Monday, October 7, 2013

Halloween Goodies Roundup

I don't really decorate for Halloween, but that hasn't stopped me from gawking over everything on Pinterest anyway. That site is like crack, my friends. Fake cobweb-dusted, cloche-covered CRACK.

Still, since no Halloween crafts have really grabbed me yet [smirk], I'm thinking I might just paint the front door eggplant purple, hang an all-orange pumpkin wreath on it, and call it a day.

I may still find something fun to whip up this month, of course, but in case I don't, here's a quick roundup of my previous Halloween crafts and tutorials. (If this feels like cheating, that's only because it is.)

Enjoy! (Oh, and I'm announcing my creepy doll mobile winner at the end of this post, so scroll down for that!)


 Candy Corn Bracelet - which uses real candy dipped in epoxy, so you get to eat the rejects. WIN.
(The rejected candy, I mean. Please don't eat the rejected epoxy.)



Lite Brite Inspired Pumpkin Carving
 Prettier than it looks. Honest.


You'll never look at squeaky toys the same again.


Cheap, easy, and fun. JUST LIKE... um... never mind.



"... it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone'll be wearing them in the future." TRUTH.

And finally, not exactly for Halloween, but The Haunted Mansion is close enough, right?


(No, it's NOT your imagination. :D) 


And finally, my randomly selected creepy doll mobile winner IS... Megan-who-mentioned-she-once-tweeted-me-a-picture-of-Staypuft!! Congrats, Megan, and please e-mail me your mailing address!


So, what are you guys crafting for Halloween? Anything fun? Link me up in the comments; I can still be convinced!

34 comments:

  1. I don't decorate for Halloween, I save all my energy for PUMPKIN CARVING! The most fun thing to do EVER! I wish we used pumpkins for more holidays, actually.

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    1. I think you should start this trend! Pumpkins for ALL the seasons :D

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    2. Hey, some people leave trees up year round to decorate for every holiday, you should do the same with pumpkins! (Good luck finding one for Easter or 4th of July though LOL!)

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    3. Switch to Watermelons for the spring and summer. LOL

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    4. Halloween in Australia is spring - not a pumpkin to be found - so we used pineapples with sparklers in them.

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  2. Jen- I was wondering how the bracelet is holding up since you made it. I want to make one, but can't decide if I should epoxy the candy or make the "candies" out of polymer clay... What are your thoughts?

    Thanks!
    ~ShelbyP

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    1. I gave away that particular bracelet to a reader, but my candy pumpkin necklace is holding up like a champ, no nicks or degradation at all. That epoxy is amazing stuff; the dipped candies feel like glass!

      Clay would add an extra step, so I wouldn't go that route unless you enjoy working with it, or have a design idea you can't find actual candies for. (Or don't want to bother dipping the charms in epoxy, of course.) Then again, I'm both terrible with clay AND lazy, so I'm biased. ;)

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    2. If you're lazy, I must be comatose! :-) (or sister to the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything...)

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    3. Awesome! I love working with polymer clay, so this may be right up my alley. I love the shine the epoxy gives, so I might take a simple project like this and add a million steps. I'm a pro at that. :)

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  3. I feel terrible that I don't do more for Halloween (I'm an Independence Day/Christmas kind of girl) but with two young daughters, I'm going to have to start getting out of my comfort zone in the next couple of years. As it is, we're being slackers and the two-year-old is dressing up as Boo from "Monster's Inc." which meant we bought her a Sulley plush which we're hiding until Halloween day. Thanks for your round-up, though! I'm pretty sure the dragon wings will come in handy in less than five years. (The two-year-old already ALWAYS notices when we're near dragons and dinosaurs and then won't leave their presence. Yeesh! Little nerdling. :D)

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  4. YAY! Congratulations Megan-who-mentioned-she-once-tweeted-Jen-a-picture-of-Staypuft! Enjoy your mobile! Just try not to scare anyone to death...

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  5. I am putting together my costume! That is about as crafty as i get (though i have dabbled in the coffee/tea cup painting art and i LOVE IT.. i may need to make a halloween one..) I have some boards on my pinterest trying to figgure out which ones i want to be (Phantom of the Opera or Rainbow Brite) xD
    Phantom Board: http://www.pinterest.com/fancywallflower/halloween-board-the-phantom/
    Rainbow Brite Board: http://www.pinterest.com/fancywallflower/halloween-board-rainbow-brite/
    Feel free to check them out if you like

    And congrats megan! (i am now plotting to make one..since i think it would be hilarious to hang in my closet at night for my brother to see when he gets off from work..muaahahahaah)

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    1. Total Fail with the link lets retry shall we ;)
      Phantom
      Rainbow Brite

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    2. [chanting] RAINBOW BRITE! RAINBOW BRITE!

      But really, I'll support (RAINBOW) your decision (BRITE!) whatever you choose, Nancy.

