Graveyard Ghouls

You will need

white knit glove
3-4" round paper mache box
cotton batting
cardboard
craft foam in yellow and black
glitter glue: gold, orange, pink
2 jumbo craft sticks
black marker
acrylic paint in white and black
crackle medium
hot glue gun
toothpick
scissors
paintbrush
patterns

What you do

Fill the glove with cotton batting, ensuring that all fingers are full and half of the palm.

Dot on ghost eyes using the handle end of a paintbrush dipped in black paint. Use a smaller dot of white on top of that, then dot on a black spot with a toothpick.

Use glitter glue to add bow ties, buttons and a tie (see photo), set aside to dry.

Paint entire outside surface of the paper mache box with black paint. Allow to dry.

Apply crackle medium according to directions on the bottle, a medium coat works well. Allow it to dry for 15-25 minutes, until tacky but not completely dry. Next apply a medium coat of white paint over the crackle on the box. Do not excessively brush, one or two strokes is enough. Let dry, crackle will begin to work within minutes.

Mix together some black and white paint to make gray. Paint the craft sticks gray and set aside.

Using the printable pattern, cut the graveyard sign and 2 tombstones from cardboard. Paint all of them gray and set aside to dry.

Cut moon from yellow foam and all three bats from black foam.

Use black marker to write RIP and "Here lies a" on the tombstones (you will not see more than that once craft is complete).

Shade the craft sticks, sign and the headstones with black paint, highlight with a little white. Write the words "Rattlin' Bones Graveyard" across the sign with black marker.

Place a handful of cotton batting into the box. Place the glove inside the box. If the height looks good, glue it all in. If not, remove or add batting below the glove to adjust.

Place some batting in front of the ghosts, but don't glue it in just yet. Position the headstones where you want them, then glue them in, adding and gluing batting as you go.

Add more batting to the back of the box behind the ghosts and place craft sticks behind ghosts, do not glue just yet. Position sticks, one higher than the other, so that the sign will be slanted downward. Hold the sign up to the sticks to make sure that they line up. Hot glue the sign to the sticks FIRST, then glue the ends of the sticks into the box. Add more batting if needed.

Glue the large bat to the front left side of the sign and the medium bat behind the sign on the same side (refer to photo). Glue the yellow moon behind the sign on the right side and glue the small bat to the moon.

Adjust and glue any loose batting and you are done!

About the Author:
Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She is also the Chief Editor and Craft Expert of FamilyCorner.com Magazine.


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Round Lollipop Ghosts

Use Tooties Roll Pops, or other round, sucker style lollipops, as the base for tissue paper ghosts for Halloween.

They are easy enough for children to craft themselves, make great hand-outs for trick-or-treaters or party favors, and are just the thing if you're looking for an inexpensive group activity to make Halloween decorations.

You will need:

- one round Tootie Roll Pop or round sucker lollipop for each ghost

- one or two white tissues

- pair of plastic movable eyes and a dab of glue or black marker for the eyes

- black marker for the mouth

- small piece of yarn or thin ribbon - any color will do, but orange or black are more traditional for Halloween

Instructions:

1. Place a tissue down flat on your work surface. If using two tissues, lay the second one on top of the first on an angle, so that the corners of both tissues can all be seen.

2. Place your round lollipop in the middle of the tissues and gently gather the tissues around the head of the lollipop.

3. Tie a small piece of yarn or thin ribbon just below the head of the lollipop to make the ghost's head. You can make a bow with the yarn if you wish, or just tie it and cut off the long ends.

4. If using plastic eyes, add a dab of glue to the back of eye and gently press into place. If you prefer to draw all the facial features, just use a black marker to dab on two circle eyes and a larger circle shape for the mouth.

5. Hang as decorations, or stack in a big bowl to give out on Halloween night.

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Making Simple Cushions Instructions

These are the easiest cushions to make even if you have limited sewing skills.
Simple cushions can be made in all weights of fabric from lightweight cottons to heavyweight velvets.

They can be made to match, contrast or coordinate with your soft furnishings, be left plain or enhanced by adding lace, braid or fringing.
The instructions below are for a simple square cushion which can be used to complement a sofa, add a finishing touch to a chair or enhance the look of a bed.

Image refers to the colour code key for the diagrams
Requirements:
Square cushion pad in the desired size.
Fabric of your choice.
Braid, lace or fringing, if required, enough for the circumference of the cushion pad.
Matching thread.

