Halloween Treat Bag

I’ve been working on some Halloween treat bags for a craft show.  I was inspired by Jaime at Crafty, Scrappy, Happy to make some bags, because hers are fabulous!  It takes me forever to decide which designs I like best, so you’ll probably be seeing quite a few bags over the next couple of weeks.  I just ventured into sewing too, so this should be interesting… 

Front of Bag

I cut little pennant flags out of a CUTE candy corn fabric and ironed them on with some Heat ‘n Bond. Then I hand stitched them at the top with some bright orange embroidery thread. I did this more for the way it looks than for securing it. I then sewed on some orange and black buttons at the top of my pennant. I Love buttons! I stenciled the “Trick or Treat” and bats on with fabric paint and added a little piece of black and white gingham ribbon to the handle to finish it off.


  
close-up                                                                                               

I also decorated the back of the bag.  I know I didn’t “have” to.  In fact, hubby kept telling me not to, but I wanted to make it cute all the way around.  What do you think?  Both sides?  Or just one?  It does double the work…



Back of bag

For the back side, I sewed on my very first ever Ruffle !  I tore my fabric to give it the tattered edge, machine ruffled it, and stitched it on.  Then I added two orange buttons at the corners and a piece of polka dot ribbon across the ruffle to dress it up and (shhhh… hide my uneven sewing lines).  I then stenciled on some happy pumpkins with button eyes and pieces of multicolored candy.


close-up

Stay tuned for more bag designs.  I am working on more today and will post more this week.  I’d really appreciate your input.  Kind comments and constructive criticism please :)

Happy Happy Fall,



Linking to these wonderful parties.

Made by You Monday, Savvy Homemade Monday, Time to Shine link party, Get your craft on Tuesday, Show and share, What I made Wednesday, Catch a glimpse Thursday, Share Awesomeness Thursdays, Tales of a Trophy wife, Crafty Soiree, Clean and Scentsible, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, me Thursday, Strut your Stuff Link Party, The Idea Room Linky Party, Catch as Can, Catch a Glimpse Party, Flaunt it Friday, Friday Flair, Pity Party, Frugalicious Friday, Simply Link Party, Feature yourself Friday, Weekend bloggy reading, I'm Lovin it at Tidymom, Show and Tell Saturday. Weekend Wrap up

Craftaholics Anonymous Fall Frenzy, Saturday Nite Special, Think Pink Sundays, Sundae Scoop, Debbie Doos Newbie Party, Halloween Linky Part-ay

Drop Cloth Candy Corn Bunting

Once upon a time, I bought one large drop cloth from Home Depot… 
I swear that drop cloth just keeps growing.  I’ve already made one pennant out of it here, but there is plenty left. I love all of the CANDY CORN stuff on Pinterest for Fall.  For the record, I don’t like candy corn- to eat.  I like the colors, and I like to decorate with it.  In fact, I have 2 more projects to show you later with a candy corn theme.  But I think it tastes nasty, and my hips thank me for it!





For this pennant banner, I used eleven 5x8 and two 6x6 triangle templates to cut my drop cloth.  I then taped them off with painters tape and painted them with craft paint that I mixed with textile medium. 
I wanted to be able to change out the letters, order, and words easily.  So, I used mini clothespins found at Michaels to hold letters that I cut from heavy cardstock with my Silhouette.  The “or” is glued on with fabric glue.  I’m sure it will peel off easily if I need to make a change.  With eleven triangles, I can change this up if I want and make it HALLOWEEN with a plain candy corn on each end.  Or I can leave the whole bunting blank and just enjoy the colors.  I could break it up into small vignettes as well with a little BOO here and a little SPOOKY there, since my triangles are just attached to twine with a clothespin.


Trick Close-up


Treat Close-up

Last, I made a cute little pumpkin rosette to finish off each end of the bunting.  Just a simple rosette using a dollar fat quarter I found at Walmart.  I added a little felt stem and a piece of green twine for the finishing touch!



Happy Fall!





Linking up to these great parties.
Weekend bloggy Reading-Serenity Now;  Get your brag on@Gluesticks, Show and Tell @Blue Cricket Designs, Friday Flair at Whipperberry, 30 Days Pity Party, Get your Craft on Tuesdays,  36th Avenue Share Awesomeness Thursdays, Tidymom I'm lovin'it, Weekend wrapup@ Tatertots and Jello, Saturday night special @funky Junk, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Sundae Scoop, Think Pink Sundays
Free for all @ Young and Crafty, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy Me Thursday, Will Craft for.. @Tales of a Trophy Wife
Frugal Friday @the Shabby Nest, clean and Scentscible


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How to make a simple burlap flower

Remember these burlap flowers?



I was asked by a reader how to make them and if I’d do a tutorial.  Seriously? Would I?  Well, okay, but don’t get too excited…there’s not much to it! 

