31 Days of Halloween - Day 21 - Frankie Door Hanger

It's day 21 of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop! Can you believe it?  It's going by so fast!  I love all the wonderful projects that I'm seeing on my daily hops!  Take a bow, Wicked Bloggers!

Below are all the fabulous bloggers:

Terra,Tori,Kristy,Kapree,Alison,Christine,Kelli,Windy,Susan,Alex,Monique,Jane,Sugar,Black Dragon,Lisa,Shell,Jean,Julia,Jennifer,Loren,Christy,Vee,Lady Brayton,Lindsay,Little Black Kitten,Celeste,Leigh,Pam,Donna,Valerie,Helen,Sharon,Lisa,Karen,Carolyn,Pam

By now, you know that I save - nay- seek out fun tissue boxes. The whole sides are usable for just about anything, but the overlapping sides are only partially useable. Well I liked this little guy enough to carefully take him apart and put him back together. Apropo, no?

Materials:
Halloween tissue box
Scissors
Hole punch - 1/8" - I used the small hole punch on my Cropadile
Grommets
Cropadile or grommet setter
Glitter glue - I used black to make the "stitches"
20 Gauge wire
Headpins
Wire cutters
Round nose pliers Beads

1. Cut out your focal panel and decorate with glitter glue if desired and allow to dry.
2. Punch 2 holes toward the outer edges on the top and punch 5 holes on the bottom edge.
3. Add grommets to the holes.
4. Cut a 16" piece of wire and fill half way with beads.
5. Slide all the beads to the middle of the wire and put the wire tails through the top 2 holes from back to front.  6. Use the round nose pliers to start a spiral on the wire tails and roll them up to the holes.
7. Make or buy 5 charms. If you make them, slide 2 or 3 beads on a headpin and make a large loop.
8. Slide the charms though the grommets on the bottom and wrap the wire tails around to secure.

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31 Days of Halloween - Day 20 - Halloween Cupcake Stand

It's already the 20th of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop! Yea!  It's going by so fast!  I love all the wonderful projects that I'm seeing on my daily hops!  Take a bow, Wicked Bloggers!

Below are all the fabulous bloggers:

Terra,Tori,Kristy,Kapree,Alison,Christine,Kelli,Windy,Susan,Alex,Monique,Jane,Sugar,Black Dragon,Lisa,Shell,Jean,Julia,Jennifer,Loren,Christy,Vee,Lady Brayton,Lindsay,Little Black Kitten,Celeste,Leigh,Pam,Donna,Valerie,Helen,Sharon,Lisa,Karen,Carolyn,Pam

I am in love with my die cutting machine. It's a simple hand crank model, but I can cut tons of stuff with it! I won the Sizzix Cupcake Stand die when they had a big release bash for Eileen Hull's new designs! Sweet! I LOVE it!
Materials:
 Sizzix Cupcake Stand Die
A Halloween themed tissue box
Heavy card stock for the base
Aleene's Original Tacky Glue
Aleene''s Tacky Double Stick Sheets

	The Cupcake Die has 4 pieces, but you only need 2 of the shapes. You will need 1 cut of top and 4 of the base. I used a side panel from a Halloween tissue box. I had a really lovely black satin finish card stock with shiny black polka dots for the base.
	I used Aleene's Tacky Double Stick Sheets to stick the two pairs of base pieces together before sliding them together. Once together, I added glue to the seems for extra strength. Glue the top of the base to the back side of the top.
	I added glitter glue to the edges of the top and base.
	I didn't have a cupcake handy, so I set the tiny table with Tootsie Roll cheeseburgers and fries.

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31 Days of Halloween - Day 19 - Kitschy Pumpkin

Oh my heck! It's day 19 of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop! Yea!

