Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Toilet Roll Pumpkins and Skulls

It's no secret that I LOVE toilet paper roll crafts.  I think I probably have about a dozen toilet roll crafts on the blog.  Yurp.  One of my friends recently commented, "Wow. You go through a lot of toilet paper."  Double yup.  We do.  We do.  (TMI?)  So anyway... eh hem... the toilet roll craft list is about to going to grow again!  Tada!  Here are my Halloween inspired toilet roll crafts!  


Toilet Roll Halloween Crafts

So we have some toilet roll pumpkins.....

Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkins craft for Halloween #creativepreschoolers #Halloween

and ...


Monday, October 13, 2014

Black Cat Duck Tape Containers

Last Friday we hosted a grill out for some of hubby's work colleagues.  To make our place a bit more Halloween-y I turned some old cans into these cute black cat containers using duct tape!

Black Cat Duck Tape Containers

make a black cat container for Halloween using Duck Tape


Aren't they cute?  If you want to decorate containers of your own, head on over to DIY Candy for the full tutorial!


Here are some other fun Halloween Crafts!




Let's Keep in Contact!

Like this idea?  You can always find other fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!


Have a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Glow in the dark Kids Jellyfish Costume

Recently I received several containers of Tulip Glow Paint to try out.  As you know, I LOVE making costumes for Chuck. (Remember the spider costumeLightening McQueen Costume, and Mr. Potato head costume?  Yup.  Good times.)  So I was excited to somehow incorporate the glow in the dark paint into a costume idea.  Chuck really loves sea creatures right now, so I made him this easy, NO SEW jellyfish costume.

Oh yeah.  And it glows!

DIY Kids Jellyfish Costume (that glows!)

make a DIY glow in the dark jellyfish costume! Super easy and unique!


Adorable right? Just wait till you see it glowing.  It really looks like a jellyfish is sitting on top of his head!

Here's how I made it!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Easy Origami Vampire Lips!

The quest for cute Halloween themed origami continues!  First we folded ourselves an origami cat.  Then we folded these three origami jack-o-lantern pumpkins.  Today, I'm continuing the trend and showing you how I folded up these Origami vampire lips!

 Origami Vampire Lips


super easy way to hold origami vampire lips
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!


Now full disclosure here-  I'm NOT an origami expert. I'm a complete novice.  I first saw a tutorial for cute vampire lips from this fun Halloween origami book.  However, hubby and I tried and tried... but we just couldn't figure out how to fold the darn thing!  So I looked online and saw a bunch of other really hard directions.  

Since I really liked the way the vampire lips looked, I ended up making up my own way of folding them.  So I guess the post should really be titled "Faux-gami."

If you want to try this faux-gami tutorial, check out the directions below!  I promise you, it's super easy and the results are really cute.

Let's get faux-lding!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Halloween Sensory Activity- Let's Dig out Bones!

I'm a crafter by nature.  I like painting, gluing, and drawing.  Messy sensory activities just don't come naturally for me.  But since Halloween celebrates slimy, icky, things.... I figured we should do a sensory activity.   So tada!  Today's blog post is all about this Halloween Bone Dig Sensory Activity!

Halloween Bone Dig Sensory Activity


Fun Halloween Sensory Activity- Dig out "bones!"
This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!


I watch the tv show Bones, so I definitely channeled Dr. Brennon and her squints while setting up the activity.  Usually Chuck doesn't like getting his hands dirty, but for some reason he LOVED digging out the "bones" and squishing the "blood" around.

Ok!  Let's get started!


Friday, October 3, 2014

Halloween Ghost Splat Painting

I'm always looking for new and fun ways to paint with Chuck.  Thus far, we've painted with flowerspainted with carsmade homemade body paintmade tortilla artscrape painted, and even made corn syrup paint.   So I was excited when a kids' art teacher recently introduced us to splat painting!  It was such a fun activity that Chuck and I tried a Halloween version at home.

Halloween Ghost Splat Painting!


Make Halloween Ghost Splat Painting

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

This week's Creative Preschool theme is Halloween.  So we splat painted these ghosts!  Keep reading to see how we painted the ghosts AND check out the bottom of the post to see 4 other really fun Halloween activities!


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Easy DIY Kids Spider Costume

We really love reading and it's always fun to create crafts and activities to go along with our favorite books.  Today I'm joining forces with other kid bloggers to present a Halloween Read and Play Blog hop!    This means that today, over 25 kid bloggers are posting great activities and crafts to go along with Halloween themed books.  (You can see links to all the great ideas at the bottom of the post!)  We made a DIY spider costume for our post.  It was inspired by a beloved book character, Splat the Cat!

