Halloween Craft With Tutorial

I've been to a couple of craft shows recently, and I keep seeing Halloween noisemakers. I would have taken some pictures of the ones that I saw, but they frown upon that at craft shows! I really love them though, but I don't love the prices, so I decided to try and make my own.
And this is how they turned out.

They're pretty cute, and if you'd like to make some too, I'll show you how.

I started with paper mache boxes........

and paper mache balls, and some dowels, all from Michaels. I forgot to take pictures of some of the steps, so this won't be the best tutorial you've ever read, but I think you'll be able to figure it all out just fine.

The box that I bought is too tall, so I cut it down so that the back (or bottom of the box) would be flush with the lid, making the whole thing about 1/2" wide. DO NOT put the box inside the lid yet, because it will GET STUCK! Now go ahead and embellish the lid or ball the way you want, by painting, decoupaging, etc.

You don't have to paint your dowel, but I painted all of mine black.

Now put something inside your box or ball that will rattle when you shake it. I used split peas! Then close your box. Ok, here's where I should have taken more pictures! You need to make a hole that your dowel will fit through. I used a drill, going very slowly so that I didn't bend the box. Start with a small bit, and work your way up to the one that's the same size as your dowel. When I was ready to push my dowel in, I put a drop of hot glue on the tip of the dowel, so that when the dowel was all the way in, the dowel would adhere to the top of the box and not flop around inside. Does that make any sense at all? I had lots of fun making these, and I'm working on a couple more. If you have any questions, because you couldn't make heads or tails of this tutorial, feel free to email me. Now get shakin', and give these a try!

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!
I went to lots of yard sales, but it was the estate sales where I really found alot of loot! And there were additions to lots of my collecting categories too.

The VINTAGE CHRISTMAS category saw alot of additions. None of this was priced, so I was pretty nervous when I brought it all up to the table to pay. The cashier asked if $6 was ok. That could possibly be the stupidest question I've ever been asked!

Oh, and little elf dudes? Yes, the rumors you've heard are true.

You WILL end up in this jar. just like every other elf!

The HALLOWEEN category saw lots of additions. These blow molds, vintage and new, were $1 each. I'm selling a couple of these, so check my sidebar to see what I'm UN-hoarding on Ebay.

These are some of the die cuts that I got at that same estate sale.

I've always wanted these two.

The best part is that they were 25 cents each!

The PATRIOTIC category got one addition. I've been seeing these hats all summer. They're vintage, and I love them, but they're made of styrofoam, and I've felt that they would break so easily. This one was so cheap that I decided I wouldn't feel too bad if it broke.

The McCOY POTTERY category got that big pink vase added to it.

And the VINTAGE AVON category received another parakeet bottle and that groovy Demistik, Hawaiian White Ginger scented. My favorite when I was a teenager!

And last we have three additions to the VINTAGE GARDENING TOOLS category. All in all, a very fine week for collecting. Again, don't forget to check out what I'm selling on Ebay each week, because you might have seen something here that you liked, and it just might be for sale!
So, did any of your collecting categories get some additions?

Halloween Crafts

Happy Fall! Today is the first official day, but it's been feeling mighty autumnal around here for a while. I swore I wasn't going to turn the heat on until October, but I didn't want to freeze our little parakeets, so I had to break down and turn it on!

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter handed me this Lefton figurine, Miss November. She had decided that she was going to clean off her shelves and pack away things from her childhood. Right away I knew what I wanted to do with her.

I turned her into Miss Halloween!

Isn't she cute?!

I hate when you have an idea for something, and you can't find the necessary stuff to make it. I was looking for a paper mache moon at Hobby Lobby, but they didn't have any, so my daughter Liz made me one!

See? Isn't she amazing?

And once I had that moon, I was able to make this! The owl came from Michaels, and I made him a little party hat too.

I also made some flags.

I love making these, because they take no time at all, which is my kind of craft.

And lastly, we have a treat cone. I have a couple of other things that I'm working on, but honestly I don't know why I do it, because I have a teeny weeny house and I don't know where I'm going to put it all. But I can't stop!

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!
My friend Nancy and I had a garage sale over the weekend. As each customer told us about how many sales there were in the area that day, all I could think was "I Wish I Was Garage Saling!!!". It was sheer torture knowing there were sales going on without me!

I did get to go to the flea market on Sunday, but all I got were these little tin plates. Cute, aren't they?

I bought this cat from Nancy at our sale. As hard as I try, I never seem to be able to have a garage sale without buying something!

This old light-up pumpkin came from a thrift store. It's always a thrill to find something vintage in amongst a ton of new stuff.

Ok, I confess, I did sneak in a sale or two......while I was out taking down the signs from our sale! I found a few additions for the Easter collection.

And a red, white & blue snowman. So that's it. That's all of my finds. At least I found some holiday stuff, which is my favorite thing, but I hate it when having a garage sale interferes with my garage saling! So, did YOU get to go garage saling over the weekend?

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!

It was a glorious day at the flea market, and when I saw this pink phone, it was love at first sight! But where would I put it? I didn't have the answer, so I walked away. When I decided that I just had to have it, I had to walk back across the entire flea market, because it was in the very last aisle. Would it still be there? Well, obviously it was, and I was able to negotiate a lower price too! Pepto Bismol pink, wouldn't you say?

An old flamingo tray, now sitting on the toilet tank. Fancy, huh?

Lovely vintage tablecloths and a dish towel.

I was happy to find one of those vintage pins where you pull the string and Santa's nose lights up. I had one of these when I was little. Did you?

And I just have to say that I met the nicest woman at a thrift store the other day. We got to talking, and I admired the cat trick or treat bucket in her cart. She told me that I could have it! When I told her how nice she was to do that, she said that it was "just stuff". I think it was good karma coming my way, because I know that I've done the same thing in the past when someone liked what I had in my hand. I felt good the rest of the day, grinning like that pumpkin, because a total stranger had been so nice to me. Isn't it sad that these days, that's such a rare occurrence?
So, did you find anything over the weekend that put a smile on your face?

Patriot Day 2011

Ever since September 11th was officially proclaimed to be Patriot Day, I've chosen to observe it by celebrating the love I have for my country. And by doing some All-American things.

I'm going to the flea market today. Gotta keep the economy strong!

The next town over is having a Patriot Parade. They'll also have a 1000 pound steel beam from the World Trade Center on display. I really want to see that.

We'll watch football. My Green Bay Packers won their season opener on Thursday, so I'll pretend to cheer on Mr. Old Glory's Chicago Bears today.

We'll do a little grilling. What's more American than grilling?!


Afterwards we'll enjoy some cake. I know, I know. That's a German chocolate cake. But I lost my recipe for Patriot Pie that I usually make!

And all day long, and into the night, we'll remember those that we lost on this day ten years ago.

Halloween Crafts-A New Project Every Week!

Recently I got the brilliant idea that I would do a different Halloween project each week. Yikes! I know that doesn't sound like much, but to me it's a big deal, because I'm not really a crafter.
Well, here's my first creation. I love how this bunting looks against the green cabinet! My sewing machine is all bajiggety again, so I had to do this completely by hand.

You would think that it would be a very satisfying feeling to make this completely by hand. You would be wrong! In the time it took me to make this, I probably could have made two or three by machine. And I probably wouldn't have jammed that needle up under my thumb nail like I did. Still, I think it turned out well. I need to make two more, which will involve another trip to JoAnn Fabrics. They have alot of great Halloween fabric this year.

Next week, it will be time to make something with these. Can you guess what it will be?