365 More Days 'Til Halloween

Raven Head Gear

2009-10-01T13:59:00.001-07:00

I'm crazy about accessories and found this little black raven/crow (I can't really tell the difference) at the Dollar Tree. I hesitated about buying it but my friends insisted that I do because they knew I'd be able to make something with. (THANKS GUYS!)

So a few days later, with a twist of some brown tulle and a few stitches here and there, Presto! My new favorite head piece was born.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

2009-04-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that book? I used to love, love, love that book as a young kid. Well, this forecast doesn't seem to promise any meatballs but it was exceptionally gloomy that morning. Almost too gloomy for L.A. Well, I'm glad my black plastic chandeliers were there to enhance the moment. Mother, said there would be days like this...

Oh My, It's Been A While

2009-04-06T15:04:00.001-07:00

Hey All. Sorry for the extremely long delay. I've been super busy with other projects. But I'm back with another great idea. This past weekend, my friend had a bridal shower and I helped set the place up. Her sister bought a Martha Stewart pom-pom project from Michael's to add to the decor of the room.

The end product was so pretty but very fragile because they were made from tissue paper. So the gears in my head started turning and because I love to recycle, I came up with an improved take on Martha's pom-poms. Here we go!

Plastic Fantastic Pom Pom

Materials Needed:
10 plastic bags-you can vary the colors if you're feeling extra-creative (all same size)
scissors
wire cutters
20-inch long piece of wire

Instructions:
1. Lay bags flat and cut off the handles and all seams so that you get 2 rectangles from each bag.

2. Stack all sheets on top of each other vertically. Start to fold sheets in a fan motion.

3. Pinch at center and wrap wire tightly around center. Make sure to leave about 14 inches of wire. This wire will be used to hang your new pom-pom. Round off your edges.

4. Open fan and start to pull and separate the sheets. This is where the plastic bags are superior to tissue paper. When I was working on the tissue paper version, I would sometimes tug a bit too hard and tear a petal off :(

And Viola!

New Format

2008-12-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Okay. I think in the beginning of this blog, I was a bit optimistic in thinking that it's be easy to post a new project everyday. But alas, things always get especially hectic this time of year. So I going to make a new schedule. Projects will trickle in every week. I don't want to have to water down the quality of projects just in order to maintain a quota-'cause that's not what this place is all about! So look for my new schedule starting soon. And as always-Enjoy!

Halloweenie Nook

2008-11-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

I always feel that a big and especially fun part of Halloween (and any other holiday) is being able to throw little tidbits that help ring in the holiday around the house (or office for that matter). I like doing so by buying many inexpensive skeleton/skull-items and giving them personal touches and then squeezing them onto regular household utensils. Here, I've taken a cheap foam skeleton, slapped a bow on this little guy with some wire and hung him on my magnetic knife holder. (It's the wire that's keeping him on the magnet.)

Sock Wreath

2008-11-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

If you still find yourself accumulating several old socks-here's another idea to help you deal with them. Now, let's make a wreath.

Materials Needed:

1. scissors
2. 1 large safety pin
3. 1 medium-sized safety pin
4. 10x12" piece of cardboard
5. utility knife
6. approx. 7-10 buttons (it's best if they vary in sizes and all have a "spooky" image on them)
7. 4-6 black socks (or just make sure the colors all match with your vinyl and buttons)
8. 8x8" piece of green vinyl

Directions:
With utility knife, cut an oval out of the cardboard that's 12" long. Starting 2-1/2" from the edge, cut out the center of the oval. Start wrapping socks around the wreath-tautly. When coming to the end of one sock, secure it in place by wrapping next sock over this end and continue until cardboard is completely covered.
Secure end by pinning it down with medium safety pin. Print and cut bow template.
trace over vinyl and cut out bow from vinyl. Place bow at bottom center of wreath. Take largest button and pin down bow to wreath. Start arranging the rest of your buttons decoratively. On back at top center of wreath, attach large safety pin. This is your wreaths' "hook." Now, you're done and ready to rock the house! Enjoy.

Toughen' Up Your Wheels

2008-11-21T16:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen those huge family-size vans and trucks that don fluffy wreaths for Christmas? Well, that's where I got the idea for this decoration-except I don't drive. So I had to spruce up the next best thing, my bike!