First you’ll need some burlap.  For the larger flower, I cut a strip of burlap about 12 inches long and 4 1/2 inches wide.  For the smaller one, I used a strip about 10 inches long and 3 inches wide. 



Fold the burlap in half lengthwise like this:



Then stitch the open ends closed.  Use a thread that is close to the burlap color that you are using so that you can’t see the stitching later on.  Since burlap is such an open weave, I double threaded my needle and made an extra big knot at the end.  Stay close to the edge when stitching but not too close as the burlap tends to unravel easily.  See the pieces coming apart in the photo?

After your ends are stitched all the way closed, turn your fabric inside out.  Do this carefully, as the unraveling is bound to happen.

  

Once you have turned it inside out, it should look like this:



Now fold the fabric in half so that you have a folded side and a rough side.  It will now be half the width that you started with.
        

Now, take your needle and thread and sew a basting stitch along the rough edge of the burlap circle.  Stay about 1/4 inch away from the edge, so that you don’t unravel and lose your stitching.  After every few stitches, pull the thread to gather and hold.  You want to pull tight enough to gather the flower, but not too tight or the thread will break.  TRUST ME ON THIS ONE.

  

Continue all the way around until you have tightly gathered your thread and have reached the point where you started.  With so much fraying, burlap flowers are not going to be pretty on the back side.  With that in mind, I use several stitches across and around the back of my flower to be sure that it is nice and tight and that any loose parts are tucked in.


Finished: Back


Finished:  Front

Now, time to embellish.  You can use anything you’d like to dress up your burlap flower.  Buttons, small felt flowers, jewels, or whatever strikes your fancy. 

I used buttons in my original flowers, and I went to my button stash again for this new flower today.




I didn’t actually sew this one on, but I wanted it to look like I had.  So, I cheated and took 2 pieces of the burlap that had frayed.  I hand threaded them through the button holes, and cut off the excess.  I then hot glued on my button.



I still like my original ones best.  I think it’s because they are a bit smaller than this one and therefore, the flower folds are more pronounced.  And the hounds tooth buttons are just too cute!






Sending you flowers,




Linking up to these great parties.

HomestoriesAtoZ; Under the Table and Dreaming

Thrifty finds to Fall decor

Okay I admit it, I’ve been holding out on you.  I’ve been thrifting and garage sale shopping, but I haven’t posted my finds lately.  Well, I plan to give you a peek at a few of the thrifty finds that I am incorporating into my Fall décor. No, it still doesn’t feel like Fall here, but I’m inside with the A/C on and pretending!



I got these beauties at a garage sale.  I just loved them- rust and all! 



Then at another sale, I got books!  Not just books, but old books!  I think there were 12 in all, and they were 4 for $1.00!!  I love books for reading and for display.  They have so much character.  And look at the colors- so Fall!

 

And last Fall, I found 12 of these Ikea framed mirrors for 99 cents each.



What’s that you say?  You don’t see any mirror?  Well, that would be because this is the back of the Ikea mirror, and I forgot to take a photo of the mirror before I began my transformation.  And I cannot find my extras.  They are in the attic with the Christmas decorations.  They will make their appearance soon enough.  So, just use your imagination.  These frames look exactly the same on the front but just have a mirrored surface : )




To get this rustic painted look, I used craft paint and a crumpled paper bag.  I used blue painters tape to cover the mirror and then just used my paper bag to smear paint on the frame.

  


When the paint dried, I removed the painters tape, and measured the mirror opening.  I then cut a piece of burlap to fit the opening.  I also cut 4 pieces of twine to frame my burlap.  This gave it a more finished look and hid the hot glue that was peeking through after I glued everything down.

I then played around with the fonts on my computer to find one I liked.  I cannot remember which I finally settled on – sorry.  I printed the word FALL out on regular paper and then traced it onto some glittery scrapbook paper I had.  I used regular craft glue to stick the letters to the burlap.




Here’s one more look at the finished project with the scales and books.  I’m still tweaking the vignette, but I already love it!



Happy Fall,

Kim

**Edited to participate in Home Stories A to Z My Favorite Post of 2011 Link Party**



Linking to these wonderful parties as well as
Craftaholics Anonymous Fall Frenzy, Fall Nesting post on The Inspired Room, Sundae Scoop, Home Stories AtoZ

Sweater and Burlap Wreath

I am going to show you a super-easy wreath that I made last Fall.  I got inspired when I saw these sweater vases at Under the Table and Dreaming.

 



















This is a picture of the finished wreath on a wooden interior door. I will use my wreath on my front door, but as you can see from the last photo, it’s hard to photograph with the glass : )

I went to my local Goodwill stores and picked up a couple of different sweaters that I thought I could make some things from.  I gravitated towards earthy colors and nice thick cable knits.  I still have quite a bag full of sweaters, so I’ll be making some more items for this Fall/Winter.

