I think I'm addicted...

...to making painted pumpkins.  I couldn't help myself, I saw a couple more designs I wanted to paint, so I bought two more faux pumpkins to paint and spent a couple hours this afternoon painting more pumpkins.  At this point, my husband just shakes his head, but secretly, I know he loves them too.

For materials and tools, you can look at two prior posts describing what I prefer to use ("I take my pumpkins painted, not carved" and "Hallowe'en - My favourite crafting time of year").

Of course I made another black and white one with a "scary" face (e.g., more traditional jack-o-lantern, sans the carving of course).  I broke with my usual design esthetic (black and white) and made a green one that is a little bit Frankenstein inspired.

Black and White:

(The picture on my ipod was the inspiration, I found it by Googling "halloween scary face design".)


Frankenkin:

Both:

I think I need help - but they're so fun to make...  I'll be sure to put up a picture of the whole collection together on the front porch for Hallowe'en.

I take my pumpkins painted, not carved

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, last year I was on a Hallowe'en crafting roll and tried painting pumpkins for the first time.  I thought they turned out great and while I painted enough for a small army, I've already broken the brushes out for a few more this year.  I don't have the steadiest hand when it comes to painting but I think I still do a decent job.

This year, I did a few "scary" designs and a couple pretty designs.  All you need are funkins, crafting paint and paint brushes/sponges.  If you want to make "vases", you will also need silk flowers and your glue gun.

The starting point:

For the two vases, I actually used gourds and cut the tops off.

Base coats:

Scary no. 1:

I have a bit of a Tim Burton thing going on with a lot of my Hallowe'en decor.  Love his movies (Dark Shadows was fantastic)!



Scary no. 2:

I wasn't happy with the mummy until I dirtied it up with the grey.


Scary no. 3:

Not sure what this is supposed to be but I tried something different.  The lines make me think the Yankees, which is the stuff of nightmares.

Here's all three together:

You may have noticed the flowers behind the trio, those are for the vases.

Pretty no. 1 (sans flowers):

Pretty no. 2:

Hallowe'en - My favourite crafting time of year

I know its a few weeks away, but I love Hallowe'en!  Always have and always will.  My love for Hallowe'en probably dates back to my childhood and the fact that my Dad always made a big deal.  In fact, he still does and throws an annual party.

Last year, I went crafting crazy for Hallowe'en. My absolute favourite item was painted pumpkins.  Rather than carve our jack-o-lanterns, I decided to paint funkins and gourds.

I preferred a simple black and white design and tried both "creepy" designs for the front door and classier designs for the inside.  I loved making them so much that I made more than a dozen and gave some to my parents (for the party's decorations) and to my in-laws.

Here is a list of the items that you will need to make painted pumpkins:

Funkins, real pumpkins (washed and dried) or gourds
Acrylic paints in your preferred colours
Brushes and sponges of various sizes and shapes
Ribbon
Tulle
Faux gems or decals

The internet was a great source for designs (as was anything Tim Burton), but my personal favourite (the skull) actually came from the emblem of my hubby's favourite knife manufacturer (hubby is a collector).  Here's last year's lot, lord knows I'll make more this year:

I give thanks for chocolate cake

Thanksgiving is going to be a low key affair this year, with dinner being at my in-laws.  I offered to make dessert and decided upon a simple chocolate cake.  As there will only be five of us at dinner, I decided to make a six inch layer cake, with whipped milk chocolate frosting.  For some flair, I decided to add texture with the icing with a Wilton icing comb.

Always do a crumb coat...always!

Make sure the icing is thick enough that you won't leave bare spots when you take the comb to the cake.

Comb the top first, followed by the sides, but make sure you don't go too deep and leave bare spots.

You can work to make it smoother, but since its for a Thanksgiving dinner, I went with a more rustic look.

Because I baked 9 inch cakes, I had plenty of left over cake and decided to also make a few cake pops.  There are a tonne of websites and videos where you can get directions on how to make cake pops.  They are soooooo easy!!!  It is literally as simple as adding frosting to cake crumbs, shaping the mix into pops, adding sticks (or not), popping it into the freezer for a little while, and finishing it off with a coating of chocolate (or candy).

I decided to leave a couple without pop sticks because I made them a little on the larger size.

Any ways, Happy Thanksgiving!

Yarn and Felt Wreath

I started making this wreath earlier this year, but only finished putting together the felt flowers.  Last year I made a dozen wreaths for friends and family, including two yarn and felt wreaths.  By the time I got ready to make this one, I got really busy with work and haven't touched it since.  With this weekend being a holiday, I have a little extra time to craft and decided to finish this one.

These are very easy to make but are time consuming, particularly wrapping the wreath.  For this design, I used the following materials:

- straw wreath (from Michael's)
- red and burgundy felt
- faux crystal sprigs
- white and red ribbon
- white yarn
- pearl head pins
- glue gun

As mentioned above, I had already created the felt flowers, so I can't show pictures of that process.  They are easy: just cut felt circles of different sizes.  For the roses, cut the circles in a spiral pattern and start rolling them together from the outside in and use the glue gun to glue the bottom to keep them together.  I wrapped a couple around the crystal sprigs.  For a different look, cut a rectangle of felt about 20 cm long, fold it in half and roll it up. Then cut the roll up, until you have a good number of pieces (as you can see below).

Here's a picture of the flowers I made for this wreath:

For the wreath itself, I start by looping some ribbon to create the loop that will ultimately hold the wreath.  Then, just wrap the entire wreath in the yarn (this takes a while, I think it took about two hours).

I decided to add some extra detail to this wreath by creating an argyle look with red ribbon.

Finally, the felt flowers are glued on in the preferred arrangement.  For extra stability, I placed a pearl head pin down the centre of each flower.

On another note, this week my hubby and I also finally got our next tattoos.  Rather than add a separate post, I figured I'd post it here.  As I'm both a lawyer and a Libra, I've wanted this design for years, but just hadn't gotten around to getting it done.  The hubby was getting a new piece on his arm and I was waiting, so I figured I could make better use of my time by getting the scales of justice done.  The artist added the Libra sign at the top.  

I love it!!!

I wouldn't eat that cake if I were you...

I don't get to make them very often, but I must confess that I love making diaper cakes for friends who are expecting.  In a month or two I'll get to make a new one, but for now, I'll have to make due with pictures from a diaper cake I made for a good friend last year.

I kept this one as simple and elegant as possible and stayed neutral with the colours (notwithstanding that we knew the little one was going to be a girl).  Here are some pictures of the cake in process and the final product at the baby shower.  When I finally get around to making my latest creation, I'll add a list of required materials and instructions for this style of diaper cake:

Pretty, but like the title of this post says, I wouldn't suggesting eating this particular cake if I were you.  ;)