Materials Needed:
1. wire cutters
2. 10" of garden wire
3. 20" long piece of ribbon (your color of choice)
4. 2 plastic bones

Directions:
Wrap wire tautly around bones and cross them. make sure to leave e few inches so you can attach the cross bones to your bike basket or handle bars. Tie ribbon into a bow and insert wire through knot. Attach bow to basket and Viola! You're now ringing in Halloween and using your ride as an aide.

First Place!

2008-11-20T01:37:00.001-08:00

This is a good idea to use if your surrounded by many little kids wearing adorable costumes awaiting a contest. I give you the first place ribbon

Materials Needed:
1. scissors
2. scalloping scissors
3. stapler
4. 1 sheet of blank paper
5. 2 Halloween-printed napkins
6. marker in the color of your choice
7. 1 safety pin

Directions:
Scallop the edges of your napkins. You'll need 6 squares.
Carefully peel the printed napkin layer from the rest of the napkin square.
With fingers, pinch the center of the napkin and pull to make a spikey "flower."

Do this 3 times and gather all 3 flowers' points and staple together
Set this aside and repeat with the other 3 napkin squares. Then join both halves to form a circle and staple in the center. With Scalloping scissors, cut a small circle a bit larger than a quarter. Write, "1st" on it. Then continue to cut ribbon ends from white paper. Pin and on 1st place winner!!

Sugar Duster

2008-11-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

I love to recycle when possible so let's get crackin' and make something new out of a plastic lid-a stencil for a sugar duster!

Materials Needed:
1. scissors
2. permanent marker
3. plastic lid (the bigger, the better)

Directions:
Take your marker and decide on a solid design to draw on your lid. One without that's most like a silohuette is best, like the skull and crossbones I drew. Cut out shape carefully. Then enjoy and dust any appropriate snack.

Another Banner Made From Napkins

2008-11-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

I spent some time looking at the banner from yesterday and thought of something to spruce it up. Taking the material list from yesterday add white tissue paper and an exact-o knife to it. Follow the directions and then cut any message into your banner by cutting the letters into the center of the napkins with the knife. Turn the napkins over and glue the tissue paper to the napkins. Make sure the tissue paper is cut large enough so that is covers your letters completely. Let dry and hang.

I owe ya'

2008-11-17T01:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't forgotten that I'm still missing projects from Nov. 9th through the 16th...that's 8 projects! Omigod! They'll trickle in with the daily ones-I promise.

Graphic Napkin Banner

2008-11-17T01:15:00.000-08:00

If you're like me-you love to look at all the cute little designs printed onto napkins, paper towels, paper plates, etc. for Halloween but can't bring yourself to use them because they're just too fun & awesome. It seems like a waste to let use these items temporarily and then throw them away. But maybe this will make you feel less guilty about buying some Halloween napkins...enjoy!

Materials Needed:
1. scalloping scissors for scrapbooking
2. 4 napkins with some kind of graphics on 'em (you can certainly use more to make a longer banner)
3. 5 ft. of string (again you can certainly use more for a longer banner)
4. Elmer's glue

Directions:
"Scallop" all the edges of your napkins. It is easiest and most efficient if you keep your napkin folded. Separate napkins. Take string and starting 7" from the end, lay it down on top of back side of one of your napkin. Place some glue down on napkin as suggested by the dotted lines in the picture below.
Take another napkin of the same design and lay it on top so as to create a "sandwich." Continue with the next pair of the napkins and so on*. Then, Viola! You've got yourself a cute little banner that resembles a Dia De Los Muertos banner made of papel picado.

*For some, napkins may feature 2 different designs and thus you'll want to alternate the order of each design to create a pattern on your banner. Also, my designs were printed on an angle so I glued them down at an angel to make sure that when hung, the napkins' drawings would hang upright.

Mask Sconce (Nov. 8th)

2008-11-13T23:30:00.000-08:00

I personally have always admired vintage/vintage-inspired Halloween masks. They have so much character, personality, and are super-vibrant. But you know, sometimes they're made for kids and what is a 25 year-old to do with one of these lil lovelies? Here's an idea and it's super easy.

Mask Sconce

Materials Needed:
1. mask (thin plastic ones work best and try to avoid paper masks)
2. light fixture OR small LED press-on light with double-sided tape on back

Directions:
Adjust and shorten mask's strap so that it is the same length as the width of the mask. Hang mask on light fixture*. But if you're using a press-on light then choose your spot on the wall and stick the light in place. Then, hang mask on top of light.