Refers to step 5 of making a simple cushion

Making a Simple Square Cushion:

Refers to steps 3 and 4 of making a simple cushion

Measure the cushion pad, place the tape measure seam to seam and add a seam allowance of 0.5" (12 mm) to all edges.
Cut out 2 pieces of fabric to the chosen size including the seam allowance.
Place the 2 pieces of fabric with right sides together. Pin and stitch around the 4 corners and 3 sides, leaving an opening in the centre of the remaining side big enough to insert the cushion pad. Fasten the ends of the threads securely.
Turn the cover right side out and insert the cushion pad.
Turn under the raw edges of the opening in line with the remainder of the seam and slipstitch.
If required, stitch braid, lace or fringing to the right side using a small backstitch.


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Homemade Advent Calendar Pattern

Use this origami homemade Advent calendar pattern to make your own calendar this year, or make one for a family member or friend.


Materials

24 small squares of patterned paper. Here I am using 3x3" (7.5x7.5cm) squares. Use up your spare papers left over from scrapbooking, or old wrapping papers, newspaper, magazine paper etc.
1 piece of card-stock. Here I am using a 12" (30cm) square piece of scrapbooking cardstock, but you can also use any type of cardboard. If you only have scrap cardboard (like off a cereal box or something), paint it a nice colour, or cover it with a piece of wrapping paper.
Paper Glue or double-sided tape.
Ribbons, Pens etc to decorate.
Optional: Adhesive magnets, or string.

Homemade Advent Calendar Pattern Instructions

Take one small square of patterned paper.

Turn over the piece of paper, so that the pattern faces downwards.

Fold the square in half, so that the bottom corner now touches the top corner.

Now, fold the top corner down to meet the bottom edge, and make a crease. Unfold this flap.

Fold the bottom right corner up to the crease made in the previous step. Line up the edge of the paper along the crease.

Repeat this fold for the left hand corner.

Secure these two flaps in place using glue or double-sided tape.

Remember to write a number on each pocket so that you can count down the days until Christmas.

Here I have cut out small flowers using a stamp and glued them onto the top section of each pocket.

You can write directly onto your pocket, or use numbered stickers. Whatever you like!

Now attach each pocket to the card base, add a decorative ribbon border, and make sure to fill each pocket with nice treats!

You can stick adhesive magnetic strips on the back to stick your calendar on the fridge. Or, punch holes in the top two corners, and hang up with string.

As each day passes, fold down the flap on that pocket.

You can also add small messages on the inside of the flaps if you have special events planned throughout Advent (eg. Put up Christmas tree, Visit Christmas Lights Display...).

Especially if they are surprise excursions for the recipient of your advent calendar :-)

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Make A Notebook In 5 Minutes

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Make your own notebook

Is the recycling stack precariously high? Make all that paper into something useful again. Cat Davison gives a new lease of life to scrap paper with a simply bound notebook


The great thing about binding your own books - apart from the sheer thrill of making something you were going to throw away into something you were going to buy - is that you can make it as easy or as complicated as you like. You can rustle up a coverless, warts-and-all notepad for shopping lists and daily plans in under 30 minutes, or labour away at a work of art with specially bought paper for a day or more.

What you need

A stack of paper
A ruler
A pencil
A thick sewing needle
Strong string or thread
A thick needle topped with a wedge of cork (or a mini hand-drill)
A small clamp (if you have one)
A cutting mat

What to do

1. Stack all your papers together. It doesn't matter if they are different textures, colours or thicknesses - I find this actually makes the book more interesting - they just need to be cut to one size (of your own choosing).

2. With all the papers aligned against their left-hand edge, place them on your cutting mat. Using a ruler, mark a light line with your pencil down the left-hand edge, about 1-2cm in. Mark increments down this line, between 1-2cm apart. Remember the more widely spaced the increments, the longer your stitches will be, and the quicker your book will take to sew. The shorter, the more labour-intensive, but also the more refined.

3. Align all your pages once more on the cutting mat. If you have a small clamp, use this to fix the pages to something solid, like the corner of a table. If not, press down hard on the top of your stack and start pushing through your increments with a thick needle or drill. Depending on how thick your book is you might be able to do this in one go. If not, separate your pages into sections, mark each one up, push through the holes and then combine.

4. Thread your needle. Although this might go against every sewing sensibility you have, tie a knot around the head of the needle (this prevents the thread from escaping when you push it through the paper).

5. Push your needle from underneath your stack at the bottom hole, leaving a good 12.5cm of string spare when you pull the thread through. Don't tie a knot at the end.

6. Weave your way up the spine of the book, threading each hole. When you reach the top, go back the other way so that each hole has been gone through twice and you have a continuous line of thread up the spine.

7. When you reach the bottom, cut the needle loose and tie the two spare threads together - I like a lavish bow!
And another thing ...