Easy DIY Spider Costume

super easy DIY spider costume

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support.


Have you heard of the Splat the Cat Series?  We love these books. For Halloween, we read Scaredy-Cat, Splat!

I don't want to ruin the story for you, so here's just a snippet to explain today's craft.  Splat the Cat's initial costume gets ruined and his mom has to quickly whip up a homemade spider costume from socks and string.

I love the idea of making something from nothing, so we tried our hand at quickly whipping up a spider costume just like Splat the Cat's mom!

Let's get making!   


Sunday, September 28, 2014

Origami Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin

Can you tell that I'm really digging Halloween origami?  Last week I shared how to fold a cute origami black cat.  Today I'm continuing the theme and sharing how to fold an origami Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin!  


Origami Pumpkin

How to fold an origami Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin for Halloween

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

I'm still an origami novice and I found these pumpkins to be much easier to fold than the black cat.  I just followed the original tutorial here.  It was shown with very few words and lots of arrows.  So I took photos of my process in hopes that these photos and descriptions will make things clearer.  (Although if you run into trouble, definitely check the original source!)

Let's get folding!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Recycled Pumpkin Sun Catcher Craft

Tis the season for Halloween crafting, fa-la-la-... Oh wait.  Wrong song.  Well, you get the point. The season for Halloween crafting has begun!  Last year we made of ton of Halloween crafts (see bottom of post for links).  This year we've folded an origami black cat and made a cardboard pumpkin with a changeable face.   Today we're going to make another recycled Halloween craft.  This time we made these milk jug pumpkin sun catchers!


DIY Milk Jug Pumpkin Sun Catchers


DIY Milk Jug Pumpkin Sun Catcher Craft!

(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!)

I really liked this craft because the pumpkins were SO easy to make with my 3 year old.  And we didn't have to spend a ton of time on prep or a ton of money for materials.  (That's a definite win win in my book.)  Ok!  Let's get making!


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Cardboard "Bead" Necklaces

I recently saw this fabulous post on painted bead necklaces by fellow Rockin' Art Mom ArtBar Blog.  Her students painted such beautiful wooden bead and cardboard necklaces.  I was really intrigued by the idea of using corrugated cardboard to make "beads," so I thought I'd give it a try myself.  Last weekend our town held its annual Lemon Festival, so I painted myself a lemon necklace to wear there.  And since Halloween is always on my mind, I painted myself a skull and bones necklace too.  Here are the results!

Let's Make Some Cardboard Beaded Necklaces!


Make Cardboard Beaded Necklaces!

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!


Aren't they cute?   Let's get making!


Monday, September 22, 2014

Faith, Generosity, and a Cardboard Pumpkin Face

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

You're probably confused by the title... and I apologize.  Today's post is quite special to me and I just wanted to make sure everything important was included.

Now if you've peeked over at my About Me page, you'll see that my Christian faith means quite a bit to me.  It shapes how I view the world, pulled me out of a tough spot when I quit my PhD program, and even influences how I view creativity and crafting.


My friend Amy Sullivan (who you might remember was the mastermind behind the #riskrejection challenge that encouraged me to publicly "come out my crafting closet")  recently wrote a book When More is Not Enough - How to Stop Giving Your Kids What They Want and Give Them What They Need.

I received a copy of this book to review... and I was pretty nervous.  A whole book focused on being generous and serving others like Jesus? Ehhh...  I worried that I'd finish the book feeling super guilty because my family and I weren't doing enough.

After reading the very first page, I saw how wrong my fears were.

Amy is honest, funny, and humble.  She shares her own family's struggles with generosity, and how God slowly changed their views of service.  She also offers some really great ways the whole family (including the kids!) can serve and love their communities and the world.


You can check out this video book blurb below for more details:




(Psst- Did you catch how she's donating 100% of the proceeds of the book to Transformation Village ?  Wow.)

After reading her book I felt really encouraged to rethink my views on service and generosity too.  I didn't need to be a missionary or the president of a non-profit to make an impact and help out my community.  I could do small things with love.


And now here's where the pumpkin face comes in.  I initially made Chuck this changeable cardboard pumpkin face (inspired by Halloween and this face from Mr. Printables) as a way to help him learn about his emotions.


Make a changeable cardboard pumpkin face to help teach children about feelings and empathy


See how the facial features change?  As we played with the toy, Chuck began relating to the pumpkin as his friend.  It kind of took on a life of its own.  We talked about how Mr. Pumpkin looked sad, happy, surprised, or scared.  We then also starting having conversations about how we could help friends that might be scared or upset.

