This is Ghostly!

I love making new things from old stuff

Autumn leaves changing colors, children changing personalities, cheesecloth changing into ghosts. It's a time of...change! For your Halloween decor, try these cute ghosts. It's a snap to make them, large or small, eezy peezy! It's not a new idea, but a good one.

Today's project is:
Cheesecloth ghosts

You will need:
~cheesecloth
~fabric stiffener
~black felt
~tall glass or vase
~tennis ball or crumpled foil
~Tacky glue
~wax paper, and Saran Wrap

You should double or triple the cloth (as one layer is too flimsy). The bigger the ghost, the more layers for strength.
Figure out how big your ghost should be. And cut it accordingly.
Take the cheesecloth and soak it in a bowl of fabric stiffener.

Take a glass or vase, and put the tennis ball on top.  (or crumple aluminum foil into a ball). Cover this all with Saran Wrap. Place on waxed paper (to catch the drips from the fabric stiffener.

Drape the cloth (which you have squeezed out) on the top of this, coming down on the sides. Form the edges into a nice shape. When this dries, it will be stiff in the position you have left it.

When dry, lift gently off the form.
Cut out a mouth and eyes and glue onto the face with Tacky Glue.
Use a battery operated tea light to glow it's ghostly, transparent self.

Tip of the day:
I parked under the pine tree in my driveway and got that nasty sap on it. I slathered some mayonnaise on the drips and let sit for about 15 min.  After that, I wiped it off with a cotton rag. Voila! Then I cleaned it as usual.
I'll save those pine boughs for Christmas decorations, and not for covering my car.

That's all for today!
Dee

Fabric pumpkins

I love making new things from old stuff.

The neighborhood is really getting into decorating for Halloween. The air is getting colder, we've had some rain, (and snow up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Lake Tahoe).

So I guess I have to resign myself to the fact Autumn is here.

So I will decorate my house too! Inside and out. Today's project is: Fabric Pumpkins

you will need:

~fabric (fall colors) I used an old cloth napkin, and a tablecloth.

You can use a new piece of fabric, or scraps from previous projects.

~glue gun

~stuffing (cotton balls, fiberfill, the one sock who lost its mate in the wash, etc.)

~green felt

~needle and thread

~green wire (optional)

You will need to make a circle template. I used a pot lid. Put it on your fabric (wrong side up) and trace around it. I used a pencil. The bigger the circle, the bigger the  pumpkin.  (ie. the bigger the lid, the bigger the pumpkin)

Cut this out. Thread the needle and tie the two loose ends of the threads together, so you have a double strand (stronger). If you don't have sewing supplies, you COULD use the glue gun, it's a bit trickier though. You would have to glue the edges as you try to scrunch them together. Watch out not to burn your fingers, ouch!

Sew a running stitch ( -  -  -  -  -  -  -  ) around the edge of the fabric circle. You will pull up the threads to gather the circle, but before you gather it up all the way, put your stuffing in.

Then knot the thread so the top is closed up tight.

Next take your green felt, cut out a couple of leaf shapes. No need to be perfect on the shape.

And cut a long rectangle also. You will roll up the rectangle, periodically gluing as you go, so you end up with a stem.

Now glue the stem to the top of the pumpkin with the hot glue. (You could sew it on too, if you had no glue gun).

And glue the leaves to the sides of the stem. The stem and leaves help hide the gathered top.

If you have green wire (can be florist's wire, or telephone wire), wrap this around a pencil to make it curly. Then wrap a few times around the base of the stem and twist to secure it.

You could use curling ribbon (used for gift wrapping), too. I like the look of the wire, though.

Make a bunch, for every nook and cranny. They look nice nestled among some Indian corn, or squash, in a basket, too.

tip of the day:

If you are buying the wonderful apples that are in season now, here's how to keep them fresh for a long time.  Do not wash them, wrap them individually in a paper napkin (you can pull the plys apart if the napkin has a couple of layers), and put them in a brown paper bag.

Keep this in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Take out the apples one at a time, as you need them. Wash them now and enjoy. You'll be surprised how long they last kept in the bag.

that's all for today!

Dee

Punkin' head

I love making new things from old stuff

Hi!
Well, things around here are looking very Halloweenie!
My neighbor and BFF Gianna was wavering between being a dragon and a knight.  So cute! I love to help out with costume dilemmas! I gave Allie, her mom, an old blouse that was silver and sparkly for her knight's chain maille cowl. And found G's dragon costume at a resale shop. Afterward I had my favorite Kindergartner Gianna over to help me with this great, simple holiday project. I found it in Family Fun magazine, and embellished it.

