Spooky & Fun - Digital Scrapbooking Kit

Good morning my spooky lovelies!

Halloween is just days away, and boy am I excited! Halloween is my FAVOURITE holiday! I love the creative freedom to dress up and decorate in any way you want! The spookier the better!

Halloween is slowly gaining traction here in Australia which is pretty exciting. Each year we get more and more trick or treaters! Last year we had over 150 kids! Incredible!!!

Today's scrap kit is, of course, Halloween themed! I can't wait to use this one myself once I get photos of the kids in their costumes this year (and me too!) My fav element in this kit, is the pumpkin stickers, ahh so cute!!

October's Free Digital Scrap Kit

Included In This Kit:

15 Papers

7 Frames
3 Journal Tags

2 Balloons
4 Splitpins
4 Stitckers
3 Buttons

3 Webs

2 Ribbons
19 Other Elements

Get The Zip File Here!

Pinspiration - Halloween Signs from Pallets

Morning all!

Gosh, Halloween is getting closer and closer, and I am sooooo not prepared! My project list is huge! Thanks Pinterest, haha!

This month I've been working on some upcycling. Actually, this project, cost me nothing! Nope, not a penny! I already had the paints and brushes, and the pallet boards I used to paint on came free from a store that was getting rid of them! A lot of companies that receive goods on pallets will give these away for nothing, so it pays to ask around.

We'll be moving mid year, and as yet I don't know what space we'll have for a haunt, so I've been making things I can easily adapt for any space. These signs are perfect for that.

I can hang them on walls, attach them to trees or add a base and sit them in the yard!

So, how did I do it?

First, cut your pallet up and make the planks the size you want! Mine are 43x8 cm (give or take on height) and that wasn't actually planned by me. It's just the size the planks came off at when I started cutting. Of course, you can actually measure if you want to have signs the same height. All 3 got a coat of grey primer first that I let dry overnight.

Spooky:

This was the easiest sign to make. I picked a font out, opened it in Photoshop and printed out the letters to the size I wanted. Once a coat of black paint dried, I just laid the letters over the plank and traced them on. The pressure was enough to lightly mark the wood so I could see where ti paint. The words are white, just one coat, and then once that dried I touched the edges up with some red paint. See, super easy.

Headstone Scene:

This one took a few more steps, but still, pretty easy. I started with the blues and purples for the background, and brushed them on, getting darker at the top, lighter at the bottom. I also took some black (a very tiny amount) and brushed it into the wet paint around the edges. Then I took a pencil and outlined where everything would go. The moon went on first, then the hill. I popped the headstone on the hill and waited for it to dry, and then came in with a super fine brush and some black to paint in some grass in front of it. The tree went on last, so that it could over hang the moon.

Black Cat:

I can't take credit for this one. Miss M found the image on Pinterest (which started this whole post today!) and recreated it in pencil onto the wood for me. Thankyou to Bronwyn Goulding for sharing. This one started with an orange background, and again some black on the edges. I painted in the spider and cobwebs first, then the house and cat, and the cats eye last.

I'd call this a Pinterest Win Right?? YES!

I have a bunch more to make yet! Free Halloween decor? YES PLEASE!

Pinspiration - Halloween Mason Jars

Morning all and welcome to another Pinspiration post! WOOHOO!

Actually, this one is an oldy, that I completely forgot to share last year! In October last year I was searching for some ideas of fun and easy decorations to add to the shed display for Halloween, something that would help with subtle lighting in there. I saw this really awesome post over at Adventure In A Box for some really fun Halloween themed mason jars.

I wanted to make some, but realised quickly that I didn't have the right supplies. So, I found another way to do it! Below is my version, inspired by the original post from Adventure In A Box

You Will Need:

Jars
Black paint (for the outside image)
Food Colouring (for tinting the jar)
Modge Podge (or something similar)
Print outs of Halloween images (I just googled mine, look for things in strips so it can go around the jar and print them out)
A Paintbrush
Scissors

Step 1: Cut the images you printed into strips and place them inside the jar, with the image facing the glass so you can see it from the outside.