You can add a hardback cover to your book by cutting two pieces of card to the same size as your notebook. Placing both on top, cut them again so that the bind is showing - this normally involves lopping off a centimetre or so from the left-hand edge. Get some tough fabric, cut it to the height of your book and make sure it wraps around the spine and covers a good few centimetres of the card. Using PVA, glue it around the spine, attaching it to the cards so they 'hinge' off the fabric.


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Origami Lily Folding Instructions

The origami lily is a classic and popular origami flower. Did you know that the lily family traditionally represented innocence and purity? Lilies can be found in a variety of hybrids and colors including yellow, pink, white, orange, purple, red and many others.



The origami lily is not too difficult to fold but beginners may find the petal fold slightly challenging. Just take your time and follow each step slowly. If you prefer video, check out our origami lily video instructions.

If you're giving your origami lily to someone as a gift, do use an extra special paper such as these gorgeous Fabric Textured Origami Paper

Or use these Washi Origami Paper with raised patterns and subtle gold flecks.

Start with a 6 inch square piece of origami paper, and fold it into a water balloon base.

Next, take one of the four corners of the base and squash fold it as shown below.




Repeat the squash fold for the other three corners, to give the kite shape shown below.




Now fold the lower edges of the kite into the centerline, then unfold. Fold the top corner down, then unfold.



You will now have crease marks on the piece, that will be used in the next step. Place your finger under the lower point of the kite, and fold upwards as shown. This is a petal fold.



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Make a Naruto Headband

This is an easy, quick and fun way to make a Shinobi headband resembling one from the popular anime Naruto.


1. Search the Internet for [[Be a True Naruto Fan|Naruto]] headbands to get a template, or use the link in the tips section.
2. Find or buy blue cloth (cotton works best). You can also [[Tie Dye Using Rit Powder|dye]] your cloth blue if you cannot find a blue one.
3. Cut a strip of the cloth about 3 inches wide and however long you need to wrap around your head. Leave enough extra to tie off behind your head.[[Stencil an Item Using Spray Paint|Spray paint]] the cardboard on one side only, as the paint won't help the fabric glue stick.
4. Once the paint has dried, use either your pencil, or a darker silver marker to transpose the design of your choice. Using pencil first will allow you to correct your mistakes.
5. When you are satisfied with the plate, apply fabric glue to the back of the plate and the front of your cloth band and press together firmly. Adding a phone book as a weight will improve bonding.
6. When the glue has dried per instructions on the packaging, your headband is complete.
7. Don't forget to add three holes to each side. Alternatively you could use permanent marker so that the fabric does not show through.
8. You can also use an Arizona tea can for the metal part to make it more realistic. you could also get some thumb tacks to make the screws on the side or some rime stones they add depth like a screw and cover them with a silver sharpie so they wont shine and a darker silver for the screw indentation.



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Wrapping a gift basket

With Easter approaching, I thought it would be timely to share how to wrap a gift basket. With this technique your basket will look just as good as the professional ones in the store. Simple directions below.



Supplies:
Basket - I recommend getting one at the thrift store. They're just as good as anything you would buy at the store and usually cost less than a dollar.
Magazine or catalog
Scissors
Tape
Cellophane

Fill your basket 2/3 full with crumpled magazine paper (step 2). Cover all of the crumpled paper with one piece of paper (step3). Cover with shredded paper or Easter grass (step 4).

Arrange the gifts starting at the back with the taller pieces and work your way to the front with the shorter pieces. This makes the gifts look more appealing and helps hold the smaller items in place. If you need support to stand an item up, use decorative cardboard to place in the back of the basket. In the past I've used cardboard from boxes covered in wrapping paper.

Place the basket in the center of the cellophane and pull the cellophane up so it's folded in half. Refer to picture.

Fold the right side behind the basket (refer to picture). Secure with tape. Fold the left side and secure with tape. Sometimes there's excess cellophane that needs to be cut back to make it more workable. Bunch up the top of the cellophane over the basket toward the back and secure with a rubber band. Make sure the cellophane in the front of the basket doesn't bunch up at all. Sometimes it takes a little finessing to get it perfect. Tie a ribbon over the rubber band. Done.

This is what the back of the basket will look like.

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Kids theme parties - Party hats

A kid’s birthday party is not complete without a party hat!

They can come in many shapes and sizes but they all have one thing in common… they add to the liveliness and festive feeling of any party.

