Halloween Game: Pass the Goblin

Hi everyone, I planned to do a totally different post today but my hubby came home sick last night and we ended up taking his to the ER and he had surgery to get his appendix out.  (Is it just me or has this been happening a lot more often lately?) So instead of a Halloween easy sewing project I am sharing with you a Halloween game.

Haunt your neighbors/friends is a good way by playing Pass the Goblin.

Here's the message:
You have been visited by the Halloween GOBLIN, and you now have the curse on you.  In order to break the curse, place a plate of goodies at two homes with a GOBLIN (a note see below); at your house hang your Goblin on your front door, so all will know you have been visited.  Happy Haunting. 

To make it: 
1. Just pull a picture of a ghost/goblin or a halloween image off clip art or find one on the web and type the message on the sheet of paper.
2. create a plate of goodies to distribute to friends/families doors.
3. Attach the Goblin note to the plate of goodies.
4. Put the plate and Goblin on their doorstep, ring the doorbell and run

I think this is such a fun halloween activity and it was a nice surprise when we got visited this week with a plate of cookie.  Spook someone this Halloween with this clever message! 

Sizzle

Printable Pumpkin Carving Patterns - be the coolest pumpkin on the block!1

1st - pick the perfect pumpkin. That could mean a perfectly round one or one that is misshapen and bumby - it all depends on the pumpkin that you want to carve. Buying the pumpkin could inspire the carving you'd like to do.

2nd - get your tools. Get a sharp knife, big spoon and then if you have little tools to carve small curves and crevices, you'll just get that much more professional - like a dremel. You want to be able to shave out sections so the sides aren't so thick and carve thin lines to have lights and shadows.

3rd - decide to wing your carving (might work best to draw something on the pumpkin first, like a pattern). Or get a printable pumpkin carving template - I found a bunch on eHow.com here - http://www.ehow.com/halloween/templates.html

Some pics from a pumpkin carving party last year - going to another one tonight! wahoo! I'm excited for the roasted pumpkin seeds that are the reward for all the hard work.

Halloween Masks - Simple

This next project has zero prep. You can just buy all the supplies at a craft store - I got mine at Joann's. All of their seasonal stuff is 50% now so this might be a good project for the week before Halloween!

Here's what you need: 1 pack of foam masks and one pack of Halloween foam stickers (these were located in the Halloween aisles of Joann's)Again, these are sticker so let the kids go at it and decorate how much or little they want. They come with strings that you can tie and let them wear.

It's hard to snap a good picture of young kids...especially when there is a lot going on but here are some. My boys took all the left overs and made them again and again (peeling off the stickers and starting over) then they'd wear them around and Boo each other. I think they got used to wearing the masks after awhile.

Halloween Banner

Living in a 3rd floor apartment doesn't give you a whole lot of space to decorate places that other people can actually see. I hung my new wreath on my door, but I've been wanting something I could hang in the window that faces outside so I could help spread the Halloween spirit. This is what I came up with.

I couldn't get a good pic of it from outside 3 stories down, but this is it elsewhere!

Pretty cute eh? I like how it turned out, especially since I don't sew very well and I designed it all myself :)

So, since you're one of our lucky readers I'll teach you how to make it!

Disclaimer: As this is my first attempt at a "real" tutorial, please let me know if something I say is unclear or misleading so I can fix it. Also, I figured a lot out as I went, so the instructions may be a little different than what it shows in the pictures, but I'll let you know when that happens.

Alrighty, Lets do this.

Materials Needed
Pennants: 10 squares of fabric that are 7.5" x 5.5" (should be fine with 1/2 a yard...)
Letters, binding & ties (orange parts) : 1/4 yard
Ghosts: scraps of white
Fusible Web
(Sewing Machine
Thread
Iron)

*These instructions make a banner about 42 inches long.

Instructions
For the pennants, cut 10 pieces of fabric that are 7.5" x 5.5." I made a pattern out of cardstock then folded my fabric over and cut it out five times. This would be MUCH easier with a rotary cutter, but since I don't have one, I cut a piece of tissue paper so i could pin it to it and cut with scissors. Set aside.For the letters and ghosts, we will be using fusible web -as featured by Sizzle earlier. If you've never used fusible web before (I never had) please read her tutorial first because her instructions for this part are more extensive. Otherwise, read on.

If you want the same text & images as I used, the pdf is located here. (If not, you can create your own in Microsoft Word by following these instructions.) The text and images have been flipped so they will transfer correctly when using the fusible web. Print both pages.


Now, take your fusible web and lay on the top of the letters with the paper side on top.
Trace around the edges of both the letters and the ghosts (Remember to trace the 'O' twice).

Cut them out with about a 1/4 inch border and place fusible web side down on your letter fabric. Place the ghosts on the white fabric.

(Before you go on, with the 1/4 yard, if you lay out the letters along the edge like this you'll be able to fit everything perfectly.)