Step 2: Grab a paintbrush, and using black paint, copy the image. You could also use a sharpie if you like, but the one I had didn't have very good coverage and you could easily see through it, making it streaky. Wait for the paint to dry before moving onto the next step.

Step 3: This is where the magic begins! Did you know, that you can tint Modge Podge? No? Well, you can! Because it dries clear, the food colouring leaves a stained glass look behind! PERFECT! So, mix some food colouring with the Modge Podge. A little at first. I added more as I went for an ombre effect. Use a paint brush and paint the inside of the jar with the tinted Modge Podge. I did about a half inch high, then added more drops of colour to the Modge Podge to darken it. Or in some cases added another colour gradually to fade the layers from one colour to the next.

Step 4: Let it dry!

That's it! That's all there is to it. Now, these won't be waterproof, but I can't see why you couldn't also seal them if you wish. Pop a LED tealight inside for light (not a real flame, you'll catch the Modge Podge on fire) and you have a customised Halloween mason jar!


This would work with pretty much any image, so long as you can paint it. I'm going to do some later in the year for Christmas too!

Upcycling Jars into Halloween Props

Good morning all!

Yesterday I posted on my Facebook page asking if everyone would like to see the other crafty endeavours I get up to, and happily, the answer what an astounding and overwhelming YES!

So today I want to share some pieces I've been working on this week.

Halloween is coming, YAY! Here in Australia it is slowly gaining momentum. Last year we took the kids trick or treating and they had OODLES of fun. This year, I gave them the choice. We could go out again, or we could stay in, decorate and scare the pants off of everyone else.

Of course, the girls LOVED the idea of dressing up and decorating, so this year, we're staying in!

My girls are HUGE Five Nights At Freddys fans (horror game series) and originally we wanted to theme our area with that, but with so much else going on, I simply didn't have the hours or supplies to make what we wanted.

So instead we're opting for "Anything Creepy" I jumped on Pinterest to check out cheap and easy prop tutorials. Guys, there are thousands. Seriously. I think I got lost for a few hours in Pinterest. It's insane! I've pinned a bunch to work through for the next few weeks, so we'll see how they go!

Today Im sharing with you our spooky jars. These are upcycled, which is also right up my alley, and super cheap to make, another winner! In fact, I had everything I needed already! YAY for cheap crafts!

I used tutorials by Magia Mia and Fynes Designs for the jars. Of course, I didn't follow exact. I never do!

The eyeballs in a jar was super easy. Ridiculously easy! I used an old mayonnaise jar for this one. Then it was simply a case of printing out some eyeballs from Google, cutting them out and Modge Podging them to the back of the jar, with the coloured side down (so you can see it "inside" the jar). The lid was just some old twine I had laying about and a hot glue gun to attach. Fill it with water and your done! Not counting the drying time (because I let it sit overnight to fully dry) this jar took me less than 10 minutes to complete. Told you it was easy peasy!

The solid jars took a little longer, because I had to wait for drying time. But aside from that they were again very simple. The hardest part was picking my "ingredients" We opted for Bats Blood, Eye of Newt, Poison and everyone's favourite, Troll Snot! To be honest, the troll snot is my fav one ;)

For these I started off by using my glue gun to write the words and draw the images onto the bottles. I did one layer, then let dry and did a second. I wanted the words very raised. For the poison bottle I added some drips with the hot glue, and likewise with the troll snot, some glue bubbling out the side. Don't worry about the stringy bits of glue that go everywhere, it adds to the charm!

From there I gave all 4 a coat of black chalkboard paint, but I wasn't impressed with the coverage so once dry I did a second coat. Then when that dried I mixed some silver paint with an orangy/rust colour and sponged it over the entire area. Then with a fine brush I went back in to do the coloured details.

That's it! Super easy and very effective. My poison and bats blood bottles were originally wild turkey bottles, the troll snot was a jam jar and the eye of newt? That one was an empty spice jar! I was super lazy and didn't peel off the labels either, just gave them a wash and went with it.