And that's when a light bulb went on in my head.  These small, everyday conversations were also equipping Chuck to have compassion for others... and do small things with love.  Chuck's only 3, but he too can have compassion and serve others too.

Whoa.  That was definitely a "wow" moment for me.


Changeable faces from a DIY Cardboard Pumpkin


So if you have a chance, I definitely recommend you reading Amy's book When More is Not Enough.   You can read her thoughts on writing a book, or find her on her blogTwitterFacebookInstagram or Pinterest.  

(And in case you want to make your own changeable pumpkin face, simply cut out the facial features and pumpkin from corrugated cardboard.  Then, paint them.  Then, drill holes through the pieces and use fasteners to attach everything together.)

Happy Monday friends!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Origami Black Cat

Halloween is coming! Halloween is coming!  My favorite holiday is coming!  I love the candy!  I love the costumes!  I love carving pumpkins!  And I especially love the Halloween crafts!  So I'm starting off this year's Halloween crafts with this really cute origami Halloween black cat.

Origami Halloween Black Cat

how to make an origami Halloween black cat
This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

The directions for this cat came from the book Horrorgami.  I'm definitely an origami newbie, so I wasn't able to do as many of the crafts as I would have liked.  But if you love folding paper, this book has a ton of great Halloween-inspired origami.

Ok.  Onto the cat craft!


Monday, November 4, 2013

Halloween photos (Past and Present)

How was your Halloween?  Ours was pretty jam packed.  We entertained some out-of-town guests, carved pumpkins, attended a couple of kids' parties, and went trick-or-treating.  I was loving most of it until the very end.  I was definitely burned out by the last Halloween party.   Phew.  Too much candy and partying for this mama.

Here are some photos from our Halloween adventures:


Several pieces of felt and dozens of hot glue sticks later.... I finally finished both Mack and Lightening McQueen costumes.  Chuck and I wore them out when we trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.   (Click here to see how I made the costume and click here to see how I made his matching Lightening McQueen shoes,   Or, click here to see Chuck's previous  Thing 1 Costume and his Mr. Potato Head Costume.)

DIY Mac and Lightening McQueen Halloween Costume

In addition to trick-or-treating, we attended two Halloween parties at the library.  It was uber-cute seeing dozens of toddlers dressed up in costumes.  I also couldn't help but ooh and ahh over the cute treats that some moms made.  Check out these marshmallow monsters.  Too. Darn. Adorable. 


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween from a little Lightening McQueen

Happy Halloween everybody!  

Hope you have a wonderful and magical day!  
As promised, here are some photos of Chuck in his Lightening McQueen costume at a church party.
(And if you want to see my matching Mack costume, click here.)


(Did you see shoes?  Click here to see how I painted his Lightening McQueen Shoes.)

And here are a couple of photos showing how I made it. 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Painting Lightening McQueen Shoes


Here's a fun fact- In the past couple of months, I've watched the movie Cars probably twenty or so times.  By now, I know all the characters' names and I could probably recite 50 to 75 % of the movies' lines from memory.

Why this sudden and intense interest in cartoon vehicles?  Well, it's Chuck.  We're a Cars household because he just loves the movie.  If you ever visit our home, you'll probably find him either (1) racing around on his bike, pretending to be Lightening McQueen, or (2) playing with his toy cars.

This Halloween, Chuck's going to dress up as Lightening McQueen.  I thought it would be fun to try painting him some shoes to go along with his costume.  It was my first time painting shoes. Here's how they came out: 



At first I wanted to get white or red canvas shoes, but they only had black ones at Walmart. Overall I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  They're super cute.  But, I'm not sure how long (or how well) the paint will last.... so the jury's still up about that.   I'll probably update this post in a couple of weeks to include some notes about wear and tear.... but for now here are some photos of my process in case you wanted to see what I did.

Materials:
  • Canvas shoes
  • Chalk
  • Acrylic paint
  • Thin paint brushes
  • Pencils
  • Paper
  • Q-tip
  • Paper towels
  • Jar with water
  • Tray to hold paint


1.  First I placed a piece of paper on top of my shoe and traced the top of the shoe to see how big to draw my images.  Then, I drew and cut out my Lightening Mcqueen.

2.  I briefly lamented not having white canvas shoes because I wasn't sure how to transfer my image to the shoes. (Seasoned crafters out there- do you know of a good way to do this?)  I ended up just tracing my image onto my shoe with sidewalk chalk (way too big, I know... but this was the smallest chalk I had) and sketching out the details.  (There's gotta be a better way, right?)