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    3. LOL I have a lot of people saying rainbow brite.. i am thinking i will too, my church is having a "trunk" or treat so i just found out.,. I can decorate my van too!!! Now to think up how to incorporate my rainbow brightness into the van :D!!!

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  6. Congrats to Megan, condolences to the rest of us. ;-) I was tempted to mention that if I won it, I could give it to The Bloggess since I live in her fair city! ...and since my daughter (KarateLady's Daughter) was horrified that I'd entered the contest and that creepy mobile might be coming to our house. (I guess that means the 'Daughter' should be congratulated on *not* having that creepy mobile reside even *temporarily* in our house... ;-)

    I think I will go pumpkin shopping & look for an appropriately shaped Epbot-ish pumpkin... :-)

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  7. I'm making these* little witch hat fascinators for my etsy shop (I know, gotta get a move on). I have a dozen already made, but they were sold before I could list 'em! Each one is coming out cuter than the last though, so I'm having fun making more.

    *sorry for the twitter link, I don't know how else to embed a photo without a flickr acct.

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  8. I'm making my Halloween costume! I tore up a secondhand bridesmaid's dress and replaced the front and sleeves to be a clockwork droid from Doctor Who. I'm also making a crocheted fall wreath for my mom as a birthday gift. Hubby and I are going apple picking this weekend so I may get a pumpkin too.

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  9. It's my first Halloween in my own apartment, so I'm super excited to decorate! I actually bought a bunch of random doll stuff at Goodwill, including several identical doll faces (not whole heads, just faces), but still not sure what I'm doing with all of them--maybe a wreath. And I'm dressing as Wednesday Addams and attempting to make a Thing in a box!

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  10. After last year's group costume for work (the heart cards that your pics inspired!), we've gotten a bit lazy and will all be nuns doing Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies".....but I'm hunting for a pattern for the Flying Nun wimple. Jen, do you have any grand ideas or sources?

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    1. Hmm, I remember finding some wimple patterns on a few rennaissance costuming blogs back when I was researching options for my white rabbit, but I couldn't tell you anything more than that. Sorry! (Get thee to google! ;))

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  11. I'm going as Zoey from Left 4 Dead, and just staryed decorating my door as the safe room door from the game! :D I've also made a zombie headboard for my bed, slenderman pages are hung up all over the house, got some fake spiders in random places...Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday to decorate for!

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  12. Funny you should mention cloches. >:> I'm trying my hand at this extremely simple Ghosts in a cloche. I'm sure you and John could easily jazz it up... er steam it up... http://craftsncoffee.com/2012/10/12/a-spooktacular-halloween-craft-ghosts-in-a-cloche/. I love the candy corms. I was impressed at how realistic they appeared, then I saw why. heheh

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  13. My next door neighbors and I put up a 8' spiderweb (clothesline and knots) suspended between our 2nd floors. On it goes their 3' spider with lightup eyes. Who has a Dorito bag (14lb cat litter bag and duct tape) to munch on (Foamies and Sharpies = chips) while playing with Legos (shoe boxes, bottom half of Dixie cup and duct tape).
    Had hoped for your wreath to hang under my rose arbor but will settle for bats (cardboard and duct tape).

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  14. The bookmark is my fav. I made it a long time ago and still use it, it makes me smile. I have a whole Halloween board on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/megrat7/halloween/ Maybe you will find some inspiration. I have the one that takes Dollar Store/Goodwill vases/candle holders and spray paint them [flat] black. They came out wicked cool! Happy Haunting!

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  16. We made ghost masks with plaster of paris and cheese cloth last year. I haven't come up with anything to top it this year.

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  17. Did you see Ainsley's costume for this year on tikkido.com? Peter pan's escaped shadow. It turned out really nicely! I'd link but I'm in the airport on our way to London and just have my phone. It's the post from only a few days ago, though.

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  18. I'm like you this year - not in Halloween crafting mode. Mostly because we just moved to our new house and unpacking seems just slightly more important. Regardless, I did do a fun tray craft last year around this time in case anyone is interested :)

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  19. If I knew how to linky from my Pinterest Halloween boards (yes, plural), I would direct you to these nifty Dollar Tree skeleton redos. They are tres adorbs... for dead guys, anyway. ;-) Involves a Dremel, glue, and various small costumes made from random stuff. Right up your alley! ;-)

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  20. I do decorate for Halloween, but I get a jump on Christmas by putting up my base evergreen garlands, then decking them out with lights, other garlands, leaves, etc. I can take down the Halloween specific items, leave up the general fall items for Thanksgiving, then go whole hog for Christmas, knowing that my evergreen garlands are already in place.

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  21. Here's my kitty pumpkin from a couple of years ago.... http://pygmypuffsandheffalumps.blogspot.com/2011/11/halloween-fun.html TOTALLY my favorite pumpkin carving ever!

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  22. I'm a bit late in commenting, but I made a Halloween gingerbread house from scratch that I'm rather proud of :D

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