Kids Halloween Pillowcases

I've always had this irrational fear of the sewing machine and have never wanted to learn how to sew because of it. But I finally decided to suck it up and let my mom teach me how to sew.  :P

My very fist project were some halloween pillowcases for my kids. I thought these would be a fun way to add some halloween decor to their rooms. These pillowcases were sooo easy! I used THIS great tutorial but I used slightly different measurements. I wanted my trim to be a little bigger and my cuff to be a little smaller. Other than that I followed the tutorial exactly and am so happy with how they turned out! And now that I'm finally over my sewing fears I can start making more fun projects. :)

Here are the measurements I used:
Main body: 27"
Cuff: 7"
Trim: 4"

I made these while the kids were at school and surprised them when they came home. I added a few candies and crafts to get them in the Halloween spirit. :) I love how they turned out and my kids love sleeping on them. I'm planning to make them some Christmas ones, too. :)

-marie

DIY Halloween Spell Book

 I've been wanting to make a spell book for my Halloween decor for a while now and have seen a lot of great ones on Pinterest. But I wasn't able to find any with pages I could print off. So I created my own in Photoshop and am sharing them with anyone who wants to make their own. With the pages already created, this book is soooo easy to put together. There's still time to whip one up before Halloween! :)

To begin with, you'll need a book. I found this one at Savers in the "vintage" book section. I liked that it was already black and the pages were yellow and aged so I didn't need to do anything extra to the book.  A huge time saver!

To get the pages to curl, I used my handy little squirt bottle. I sprayed water on the corners as I lifted the pages. This gave it some texture and the water made the pages more pliable.

Next, you'll want to print the spell pages. My book was 8.25"x5.5" so if you have a different sized book make sure to size it properly. I just printed it on regular copy paper.

 This next step is completely optional, but I wanted the paper to feel just a little more aged. So I set the oven to 200º and lined a cookie sheet with foil. I sprayed a light mist of water over the pages (make sure the printer ink is dry!) and bake for about 5-7 minutes until the edges begin to curl.

 To mount the spell pages in the book, I used Mod Podge, but a spray adhesive would work really well, too.

Next, I super glued a black ribbon down the middle of the book.

 

Now it's ready to be displayed!

If you want to make your own, you can download the spell pages HERE.  Be sure to let us know if you make one, we'd love to see it!

-marie

Halloween Floating Frames

I just LOVE the floating glass frames Chelsea made and had to make some of my own.  These are such an easy and inexpensive project to make.  I'm thinking I need to make some for other holidays, too!

To start off, I used some old frames that I had.  I spray painted them white and used sandpaper to rough up the edges.  For this one I used a cherry wood frame and I like how both the cherry color and natural wood color come through. 

 I removed the back of the frame and added a dab of glue to each corner to keep the glass in place.  

I also added ribbon to mine so I could hang them, but they look cute sitting on an entryway table like Chelsea's, too!

 I used my cricut to cut some black vinyl.  I used the Paper Dolls cartridge for the skull and tree and and svg file for the bat.  

I just love the way they turned out!

-marie

Frugal Friday: Jack-O-Lantern Shape Matching

My kids LOVE Team Umizoomi so I was excited to see these cute printable pumpkins on nickjr.com.  I printed the pumpkins on orange paper and the shapes I printed on white but then colored them with a marker.  I laminated everything, cut them out, added magnets and now the kids have a fun, reusable game that's perfect for Halloween and learning their shapes! 





We used dollar store cookie sheets for ours but they would also be fun to play on the refrigerator.  You don't even have to use magnets if you don't want. 

 

-marie

Halloween Subway Art

Last year I shared with you some Fall Subway Art I made.  I decided to utilize the back of that one and turn it into some Halloween Subway Art.  Two for the price of one. :)

I used my Cricut to cut out a bunch of Halloween related words onto cardstock.  After painting the board black I used Mod Podge to adhere the words on.  I added another coat of Glossy Mod Podge over the entire board to seal it all in. 

I also wanted to show you these platters.  I picked them up at a thrift store for maybe a dollar each.  I love that they are a nice, solid metal (not like the flimsy dollar store ones) and they already came tarnished and vintage-looking.  Add a dollar store crow and some spider webs and they are the perfect Halloween decoration!

-marie