3.  I pulled out my paint and started painting my images.  After I filled in all the colors (see right shoe), I outlined my images using a pencil dipped into my black paint.  The black outline made my images much sharper and nicer to look at (see left shoe.)  Then, I just cleaned off my chalk marks with a wet q-tip.

And that's all!  Ka-chow!



Chuck's really enjoyed wearing these bad boys around town and I'm just glad that I got to craft something useful and cute.   

How are you getting ready for Halloween?  Happy crafting! 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Make Sugar Skull Sun Catchers and Crystallized Sugar Skull Ornaments

Alright everyone... the countdown is on.  It's just a couple of days till Halloween.  Are you excited?  Or, are you over all the orange and black?

I'm in the first group and still SUPER excited for Halloween.  I just finished Chuck's costume this past weekend, so he's ready to go.  I'm not sure if he'll appreciate the idea of trick-or-treating (plus his allergies prevent him from eating a lot of the candy out there), but I think he'll enjoy seeing other kids in costumes and all the spooky decorations.

I'll upload some photos of his costume later on this week... but today I just wanted to share the last of my sugar skull crafts.

So, we already made DIY sugar skull candle holders and DIY sugar skull luminaries and Allison shared her lovely tutorial for DIY sugar skull shoes.  Today's sugar skull crafts were designed with kids in mind.  They're easy to make and the resulting products look great.

1.  Sugar Skull Window Clings

Colorful and fun, these two skulls will float happily on your window.




Materials:
  • Contact Paper (Buy the cheap stuff from the Dollar Store)
  • Black paint pen (You could also use a Sharpie marker, but the lines won't be as dark.)
  • Scissors
  • Cellophane 
  • Tape

Friday, October 25, 2013

DIY Tulle Mask


Looking for a simple, cheap, and fun way to make masks for Halloween this year?  

DIY Tulle Mask for Halloween

Why not try making some out of tulle and fabric paint?  Inspired by these masquerade masks from Sprinkles in Springs, I created my own Day of the Dead Mask for Handmade Charlotte.  Check out the tutorial  here!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

DIY Sugar Skull (Day of the Dead) Milk Jug Luminaries


Currently my college friend Kim is visiting us for the week.  It's been really nice having someone else here while hubby is away.  Time just passes by much quicker when you're having fun with a friend.

And just how have we been having fun?  Well, we've been playing with Chuck... and eating... and watching tv... and crafting... a lot... a whole lot...  Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos are right around the corner, so all of our crafts have been centered around those two holidays. 

I'm currently on a sugar skull kick.  I just love the way they look.  So when I was staring at an old milk jug the other day, an idea dawned on me.  Ding!  Why not use them to make some sugar skull luminaries?  So tada, here's what I came up with:



I'd seen tons of posts for ghost milk jug luminaries for awhile, so I figured this was a nice twist on that craft.  It uses skulls and colorful lights instead of ghost faces and white lights.   I just love how this little guy turned out.  He's so cute and smiley... and gosh darn it, I've just got a big ol' soft soft for any craft that involves twinkly, colorful lights.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire

And finally, our trip to Lancaster was made fully complete with a visit to the nearby Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.    

That's right... I finally got a chance to wear my flower crown!

All hail the Queen!

The amazing Gandolf the White

This little guy was locked up in pirate's prison.  The crime?  Being too darn cute.

Two little kids (in full protective gear), trying to pop the balloons attached to the other

Headless knight

Not sure why, but Chuck was infatuated with this giant Pumpkin man

Here he is standing at the foot of the giant pumpkin statue
 Happy Tuesday!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Guest Post: DIY Sugar Skull Shoes


Earlier this week I shared that Allison from Dream A Little Bigger and I were doing post swaps.  On Monday I visited her blog and showed how I made these cute and colorful perler bead bracelets.  Surprise!  Today Allison's over here, presenting this super cool sugar skull shoe tutorial.  With Halloween and Dia de los Muertos coming up, this craft is a great one to do.   It'll certainly get you into the spooky spirit!




Sugar Skull Sneakers Tutorial by DreamALittleBigger.com Hello! My name is Allison and I'm a crafty cat lady that blogs over at Dream a Little Bigger. Crafting and creating is what I love to do and I'm so happy that I'm able to share that with all the sweet readers at Pink Stripey Socks! I'm a huge fan of Leslie and I'm so excited to be guesting here today! I've kind of sort of got this huge thing for shoes. Not fancy or designer shoes or anything but shoes I've made up and crafted on. It's a pretty big deal and so far I've made almost 60 DIY shoe tutorials. Don't believe me? Check this gallery 
out.