BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, all. Can't believe we're at the end of the first full week of October! I love that the temperatures here are cooling down (and by cooling down I mean under 100!), but this also marks the return of craft fair and market season down here in Southern AZ. There are some held during the Summer in the evenings and some indoor venues, but with cooler temps, our big markets return. 

This week I shared: 

Trick or Treat Banner

and am busy finishing up this year's Halloween cards for friends and family. 

As always, you all shared some wonderful creations last week, so let's take a look at a few!

Selep Imaging shared another in a series of her incredibly beautiful mosaics, this time an Autumn Tree Mosaic. 

Whether you have littles or prefer more whimsical Halloween decor, this DIY Monster Wreath from Press Print Party has you covered! 

For a spookier Halloween Wreath, check out this one from Building Our Hive!

Finally, these Halloween Whoopie Pies from Cindy's Online Recipe Box are the perfect treat for a Halloween Dinner or party! Red Velvet and Devil's Food.

Thanks for coming to my weekly party, and I can't wait to see the goodies you have this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Halloween Crafting: Cricut Trick or Treat Banner

 

I wanted to add a banner to my Halloween decor this year, so I did! The "trick" was getting a picture. 

Supplies:

• Cardstock in Coordinating Colors 
• Glitter Cardstock
• Cutting Machine (Cricut Maker)
• Tape Gun and Adhesive Foam Squares

I added in some light lavender to my color scheme this year, so I made it the focal of my banner, choosing a lavender glitter cardstock, lavender and black plain cardstock. 

In Cricut Design Space, I chose a banner shape from within CDS, and used a font called BFC Macabre, which I downloaded, but now of course, can't remember from where. I sized the banner and letters to the size I wanted, used the offset feature to cut a black panel, then cut the lavender panel and then the letters.

I used the foam squares to attach the glitter layer of each letter to the offset layer. To attach the lavender and black banner pieces, I used my adhesive tape runner. 

Once each panel was finished, I strung together with baker's twine, and some grosgrain ribbon on each end! 

Et, voila! The skeleton in the middle is from Dollar Tree. 

BFF Open House

 

Happy OCTOBER and Friday Eve! How is it already October? Fourth quarter? Peak Holiday Season? Crazy. 

I hope you all had a good end of September. It's full steam ahead from here on out. 

This week I shared: 

Mackenzie Childs Inspired Mini Pumpkin Stack

and

Nightmare Before Christmas Ornaments

And you all were busy at last week's party with lots of fun Fall ideas, so let's take a look at a few. 

Petticoat Junktion shared a wonderful thrift find and makeover with this Candle Holder Makeover, perfect for Fall. 

My French Twist shared how to make and decorate with these Mini Paper Pumpkins. No machine needed! 

Steph Creates Things shared How to Transform Terra Cotta Pots into gorgeous Fall decor. 

And finally, check out these delicious-looking Caramel Cashew Bars from Recipes Simple! Perfect for afterschool or sports team snacks, or anytime!

Thanks to all who linked up, and can't wait to see what you have to share this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Halloween Crafting: Nightmare Before Christmas Ornaments

 

I finally did something I've been meaning to do for a few years, which is to add some "The Nightmare Before Christmas" elements to my Halloween Tree. I promised myself after our Disneyween-a-Versary trip that I wouldn't let another year go by!

Supplies:

• Flat Acrylic Ornaments
• Acrylic Paints
• SVG Files
• Vinyl
• Cutting Machine

Every so often, I have a "TEMU moment," which is how I ended up with way too many of these acrylic ornaments. I found the SVGs online and imported them into my Cricut Design Space Software and sized to fit my ornaments. Since my tree is mostly black, white, and purple, I decided to cut the images out using black vinyl and applied to one side. 

I grabbed acrylic paints in the colors that match the characters and painted the backs of the ornaments. For Sally, I just did the face/body. For the others, I covered the whole back. 

I painted using a sponge spouncer which is why the wet paint looks, well, spongey, but it dries flat. I used two coats for opacity. 

To secure them to my tree, I used some black glitter pipe cleaners. Easy Peasy! 

TIP: If you don't have a cutting machine, you could easily trace these onto the ornaments using a paint pen, then paint the backs. I think that would give the same effect.

But wait, there's more! The Haunted Mansion also has a really cute wreath made out of bones for Zero the Dog from the movie. I knew I had some "bags o bones" from Dollar Tree in my stash, so that gave me an idea for another addition to my tree.

Each package comes in three different sizes which worked great for my idea. I laid out a basic shape, and glued a base together with hot glue. Then I just kinda added to it and built up.

They naturally formed a kind of dog-house shape! 

After it was assembled, I hit it with some white spray paint. I wanted a banner like the one in The Haunted Mansion has, so I cut two shapes from scrap paper and then wrote ZERO on by hand. 

These were super easy to make, and I love how they look on my tree! 

Sharing At: 

Sundays on Silverado 

Halloween Crafting: Dollar Tree Mini Stackable Pumpkins Mackenzie Childs Treatment

 

In last week's party, I featured some Mackenzie-Childs-inspired pumpkins shared by Master Pieces of My Life, which in turn inspired me to make some. Actually, make some more because I did these a few years ago:

This time around, I used the Mini Stackable Pumpkins from Dollar Tree. I've always loved the signature black and white. 

Supplies:

• Mini Stackable Pumpkins (Dollar Tree)
• Multi-Surface Acrylic Paint
• Metallic Gold Paint Pen

Have you seen these mini-stacked pumpkins? They're perfectly tabletop-sized. Naturally, I had to buy more than one set!

This was pretty quick and basic. I thought I took more in-process pictures than I did then realized it's because there's not that much to them! 

Here are the pumpkins separated. I decided to do the top and bottom the same just following the natural lines, and then do the checkerboard in the middle. I did this all freehand, which is how the originals are painted, although my hand is not as steady as the experts! To begin, I painted all three components white with Folk Art Multi-Surface paint in Titanium White. 

The stripes were pretty easy. Not perfect, but easy! For the checkerboard, I just eyeballed and tried to be consistent. If you want more opacity, you could paint the insides, but I was lazy. To finish, I grabbed a gold paint pen and went over the black lines and checkerboard squares. 

And now, I have a new centerpiece for my island Halloween display!

BTW, have you seen the stackable pumpkins they have with the fox on top instead of a pumpkin? I'm not saying I'll have to go back and get that. I'm absolutely NOT saying that. No. Nope. 👀

Sharing At: 

Sundays on Silverado