*Make sure you use a low wattage bulb like a florescent light bulb. Also, avoid having the mask directly touch the light bulb to avoid burning your mask. You can wrap some light weight chicken wire around your fixture to get a "cushion" between your bulb and mask.

So So Sorry

2008-11-13T23:17:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy my time spent working on T&A Friendly and all but I really, really hate having to fix anything related to websites. Arrgh! That's exactly what I've been trying to deal with for the last couple of weeks and due to that and last week's trip to San Francisco I've now fallen behind on my Halloween blog duties. Be patient with me folks and I'll have us all caught up real soon.

In the mean time, why not enjoy this cute picture of my niece as Batman last year.
XOXO

Hey All

2008-11-06T00:02:00.000-08:00

As most of you may know, I having an on-going faux taxidermy project called "Stuft Acquaintances." I make these under my company's name, T&A Friendly. Well, I was fortunate enough to get invited to show my guys at this year's Plush You! Show in both Seattle and San Francisco and because I'm leaving town to attend the San Fran opening reception I've decided to post some projects early and the rest when I return next week. (These are/will be dated in their titles.)

Hope to see some of you out there at Double Punch on Friday for the reception. These are the two rams, "Zelda" and "F.Scott" that I'll be showing at Plush You!

Plush You! @ Double Punch
1821 Powell St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
www.plushyou.blogspot.com

This Mask Socks! (for Nov.7)

2008-11-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

I get so peeved when a pair of socks I love gets a hole and thus renders itself useless....or so you thought. Old socks can lend themselves to many different new uses and in the name of Halloween masquerade, I have thought of one. Let's make ourselves a mask that would make Adam West's and Burt Ward's Batman and Robin proud.

Materials Needed:
1. pair of old dress socks (a patterned pair is most attractive)
2. scissors
3. fabric scissors
4. sewing machine
5. tape
6. paper for printing template (let's aim to reuse the back of some scrap paper in the spirit of recycling!)
7. pins
8. fabric pencil/marker (for tracing template)
9. measuring tape

Directions:
Print and cut template.
Flip socks inside out and flatten so that "heal" lays on top instead of on side like shown below.
Sew along heal's edge so that you get a nice flat shape instead of a "sock shape." But don't flip sock just yet!
Place template on top and trace. Make sure to center template on top of patterned fabric and keep it off of the sock's toes and ankle band.
Unlike the template shown, yours SHOULD still the tabs attached. You will need to trace those as well and make their edges run OFF your sock. You'll need these edges intact
Once tracing is complete, pin fabric together and sew along edges. Flip sock. Trace "eyes" from template. Pin together and sew along edges. Cut out shapes A & B from your sock.
Place this sock aside. Flatten second sock so that heal is on the edge. (This sock should be flipped inside out too.) Pull top and bottom so that you get a straight line along the edges. Draw a line an 1" away from "top" of sock and sew along this edge. Use measuring tape to help. You may also want to pin the heal in place to keep the sock flat.
Cut off excess fabric and flip sock. Join both pieces together buy tucking the toes into the ankles. Sew shut along these "joints" and there you have it!

Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake...Mmmmmm (for Nov. 6)

2008-11-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

You'd be crazy not to salivate at this idea! I got the recipe from Martha Stewart's website. It was soooo easy to make and I knew the recipe would lend itself to some playful tweaking. But I didn't want to take the easy-and sometimes too sugary-way out by trying to drown the cheesecake in Orange and Black frosting. Can you imagine? Frosting on a cheesecake!?! Gross!

