Halloween Door Sign

Despite my trip to Pennsylvania, the hurricane and other distractions, I did manage to cut out the Trick or Treat sign and assemble it in time to hang it on the door for Halloween.

About a week and a half ago, I showed you this design that I adapted from the free pumpkin carving stencils on the Better Homes and Garden website (the original post is HERE).

image from Better Homes and Gardens website

It looks great on a pumpkin, but I thought it would be nice to add some layers and make it with paper.

I wanted to keep the odd shape and not mount it on a rectangular backing, so I added an extra shadow layer to create a five color design.

Here are all five cuts, ready to assemble.   I used cardstock from both K & Company and Core'dinations.

The cuts were easy to assemble and with five layers of cardstock, the final sign is pretty sturdy.  I could have added a layer of chipboard to make it even stronger but I thought it was thick enough.

I had considered using some glittered cardstock but I didn't like the shades of the colors I had on hand.  I also like the varying textures in the printed cardstocks since there are so many layers.  I added lots of purple gems in several different shades to make the sign sparkle.

I think the bat is cute with his eyes looking up at the top of the sign.  I used different colors and sizes of gems on the stars.

Some sheer purple ribbon adhered to the back makes a hanger for the sign.

I fastened the ribbon to the same hook as the leaf wreath on my door and I was ready for the trick-or-treaters.

Here are two of my little friends collecting their candies!

New Cricut Cartridge available now

The Holiday Frames and Tags Cricut cartridge, exclusive to Creative Memories, is available to order starting today.  This cartridge is a limited edition and will be available while supplies last or until January 1, 2013.  If you don't have a local consultant and would like to order this cartridge, I'd be happy to help you with any questions.  You can order from my website HERE and have the cartridge shipped to your address. 

You can see the "look book" for the cartridge HERE or go to THIS POST from last month where I shared screen shots of all of the cartridge contents.  I'll have some samples to post soon - maybe tomorrow.

Now that it is November it's time to get busy on holiday projects - there are less than eight weeks until Christmas!  I'll bet you can guess what I have been designing - if you said more snowflakes, you'd be right...now I need to do some test cuts...


Since I wasn't able to post yesterday until late in the day, I will wait until tonight to draw the winner for the October "Scrap Pink" giveaway to allow time to for you to comment on that post.  I'll post the winner here tomorrow.

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Neighborhood Halloween Traditions

Our neighborhood is small (just 31 houses) and this makes it easy to keep lots of nice traditions going.  When we moved here 12 years ago, there were quite a few "middle-aged" children.  Most of them have graduated and gone to college and beyond and quite a few of the families have moved away.  New families have arrived and we now have a big group of young children on our street.

One family hosts a pizza dinner with games before the trick-or-treat parade around the circle.  Most of the adults also dress up (I wore my witch hat but that's about as creative as I got this year).  This Medusa head was one of my favorite adult costumes.

It's a lot of fun to see all of the little ones in their costumes.  Egyptian princess was a popular choice this year.

I particularly like to see the tiniest children in their costumes like this sweet bumblebee...

...and an adorable little penguin!

This banner was made by a couple of talented neighbors - can you spot the Cricut cuts that were used?

The older children try to eat donuts that are hanging from strings.  Here one of the Dads demonstrates the trick for the younger children.  They start with the donut on their forehead and then have to pick it up with their pinkies and eat it using nothing but their pinkies to hold the donut!

After dinner and the games, it's time for a group photo in the driveway.  The hill makes it easier to see everyone in the "serious" photo...

...and the silly one!

One of the most unique aspects of the celebration is the parade that is led by another talented neighbor who plays the bagpipes!

Everyone is moving pretty quickly - because the kids know that after the parade they can start trick-or-treating.

The banner needs a little bit of adult supervision to keep it off the ground and prevent tripping.

Everyone marches around the circle - right past the gardens and mailbox house that we fixed up last summer.

It's hard to believe that two days ago we were in the midst of a hurricane.  It's sad to realize that lots of kids are not having a "normal" Halloween this year due to the damage and power loss caused by the storm.

Back at home, I have the "candy buffet" set up because there will be little ones at the door right away after the parade.

With so many younger children, we keep the decorations pretty friendly - only happy pumpkins and not-very-scary ghosts!

I did manage to cut out the Trick-or-Treat sign and add it to the leafy wreath on the front door.  I'll do a separate post to show you how it turned out.

I hope you had fun for Halloween - now we can start thinking about Thanksgiving, with Christmas soon to follow!

Since I am a little off schedule - comments on this post will still be included for the October giveaway.  I'll post the name of the winner on Friday to give you time to comment on this last post for the month.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For the rest of the month, everyone who leaves a comment on my blog will have a chance to win this Sizzix "Scrap Pink" set.  You can see more photos and details at THIS POST.  For more chances, you can leave a comment everyday for the rest of the month - but just one comment per day please.



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Spiderweb Placecards

Last year I designed these spiderweb placecards in the Silhouette Design Studio software using one of the free shapes that are included with the software.

These make nice placecards and can also be used to label foods for a buffet.  Since I am still away from home, I thought I'd share a link to the post with the directions and the free file to download (this file will only work with the Silhouette machines).

Just click HERE to go to the original post and pick up the file if you can use it.  You'll also see a couple of Halloween cards in that post.

I hope you are having a great week!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For the rest of the month, everyone who leaves a comment on my blog will have a chance to win this Sizzix "Scrap Pink" set.  You can see more photos and details at THIS POST.  For more chances, you can leave a comment everyday for the rest of the month - but just one comment per day please.