Put your iron on Wool setting and iron for 3-5 seconds on the WRONG side of your chosen fabrics. It doesn't take long, but make sure they're nice and flat. Now cut them out along your trace lines.
Now layout 5 of your pennant pieces. Peel off the paper backing on all the letters and ghosts and place them on your pennants where you want them. You will be ironing these on the right side, exactly how you want them to look (Here's where I made a mistake in the picture. I was trying to keep the fabric folded so it would be easier to sew, but then I ironed them on the wrong end. For simplicity, lets just stick with separate pieces so yours will not be connected like these)
Line up images so they are in the center. With my letters, there will be about 1 1/2 inch on top and bottom. There will be the binding at the top so you can scoot it down a bit too. Also, with these letters, they're designed to be tilted more (like they are when they printed out) but I ironed it on before I realized that. But feel free to tilt.
Iron them all on flat (3-5 seconds again)
I used some of my leftover scraps of fusible web on my pennant fabric to make eyes, but markers would be fine too.
But give them eyes! They look so cute now.
Place the two pieces of pennant fabric right sides together and sew a 1/4 inch hem around all edges except for the top! This is where my folding caused me more work...
Snip the corners (without cutting the seam) to make it less bulky when flipping. (Sorry abt the bluriness of the pic)
Now flip them all right side out! Use a long pointy object to get those corners nice and smooth.
Iron them if you wish to get the seams tight and flat.
All ready for binding!
Cut a strip 3 1/2 inches wide across the top of the fabric for the binding. For the remainder of the instructions to be accurate, you'll want it about 42 inches long. If needed, sew two pieces together.
Fold it in half lengthwise and iron. (Right side on the outside)
Sew a 1.4 inch hem around both of the long edges. (Ignore the pins for now)


Position your pennants where you want them on your binding. With 42", I left 5" at the end, then pinned the first one, skipped 2", then pinned the next one, etc. You should end up with 5" at the end. You might want to space it first before pinning, just in case...

Go ahead and pin them down, overlapping about 1/2 inch. Remember to pin with the end of the pin sticking away from the binding so you can still get it out as you sew it closed.



With your remaining fabric, cut strips for the ties. They will be about 3" wide and 25" long. In this pic, they are the short ones.

Place right sides together and sew the edges together lengthwise. My fabric was fraying so I zigzagged over it.
Flip them inside out and then hem the short edges.
Press with the seam in the middle. Then put the ends together and press in the middle.


Take your binding and fold over the edge 1/4 inch. Lay the folded edge on the binding, overlapping about 1/2" also, and pin in place. Do the same on the other end with the other tie.
Now you're all pinned and ready to go! Fold the binding over all your pins and sew everything in place. For the ties, just sew 1/4" hem again, making sure you get the ties in nice in tight. Pull the pins out as you go.
For the binding, I only sewed where the pennants were. (Where there's no pennant stick your finger in the binding) Line your needle up so you go over the stitching that is already there so it looks nice and pretty. The back will be a little off, but who cares :)
And....you're done!
I like this, because I can use it every year. I considered making a paper decoration, but then it would never survive storage and I'd have to make something else next year.
Now that I know how to make it most effectively, I want to make another one for other holidays!

Halloween Pumkins for young kids

Hey, Sizzle here.  Todays easy craft for kids is pumkins.  Every kid has to make a pumkin and while carving a pumkin is a classic family activity it is nice to give kids an opportunity to design their own. For even the youngest kids think stickers! 

Don't worry if your kid doesn't make an actual face - he/she is learning and creating something.  I have let my kids put stickers everywhere.  I think it is good for kids to create to decorate and be able to have creative control of something.  Stickers come off, paint  - not so much. 

Craft foam is great for young kids!  You can buy the sticky back kind and cut out your own stickers.  I cut out a lot of eyes, noses, mouths and let the kids go at it.  I also had some other colors so the parents of the kids could design new faces. 

Then all you do is cut out what you want, peel of the backing and stick on your pumkin.  Make sure you wash and dry the pumpkin first so the dirt doesn't get in the way :)

Here are some of the ones our kids and adults came up with:

This doesn't take a ton of time so I let my kids put faces on every side or "erase" and try something new.  It is fun to see all the combinations you can come up with. 

Halloween Spiders

Hi everyone, this is Sizzle!  This week I am going to be sharing some easy halloween crafts you can do with kids.  A lot of parents I know, say they have trouble thinking of things they can do with their kids - especially if they are young.  I had some of the cousins over this weekend for some halloween fun (most of them are under three) so parent supervision is required. 

I think it is great to do stuff with your kids earlier than you would think. The sooner they realize that something can be made from nothing the more they can grow their imagination and the more they can entertain themselves later on. 

The first thing we did was to make these cute and easy spiders

All you need are a few simple supplies: large pompoms, pine cleaners, googly eyes and glue. 

You will cut the pipe cleaners in half with wire cutters so you don't need as many as you would think.  Everything is easy to find in any craft store. 

All you do is stick the googly eyes on with glue and then bend the pipe cleaners to the shape you want then dip the middle in glue and stick to the bottom of the spider. 