Below are all the fabulous bloggers:

Terra,Tori,Kristy,Kapree,Alison,Christine,Kelli,Windy,Susan,Alex,Monique,Jane,Sugar,Black Dragon,Lisa,Shell,Jean,Julia,Jennifer,Loren,Christy,Vee,Lady Brayton,Lindsay,Little Black Kitten,Celeste,Leigh,Pam,Donna,Valerie,Helen,Sharon,Lisa,Karen,Carolyn,Pam

It's time to pitch some kitsch! I LOVE kitsch! I make kitschy art every chance I get! Grab your buttons, charms, broken jewelry, beads, flowers..Well, just grab everything and lets get to gluing!

Materials:
Wood pumpkin cut out (Thank you Hubby)
Acrylic paint - I used brown
Paper towels
Hot glue gun and plenty of glue sticks
Embellishments: buttons, beads, gems, shrink plastic pieces, odds and ends leftover from crafting, small chip board pieces, tiny toys, and anything else you can think of! I used handmade clay buttons and skulls and polymer clay beads, small things that I've deemed to personal too throw away or use on art for sale.

	This is my first kitschy piece. I am in love with this style! On of the coolest things on her is the big eye that moves when you turn it.I love it!
	Paint your pumpkin with brown acrylic and wipe off with paper towels before it dries.Gather the things you might want to use. Make sure there are tons of choices.I limited my choices to Halloween colors, but mostly orange.
	Before beginning to glue, try things in different positions to get an idea of what will look just right for you.
	I started by gluing my biggest piece - the flower. Make sure your most important pieces will fit.The base layer will likely not be seen in the final version, so hold back the best stuff.
	The second layer will be the larger pieces.Stop and look around the room now, did you miss anything cool that would work well on this piece?
	The final layer will be smaller pieces and fill-ins.Don't stop until it's just right!My favorite things: The Buddha eraser, the zombie coffee coffee cup, the shrink plastic chocolate postcard from the Field museum's Chocolate exhibit - it was serendipitous that we were in Chicago when the exhibit was there, the key charm I received in a Halloween charm swap, and all the tiny clay skullies that I made years ago.

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31 Days of Halloween - Day 18 - Creepy Cardboard Pendant

Hey! It's day 18 of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop! Yea!  This has been so much fun, hopping and commenting AND I thank everyone for the awesome comments you've give me!

I've done cardboard pendants before, but this one is just so much cooler! I took it up a notch and added more layering. Plus the flip side of this was made from a Halloween Doughnut box! Sweet!

Materials:
Cardboard - a couple of petty pieces and several filler pieces
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Circle punch - 1 3/4" - you could use any size or shape, but it's good to start simply Small hole punch - 1/8" - The Cropadile is the easiest to use through several layers
Dimensional sealer - glossy

1. Punch out cardboard circles - 2 beauties for the back and front, 3 or 4 filler pieces.

2. Glue the filler pieces together, then carefully add the front and back pieces. Try to keep glue off the front and back. Allow to dry - you may want to clamp it while it dries to keep it flat.

3. Punch small holes in the top and bottom of the stack.

4. Add dimensional sealer to one side at a time, allowing each side to dry completely.

If you check the Halloween Doughnut Earrings post, you'll see how to make a dangle for this pendant and I'll show an easy wire bail for the top of your pendant in a couple of days.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 17 - Day of the Dead Cameo

Yea! It's day 17 of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop!   This has been so much fun, hopping and commenting AND I thank everyone for the awesome comments you've give me! 

Dia de los Muertos. or Day of the Dead, is a wonderful, colorful celebration of life. In the days of celebrating, people groom the gravestones of loved ones, hold candle light vigils, break bread and share memories.
The skull is a symbol of loved ones passed and is loved, not feared. It can be a super fun decorated sugar skull that is made even more exciting if it has your name on it! It can be part of a vignette with whimsical skeletons portraying loved ones' occupations and family gatherings. 
My shrink plastic sugar skull sits atop a piece of polymer clay mounted on a cardboard pendant.