They can be made from balloons, from newspaper or tissue paper, they can be adorned with feathers, glitter, sequins, colourful buttons, flowers or streamers, the choice is yours. Party hats can be shaped like a cone, a top hat, a simple band with Mickey Mouse or Bunny ears, a pirate hat, a witch hat… as with so many crafts, your imagination is the only drawback when it comes to the kind of hat you will make for your kid’s theme party.

The easiest party hat you can make yourself is the conical party hat. diagram for a cone shaped party hatDraw a triangle on a piece of stiff cardboard or coloured paper – size 12″ x 18″ – use the 12″ as the height and the 18″ as the size to go around the head. Change the straight bottom line to a curve:

Decorate as desired, then glue the edges together and leave to dry. (Use paperclips to hold the hat together while it is drying). Staple both ends of a thin piece of elastic string onto opposite sides of the bottom edge of the hat so it fits under the chin.

A golden rule when planning your kids’ theme parties is to let them be a part of the planning from the beginning, so the older kids will really enjoy making their own party hats.


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How to Make A Baby Bib From Old Towels

Go baby bibs and Wall Street money goes; too much. Save pennies instead of spending purchased in lots of money, their own simple and cheap way to make sure.



Pattern bib baby’s need, one is your correct free-hand drawings in good or if you do not (Internet) information highway hit us liking free patterns to find. Print and cut it. Now, all your feeds and head that collects table, kitchen, counters, floors or sewing room.

Layouts, flat, and towels are placed on your patterns. The model’s markers and pens. Repeat this process until the baby towel bib overall there is form; cuts off all pennies. With the help of matching or contrasting thick yarn or wire around every edge cover stitch sewing start bib. This gives the bib, decorative appearance, and to prevent it, bleaching and Ravel.

Almost completed; now, cut a strip of Velcro or a tape loop n about 2 inches long and may be to hook up. Bib (goes around the neck portion) band hooks are just part of the sewing area opposite band loop sewn today. Alto! Your baby’s bib. Repeat this process until all pennies.

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How to build a Letter Holder

A letter holder is not only practical but can also adorn a passage, entry or other suitable wall and it is relatively easy to make.



This letter holder allows letters from the mailbox to be sorted and stored into individual pockets awaiting collection from different family members. As well, car key hooks along the bottom of the letter holder will help ensure that the letters will be seen by the people they are intended for. Below is a Materials List and required tools list.
On subsequent pages there are step-by-step instructions accompanied by photos and detailed plans.

Materials list

1 of 600mm x 600mm (2ft x 2ft) Sheet of 4.5mm (3/16") thick mdf, plywood or similar type panel board. (Specifications allow for a bit of wastage.)

1 of 2000mm (80") length of 45mm x 19mm (3/4"x 1 1/2") wood. (Specifications allow for a bit of wastage.)

50 panel pins (i.e. small thin nails 25mm (1") long.)

15 wood screws 38mm (1 1/2") long.

5 key hooks.

A bit of PVA wood glue and some sandpaper.

A drawing of all the parts can be seen below

Required tools

Hammer Hand saw Jig-saw Carpenter's pencil Measuring tape Drill Drill bit (slightly thicker than the screw shank)

Step 1

How to shape the wood for a letter rack



Measure and mark all the pieces to be cut according to the plans. Use plates and cups as templates to mark the curves (see the curved shapes).

Step 2
Parts for a wooden letter holder


Cut all the pieces and drill the screw holes in parts [c] and [e].
The positions of the holes are shown in the parts plan

Step 3
Wooden letter holder assemble parts [d] and [e]

Screw member [e] to members [d].
Step 4
Wooden letter holder assemble parts [e] and [f]

Screw member [e] to member [f].

Step 5
Wooden letter holder assemble parts [d] and [e]

Screw members [c] to members [e and f].

Step 6
Wooden letter holder assemble add part [b]

Glue and nail the front piece [b] to members [c, d and e].

Step 7
Wooden letter holder assemble add part [a]

Turn the unit over then glue and nail the back piece [a] to members [c, d and e].

Step 8
Wooden letter holder assemble. add the key hooks

Drill a hole (to allow for hanging) at the top of the back piece [a] and add key hooks to member [f].

Drawings:
(1). Firstly, the plan with all the dimensions.
(2). Secondly, a drawing of all the parts also showing where to drill the screw holes.
(3). Thirdly, a drawing showing how to make the curved shapes.


The parts
[a] Back board
[b] Front board
[c] End vertical members also showing the positions of the screw holes
[d] Intermediate vertical members
[e] Bottom upper horizontal member also showing the positions of the screw holes
[f] Bottom lower horizontal member


The curved shapes
Below is a drawing explaining how to make the curved shapes. Plates and cups can be used as patterns. See photo.


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