We'll be planning a Valentine's party, with plenty of pink and red table decor.

Materials:

*Matte photo paper
*Gold gel pen
*Ruler
*Self-adhesive laminating sheets
*Cork sheet
*Box cutter
*Photo safe adhesive
*Scissors

Directions:

*I found this anatomical heart freely available for use from the Graphics Fairy.  Import it into the software program of your choice that you use for photo editing.

*Add some extra white space around the edges using your photo editing program to make the image into a square.  Add a thin black border around the edge of the square.

*Print four copies of the image, each one 4"x4".

*Using a ruler or other straight edge and your gold gel pen, draw a thin gold border along the interior of the black square on each image.

*Cut out the squares.

*Place two squares on the self-adhesive laminating sheet, making sure that each square has plenty of laminating material around its edges.

*Cut out the squares, leaving a border of laminating material that is about 1/4" thick around each edge.

*Cut off the corners of the laminating material.

*Fold down the edges of the laminating material along the back of the photo one at a time.  Use the ruler to smooth the edges.

*Using a box cutter or X-acto knife, cut out a 4"x4" cork square.

*Glue the photo to the cork board.

Biohazard Belt

     Add some whimsy to your zombie Valentine's getup with a biohazard belt.

Materials:

*Biohazard tape
*Self-adhesive Velcro
*Yellow felt (optional)
*All purpose adhesive (optional)
*Scissors
*Tape measure (optional)

Directions:

*Cut off a length of biohazard tape a couple of inches longer than your waistline.

*If the tape seems like it will be too transparent, add some yellow felt to the back of the tape to reduce transparency.  My go-to all purpose adhesive did not work as well for this as I would have liked, so if you find an adhesive that works well for this, let me know.

*Adhere the barbed Velcro piece to one end of the tape on the right side of the tape.

*Wrap the tape around your waist, see where the end with Velcro intersects the other end of the tape, and add the other half of the Velcro strip to the wrong side of the tape in that spot.

*Trim any excess tape.

Zombie Felt Chocolates

     Why stop at a zombie candy box?  Give your loved ones a gift with a little bite.

Materials:

*Dark brown felt
*Light brown felt
*Brown thread or embroidery floss
*White thread or embroidery floss
*Red thread or embroidery floss
*Black thread or embroidery floss
*Stuffing
*Ruler
*Metallic marker
*Pencil
*Printer paper

Directions:

*Measure the dimensions of the chocolate cups in your candy box to determine the ideal dimensions for your chocolates.

*Either by hand or using digital software, draw out two dimensional chocolate shapes matching the shape and dimensions of each chocolate compartment.

*Trace and cut out two copies of each shape onto either dark or light brown felt.  If you have multiple candy cups of the same shape, you will want to trace twice the number of shapes as there are compartments with that shape.  For example, my candy box had two identical spots for rectangular candies, so I cut out four rectangular shapes.

*Using your thread or embroidery floss, embroider faces and designs on half of the chocolate shapes.  For some of the chocolates, I wanted to apply a chocolate or white chocolate drizzle effect, so I used a backstitch to sew on diagonal lines first.  Then I created the faces using black thread, which didn't work out super well for the darker chocolates.  After I finished the mouth and eyes, I added some red thread at the corners of the mouths to look like dripping blood.

*Once the faces are done, cut off a strip of felt 1/2" thick and a little longer than the perimeter of one of your chocolates.

*Wrap the felt around the perimeter of the chocolate, overlapping the ends until the felt runs along the edge of your chocolate.  Sew ends together.

*Next you're going to want to sew the chocolate to the felt ring.  If I could do this project over again, I would use blanket stitch, as I think that would have given the chocolates a nicer shape.  So, you can either place the chocolate right side up and place the ring beneath it and use blanket stitch, or you could place the chocolate right side down and place the ring beneath it, and then use backstitch or another stitch of your choice.

*Next you'll want to take one of the blank chocolate shapes and start sewing that to the other side of the ring.  If you're using a blanket stitch, you'll need to leave an opening large enough to add stuffing.  If you're using another stitch, you'll need to leave enough space to turn right side in and then stuff.  Sew closed.

Zombie Valentine's Day Chocolate Box

     Let your valentine know that you love them for their brains with a zombie chocolate box.