Materials:
Cardboard - a cereal box or something similar will work
Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue
Die cutting machine
Sizzix Frame and Flower die
Black paint
Inka Gold metallic paste - Copper
Shrink plastic - white
Martha Stewart Skull Punch
Permanent markers - fuchsia, purple, blue, orange, lime green and black
Polymer clay - a small amount of black
Clear gloss sealer

	I used Sizzix Frame and Sculpted Flower die to cut 3 frame pieces from cardboard.
	Glue all 3 pieces together and allow them to dry. Paint the cardboard with black acrylic paint and allowed it to dry. I used my fingers to apply a thin layer of the copper paste so that some black showed through.
	Condition a small amount of black clay.
	Click here to see how I made the sugar skulls The skull had a hole in the top to put a jump ring in. I chose to cover it with a tiny gem. Form the clay into an oval that fits inside of your frame and is big enough to put the sugar skull on. Bake the clay as directed.
	Cover the black backing with clear glossy sealer and set the skull in it. Add a bit more sealer on the skull. I can't wait to make this into a necklace!

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31 Days of Halloween - Day 16 - Wicked Wire Wrapping

Eeek! It's day 16 of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop!   This has been so much fun, hopping and commenting AND I thank everyone for the awesome comments you've give me! 
 So you made Halloween Doughnut Beads, now what? Now we make them into earrings! This is basic wire wrapping! Yea! Go grab some wire, some head pins and pliers and let's get to making!

Material: Beads - any beads will do, but this will cover a double holed bead like these doughnuts
20 gauge wire
Head pins
Assorted beads
Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Wire cutters

	You don't want to see a wire in the center of the doughnut beads, so you'll want to begin with 2 head pins and thread them from the center out. The wire tails need to be rounded to thread this way.
	This is how it should look with both head pins in place.
	Grab on wire tail and wrap it around the round nose pliers to form a loop.
	Wrap the rest of the tail around itself below the loop 2 or 3 times. Use the chain nose pliers to grab the wire end while the round nose pliers are still in the loop.Trim off excess.
	Try different combinations of beads until you get the look you want.
	Repeat the loop on the other side of the doughnut, but don't close it.Make a loop on the top of the beaded head pin and close it by wrapping the tail around under the loop as above.
	Slide the closed loop of the dangle on the open loop at the bottom of the doughnut.
	Close the last loop as above.
	We'll do the ear wires in another post.

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31 Days of Halloween - Day 15 - Steampunk Bat Neclace

Eeek! It's day 15 of Smeared and Smudged Forum's 31 Days of Halloween! I am having so much fun! This is my project for this week's show. It's the Halloween show, of course! Be sure to check out all the projects for the show - they're so inspiring! Cool2Craft.com Featured on Cool2Craft TV.  Blog Hop!  This has been so much fun, hopping and commenting AND I thank everyone for the awesome comments you've give me! 


Materials:
Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue
Craft foam - I used black, but any color would work
Pen or pencil to trace pattern
Metallic paste - copper
Washers - No larger than 1/3" wide Nuts - no larger than 1/4"
Scissors
Bead for one eye - should fit into the center of the washer Tiny bead cap for the other eye - it needs to fit next to the washer on the bat's face
Craft knife
 Hole punch - 1/8"
String or ribbon Wire - I used 20 gauge, but most any size will work
 Bat Necklace Template

1.Cut out the bat necklace template, trace on the foam and cut out.

2. Cut the gray areas out of the paper bat, keeping the head and body as one piece. Trace all the pieces on the foam and cut out.

 3. Cut out the head on the paper bat, trace on the foam and cut out.

 4. Rub copper paste on the foam pieces. Do a tiny bit at a time. You can add more if you desire.

 5. Cut a tiny "x" on one side of the individual bat head. Cut just large enough for the eye bead.

6. Place a tiny drop of glue on the cut "x" and push the bead in.

7. Glue all the foam pieces in place. **You may want to cut the ears off the whole bat piece and the body with head piece, if they don't line up with the individual head piece**

8. Punch holes just to the outsides of outer foam triangles.

9. Glue the metal pieces according to the photo above, making sure to glue the outer metal pieces over the holes. Allow to dry

10. Thread string through the holes. Tie knots and wrap the wire around the string tails and trim off excess.

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