debor026

I found an idea on Pinterest ( originally from Lucy Designs ) that I wanted to try out. But, since she doesn't have a tutorial, I thought I'd explain a few things about it that I was wondering as I went into this project. What you need: 2 urns/pots 2 tomato cages (these were 56 inches from tip to end) Garland (for my size of cage it took 6 of the 9 foot garlands, or 54 feet, for each tree) Lights (I used two 100 light (24 foot) strings per tree) The total height of my finished trees is 67 inches. As I was buying the tomato cages (yup, they do still have some at Home Depot) I checked the fit of the cages to the pots and it was perfect to sit in there as they were. They are not in any way secured to the pots and can lift right out. I love this because it means I can store the trees and use the pots throughout the year and when the plants die in the fall I can just set the trees over the top of the pot and into the rim. Since I just bought these pots, the inside is still compl...

Day 30/31: Today has been a bit of a whirlwind and I'm a little late in posting. A friend's daughter is doing a costume theme with her friends of Alice in Wonderland and she is Alice. I just finished up the costume this morning. She has a tiered skirt, a blouse with puffy sleeves, and a white apron. I just dropped it off about an hour ago and made sure it was going to fit and I'm excited to say that it does. What do you think?

Day 28/31: This costume takes about 10 minutes and about $2.50. I went to the thrift store and bought a pair of jeans that were large enough to fit over another pair of pants and I bought a army-ish jacket. They each cost me $1.25. The condition of the clothes as far as tears really doesn't matter when you buy them, and being a little worn out is actually good. I used a pair of scissors to liberally shred the clothes, enough so there were lots of holes but not enough it would fall off as the kids ran around playing. Then I rubbed black and brown crayons all over the shirt and pants to give them a dirty look. We added a little blood with Halloween makeup to the front but that part is really optional. For his hair I filled it with hairspray and ratted it up a bunch. His eyes have just a little black Halloween makeup crayon and that's it. And in 10 minutes and for next to no money it's now a child's zombie costume. This was the picture the kids took right as they ...

Day 21/31: Today I tried playing with a little FIMO clay, some cookie cutters, and the metal punches. I quickly found that wrapping the punches with rubber bands to make the whole word at once was a lot easier than one letter at a time when I got ready to impress it into the clay. And then this (words): Plus this (cookie cutters): Equals a quick thanksgiving ornament:

Day 19/31: I found an awesome tutorial for faux candles (via Pinterest ) and thought it would be a good addition to both the Halloween and the Christmas decor depending on how it is styled. On page 38 of the tutorial someone posted a chandelier they made and I knew that's what I wanted to attempt. The hot glue is applied to the PVC pipe. The best advice I can give you here is don't be in a rush. Start with your long layers, let it dry, and then come back to add then next layer and so on. If you do it all at once the glue will run into itself and won't look as much like drips but will be pretty flat. Everything is spray painted black. I cut out a piece of MDF and spray painted it with layers of black and gray. It's mostly black but the pictures insist on looking gray, possibly because it was still wet when I took this. I had a few eye hooks and some leftover chain in the garage for hanging it and I used glue to attach the pipe to the MDF. The cheesecloth got a bit...

Day 18/31: My little man likes to tell me that his ancestors were Vikings and now he can be one for Halloween. This costume is pretty quick, too. I bought a 2 pack of men's undershirts (size medium), cut off the short sleeves of one of them, and used the body of the other to make new longer sleeves that will be nice and wide. A little elastic sewn into a pocket at the end of the sleeve makes it bunch up a bit like a tunic sleeve. A little fabric that has a hide-like appearance trimmed with fur makes the vest. I topped it off with a hat they already had in their dress up stuff. Getting the perfect fierce face is all up to him, though.

Day 8/31: As promised, I have two of my homemade Halloween costumes to show you. You would think there would be more but I have worn both of those costumes a few times. The snowman. I used all white clothes, of course, and added a few giant black buttons to a stretchy and comfy shirt. A Christmas ornament made the perfect necklace with a little bit of ribbon. A black felt hat (stolen from the snowman in a box kit), an oversized candycane, black boots, and one of my scarves topped it off. Gypsy. I made this from a pattern. I've actually made this one twice (the first time I was about 60 pounds heavier so I had to make it in a smaller size this time). My friends and I went downtown to the casino strip and had a ball checking out the large crowd of costumed people. I actually have no idea who the guy in the photo is, I just thought his costume was funny.

Day 7/31: As part of my Handmade Home series I thought I would show you some of the kids' Halloween costumes from the past. Not all of these are handmade but many of them are so I'll point them out as we go. Joe as a Cow. This is one of my favorite handmade costumes. Well, technically only partly handmade. I purchased the hat and made the shirt. Anyway, it was a plain white shirt and I used puffy paint on it. Add in the hat and the pants and I made the very first costume for one of my kids. Joe as a Pumpkin, this one I did not make. Yup, he had two costumes that year. We went to two different parties and this was too cute to pass up using for the home party but the cow costume was good for leaving the house and staying warm (and easily buckling into a car seat). Erin as a bumblebee (purchased), Joe as Spiderman (purchased), and Glenn as a teddy bear (handmade). Erin was a stinkin' cute bumblebee so I went ahead and bought it and Joe had his heart set on Spiderman s...

Day 5/31: For the front door the snake wreath was the perfect addition this year! I first saw the idea about a year ago (from The Art of Doing Stuff ) and knew it would be perfect for the front door. I used one grapevine wreath, 8 rubber snakes and some spray paint. You don't even have to glue anything! Just tuck the snakes into the grapevines and they hold themselves. At first glance people don't notice the snakes until they are up close to the door. It's scared a few so far and I think the neighborhood kids will like it, too. Welcome!