Think Crafts Blog - Craft Ideas and Projects - CreateForLess

Kid’s and General Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Every year, as we get ready to host our annual pumpkin carving party, I promise myself that I am going to carve or decorate some really cool pumpkins to have on display before the party. But between menu planning, crafts-for-the-kids planning and all the inevitable last minute details that come when you have your entire neighborhood over for an afternoon, the pumpkins get pushed to the bottom of the list. 

Generally I look around after the party and realize that every family on the block has a newly carved pumpkin except ours. Next year! I tell myself!

Well, next year has come.

I’m making an early start with the pumpkins by venturing into the realms of fake gourds. I’ve seen them for years, heard the craft pundits rave about their versatility, but somehow have never broken down and bought one. But when I got the idea for this pumpkin I decided that the time had come. I was not going to spend all that time decorating a pumpkin that would rot away in a few weeks time.

The inspiration for this came from a magazine I flipped though while in line at the grocery store one day. The pumpkin on the glossy pages was covered in tiny rhinestones which looked great but probably cost more than I was willing to spend. Instead I opted for glossy black puff paint and a few rhinestones accents.

After sketching out the swirls and loops with a pencil, I went to work with the paint, dotting carefully along the lines. It was often easier to start at the end of the swirl and work backwards toward the stem and I did stop at the halfway point to allow the paint to dry before proceeding with the rest. And although the project was definitely time consuming, it was also fairly easy once I got into the dot dot dot rhythm.

Once the entire pumpkin was covered I went back and glued a handful of rhinestone in strategic places. Such as the spot where my son decided to “see if the paint was dry”. The finished project looks elegant and spooky at the same time. The perfect combination for this year’s not so kid like but not scary either decor. In fact, I might just have to make another with that white pumpkin I bought the other day. Because you can never have too many cool looking pumpkins in October!

Earlier this week I posted about dimensional paint and thought I’d show off some great Halloween projects I found at Duncan’s Website.  Dimensional paint can be used to outline, add depth, add sparkle, and even adhere!  It’s a product that you should spend a little time practicing with before you start using it on your crafting surfaces, but it’s time well spent.  Feel free to share you dimensional paint projects and your Halloween crafts!

You can find the instructions for all these fun projects at Duncan’s Website!

I love fall and best of all, Halloween.  There is nothing better in life than getting to dress up as you please and get candy at every door you knock on!  Come on, that’s just “sweet”!

As a child my whole family got involved to celebrate Halloween.  My older brothers dressed up as policemen, women, and werewolves!  They went to school parties for Halloween, but I got to go with my friends door to door collecting treats. We carved pumpkins, spun spiderwebs from polyfil, hung pillowcase ghosts on the front yard trees.

I remember my homemade costumes well.  My mom used to help me.  One year I wore lederhosen and pretended to be a German gnome.  That one was easy as my mother was German and even made me a felt mustache! Another year I went as a hobo with my treat bag attached to a long wood branch.  I also was a princess one year and the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. But the best was a fairy with a magical wand of dowl rod, construction paper star, and glitter.  I loved waving the wand as neighbors dropped a piece of candy or two in my fairy dust bag!

CreateForLess is having a Halloween Costume Contest! Here’s the scoop!

What’s your all-time favorite handmade Halloween costume you’ve ever created?  That one you’re most proud of because you made it by hand, instead of buying it at the costume shop?  From kids to adult costumes, funny to scary, we want to see your creativity.  Enter our Handmade Halloween Costume Contest for your chance to win one of these amazing prizes…

• 1st Place: $150 CreateForLess Shopping Spree 
• 2nd Place: $100 CreateForLess Shopping Spree 
• 3rd Place: $50 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

Click here for details on how to enter.  Contest deadline is Nov 2, 2008.  I’d love to see some handmade costumes posted here too!  Come on, share!