Then it came to me like a little flash of delicious cookie crumbs. Why not use a marbling technique to make a jack-o-lantern's face onto the cheesecake and here it follows:

(Recipe taken from www.marthastewart.com)
Ingredients:
Serves 12

FOR CRUST
1. 1-1/4 cups graham-cracker crumbs (from 10 whole crackers)
2. 1/4 cup sugar (during one of my bakings, I forgot to add this and it didn't seem to make a difference at all)
3. 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

FOR FILLING
1. 4 packages (8 oz. each) bar cream cheese, very soft
2. 1-1/4 cups sugar
3. 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
4. 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
5. 2 tbsp pumpkin-pie spice (I didn't have this so I mixed 1 tbsp of ginger with 1 tbsp cinnamon)
6. 1 tbsp vanilla extract
7. 1/2 tsp salt
8. 4 large eggs, room temperature
9. toothpicks
10. knife

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. Assemble a 9-inch nonstick springform pan, with the raised side of the bottom part facing up.
2. Make the crust: In a medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until moistened. press firmly into bottom of pan. Bake until golden around edges. 10-12 minutes.
3. make the filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar on low speed until smooth; mix in flour (don't overmix). Add pie spice, vanilla, and salt for about 25 seconds. Then reserve 1/4 of the mix in a separate bowl. Add pumpkin puree to the rest of the filling. Add 3 eggs to to larger part of filling; one at a time all while making sure that each is incorporated before adding the next. Add 4th egg to reserved batter.
4. Place springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour "orange" filling into pan and gently smooth top. Carefully scoop "white" filling onto top of "orange" filling to make a jack-o-lantern's face. Use toothpicks to drag white filling edges to "draw-out" any pointy corners of the face's eyes, nose, and mouth. Transfer to oven. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven. Let cheesecake stay in oven for 2 hours more (without opening-fight the temptation).
5. Remove from oven; cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 'til firm; at least 4 hours. Unmold by cutting along edges of cheesecake between pan with knife before serving.

Spider Web T-Shirt

2008-11-05T09:02:00.001-08:00

Have any of you ever seen that movie, "Tank Girl?" I'll admit, it wasn't cinema's finest moment. But towards the beginning of the movie, one of the characters wears one of what I called the coolest shirts I had ever seen during my young teenage life. The guy had on a black t-shirt that had been intricately cut to look like a spider web, which he then layered over a white shirt for contrast. Many years later, I'm still in awe of that shirt as I'm sure many of you who've seen it are too. So why not try and make one for ourselves with some minor adjustments made by following the directions below!

Materials Needed:
1. fabric scissors
2. old black t-shirt (This is a great opportunity to give some new life to an old shirt that's almost on it's way out.)
3. t-shirt in contrasting color ( light color like white or gray will work best)
4. white fabric pencil
5. sewing machine
6. sheet of scrap paper (I'm all about recycling so if you have a sheet of paper that's still got some "usage" that you can squeeze outta it then why not!? But a blank sheet of paper will also work just fine.)
7. measuring tape
8. tape
9. pins

Directions:

Print and cut template.
Using your white fabric pencil, find the center of your black shirt and draw a dot that's 1" in diameter. Take shape #1 and place it's corner along this line. Tape down and trace along edge. You will trace this 5 times around the small circle, while leaving 1/2" of spacing in between each shape. Take shape #2 and place 1/2" up from the #1's edges. Tape and trace. You will trace this 5 around #1's edges. Do the same with shape #3.

Once finished with tracing template, carefully cut negative shapes from black shirt
Then cut web from shirt, flip over if your shirt, like mine, has some paint stains and place web on top of lighter shirt. Pin to secure for sewing. (I suggest pinning at these white spots for the most stability.)
Now you're ready to sew this baby onto your shirt! Use the dotted lines as your sewing guide...BUT DON'T THROW AWAY THE OTHER SIDE TO YOUR BLACK SHIRT. We'll use it for another project.

Cartoon-like Head Topper

2008-11-04T06:32:00.001-08:00

This year on Halloween, my husband and I decided to take my niece and youngest brother-in-law to Disneyland. The kids wanted to go in their costume get-ups and of course my niece would go as one of the various Disney princesses. Well, I didn't have a crown for her outfit. But I did have something left over from an old costume used by my husband. We dressed-up as the "Fairly Odd Parents" a few years ago and I was determined to make us cartoonish crowns. I was so happy that these old crowns would still work for my niece about four years later. Now, I'm going to share my little technique for these adorable and easy cardboard crowns with you...