  

For this project, I used a small foam wreath form found at the Dollar Store.  I cut the sweater up the side seams, so that I’d have a nice big flat piece of fabric to work with.  I stretched the sweater fabric around the wreath and padded the wreath from with a little fiberfill to make it a little thicker.  I then pinned it in place with my trusty floral pins and trimmed off the excess sweater.  So simple! 

I finished it off by making two burlap flowers with some black and white hounds tooth buttons in the center.   I roughed up a strip of burlap for texture and added a black satin ribbon. A piece of jute twine is pinned to the back to hang my wreath
















 




























I like these colors as they are not classic Fall but not Winter either.  They kind of ease the transition that is so slow in a place like South Georgia.  I’ve spent many Halloween’s and Christmases wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts!  If I can’t wear a sweater comfortably, at least I can dress my front door for the cold!!



This is not the best photo, as you can sort of see my reflection in the glass… Don’t know how to work around that dilemma.


I’ll be back with more sweater projects in the weeks to come.

Happy Crafting,

Kim

*Edited to participate in The CSI Project's Fall Wreath Challenge*




Linking up to these great parties:

The Nester- You made a wreath out of what?
Southern Lovely: show and share
Serenity Now
A Diamond in the Stuff: Time to shine
30 Days Pity Party
Flaunt it Fridays
A crafty Soiree
Just a Girl Show and share
Friday Flair at Whipperberry
Think Pink Sundays At Flamingo Toes
Simply Link Party
Sundae Scoop Link Party
Savvy Homemade blog party
Debbiedoos Newbie Party
Running with Glitter
Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap up
Somewhat Simple
Everything but the kitchen sink
Sunday Showcase

Nifty Thrifty Sunday
Today's Creative Blog
Show me What Ya Got
Free for All Friday
Show and Tell Saturday
Free for all
Whatch got weekend
A little tipsy- DIY under $5
Frugalicious Friday
Saturday night special
Fall Frenzy at Craftaholics Anonymous
Fall Festival at Nest of Posies

Home Stories AtoZ

Halloween wreath from up cycled leggings

It’s September 2nd, so no matter what the weather outside says (it says 92 degrees), I’m considering it Fall!  This is the first of many projects in the weeks to come, as I have come to LOVE the colors of Fall and the décor that comes with it.



This wreath started out as a pair of Halloween leggings that my daughter had outgrown.  The matching shirt was long gone, and these were in the Goodwill bag.  Until… I realized that these were the perfect colors for a wreath. 

I used a straw wreath form, floral pins, and the material from the leggings to create the base for this wreath.
I forgot to take a a picture until after I started cutting the pants apart.  But you get the idea…


After I cut the pants apart, I wrapped the fabric around the wreath form and pinned the fabric with floral pins.  You may be able to use hot glue or some other form of securing the fabric, but these pins hold so well that I always use them for wreath making.



For the Itsy Bitsy Spider, I used an old black t-shirt that was also headed for Goodwill.  I cut the t-shirt into 1/2 inch strips to make a pompom using this tutorial.  Mine didn’t turn out nearly as cute or as full as hers, but for a spider, which most of us ladies are usually happy to squish, it turned out fine… I added some felt eyes and pipe-cleaner legs, and there you have it!



I made fabric rosettes out of some orange fabric that I had left over from my Easter carrots project.  There are so many tutorials out there on how to make fabric rosettes, that I used a combination of several that I have read.  Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous just posted a video tutorial this week that shows you how to make them.

I made two small and one larger rosette for my pumpkins.  I didn’t really have anything on hand that I thought would work for a stem, but I made do with what I had in my stash. 

 

Don’t look too closely, or you can see my shiny dried hot glue : )



 

I rounded up some brown ribbon and green twine.  I rolled the ribbon around itself and hot glued it to form a “stem”, and then I roughed it up by snipping the top with scissors.  The green twine was tied around the stem in a bow.

I added a bow using wide black satin ribbon and used that same ribbon to hang my wreath. 



I love how it turned out, and it cost nearly nothing!  Frugal and Fun!

Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.

Kim


*Updated to participate in the CSI project's Fall Wreath Challenge*



Linking up to these great parties:

The Nester- You made a wreath out of what?

Southern Lovely: show and share

Serenity Now

A Diamond in the Stuff: Time to shine

30 Days Pity Party

Flaunt it Fridays

Home Stories A to Z

A crafty Soiree

Just a Girl Show and share

Friday Flair at Whipperberry

Think Pink Sundays At Flamingo Toes

Simply Link Party

Sundae Scoop Link Party

Savvy Homemade blog party

Debbiedoos Newbie Party

Running with Glitter

Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap up

Somewhat Simple

Everything but the kitchen sink

Nifty Thrifty Sunday

Today's Creative Blog

Show me What Ya Got

Free for All Friday

Show and Tell Saturday

Free for all

Whatch got weekend

Saturday Night Special

Fall Frenzy at Craftaholics Anonymous

Halloween Linky Part-ay

Halloween Link up Party