Today's project is:

Jar Pumpkins

You will need:
~old jars, no lids (labels off)
       pickle, olive, jelly, etc.
~orange paint (acrylic or tempera)
~green raffia, green silk leaf
~votive candle or battery candle
~painter's tape, or masking tape

To remove the labels, I soak a paper towel and wrap around the jar. Let it stand for a few hours, re-wetting periodically. The label should come off easily. You can use a single edge razor blade to scrape off any remainder.

Cut eye, nose and mouth pieces from the tape and adhere to the dry, clean jar.

Paint over the whole thing, on the outside. Not the bottom, but do the top edge.

When it dries, remove the tape to reveal the face. I sprayed it with fixative to help keep the paint from scraping off, but you don't need to do this, if you are careful with surface.

Take the green raffia and wrap around the top several times, and tie securely. Take a leaf and glue gun it to the raffia. (optional).

Put the candle or battery operated candle in and let the punkin' glow! The painting part is so easy, any age can do it. Gee had a ball, and loved her pumpkin family (she made four different sizes). These look great on the front porch steps, or grouped on the fireplace mantel.

tip of the day:
If you ever buy a cake or pie or veggie tray and it has a sturdy plastic lid, don't throw it away. Take off the paper. This is great for using under a large planter pot to catch the excess watering.  I have used these for a salad or casserole that I am taking to a potluck, and don't care if I get the container back.  It holds candy for Halloween trick or treaters and lots of other uses. Be creative and recycle!
that's all for today!
Dee

You "CAN" do this!

I love making new things from old stuff!
 I gave a party a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to use a harvest theme.
So I decorated my hanging light with canning jars with lights in them.
And I made an awesome: Can-da-lier !

Today's project is:

CANNING JAR DECORATIONS

You need:

~canning jars (used is fine)

~leaves (go out and gather)

~spray paint (autumn colors)

~rims for the jars (not lids)
~small battery powered "fake" votive candles
~wire, 20 or 24 gauge (black preferred, but any color will do)

If you don't have a hanging light, or ceiling fan to use for hanging these candle holders, don't bother cutting the wire into the long lengths.

I gathered some leaves and spray painted them (outside on newspapers). Let these dry.

Then cut different lengths of wire. Some were about 20" others were about 30" and sizes in between.
These measurements are not critical. Bend the wires in half, and place each end on the outside of the jars. Then screw on the rims, catching the wires inside. I left some wire extending below the rim, so I could bend it upwards, for added strength.

I added a small wire to the leave stem, and stuck through the leaf, and bent it around the wire near the jar tops. (this works best with a finer gauge wire, i.e. 24 or above)
You can make a leaf garland by using twine or raffia and attaching these leaves along its length. I didn't have time to make one, so I used a garland from the Dollar store.

Then I hung up the wires from my light, and added the fake votive candles. I first used real candles, but since the jars are at an angle, the wax melted off to one side, the flame went out, and left a big mess inside the jar. But if you are using these on a table top, you could certainly use real votives. I like the small ones with the metal bottoms, to catch the melting wax. No mess in the jars. You can scatter some of your painted leaves on the table, around the jars also, for a real autumn look.
(I used the garland idea here, because I wanted to drape it around and hanging down from the light. But next time, I think I'll make some for the table top also, and scatter the leaves around. I LOVE LEAVES ! )

I received very many compliments on this and really love the look of
Country- Canning Jar- Decor!

Another great idea came from my friend Bonnie McAskin (Sierra Candles). She took these jars (with the rims on), added a base that was a candleholder, and sells them as "Hillybilly Wineglasses". They are a riot. And would go perfectly with the 'canning jar decor'. Here's her contact info. if you'd like to purchase some: bmcaskin@comcast.net

tip of the day:
For those of us contact wearers, it seems we always have a couple extra cases lying around. If you don't wear contacts, perhaps you know someone who does, and you can use one of their extra cases.
These little babies make perfect spice containers.
Fill one side with pepper, one side with salt.  OR one side with salt and one with sugar. Hey...any spices you like will do!
But be sure you use the screw-on tops, as the flipper tops may pop open (what a mess that would be).
So if you are picnicing or packing a lunch or taking a road trip with yummy traveling food, you may need a little seasoning to go!

That's all for today!
Dee