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Halloween Frame

I had a lot of fun making this framed piece last year.  My neighbor and I got together and spent the afternoon choosing our papers and shapes and then cutting and assembling the project.

The frame has a dividing grid on the top but it was simple to arrange the 4 x 6 sections on a piece of backing paper so the entire piece can be taken in and out easily.  I had planned to change it out for Christmas but I never got around to making a new insert last year.  I have it on my list of projects to work on right after Halloween.

You can see the original post with all of the information about the images and sizes HERE.  The cuts are from the Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge.

I'll be in Pennsylvania with my Dad for the next couple of days.  I hope you are enjoying revisiting some projects that I posted last year.

Have a great day!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For the rest of the month, everyone who leaves a comment on my blog will have a chance to win this Sizzix "Scrap Pink" set.  You can see more photos and details at THIS POST.  For more chances, you can leave a comment everyday for the rest of the month - but just one comment per day please.



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Pumpkin Carving

I am on a lot of email lists and I don't always have a chance to read everything that hits my in box each day.  I do sometimes find interesting and useful things and I want to share one of them with you.

The Better Homes and Gardens website has all sorts of holiday decorating ideas and recipes.  If you are looking for ideas of things to make, you'll find lots of inspiration there.  A recent email gave links to some pumpkin carving patterns that you can download and use for your pumpkins.

patterns from Better Homes and Gardens website

There are a wide variety of themes with separate galleries for each one.  This LINK will take you to the stencil homepage.

Pumpkin photo from Better Homes and Gardens website

We don't always carve a pumpkin now that our boys are adults.  However, these patterns are easily adapted into cutting files if you use a program that allows you to draw your own images and to trace shapes. 

image from Better Homes and Gardens website

I liked this design very much and I was able to convert the PDF image into a cutting file.

Here is a screenshot of my layered file.  I haven't had a chance to do a test cut yet.  I am leaving to go see my Dad on Tuesday and I probably won't be able to cut this until next weekend.  If I get it done, I'll use it on the front door for Trick or Treating next week.

image from Better Homes and Gardens website

There are even sections with patterns for dog and cat images and many breeds are represented.

I hope your week is off to a good start.  I'll be gone most of the week but I should be able to add a few posts unless things get really hectic.  I do wish Pennsylvania was a little closer so I could just pop in to see Dad without such a long drive each time I go.

The photo at the top of this post is of our niece and the triplets - they went to a festival up in Keene, New Hampshire.  It looks like quite an event - check out their website HERE.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For the rest of the month, everyone who leaves a comment on my blog will have a chance to win this Sizzix "Scrap Pink" set.  You can see more photos and details at THIS POST.  For more chances, you can leave a comment everyday for the rest of the month - but just one comment per day please.


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HalloweenTrick or Treat Basket Tag

While attempting (again) to get organized, I found a few things in my craft room.  I have a box where I toss the pieces of chipboard that come in some paper packs and it had disappeared under a table.  I pulled it out and was inspired to try cutting some chipboard.

I have also decided that I should use some of the Cricut cartridges that are on my shelves that I haven't tried yet.  Some I bought because they were "deals" and I wanted to have them on hand "just in case" I need them...  While I enjoy designing my own shapes and images for the Cameo, sometimes I just want to "plug and play."

A friend sent me the Autumn Celebrations cartridge earlier this year and I put it aside since it wasn't the right season to be inspired to use it.  I looked through it and found lots of cute things to cut.  I decided to try making some chipboard tags with my newly rediscovered stash of chipboard.

I chose this tag and I was very pleased with the result.  I cut it at 3 1/2 inches and set the Cricut with pressure at max and the blade depth at 6 with a two times multi-cut.

Here is a photo of the side of the chipboard cut so you can see the thickness.  It is thicker than a cereal box but not extremely heavy.  I do have a deep cut blade (I've never opened it!) but I was able to cut this thickness easily with the regular blade.

I cut the base and the top layer from chipboard.  For the base,I cut two more layers - purple glitter cardstock (also on multicut 2) and some patterned paper for the back of the tag.  I cut just one layer for the top with the "Trick or Treat" words.

The glitter layers are so sparkly - you have to see them in person to catch the gleam!

 I used both my ATG gun and some liquid adhesive to put the layers together.  As always, with the Cricut cuts, the circle at the top was more like an oval but it doesn't really matter once you add some ribbon.  I tied a black grosgrain ribbon to make a hanger and then added some sheer orange and green ribbons.

After I added the ribbons on each side of the black hanger, I trimmed the ends at an angle for a more finished look.

A large purple gem brad fills the ribbon hole and adds more sparkle to the tag.

Here is the back side of the tag - the ends of the brad do show but I planned to use the tag on a basket or wreath so it won't be turned over very often.

The tag would work just fine cut from cardstock and layered but the chipboard is much heavier and makes the tag seem more important.  I inked all of the edges with black to make them less noticeable.

I think I may make some more chipboard tags and ornaments and use them to decorate my front door wreath for Halloween.

Do you use chipboard often?  I haven't used it for a long time and I had forgotten how much fun it is to use.  I cut out several things to share this week.  It is important to have a sticky mat to keep the chipboard in position - some people add painter's tape around the edges of the chipboard as extra "insurance" to hold it for the cut.

I thought I'd have a lot of time in my craftroom this week but I've decided to take a quick trip to Pennsylvania to see my Dad.  He has been having some trouble with his walking and I haven't been there for a while. 

Have a crafty day!

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