Cute and Creepy Holiday Doors

Check out these super cute Halloween door decorations! I can't wait for fall you guys! It's my FAVORITE time of the year! Hot chocolate, beautiful colors, cooler weather, pumpkin everything, sweaters and jackets! Oh, and HOLIDAYS!!! :D

I'm so ready for the holidays to be here. I know, it's still only August, but school's back in session and (here anyway) it's been a bit cooler feeling in the early mornings and such and I'm just ready!

So... to help keep me calm until it's an appropriate time to start decorating I've been planning my decorating. (I totally asked my husband if I could go on and start decorating for the fall... I got a big no, of course.)

Here is a cute idea I found that I'm adding to my list of decorations for this year's Halloween:

 

I just love these guys! And, I mean, how much easier could they be to make... All you need is some streamers of your color choice and construction paper/paper plates, and some good tape!

Here is the website to check out a few more ideas other than these creepy guys: Spooky Doors

Y'all, enjoy the end of the summer months while they're here! I'll try to make the most of them! :P

-Stephanie

A Candyland Kind of Halloween

Such cute ideas to add to your Halloween parties this season!! I adore the skeletons they made here! Maybe some of these will inspire y'all to get super creative with your Halloween festivities!! This is from a "Halloween Candyland" party on Catch My Party!! The rest of the photos on there are to die for!!! Seriously wish I had thought of this one first... I love the party theme and their decorations for it are so cute! I am loving all the bright colors they used here, too!

Go check out the rest of these incredible decorations here: http://catchmyparty.com/parties/whimsical-halloween-candyland

-Stephanie

Halloween Updates!

Okay, like I promised.... Here are some of my photos from all my Halloween decorations that I said I would share. I decorated on last Tuesday and it took me a good while, mainly because I had to detail clean the stairwell for the rats to go up!! But I enjoyed it and love how everything turned out!!

I hope your homes are filled with festive decor as well! :)

 I "made" cookies to celebrate!

 I adore mini pumpkins... They're so cute and kind of timeless seeming in a way. :)

 My full potions brew kit!!! I love this piece!

 I did have some store bought ones that I'd had and just added to the home-made ones for some color!

 I love my ghosts! Both bought at Wal-Mart for under $3!!!

 The jar is one of those "pet bat" things... Joc loves it! It's really cute!

 My place settings!

 Full table view for the holidays!

 One of many glitter webs I have!

I really like how my stairs turned out!! :)

-Stephanie

Cookie Mummy Pops

These yummy mummies look like so much fun to make with your kids for Halloween!! I found them over at Catch My Party and they are just adorable!!

All you need to make these cute cookies is:

Sugar cookie dough

Vanilla icing

Fondant

Candy eyes

Lollipop sticks

And you put them all together and you create this super cute Halloween treats for you kids or party or classroom!!

The full tutorial for these cookies can be found on Catch My Party here: http://catchmyparty.com/blog/easy-mummy-cookie-pops-diy

All I need to make these happen are the eyes and sticks!! Seriously thinking about going out to find those two things to make these in a few weeks for Jocelyn and her classroom, maybe!!

- Stephanie

Unique Decorations

HOW cute are these????

So so SO cute!!!

First, paint your pumpkins white; then paint a stencil on them! It looks like the polka dots and bats could even be stickers. The lager one looks like they painted into some of the grooves of the pumpkin, too. After that make yourself a decorative bow and glue it onto the stem... and Va la!!

I love "different" decorations for your home, like these. They could have just bought the pumpkins and set them out or carved them like everyone, but they thought into it a little further and decided to be unique!

You can find 14 more super cute, and unique, Halloween crafts over here: http://bit.ly/14LNuaM

- Stephanie

More Halloween Treats!

The link to these cute Halloween designs can be found here: http://bit.ly/1ajcIO8

Totally loving the RIP cupcakes!! Such a cute idea for a party! And the Frankenstein lollipop bucket idea is adorable!! You could have those strategic placed throughout your home for a party and allow the guests to grab one as they please! You could easily make any traditional Halloween character for this, too. Like a vampire, witch, or mummy!

The rest of my Halloween crafts are coming together well!! It's getting so close!!!!!! I seriously can't wait to decorate this year! Last year we had so much going on with your wedding and things that we just didn't have the time, nor the supplies, to decorate the house with... I'm so ready this year!!

- Stephanie

Potions Kit Pt. 2 - Halloween Day 7

You will now have a very stiff, wrinkly piece of paper! Mine took right around two hours to dry, by the way.

And you'll need some scissors for this part as well, and a pen. I'm using a sharpie pen to write my potion names onto the paper.

  

Part One: cut off a good sized piece of your paper. After you cut it start to tear around the edges to make it look old and worn some more. Have some fun with this and make it really uneven around the edges!

This is my first "label" for my potions.

Step Two: You get to have the fun, creative part of naming all your ingredients!! I have found a website that gives a list of all the potions ingredients that were used throughout the Harry Potter books! The website can be found here: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_potion_ingredients

There are some pretty cool names for ingredients here, some that I'd even forgotten about!

