Simple, Embroidery Hoop Pumpkins

Here's a fast and super simple project you can finish just in time for Halloween! And the best part is you can keep it up through Thanksgiving to give your house that great, fall feel! Chances are also good that, if you're a craft nerd like me, you probably have all or most of the materials required to create this project! Check out the tutorial below to get started...

Materials:

-embroidery hoops-I used three different sizes, 6", 8" and 10"

-fall or orange fabric cut into squares slightly larger than the corresponding hoops

-green raffia

-2 feet of ribbon or fabric strip

-glue gun and sticks

Instructions:

1. Place the fabric square on top of the inner ring of the embroidery hoop (aka, the one without the metal parts) so that it is completely covered.

2. Place the outer ring on top of the fabric and inner ring and tighten using the screw at the top so that fabric is taut.

3. Repeat this process for the two remaining rings.

4. Trim the excess fabric from around the ring so that no extra fabric remains.

5. Tie about 4 strings of raffia around the tops of each embroidery hoop into a bow.

6. Lay the fabric strip or ribbon across the backs of the embroidery hoops with 2-4" in between each hoop. Leave about 5" above the smallest hoop to create a loop from which to hang the decoration. Glue the fabric strip or ribbon to the backs of each hoop and at the bottom of the loop.

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Hang and enjoy!

Happy Halloween, goblins and ghouls!!!

Children's Jack-O-Lantern Painting

With baby #2 on the way, I have had virtually no energy to do anything once I get home from a long day of work. Poor Claire has been a trooper when I explain to her that mommy needs to lay down a little and watch her play, or must her chicken nuggets yet again for dinner because I have no energy to cook! Now that I am starting to feel a little (and I mean a little) less exhausted, I finally broke down and bought her the art supply she's been requesting for longer than I care to admit (the thought of setting up, taking down and the potential mess were all just too much for this preggo to handle in the first trimester)...paint! 2 packs of watercolors, 1 set of finger paints, brushes, a Mickey Mouse poster paint kit, paper, and one, giant, drop cloth later, and we were on our way!

Once we arrived home, it was on! I grabbed an old shirt of mine for Claire to use as a smock, covered everything within a 3-mile radius in a drop cloth and let her go to town. After finishing her Halloween-themed, Mickey Mouse posters, she used the leftover paint to decorate a white, baby pumpkin we had recently purchased. A word to the wise...teaching a toddler that she must wait for paint to dry before touching and playing with the completed 

projects WILL result in multiple meltdowns. The sooner you accept it, the easier it becomes!

Finger painting was our final endeavor of the evening. We worked on mixing colors to make other colors and used the orange we created to spread and play with the paint. I helped Claire use her fingers to trace jack-o-lantern eyes, nose, and a mouth and placed it in a safe place to dry.  The following day, I knew I wanted to use her creations as Halloween decoration and decided to tweak her finger painting a bit to be able to display it proudly year after year.

I used a green, chevron, piece of cardstock I had in my stash and traced a pumpkin shape on the back of it in pencil. Using scissors, I cut out the pumpkin shape. 

Double-sided tape allowed me to adhere the pumpkin cutout to the finger painting, so that the jack-o-lantern face was centered nicely. 

I trimmed the excess paper from the finger painting and cut down the chevron paper to make it fit an 8x10 frame. Once placed in a cute frame, the project was complete!   

I do believe this will be a household staple for every Halloween and Fall for many years to come!

Crafty, Yet Corny!

In my humble opinion, Indian corn is the most under-represented decoration for Fall. Its natural beatuy and color combinations are a reminder that Mother nature is one smart cookie! To celebrate the a-maize-ingness (har har!) of this natural wonder, here is a simple, Indian corn craft for kiddos...

Materials:

-yellow, construction paper

-glue

-tissue paper squares in fall colors

-green tissue paper squares

-scissors

-pencil

Instructions:

1. Using the yellow construction paper, cut out one large petal shape and two petals slightly smaller

2. Glue smaller petals to the sides of the large petal for the open husks of the corn.

3. Crumple fall-colored tissue papers and glue onto the large petal (aka-the corn cob) to form the "kernels."

4. Glue the green tissue paper squares onto the husks, covering them completely.

5. Cut the yellow construction paper into narrow strips and curl them by rolling them around pencil.

6. Glue 2-3 curls onto the corn cob.

Despicable Me Minion Costume

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My inspiration, courtesy of http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/The_Minions

If you know me at all, you know that my sewing skills are limited and that following any sort of pattern is beyond my attention span! Needless to say, I would love to give you the step-by-step directions to my Despicable Me minion Halloween costume last year, but I sort of cut and sewed as I went along. Sorry! I can tell you that I purchased 2 yards of yellow felt, one yard of blue felt, 1/4 yard of white felt, 1/4 yard of black felt, 1 small piece of gray felt, and 1 small piece of brown felt, along with craft glue, and a sewing machine. In the simplest terms, I folded my yellow felt in half and cut the sides and bottom to fit my body. I then cut out a "U" shape at the top of the fold so that the costume would fit over my head and sewed from the bottom of each side, leaving room for arm holes near the top. I turned the costume inside-out (fortunately, with felt, there is no right-side/wrong-side) and layed it out on a flat surface. Looking very carefully at Google images of minions, I cut out all of the necessary pieces to fashion the face, overalls, and accessories and used fabric glue to adhere them to the costume. Not too shabby for a "no directions, day-before-the-party I was attending" costume, haha!

Posing in the finished costume, along with some costumed cuties

My Buddy and Kid Sister Halloween Costumes

Not only is Halloween my favorite holiday, it brings out the competitor in me. My sisters-in-law host an annual Halloween party, which includes a new theme each year with high stakes costume competitions (Pizza Hut gift cards, Heck yes!!!) for individuals and couples. Fortunately for me, my husband is a great sport about it and wears whatever I make for him so that we coordinate appropriately for the theme. Two years ago, the theme was “80’s.” I knew I wanted to make costumes based on toys/games of the 80’s, but nothing too obvious (aka-PacMan, Cabbage Patch Dolls, My Little Pony, etc.). After a TON of brainstorming (because costume-making is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, people!), I decided on Jason and I dressing up as My Buddy and Kid Sister! For Jason’s costume, I couldn’t find a striped shirt I deemed “My Buddy appropriate,” so I bought a yellow t-shirt and painted stripes (except for the blue stripes…I used painter’s tape for those to save myself some time) on it and paired it with a pair of old denim overalls I found at my mom’s house. For my costume, I bought a white pair of painter’s overalls online and used a ruler and pink paint marker to make pinstripes on them and found a long sleeve shirt that looked cutesy enough to use under the overalls. With the addition of a red hat and yellow label for Jason’s overalls, a white visor, label, and pink ribbons for my hair, and eye liner to use as freckles for both of us, our costumes were complete!