Jack-o-lantern Ideas

Jack-o-lantern Ideas, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

My favorite part of Halloween is carving the Jack-o-lantern, well not so much the carving itself -leave that to my husband, but designing the face. I do have fond memories from childhood of cutting open the pumpkin and scraping out the meat with a spoon so mom could make us a pumpkin pie. We still use our pumpkin for pies and I've been craving one for weeks. Here are some of the many sketches from over the years of eyes, noses, mouths and whole faces we've come up with over the years.

A Tutorial on Covering Old Shank Buttons

I’m making some pillows for my sofa and needed some large buttons for them. I didn’t find any in my collection whose color satisfied me, but I did find 2 rusty old metal buttons and 2 very plain black plastic ones. I decided to look for fabric to cover them. The piece I found was a ribbed knit (the kind used for neck bands on t-shirts). A woven fabric would probably work better for this project as it won’t stretch around the button as easily, but I found that mine came out well enough to use for my project.

I know it’s easier to just buy a covered button kit, but I hate having to spend money on something new when I have so much stuff that needs to be used up here at home.

Here’s a how-to:

Step 1)

Choose a shank button and cut a circle of fabric about 1/2” to 5/8” larger in diameter than your button.

Step 2)

Sew a tight running stitch around the outside edge of your fabric circle.

Step 3)

Place the button upside down on the wrong side of fabric and pull your thread so that the fabric gathers tight around the button. Securely knot off the thread.

Step 4)

Cut a circle of felt or lightweight pellon smaller than the button but large enough to cover the raw edged on the fabric on the back of button. Cut a slice in the center for the button shank.

Step 5)

Run a circle of glue (I used Ilene’s Ok to wash it) around the stitching. Place the felt on top and press firmly down and secure with some clothespins until dry. I placed a piece of plastic wrap on top so any glue that seeped out wouldn’t stick to the clothespins.

As you can see in the photos, it worked a bit better on the 2 black plastic buttons because they had a recess on the back, but the metal ones are still usable.

Halloween Decor Roundup

Here are some recent finds I've come across for Great Halloween Decorations.

Ric Rac Pumpkins at Eddie Ross

Bat Wreath at Did someone say party?

Decoupage Pumpkins at Makes and Takes

Framed Pumpkins at Indie Pretty Projects

Tribal Earrings

While working on ideas for the hoop earrings a few posts below, I started stringing together various beads from my collection. There was one set which I was quite happy with; in which I used some turquoise beads, red glass beads and various upcycled bali beads and bead caps. I had to put them to good use. I grabbed some silver hoop findings and hung them from the bottom of the hoops. I then had to string together one more dangle for the center of the hoop. So in no time flat, a birthday project also resulted in a new item for my ReFORMAtory Etsy Shop.

Pink Rose Hair Clip

In a previous post, my niece made her first sewing project, a tote bag. We decorated it with fabric flowers. At the time, I gathered a strip of the pink fabric to make a flower, but we ended up choosing an alternate flower method for her tote. That ruffled flower has been begging me ever since to do something with it. Since this is breast cancer awareness month and pink is everywhere, I finally got to making it into a hair clip, I added both white & pink tulle and a pearly button & attached it to a spring clip. Great for weddings, anniversaries, parties, etc.

Halloween 1977

Minnie Mouse Attacked, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

Since this is October, I thought I’d scan my old Halloween Photo Album for something to post. Here are a few photos from way back in college for Fashion Design. I think most of us in class were dressed up, but these two were my best friends, Gloria as the Ghoul, in her handmade costume of gauze fabric and Cheryl as Dolly Dagger, an idea we created from the Jimi Hendrix song. The three of us worked together on her costume. The body suit with the flames was handmade, the boots were spats we made from vinyl and studs that strapped over spike heeled shoes and I think the choker was a dog collar. She had a dagger in her boots and handcuffs chained around her hips. The cape was my grandmas nursing cape which has since gone missing (wish I knew where). I had made the Minnie Mouse hood/ears years before and the red satin skirt was from a box of costume items that had been in our family for years (mom made us many a costume over the years). I just got a ruffley thrift store blouse and a scarf belt to go with it and used some cut off black hose over my arms. I’m pretty sure we all went out partying together that night; it may even have been the year we saw Billy Joel in concert & saw some truly amazing costumes in the audience.

New Treasury, New Team on Etsy

I recently joined the new 'Hollywood Craft Mafia Sidekicks' team on Etsy. It's a newly formed team of crafters in Florida, headed by the great duo who bring us the local Odd Duck Bazaar. 

I just created a treasury from team member items in Black since haloween is coming