Materials Needed:
1. scissors
2. glue
3. 3"x 11" long piece of thin cardboard (an old cereal box works great for this too)
4. gold acrylic paint
5. paint brush
6. scotch tape
7. 2 "snapping" hair clips
8. pencil (optional)

Directions:
Wrap cardboard into a circle that's about 3" in diameter and glue ends together. (If using cardboard with any imagery on it, make sure imagery is on the inside of circle.) Once glue is dry, cut V's approximately 1" to 1-1/2" wide about halfway down cardboard. (You can draw these out first to ensure spacing is correct.) This will make the peaks of your crown. Remember, we're aiming to make something that looks cartoonish. So if the V's vary in size and width-it's okay! Paint all surfaces with gold paint. Let dry completely. Take a 6" piece of scotch tape and fold it in half so that both sticky halves stick to each other. Tape this strip to the inside of the crown. Repeat and make another strip for the adjacent side. These strips, when clipped down will help secure the crown to your hair. Wear and enjoy!

This is how you should clip your crown into your hair.

Fashionable Girly Costume

2008-11-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. For most people, especially you girls, dressing up for Halloween just seems childish-unless a mature touch is added. I personally am not too fond of the sexy costumes that most twenty-somethings don nowadays. So if you're like me and you're not about showing some skin on Halloween. Here's a more fashionable, yet sophisticated costume idea for the ladies.

Vintage "Tulley" Hat

Materials Needed:
1. 4-1/2" diameter paper circle cut from an old cereal box (Hey, I like to recycle as much as possible and this card stock really does work great.)
2. 5"x 36" long piece of Orange tulle
3. spool of Orange thread
4. 3" hair comb
5. scissors
6. needle
7. glue gun
8. 4" diameter circle cut from felt (Any dark color will do)
9. 5 1/2" diameter circle cut from Ice Blue sparkly fabric with some stretch
10. pinking shears (optional)

Instructions:
Plug in glue gun to warm it up. Lay Blue fabric face down and place paper circle with image facing upward on top. Start to glue fabric onto paper by dabbing small dots of hot glue 1/2" inward from circle's edge all around. Press firmly as you go and be careful! The glue is hot! Cut off any excess Blue fabric to avoid having a bulky underside to your hat. In order to keep the underside of your hat looking neat and gorgeous you may want to pink the edges of your felt with the pinking shears. This step is purely optional. Center the felt onto the underside and glue down along the edges. You now have your hat form.
Thread your needle. Fold the tulle in half and scrunch the center of the fabric. Hold this "scrunch" with your fingers and secure it by sewing it in place. Don't cut the thread just yet! Attach the tulle to your hat by sewing it onto the Blue fabric on both the top and the underside of the hat. For best results, try to have tulle overlap both a bit of the top and bottom of circle's edge.

But careful to not pull too tightly on the thread because this may cause Blue fabric to pucker along these stitches when it should remain flat and in place. Once tulle is secured, continue to scrunch, pinch, and sew tulle onto circle's edge at approximately every 2 " to 2-1/2". (You'll do this about 5 times in total.) When you get to where the ends of the tulle meet, scrunch, pinch, and sew both pieces in same spot. This is the back end of the hat. You should now be left with a tiny train of tulle about 12" inches long. Scrunch and pinch these ends and sew them onto the underside of the circle about 3/4" from the edge (onto the felt) to form a fluffy "bow." Sew comb into place about 1" away from circle's edge onto underside. Make sure comb's teeth are facing away from bow.

Now your fashionable "tulley" hat is complete and this is what the whole thing should look like from underneath, once finished.

You can always dress up this look by also wearing some black satin gloves and witchy, glittery glasses. What's also great about this hat is that you don't have to designate it to just Halloween. It's pretty and appropriate for everyday use. Well, at least I think so!

Bony "Roman" Wreath

2008-11-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

Yes guys, when I shopped for the materials needed for yesterdays project, I couldn't resist against buying a few extra plastic bones. So here we go with another decorative idea through the use of plastic bones. Let's make a wreath, with a Roman twist. (Yay!)

