Painted Pumpkin

My wonderful boss Nancy brought us in mini pumpkins for Halloween. I am not talking about the flat squished ones, this is a nice round one like you would carve, only smaller. I brought it home to figure out what to do with it and it has been sitting at my desk mocking me for two weeks. I knew I wanted to try painting it, but what to paint? Last night while surfing the blog world I found this cool Terrorific Tuesday project from My Big Mouth.
I love the saying on the sign she did and new it was a perfect fit for my pumpkin!

Witch parking only, violators will be TOAD!



The side with loops and stars.


The back with more loops and stars.



Couldn't leave out the broom now could I?

I have to say, I am not by any means a painter and I did this all free hand and man it was not easy! I have a newfound respect for people who paint artistic works. I can also understand the love they have for it as even tho it wasn't easy to do, it was SO MUCH FUN! Maybe I will have to have another go at a bigger sign for home since this pumpkin is heading back to work!

Spiders, Bats and Ghosts Oh My! Free Halloween Craft Project

So I got this great idea from one of my myspace buddies to make spiders from Styrofoam balls. I have had the stuff forever and have been meaning to do them but we finally had some free time tonight.

Our spiders turned into more then just spiders tho. We have ghosts and bats and pumpkins and ghouls and some special Jordan creations.

So seeing how it is Halloween and these are super easy, fun and kid friendly, I am doing my first ever free craft project!

Spiders, Bats and Ghosts Oh My!

Supplies,
Styrofoam balls, assorted sizes.
Acrylic paints in assorted colors.
Paint brushes
Foam brushes
Hot glue gun
Pipe cleaners
Stick on Crystals
Googly eyes
Glitter Pens
Puffy Paints
Tissue Paper
(Basically any fun things you have around the house for decoration)
Something to cover your workspace with, we used up some of our plastic grocery bag stash from when I forget my shopping bags.

1. Paint all of your Sytrofoam balls with a layer of your acrylic paint using your foam brushes.
2. Allow to completely dry (trust me or you will have painty fingers like we did :) )
Decorate with you random gathered supplies.

For Pumpkins, use 2-4 1 inch pieces of green pipe cleaner together pushed about halfway down into the top of an orange ball. You can pull them out after you make the hole and pipe in some hot glue to secure the pipe cleaners in.
Paint on your pumpkin face.


For Ghosts, use a white ball, paint on a ghostly face. Optional, glue tissue paper streamers about a foot long cut into strips to the bottom of the ball to give it a ghostly appearance.



For Spiders, cut 2 pipe cleaners in half. Fold all four pieces in half again. Piece two folded pipe cleaners together for each side. Bend into spider leg shape (think like a chair with the back, seat and front legs). Bend the tops down about 1/4 to 1/3 inch and stick into opposite sides of the ball. Secure with glue before adjusting legs.



For Bats, Bend 2 pipe cleaners at the same time for a uniform shape. Make your first bend about 3 inches down into a V. Bend the bottom half of the wing into this shape VVVVV. Cut off excess and place one wing on each side of Bat, securing with glue. Cut 2 1" pieces, fold into v shapes and place on top of head for ears. I used two tiny scraps stuffed in the face for fangs (this would be a good idea for spider fangs too.)


Use your imagination and be sure to send me pictures of what you make!


Tori's Ghoul

My eyeballs.
Oh and I almost forgot. Colby and I finally made our Pirate ship that I got as a kit last year on clearance from JoAnn Fabrics.

Blog linky love giveaway

Time to pass out a little linky love for one of my favorite blogs, Carolee Clark from King Of Mice Studios is an absolutely amazingly talented artist. I look forward every day or so to see the new creations she makes. Of course being that she paints tons of Halloween items, you know that puts her right at the top of my favorite list!
This week she is hosting a giveaway for a hand painted Halloween black cat box. Be sure to stop by and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Trick or Treat!

We had a wet and windy trick or treating session last night. The kids had a ton of fun and got way more candy then they need but it's only once a year right?


Jordan was so excited with her haul she couldn't help but show it off, Tori had to make her peace sign in the background, I remember going thru that phase! She went as Cleopatra this year.




My son Colby made a great cop and Mike went as "Grandpa", he was in his referee uniform at the beginning of the night and looked really cool but he wears it all the time so didn't think it was fun to walk around in.

The best pic of the night award goes to Colby, he didn't realize I was watching him!