They are fun for kids to look at (who DOESN'T love googly eyes) and also really cute posed on top of a pumpkin, bookshelves, hanging from a string around doorframes etc.

You might get this reaction from 1 year olds!

What's on the costume list?

Let's get the juices flowing for Halloween costumes! Halloween has always been a creative time for our family. Growing up (and since then...) I don't remember having one store-bought costume. Luckily, Mom knew how to sew and could make the majority of what we decided we wanted to be. Today though, I'm going to take it one step further to creating costumes from what you already have.

For the past few years I've found myself trying to make up a costume an hour or so before the party. I don't know what Jeremy & I are going to end up being this year yet, and I'm actively thinking for what hits the spot. Maybe this year I'll prepare a little ahead, but I must admit my procrastinating habit has developed a bit of a list for simple DIY costume ideas.

Let's take a stroll down the path of past Halloweens and get some ideas:

First, (although this did require some sewing and prep time), here's Peter Pan and Elizabeth Swann from this scene. I don't remember the details for how to make these; I just searched for help on the internet and fudged it. I made J's tunic from felt roughly measure to fit around him, and cut zig-zags around the edges. I found instructions for the hat and shoe covers online as well. (You can tell the shoe covers didn't fit perfectly, but good enough for me.) Add a red feather, a pair of tights, one of my belts and he was set.

For me, I made the hat from felt using these instructions, modified the collar and sleeves of a loose white shirt, made boot tops similar to these, (more ideas here). I made the vest from a tunic pattern and altered it how I wanted it, but any vest would do for a general pirate. The "gun strap" was a leather belt with a nifty belt buckle on it.
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Next, and SUPER easy, a sports player. These were my little brother's baseball hat and jersey and a little face paint. Any sport works!

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Here's Sizzle & I at a dance dressed up as Lightning & Spring. Jules was there as Starry Night but I guess she was taking the picture.
Here's the basic idea.
Lightning - Wear all black and add some lightning bolts out of thin cardboard covered. Sizzle had them attached to her clothes as well as in her hair

Spring - I just wore a flower lei around my head and took another one apart and safety pinned the flowers on my outfit. A good pair of wings always adds to the fun

Starry Night - Jules wore navy blue and attached some glow-in-the-dark stars all over her.

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Jeremy sports a simple mechanic costume. Find any shirt with a name badge on it (thrift store special) & dirty-up some jeans. Throw on a tool belt or a hammer in your belt loop and add some face paint for grease.

Also, a cowboy hat is great combined with a plaid shirt and visible belt buckle. Include the boots if you have them.

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One of my favorites from some friends in college. Sweet eh? They drew the stripes on tights and shirts with marker. Then modify some pleated white pants, adding fabric for suspenders. Green hair spray and orange face paint goes a long way.

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The King and Queen of Hearts! I was seriously drawing these right before we left for the ward Trunk-or-Treat last year. I grabbed some computer paper and a deck of cards and fudged my way through it. I connected the front and back with curling ribbon and just wear them over your head. I think they turned out well considering I really can't draw. Could also use poster board if you prepare ahead... and even add a crown and blingy jewelery to back it up.

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Here, I think I was a punk rocker... I grabbed a mesh shirt (Ode to KK's dance costume remnants), a striped skirt with a funky hemline and wore it with big clunky boots.

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Getting any ideas yet? Here's a few more ideas, that I don't have pictures of, but are easy. One year I wore this vest: (say hello to Toots)

with this hat and scarf:

and was a Snowbunny! I recommend wearing this only for outdoor parties cuz it got really hot and I had to take it off, then I was costume-less! If you have them, add some snowboots and goggles to take it one step further. Could also add some bunny ears to help with the pun :)
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These hats have come in handy a few times. Last year we also wore these, dressed all in black and grabbed our huge maglight for a security officer.

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Alright, that was a fun stroll. Here's a few more simple ideas we've explored in the past.
Vampire- grab a black cape & fangs.
Dracula - add some slicked back hair
Chick Magnet - attach some rubber duckies or die-cuts of chicks to your clothes
Smartie Pants - attach Smarties candy all over your pants :)
Mummy - use and old sheet and tear/cut into strips. Sew it around a white t-shirt and tie strips around the arms and legs.
Shadow - Had a friend do this one year. He dressed all in black, wore black gloves and painted his face black too.
Hippie - here's some pants a friend & I made in high school: Just undo the seam on the side and insert a triangle of fabric. Cut a sponge in the shape of a flower and use paints to add some fun. Add a funky shirt and small sunglasses to complete the look.


And to end, my favorite..... a BED! I had my mom look everywhere for the picture of when I did this but to no avail. So use your imagination: We used a flowery sheet and cut a hole in the middle for my head. Then we made a little pillow and attached it to the front along with a teddy bear. I didn't like bulky costumes so we just let it hang and I would hold my arms out to show people what I was. So fun.

Well, anyway, hope this helps gets the creativity flowing.

What ideas have you used for fun simple costumes?