Cards and invitations! Day 10

I haven't made my Halloween party invitations as yet. That will be either tomorrow or Wednesday but I want to give you ideas rather than you wait for mine. I will post them when I have finished. *Ü*

A few years ago, I made these cards to send to my friends and family - ideas taken from The Papercraft magazine.

Last year, I made these cards for my 3 daughters and family. One of my grandsons - Ethan took great delight entertaining us at a summer family BBQ with his 'alien' eyes, I took the opportunity to take photos. I knew exactly what I had in mind! LOL. I like to plan ahead. *Ü* The puffer stickers were from Poundland, background patterned paper is DCWV from a Halloween stack.

Last year, I made this invite for my 3 girlfriends and sister. I used some of my 3,000 fonts to make the background paper, cut a boot shape and laced it with thread from C&H Fabrics and orange brads.

So, first, let's stop off at Martha Stewart's website. She always has some great ideas. Same shape for the coffin boxes that I posted for yesterday's Coffin treat box. These are used for invitations.

More Martha Stewart invitation ideas can be found here.

If you don't have time to make any, maybe you would want to choose from these websites.
Ballistic Blue and Tiny Prints have tons of invitations to choose from. So have fun planning your Spooky Soiree and don't forget to share pics of your creations.
Toots for now,

Charming, adorable and ever so sweet! ***DT***

That's my grandson Ethan! This layout is all about him and his cheeky smile. *Ü* Watch out girls! I LOVE this photo of him. He is becoming rather conscious of posing for the camera and this one reminds me of how willing he was at that time, so I chose it for my DT layout.

I used elements from the My Mind's Eye - Lost and Found collection. I like the background patterned paper which lends itself to being able to use a stronger accent colour - particularly like yellow. I cut up a sheet of pp as the wording befitted Ethan to a 'T' and the red glitter also makes an impact with the b/w background.


I used Bazzill Basics cardstock in yellow and printed 'scrumptious' and 'in a word' from a collection of fonts that I have on my pc.

The scroll came as a natural colour, so I inked it with Ranger Distress Ink - Mustard Seed to co-ordinate as an accent colour. Other: buttons, thread.

 Have a Magical Monday peeps...

 

Coffin treat box! Day 9

Hi peeps. I am rather short on time for today, so I am going to direct you to a post from last year of a treat box I made for my friends in the shape of a coffin! *Ü* It's here - along with how I made it and a free template.

Whilst I won't be making the coffin for 14 of us this year, I will print off the death certificates as it seems that at least 3 of my family will be dressing up as 'sick to death of work/study'! LOL. I also found this freebie print of a prescription which will be perfect for those who are just about surviving and need a little potion! *Ü*

Have a super Sabbath and if you have or are going to make any goodies for Halloween, leave me a link and I would love to go take a peek. *Ü*

Wreaths! Day 8

I have only ever associated wreaths with Christmas - up until I became interested in Halloween about 7 years ago! I was NOT a fan at all! *Ü* That is until one of my daughters had a Halloween party and the grandchildren had such fun, I then began to look out for things pertaining to. *Ü*

This post is dedicated to wreaths. I shall post photos but not all come with instructions on how to make them but once you have a base, the photos will help you to come up with your own ideas. Who says that wreaths have to be round?! Design your own shape.

If you have any questions, please do ask. *Ü*

This 1st wreath was made with paper bags. It can be made with newspaper, or old book pages. Bats were cut out of black card. Instructions for this wreath are here.

I LOVE this one....whoever made it has chosen a very appropriate door to display it on. *Ü* It's on etsy here - made with gauze and a couple of skeleton hands. I bought some from Poundworld last year. I think they are on sale this year too.  Just add a ribbon to complete.

 

One of my favourites is this one by Karen here. It's actually black but looks turquoise due to the lighting...a rather lavish looking one but didn't cost too much apparently. Made with black feather boas and skulls...

...and this is one that Martha Stewart made - I think this year - with snakes! *Ü* It is one that is mentioned by a lady on Karen's (above) comments on her blog.

I made a wreath back in 2008... an idea taken from a copy of Papercrafts magazine. It took a little preparation beforehand! I visited the local cemetary - camera in hand and took several photos of gravestones before embarking on my project! I bought a cane wreath from my local florist, painted it black, added black netting and webbing. I printed off my gravestone photos but changed the transparency to lighter and placed them onto card, brushing the edges with a 'dry' paintbrush, (brush dipped in white paint and blotted onto kitchen paper, so as to just get a light streaking). It gives an aged appearance. I painted some pegs with black paint and attached the photos with them. Finally I added a spider on black elastic to complete. This is the final result.

