CREATIVE CRAFTING

Posts Tagged ‘Halloween Decorations’

I recently returned from a short visit to Pennsylvania. While there I noticed in a magazine these pumpkins. So naturally (for me anyway) I looked them up when I got home. I decided to try it and it was not only fun, but easy and fast. I used acrylic paints that I had on hand. I put them out on my porch yesterday, and the neighbors love them! Give it a try and see if you agree!

Give orange a rest -- a coat of blue paint makes no-carve pumpkins jump out of the shadows.

Since seasonal jewelry often has a whimsical sense of fun, try experimenting a little by mixing and matching. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about with these candy corn and pumpkin lampwork beads , which were used for making earrings for Halloween. Wear a matching pair or mix them up and wear one of each.

A friend found these earring and used 24 gauge round gold-filled wire that she curled on the end to form a wire coil head pin, then added the beads, and finished the top of the earrings by using the wire wrapped loop technique. Once the dangle part of the earrings were assembled, she just added a gold-filled ear hook.

I will admit though that I am not one to wear jewelry, but I did make several pairs of these and sold them at my yard sale this past summer.   The only difference was I made the candy corn, pumpkins, bats, even witches out of polymer clay.   I sold most of them so fast I didn’t have time to take pictures of them to show you…so stay tuned I will make more and post.

So have some fun and mix it up this Halloween season!

With his toothy grin and a pumpkin bucket, this cool cat is ready for a night of trick-or-treating! Reminiscent of vintage figures, ours is fashioned from plastic foam, dowels, and painted papier-mache

What You Need

* Green floral foam block
* 3/16-inch dowel
* Drill and drill bits
* 3-x-5-inch oval wood base
* Wood glue
* Celluclay instant papier-mache
* Resealable plastic bag
* Plastic modeling tools
* Toothpick
* Water-bottle lid
* Acrylic paints: gray, black, white, orange, neon green, lavender, and yellow
* Unused pencil eraser
* Matte-finish spray
* 26-gauge black wire

How to Make It

Create the Cat “Skeleton”

1. For the body, use a knife to whittle a teardrop shape from the floral foam that’s 4 inches tall, 1 1/2 inches thick, and 3 inches wide at the bottom, and that tapers to a point at the center top.
2. Also shape an oval head from foam that’s 2 inches tall, 3 inches wide, and 1 1/4 inches thick. From the dowel, cut two 5-inch lengths for the legs and one 2-inch length for the neck.
3. Drill two holes into but not through the base about 2 inches apart. Glue the leg dowels into the holes.
4. Push the wide end of the body onto the legs, leaving 3 1/2 inches between the base and the foam. Make sure that the body is straight.
5. Glue the body to the legs; allow the glue to dry.
6. Push the neck dowel into the top of the body; push the head onto the dowel.