Step Three: After you've written your name on your label rub some hot glue onto the back of your label and then place it on your bottle where you see fit! Your result should be a pretty cool, hand-made, potions jar!

I've made a "Dragon's Blood," "Unicorn Hair," and a "Night Shade" so far!

I'm so excited to be able to make he rest of them! I'll post a photo of my whole set together once I'm done with everything!

- Stephanie

Potions Kit Pt. 1 - Halloween Day 6

I'm having to split this one craft up into two segments... There's a good bit to do for it. 

So, Potions Kit Part 1:

I love witches. I was a witch 9/10 times as a kid for Halloween, I LOVE the movie Hocus Pocus, Hermione was always one of my favorite Harry Potter characters... Witches, are cool!

So, naturally I'd want to make a witch's potions kit! I have found one that is so much simpler than most of the others out there. I have seen some that just look way too hard to make, they look too time consuming and are just as good as some of the simpler ones!

You'll need:

1. Empty glass jars

2. Spray paint (I'm using a glossy black... It's only $.98 at Walmart!)

3. A tall bowl, or cup

4. One tea bag

5. Scissors

6. Small paper bag

As you can see I have an assortment of jars here... A wine bottle, pasta sauce jar, and Parmesan cheese jar. I just saved some jars and bottles that ended up having a really neat and different shape to them for this project to make it look really eclectic.

Step One: You'll want to peal off all those pretty labels from your jars!

 I found this on Pinterest... It says some hot water, the Oxi Clean, and then a dash of soap will EASILY remove these!

I just used a hot water/Dawn dish detergent soak and sprayed on (before putting the jars into the bath) some Windex. Mine worked well, I had to very minimal scrubbing to get the last little bits off.

Step Two: Spray paint your jars and bottles! You'll need to really cover those, too. I take mine all outside at once and spray them down then come back in about 15 minutes and spray them again if needed. These are some more that I've already painted.

The wine bottle on the left has a red tint to it if you notice.... It was originally an all red bottle and while spraying it I started to look and noticed how neat it looked, so I only dusted that one. I'm labeling it "Dragon's Blood" in the end!! :)

Step Three: Cut up your paper bag! I kinda butchered mine, oops! :)

But it still works! It doesn't have to be completely together for it to do it's part!

Step Four: Crumple up your bag! I did mine twice to ensure it wrinkled well.

Then place it inside your bowl or cup.

Step Five: Add REALLY hot water to your bowl for the bag to soak in for a little bit! Once the bag has submerged into the water and has started to expand again. Add your tea bag into the mix!

This ages the paper and helps hold those wrinkles, so it looks old and ancient!

I let mine sit in this mix for about five minutes. I made sure to dip the tea bag multiple times to release it into the water for the bag to soak up.

Step Six: Remove your paper bag and lay it flat on a towel or something to dry. I'm not quite sure how long this will take. I'm guessing at least an hour or two! (Which is why this is a two part blog!!)

At this point if you need to paint more jars or something for this project I'd do it now! You'll have plenty of time to do so! :)

That's all the steps I have for you now! My papers are drying and I have to go get ready for a wedding in a few hours!! We'll finish this project tomorrow!!!

- Stephanie

Glowing Eyes! - Halloween Day 5

I found this really easy Halloween DIY on Pinterest not too long ago... It looks like it'd be a really fun addition to the outside of your house for Halloween night.
Now... I have not actually made these yet. I was planning on waiting till Halloween to do so, but I'm going to do a test run tomorrow night to see if these eyeballs really can glow at night!

All you need are some glow sticks (red, white, green, or pink should do it), toilet paper rolls, masking tape, and scissors!
Cut out your eyes of choice, tape one end of the toilet paper roll, then break your glow stick. Once it's placed inside the roll tape up the other side so it won't slide back out!
Then find a visible place to set the eyes in your bushes and watch them glow!

I'm really hoping these work!! I was so planning on lining the bushes in our drive way with these. I promise I'll let y'all know whether this works or not late Sunday night!
If you happen to already know whether they do or not drop a comment for everyone to see!

- Stephanie

Sparkly Spider Webs - Halloween Day 4

I found the idea for this on Pinterest... Sparkly webs to display around your home! I thought they were pretty cute!

This is my first one! They are SO easy to make AND your kids can help you or make their own with you!!

You'll need:

1. Elmer's glue bottle(s)
2. Glitter
3. Wax paper

To make these, lay out your wax paper (SHINY SIDE UP!!!). Think of the pattern you want to lay out, then just start to use the glue as your pen or pencil and draw your web! Do it a little thicker than you'd think, it can break once it's all dried.
Once you're done with your drawing start shaking that glitter!! Cover it all up with glitter. You can easily pour excess back into your container, LET THE WHOLE THING DRY BEFORE YOU SHAKE OFF THE GLITTER!!!
After it's dried and you've re-stored the remaining glitter, peel it off. Be careful as you're doing this. I started at the corner of my web and peel it up then started to run my thumb nail up each of the lines to get it off the paper.