Zombified box vs. original box.

Materials:

*Valentine's chocolate box (ideally one with ribbon or trim sewn along the box)
*Zombie fabric (such as Alexander Henry's Beauty with Brains fabric)
*All purpose adhesive
*Needle and thread
*Scissors
*Sequins
*Metallic marker

Directions:

*Carefully remove any decorations from your chocolate box.

*If your box doesn't already have holes from where trim was sewn around the edge of the box, carefully poke holes into the box about 1/2" from the edge and spaced about 1/2" apart.

*Trace the top of the box onto the part of the zombie fabric that you would like featured on your box.

*Cut out the heart shape from the fabric and place it over the top of the box.  Use a little adhesive to secure it in place.  Make sure not to glue over the holes in the box.  Let dry.

*Once the glue has dried, sew the cloth to the top of the box using the holes that were left or that you created.

*Glue sequins around the edge of the box.

DIY Zombie Valentine's Day Embroidered Throw Pillow

Front of the pillow.

     February is around the corner, which means it's time for some more zombie crafts.  If zombies aren't the ideal way to show your affection, then I don't know what is.

Back of the pillow.

Materials:

*Zombie fabric (such as Alexander Henry's Beauty with Brains fabric)
*Red fabric
*Heart patterned fabric
*Thread or embroidery floss in red, pink, green, and black
*All purpose adhesive (optional)
*Pins or safety pins
*Metallic marker
*Ruler or 12"x12" sheet of paper you don't mind marking on
*Pencil
*Stuffing

Directions:

*Cut out 12"x12" squares of the red fabric and the heart fabric.

*Cut out a zombie of your choice.  You'll want to leave about 1/4" to 1/2" of background fabric around your zombie.

*Glue or pin the zombie in place on the red fabric.  If you use an adhesive, don't glue all the way to the edge of the zombie fabric piece.  It will be harder to sew the zombie piece on if you do.

*Sew the zombie to the red fabric using a backstitch.

*Lightly write the words in pencil over the red fabric.  I winged it, but there are ways you can transfer letters to your fabric if you want them more centered or neater looking.

*Use an embroidery stitch of your choice (I opted for backstitch again) to stitch the words.  I use a pale pink thread for everything except "zombie," which I stitched in green.

*For the back of the pillow, pick some hearts that you want to turn into zombies and some that you want to have non-zombie faces.  Use black thread or floss to sew faces onto the hearts.  Use red thread or floss to add blood to the corners of some of the zombies' mouths.

*Pin the front and back sides of the the pillow together, right sides in, and sew along the edges, leaving an opening to add stuffing.

*Turn right side in and stuff.

How to Survive a Zombie Attack Poster

     Okay, so this one isn't so much of a craft as it is a printable PSA.  During these difficult times, it's essential that we all know how to protect ourselves.  There are a lot of nicer looking posters out there (I have zero artistic skills, so I skipped the graphics), but the info on this should be pretty solid.

Materials:

*Paper
*Printer (if available.  Otherwise a pen will do)

Directions:

*Print a copy or copies of the above "How to Survive a Zombie Encounter" poster.  If you don't have access to a printer/electricity, grab a pen and jot these tips onto any spare paper you can find.

*Post or distribute wherever you think they're needed.  Give one to your Valentine(s).  Make the world a safer place for us humans.

Zombie Newspaper Luminaries

     It's harder keeping up my posting schedule during the apocalypse than I expected!  Candles provide a cozy vibe for any Valentine's Day celebration (and once we run out of batteries for the flashlights, candles are what we'll have to work with anyway).  As an added touch, if you have any newspaper left on hand, make some luminaries for your tablescape.  If you want to shy away from zombie themed cutouts for obvious reasons, you can always cut hearts or other Valentine's Day related shapes from the newspaper.

Materials:

*Newspaper
*X-acto knife
*Scissors
*Candle
*Pencil
*Tape

Directions:

*Cut off a strip of newspaper that is as wide as you would like your luminary to be.

*Sketch the design you'd like for your luminary.

*Cut out the design.

*Tape the ends of the newspaper strip together to form a cylinder.  Make sure the candle fits inside with some extra room to spare.

*Once everything is ready, light the candle and then place the luminary over it.