Here is another of my faves...although there is a link to see it here, there are no instructions.

There are sooo many varieties, I love them all. *Ü*

If you have a lot of knitting wool/yarn, maybe this one will appeal to you...

...and finally, this wreath made me smile. *Ü* It doesn't come with instructions to make. It looks quite shop bought to me.

So peeps. I hope you have an idea of what kind of wreath you might want to make - if any. It certainly inspires me to see them all - and there are a LOT. Just Google 'Halloween wreaths' for your own search.

Happy crafting.

Skeletons and skulls! Day 7

Whilst ghosts come high on the list of Halloween spooks, skeletons play a big part too, so for today's themed post, we have skeletons and skulls!

Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci!

These skeletons can be found at stumble upon! Although the link doesn't actually take you to the skeletons! I couldn't find them on there. Click on them below to either save to your pc or to view the anatomy.

These skull favour bags were made with a potato print. Simples.

I LOVE these skeleton hand salad servers. They are from a store in USA called Pottery Barn. They were also on eBay but are a 'hard to find' product apparently.

Candles are something widely used at Halloween, take a look at these - very neon and sure to be seen - lit or not.

When it comes to food for my parties, I do like to make a good impression and if there is anything that would shock more - it is this meat head! LOL. I LOVE it and it will definately be on my Halloween table - alongside the Guacamoldy! *Ü*

The recipe can be found here - scroll down...(along with a different photo which I didn't like the overall appearance). The pic above is one I found earlier but I can't find the recipe to it. It turns out the same though. *Ü* I bought the skeleton head from Wilkinson - £1.58 and after washing it thoroughly, will cover it with clingwrap, then a layer of Phillidelphia cream cheese, then layer the meat slices over the top. I bought some Prosciutto ham yesterday. Make sure to check that your food products 'use by' date is well into November or your meat head will be well and truly putrid! *Ü*

Back in 2005, I found a skeleton - PDF on the Ben and Jerry website which I made and added to my Halloween tag albums for each of my daughters.

Lastly...this  Skull a day blog has been going for a few years and has a skull for every day. Noah Scalin began by making an orange paper skull back in 2007 and it went from there. His ode to Steve Jobs is on there too...just scroll down. Today's skull is this one by Chuck Scalin - aptly name 'Tacky'! It's for sale...if you have a 'spare' $275.00!!!

Have a Fab Friday ...I'm off to Wilkinson's to get me a broom...of a different kind...I shall reveal all in another post. Check in soon. *Ü*

Ghosts and Ghouls! Day 6

Halloween is all about ghosts and ghouls and this post is dedicated to the cute and not so cute type.

This ghost would give a spooky welcome to your guests as they enter your front door. *Ü*

Here are the instructions to make the ghost. It can always be used as a costume. Don't forget to make holes for the eyes!

Another make - ghost balloons that you can hang from a tree branch using glow sticks. Wicked!

I thought these little mashed bootato ghosts were cute for little ones to eat. *Ü*

Also, this ghost cake looks pretty impressive - both on Martha Stewart's website.

I'm not one that likes scary - or horror stories/films etc but I know that around Halloween, some like to go on ghost tours. So, just for you that do...here is a website called Fright Nights that organises hunts around the country!

Maybe you would prefer to stay home and watch a movie...'Ghost' would be a good choice for me!

I like this sign - sorry, no instructions but easy enough to make.  

These ghost pizzas will go down a treat! *Ü*

...and this is one chair that I would love...it's a 'Ghost' chair!

However you like your ghosts...do have a spOOktacular Thursday peeps.

Pumpkins! Day 5

After my last posts of spiders, bats and rats...I thought we would have a little breather from all things 'creeping'! So, today we shall be looking at pumpkins! *Ü*

In fact, I think there are more pumpkin pics that I have seen than any other theme for Halloween. First up...

a link to Martha Stewart's website that will give you a variety of patterns to help you to carve your pumpkins - here.

I saw this tool on Pinterest that would be an asset when carving pumpkins. It was found by a lady at Walmart for $9. However, I think there is a drill attachment that would do the same thing. It's called a 'Pumpkin Gutter' but it's an American tool and I am not sure where you would be able to buy one. Maybe you could Google 'Pumpkin Gutter'.

Here are a couple of pumpkins that made me smile. *Ü*

Pumpkins in disguise! LOL.

It really doesn't have to be a pumpkin to be carved. This is a Butternut Squash...

and this is what I am going to make for my Halloween party...Guacomoldy! *Ü*

So peeps...enjoy your pumpkin carving but don't eat too much pumpkin pie...

...as this is what happens! LOL.

Happy carving.