I'm thinking of putting some of mine on my door with my wreath to make it a little more fun and then in the corners of doors around the house.
My full webs, circles, I'm placing under pumpkins on tables!
Be creative with yours!! Encourage your kids to use different colors and designs, if they want to! Jocelyn, I think, wants to make a pink one for her room... I'm laying out a lot more paper when we make hers!!

Please enjoy this sparkly craft for Halloween! It's something fun for the kids to get involved in, too (which is always good!) And I LOVE how easy these are to make!!!!

- Stephanie

A Creepy Crawly Halloween Wreath - Halloween Day 3

I have found many similar wreaths like this one for Halloween, but I completely free-handed this one! No help from Pinterest what so ever! I can NOT wait to put this super fun addition to our house up on our door next month when we start to decorate!
I really hope that it creeps some people out when they come to the door and see it!

I, unfortunately, made this over a month ago so I have no tutorial images to share with you all. I will explain how I made this fun wreath as best I can, though!

What you'll need for this project:

1. wreath
2. plastic spiders
3. hot glue gun
4. ribbon
5. spider webbing

I used a hay wreath (bought from Michael's!!). They have three different sizes, I chose the medium sized wreath. I almost bought one that was made out of a similar material as the traditional Christmas wreaths are made out of, only it was black and sparkly! I'm SO glad that I found the hay wreaths... I think it looks more like the spiders took it over while it was "put away."

I also bought all of my spiders from Michael's. I bought two 6 packs of black spiders and then another set of three that could be clipped onto something (a headband, perhaps!). One of those three was larger, so I made her the "queen" and placed her on top.

The webbing is that stuff that everyone uses to decorate doors, windows, and porches and can be found at Michael's, Wal-Mart, K Mart, and probably a few other places around your area.

I started out by cutting a section of the webbing off of the bundle. I started to stretch and stretch that stuff all around my wreath till it covered it and looked realistic. The hay really helps tack the webbing down so I didn't have to do a whole lot of work on keeping it in place.
When I did need some help, I took needles and pinned the webbing down where I needed to come back and glue it in place so as to hold it better.

Once the webbing was stretched and glued, where it needed it, I then wrapped my ribbon around the top of the wreath. I chose that particular one because it went to well with my idea... It's black and sparkly, too!

Then the fun part was placing all my creepy crawlers around their new home!

The one hanging in the middle is doing just that, hanging. I didn't need to glue him. He was pretty stuck once I tried to pull him back out.
I also stuck a really little one on the inside of my wreath, you can barely see him from this photo.

I had so much fun making this! I don't like real spiders, but fake ones are pretty okay in my book.

Here's the full view of it all put together!

I wish you all good luck on your own wreaths, webbed out or not!! :)

- Stephanie

Some Cute Halloween Friends - Halloween Day 2

These super cute and easy Mummies are such a fun addition to your holiday!!

Once completed fill them with your favorite Halloween candies and give them out to your kids! I'm making some for Jocelyn's 4K class and the kids that are in our small group through church!

What you'll need:

 

1. Scissors
2. Hot glue
3. Googly eyes
4. Gauze OR a cheese cloth
5. a Pen or marker
6. An empty and dried water bottle

 Step one is to cut your water bottle in half. I cut mine right under the wrapper. You'll need to leave enough room for trimming it, because the plastic will be sticking out in all sorts of ways. I clean mine up to be nice and smooth all the way around to prevent a little one getting poked and crying!

 Step two is to cover one layer of your cloth all the way around your bottle. Do this so that it looks covered even around the eyes once they're on! I'll also, if I can, put some glue around the inner rim and fold the cloth down over it to cover it up completely! (On a side note: I cut my gauze with fabric scissors! The first one I made was with regular ones and it was pretty frustrating trying to cut it straight and without there being a huge mess on the ends!)

Step three is to place on your eye balls! I'll usually place mine on there to get a good visual for them and then mark the places with a pen or marker to make sure they're on there straight and where I really want them to be.

Step four unroll a section of the cloth, cut it, then start to fold it up length wise to wrap around the bottle. It doesn't have to be perfect, the messier the better... Then it looks more realistic! Once you like the way it's sitting I glue each end of my cloth down, I don't run the glue all the way around because the cloth base helps to hold the wrappings on there everywhere else.

Step five repeat step four till your mummy is covered in his gauze! Mine usually take four layers of gauze to cover them. Three under the eyes and then one above them. I also will "mold" my cloth a little around the eyes to make it look a little spookier and have them half way hidden some times!

Then you're done! And you have an adorable little mummy friend to give out to your kid's class or party! I can't wait until all mine are finished up and filled, ready to be delivered to all the kids that are getting these!!

I'll take a group photo of all of mine once they're ready!!!

I hope you love these cute fellas as much as I do and find them fun to make! And make them your own!! If you have some really cool addition to these guys once you start yours please post your design for everyone else to see! :)

- Stephanie