Materials Needed:
1. glue gun
2. pliers
3. candlewicking needle
4. one thin nail, 3/4" long
5. scissors
6. philps head screwdriver
7. hammer
8. 2-1" long screws
9. plastic bones, 2-arms & 4 hands (I recommend the kind that come with a plug on one end and a hole at the other. This makes then more flexible, which is helpful in shaping the bones into a circular shape.)
10. 1/8" spool of black ribbon

Instructions:
Plug in glue gun to warm it up. Dab glue on of one arm bone. Cross other arm bone on to make a cross-bone shape all while making sure that "plugs" at the ends of the bones are pointing downward. Hold tightly until glue cools completely. Take end of ribbon and glue and adhere it to the center of the cross-shiny side up! Let cool completely. Start wrapping ribbon tightly both horizontally and vertically at the cross center. About 8 revolutions in each direction should do the trick. On the back, dab a tiny dollop of glue to the center and hold ribbon down until cool. Cut off excess ribbon.
Turn over. Plug a hand into each end of the "cross." Take another hand and arrange it under the right hand in an angled manner pointing center-ward. Remember, this is completing your wreath shape. (Making sure the wrist of the third hand is underneath the fingers of the first hand will keep your wreath looking neat.)
Once you have your desired position, glue hands together. Turn the wreath over again so that back is facing upward. To make a pilot hole for the screw, take nail and hammer it gently into the center of the connection of both hands. Be careful to leave about 1/4 of the nail head exposed so that you can easily pull it out once holes are made. Remove nail and insert screw to secure.
Repeat with left hand. To make holes for hanging ribbon, keep the wreath's backside facing upward. 1/2" inward from the tip of the outmost finger of top right hand, gently, make another pilot hole. Always keeping sure to not drive the nail all the through to the other side of the fingertip. You don't want a hole on the front of your wreath, do you? Thread ribbon through needle and insert. Try to angle needle up towards the top edge of the fingertip. Now, force needle through fingertip by gently tapping needle's end with hammer. Careful to not bend your needle! After breaking through plastic surface, continue to pull needle through with pliers. Knot ribbon at the end so it doesn't slip through. Repeat on other hand. But this time, start from the fingertip's edge and you'll be exiting from 1/2" downward from fingertip. Leave about 7" of ribbon between both fingertips. Knot ribbon's end.

Hanging Wreath:
I recommend hanging the wreath from 2 nails that are about 7" apart so that your wreath is opened to it's widest. You also have the option of affixing a ghastly bow, dead flowers, etc. from where the bones cross for a a decorative touch. But I think I'll keep make adornment simple...this time around.

November 1st equals discounts & ideas for next year!!!

2008-11-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know this, November 1st is the perfect time to start planning and shopping for Halloween...well, next Halloween because this when the pickings are still good and everything has been slashed to at least 50% off. But if you're one of those peeps who likes to follow the latest trends in holiday decor, I recommend not buying anything that's too "trendy." Remember, you are buying these items a year in advance so striving to stock up on stuff similar to those seen in the latest Martha* can be risking-what's great in 2008 may be tacky in 2009. (Not that Martha would ever be tacky.) Always buy what you love and seriously, I don't think you can ever go wrong with a bag-o-bones. These are so awesome because they can lend themselves to almost any project. (I got this following idea from the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.)

Macabre "Do Not Disturb"
Items Needed:
1. plastic arm & hand bone
2. 16" of 1/8" black ribbon
3. 14" of a wider ribbon (Any color will do)
4. scissors
5. 5" garden wire (optional)

Instructions:
If bones come in two pieces, connect both arm and hand to make 1 piece and set aside. Take wide ribbon and tie into a large bow. Take garden wire and slide it carefully through back of bow's knot. Now, tie bow around arm's "wrist". (If you don't have garden wire, then simply take wide ribbon and tie a large bow around the wrist.) Then, take black ribbon and knot it around the end of the arm. My bone conveniently had a small knob at the end of it to which I knotted the black ribbon. But if yours doesn't, then you'll need about 20" of black ribbon instead and tie that securely around the entire end of the entire bone. Lastly, take the black ribbon's loose ends and tie your Macabre "Do Not Disturb" sign around doorknob and enjoy.

*Martha Stewart Living Magazine

I love, love Halloween

2008-10-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all and Welcome to "365 More Days 'Til Halloween!"
This time of year has always been my absolute favorite. It starts to get nice and cold and all the holidays that require heavy decorating come around. So in order to get into the spirit of Halloween and not let it escape so easily after this Friday (this Friday is October 31st!). I've decided to start this blog, "365 More Days 'Til Halloween." This is going to to be completely dedicated to Halloween and Halloween-type things. Mostly, what I want to discuss here is a new Halloween/"Halloweenish" project each day.

Among many things, I'm an expert crafter and will make sure to show something for all crafting-levels; from the "just learning" to the tool-savvy. This will be launched on you guessed it, Halloween!