Pop Art Pumpkins

Halloweenies!

I had never really given alternatives to Jack-O-Lanterns much thought before but Happy Mundane created Pop Art Pumpkins as a centerpiece (pictured) and they are really boss! So I started poking around and found a few other non carving ways to go about decorating pumpkins. You can mix and match any of the following tips!

• Spray painting
• Scoring
• Coring to making candle holders
• Covering in adhesive and glitter
• Decoupage (leaves, scrapbook and magazine papers, etc)
• Gluing ribbons and buttons on

I think the thing that really catches my eye are the painted stems. A lot of tutorials suggested you to tape off the stems but I dig it!

Head Weenie, BK

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

Craftmasters,

My paper crane show, Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul, is running at Second Star Studio in Spring Green, WI for a few more weeks and I just received a few pictures from it. Second Star Studio includes both a gallery and yoga space so the theme of this show is Sacred Hobbies. The project was to use the process of folding 1000 paper cranes as a form of meditation. The space allowed for just over 500 so as the strands start to sell I can bring in more and continue the meditation. I am sharing the space with a talented photographer, Kevin Dodds. He uses real film and develops his photos in his own dark room! The black and white photo is his work of my cranes.

If anyone is interested in buying a strand (between 6-12 cranes), they're $6 and easy to ship! Let me know!

BK

Project Runway Winner Update!

Hey CraftyCrafters,

Do you remember Leanne from Season 5 of Project Runway. Its been a few years but she was the designer with the distinct wave pattern working for her Bryant Park show. Anyhoo, Etsy posted this video of her preparing for this years Fashion Week. Its nice to see she's still doing well!

Bonus: I just found this site So You Think You're Crafty. Its great! It is a 10 week crafting competition with 10 Crafters, a new topic and a vote takes place every week. One by one they get voted off and anyone can vote. Its great and I am totally throwing my hat in the ring in two months for the next round of competition.

BK

Halloweenie Flowers

Craft Hounds,

I've seen a lot of fabric flowers on Etsy and other craft sites but never any seasonal ones like these cuties that you can purchase here. But they are also really easy to make! This Simply Vintagegirl tutorial has a slight variation I hadn't have seen before. Emily makes small cuts around the circle to make petals, while the most Etsy flowers are just circles. Either way its pretty easy and cute! And do you know how many items in Goodwill are made of a polyester blend (and perfect for this project)?

Answer: A heck of lot.

Woof, BK

Colors on Trend

Yallo Crafty-verse,

Among the many things I enjoy about Etsy are their "Etsy Finds" emails. They are cute, pictorial collections on a theme and have a welcome place in my inbox. I have had their Color Theory lurking around for a while now. I love all the jewel toned, bright colors; including Bamboo, Emberglow, Honeysuckle, Coffee Liquor, Phlox, and my favorite, Deep Teal, among others. Now that it is finally Fall weather, these colors are going to be great to wear.

BK

Creature Double Feature

Hey Halloweenies!

Back for a second round of Halloween crafts, this is a Creature Double Feature! Not to mention both of these crafts would be great for kiddos.

Alisa Burke, and her Refine Creativity blog, has a very cute tutorial on Paper Roll Monsters. It sounds hokey but they are actually really cute! Just grab your paper towel/toilet paper rolls and craft paint yourself some Little Monsters! I'm a fan of the puff ball deely boppers. This would also be cute as a gift packaging; wrapped in cellophane so you can see the monster face, tied with ric-rac and stuffed with toys and candy.

The Long Thread has a pretty darn cute Candy Bowl tutorial. The bowls are made out of papier mache and paper bags, decorated to look like ghosts and Jack-o-Lanterns, but you could totally make a Frankenstein too. I like that they look a bit worn. But not as worn as they will after Halloween!

BK

Let's Start at the Very Begining

Helloooo, World at Large!

At the encouragement of several friends, I've decided to start a craft blog. I am constantly on the hunt for creative, useful crafts and re-purposing. And here is where I will share my bounty! Let me be clear, I will do a few tutorials but this forum is to re-post links to other craft tutorials and to show you my own results, adding suggestions and variations.

There are two reasons this is a great time of year to start a new project, like this blog. One: The Fall season is here. People are soaking up the last bit of lazy Summertime and getting ready for holidays and Winter. I am excited for the project to support me through the season. This new focus will make it feel like I actually want to be inside and not like I'm trapped by snow. Two: The holiday season is a great time of year for crafting!! There are many, many people who want to give homemade presents (like cookie-in-a-jar) and are decorating their homes with crafts. So, be prepared for all of the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas tutorials coming this way.

On to the Show! This very first link is a Halloween craft, Jar-o-Lanterns. Martha Stewart has us just paint the inside of a glass jar orange and a face on the outside. Everyone has old glass jars in their recycling bins and I figure you can use the 69 cent water based paints at Walmart if you don't wash them! And this doesn't just stop at Jack-o-Lanterns either, you could make ghosts or snowmen. Heck, you could turn your ghost INTO a snowman!

Till next time, BK