We've Been Booed Printable

This is a fun neighborhood tradition. We were "Boo"ed tonight. The hard part is finding a copy of the poem/ghost that you like. So here is another one I made up.

Click to enlarge and print. There are two Jpeg files, so take care to preview before printing to make sure they are the size you want.  I just insert my boo gram into a Word Document to make sure it fits one whole page. 

Click Here for Version 1

Nesting Jute Candycorn Topiaries

Here is the tutorial I promised you on making Jute Candycorn.   I looked around the craft store, the dollar store, and the internet for ideas on making the forms.  I was not about to pay for foam forms, they were too pricey for me.  I have seen people making cone topiaries with rolled paper cones as the form, but that was too fragile for us.  My girls love to handle and rearrange all the fun holiday decor.  That is when I came across my stash of plastic grid in the garage.  This stuff is cheap, flexible, and sturdy.  It was perfect.

I grabbed a sheet and rolled it to the basic width I had in mind.  I threaded a pipe cleaner though the overlapping pieces and twisted it tight to hold the shape while I glued and trimmed.  I trimmed the top and bottom so whey would sit flat.  I sealed the edge using hot glue. Be careful on this part, glue oozes through the squares of the grid.  Next I cut a circle out to fit flat on top, and glued it in place as well.  Repeat for each cone, making them gradually smaller.  Now you have cone forms that are sturdy and flexible, and will nest for storage! A definite bonus.

 

Keep that hot glue gun on, it is time to wrap the jute.  This will take a little while, but doing it while watching a show or something proved too distracting to me, and I have the hot glue burns to prove it.

Begin by gluing the end of your Jute to the top of the cone. Lay it right across the circle and glue it in the middle.  Then twist the jute around the center glue to form a tight loop.  From here, continue looping and gluing

Keep wrapping and gluing all the way down. I glued every 3 or 4 rows with a dab of glue.

 Once the jute is glued on, debate as to whether or not you should even paint them, because they look so cute plain, too! Or just make another set. :)

Then I got out sponge brushes and craft paint.  I put very little paint on my brush, then dabbed it onto the jute to avoid a caked on appearance.  Here are the brands and colors I used. I got all these paints from Hobby Lobby. Click the image to enlarge.

Halloween Decor 2011

It turns out my 4 year old loves Halloween.  We have been crafting and decorating for a couple of weeks.  I am excited about how the decor turned out this year.  Last year's Halloween tree got thrown out, much to the pleasure of my husband (who was always bumping into it while it was out and having to shuffle it around the shed in the off season. )  This year's replacement is so much better!
 I got some curly willow from someones spring pruning, thank you online classifieds. I put them in an urn, filled the base with gravel, and topped with stringy moss.  Add three dollar store ravens and the tree is done. 

My aunt posted her halloween decor pictures and at first glance I thought her giant candycorn looked to be made out of jute.  I was excited, I am loving natural textures these days.  It turns out her's were not, but once the idea was in my mind, I couldn't get it out. Here are the ones I made, and they have a space saving secret!  I'll post a tutorial soon.

This spooky bug display is just a re-purposed frame, burlap background, hot glue, and dollar store bugs.  I did have to buy 2 bags to get enough black bugs.  

 

The spooky eye artwork was one of our favorites!  I found out about the graphics fairy and downloaded a bunch of pictures.  Then did a few google searches for antique portraits for the rest.  I had them printed, bought some googly eyes, and got out my scrapbooking sticky dots.  They were so easy, my 6 year old made some of them.   We added them to frames from around the house and they were ready to go.

What decor have you made this year?

Autumn & Halloween - Hutch Style

I have been having a lot of fun decorating my hutch with every season. It is great actually having a place to decorate! Here are the layouts from Halloween & Autumn of 2010, plus the other decor we had in the living room.

Halloween

Autumn

Halloween Dinner

 Our Halloween traditions take place on the Monday night before Halloween.  We have a spooky dinner and carve our pumpkins.  This is what we served this year.

 

A Spooky Meatloaf with blood dipping sauce

 Mashed Potato Ghosts

 and Slimey Bog Punch

Happy Haunting!

BOO your neighbors!

 This is a fun neighborhood tradition. We were "Boo"ed tonight. The hard part is finding a copy of the poem/ghost that you like. So here is the one I made up.

Click to enlarge and print. It is a Jpeg, so take care to preview before printing to make sure it is the size you want.  I just insert my boo gram into a Word Document to make sure it fits one whole page.

UPDATE:  I made a new version this year with simple instructions instead of a poem.  If you would like it, go here 
 

Eyeball T-shirts

Abby over at a Feathered Nest featured this fun project she adapted from Martha. I love it! I think I would like to try it with iron-on printer paper.

Halloween Advents

I guess we can't leave Halloween out of the fun. Here are Tip Junkies Halloween Advent ideas