So there you go, the start to what Im sure will be our ever growing Halloween prop collection!

Spice the Witch - Mini Snuggle

Hello everyone!

Super excited about today's pattern. I said a while ago Id have some more mini snuggles at some point and well, here is one thats just in time for some Halloween fun!

Spice the witch is pretty easy to make, but does have a few fiddly bits. All in all tho, any beginner should be able to make her.

You will need:
DK weight yarn in cream, black, green, purple and a small amount of red
3mm and 5mm hooks
2 safety eyes
small amount of stuffing
stitch marker

Head: With 3mm and cream
1: ch2, sc 6 times in the first , place marker
2: 2sc in each stitch around (12)
3: *sc in the first stitch, 2sc in the next* Repeat around (18)
4: *sc in the first 2 stitches, 2sc in the next stitch* Repeat around (24)
5-7: sc in each stitch around
Insert eyes around rounds 4-5
8: *sc in the next 2 stitches, sc2tg* Repeat around (18)
9: *sc in the next stitch, sc2tg* Repeat around (12)
10: sc2tg 6 times, end off leaving long tail for sewing (6)
Weave yarn in and out of the last 6 stitches and pull tight to gather, tie off but leave the long end to sew the head to the blanket.

Hair:
Take red yarn and cut into 5 x 35cm lengths. Take the centre of the strands and attatch them to the centre top of the head (see pic) I fold mine in half (centre) and pull the loop through a stitch, then pull the strands through the loop (like adding a braid to a hat). cut 2 more sets of 5 strands and repeat the process, one in front and one behind of the first set you attached.
Split the hair so 5 strands from each of the 3 groups is on one side, and the remaining strands on the other. Braid/plait the hair and tie a not in the end. Cut to length.

Hat: with 3mm and black
1: ch2, sc 5 times in the first chain, place marker (5)
2: sc in each stitch around (5)
3: sc 3, 2sc in the next st, sc (6)
4: sc 2, 2sc in the next st, sc 3 (7)
5: sc 3, 2sc in the next st, sc 3 (8)
6: sc 3, 2sc in the next st, sc 3, 2sc in the next stitch (10)
7: sc in each stitch around (10)
8: *sc, 2sc in the next stitch* Repeat around (15)
9: sc in each stitch around (15)
10: Change to purple, sc in each stitch around (15)
11: Change to green, sc in each stitch around (15)
12: Change to black, ch2, 2dc in each stitch around, join. (30)
End off leaving a long tail. Sew hat to top of dolls head.

Blanket: 5mm hook and starting with black
1: ch4, join
2: In the ch4 loop, ch3, dc twice, ch2, *dc 3 times, ch2*, repeat twice more, join.

3: sl st in the next dc and then into the ch2 space. (ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc) in the ch2 space, *ch1, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2 space* Repeat twice more, join.

4:  sl st in the next dc and then into the ch2 space. (ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc) in the ch2 space, *ch1, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2 space, ch1, 3dc in the next ch1 space* Repeat twice more, join. End off black.

5: Join purple to a corner.  Into the ch2 space. (ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc) in the ch2 space, *ch1, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2 space, ch1, 3dc in the next ch1 space, ch1, 3dc into the next ch1 space* Repeat twice more, join. End purple.

6: Join black in a corner. Into the ch2 space. (ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc) in the ch2 space, *ch1, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2 space, ch1, 3dc in the next ch1 space, ch1, 3dc into the next ch1 space, ch1, 3dc into the next ch1 space* Repeat twice more, join. End black.

7: Join green yarn into the middle stitch of any 3dc cluster on a side. ch3, dc 3 more times in the same stitch, *sl st into the next ch1 space, skip 1dc, and do 5dc into the 2nd (middle) stitch of the next 3dc cluster* Repeat around, when you get back to the start, do 1dc into the same stitch the ch3 is in and join to the top of the chain 3. End off and weave in ends.

Sew the head onto the blanket.
Embroider a mouth on the doll.