Don't Look Now.....

if you are on my Halloween gift list that is! I am beginning to look for my craft ideas for this Halloween. I like to have my handmade gifts and new craft decor done before I get anywhere near October. That way, I can decorate early and have my days free (well, as free as they ever can be) to shop for and sew costumes. And attend fall festivals. And make a trip to Tennessee this year.....and all of the other wonderful things my favorite season has to offer. Have I mentioned that autumn is my favorite season here before?!!

This is how the process usually begins for me. I see something somewhere and start to think how it was made and how I can reproduce said item. Even when there might be a "tutorial" attached to the item, I can very seldom find all of the supplies exactly as listed, so the craft becomes unique just by the fact that I am adding my own spin.

I love this picture (which I pinned on Pinterest but which came originally from lark and lola I believe) and think I can easily make it by downloading the words to a spooky poem or simply using a page from a book or a dictionary ( I have bought several of these at the $ Tree, so I have no guilt in cutting them up). You can also find pages of script you can download for free in many places. Then download of a coven of witches, decoupage onto a piece of chipboard or luan and embellish. I love it and wouldn't it look fabulous hung on the hook below! So spooky!

I love these! They could be made so simply after a quick trip to Lowes. I'm sure I could find some kind of molding or wooden embellishment that would work. Paint, distress and add the lock and knob findings (available either at Lowes or HL I'm pretty sure!). The Halloween picture would look great hanging here but then the hook could be used all year for keys, leashes, bags, etc. A gift that truly "keeps on giving"!

This frame caught my eye because of its simplicity. Look for an inexpensive frame at HL (remember, they're ALWAYS 50% off) or $ Tree or WalMart-I have found some nice frames there as well. I will go with either black or orange, use a Halloween themed scrapbook paper for the background and fill with either a downloaded Halloween greeting or photo of Halloween past. I don't know about you, but I NEVER have enough frames to display all of the family pictures that I have!

I have recently taken to making embellished clothespins with magnets to use on my frig for overflow seasonal pictures. I thought these might be cute if I turned the wings the other way so the magnet was on the back and the wings would sit correctly on the bat. So simple made from spring type clothespins and probably fun foam. Thought I could make 4-5 per gift and then clip them onto a piece of decorated cardstock for presentation. There are TONS of Halloween tag downloads available that would have just the message I wanted or even I could rig up something on my word program and print it off. I can see it now. Something like "I'm BATTY for you". Well, maybe I'll work on that a bit longer-ha-ha.


Any time I see ANYTHING orange or black, my brain automatically takes me to Halloween...yes, sometimes it IS scary being me. But, I digress. This frame could be made with an unpainted wide wood frame from Michaels for about $1. Paint it orange or black or cover with a themed piece of scrapbook paper and use Halloween embellishments. This might even be a good one to save for the kids for their Halloween crafting weekend with Nana & Papa. I usually give them privy to all of my crafting supplies and it is AMAZING to see what they come up with and how different each one is!!!

And last - at least for right now - are these chocolate covered candy corn pretzels. We've done the pretzel rods many times before so I thought this might be a nice change. I love how the colors "read" candy corn right away. Maybe the kids could do this as well. I know the Dads would like it more than a frame. We'll see. I will be making some decisions soon while I continue to search Pinterest for new ideas as well. Stay tuned. Maybe one of these goodies will be coming in a lovely decorated bag or box to your address soon!