Werewolf Meatloaf

I made Werewolf Meatloaf for my kids tonight so we could have something a little different. I didn't make the meat any differently than usual, just shaped it differently. My 5 year old son wouldn't even touch it. He thought it was really a werewolf paw. Ha ha! My older kids loved it, especially when they got to add the "blood" (ketchup).

Here's my meatloaf recipe:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. soy sauce
1/2 chopped white onion
1/4 - 1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg salt and pepper to taste
5 pecans or almonds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients together by hand until well mixed. Shape into a hand shape, placing a nut on the end of each "finger". Put onto a cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Top with ketchup.This is the cooked meatloaf. I couldn't even get it out of the pan and onto a serving plate before the kids were eating it. The onions stayed at the top which my youngest thought was fur.

Homemade Glass Hurricane Jar

I've seen these all over the place. I have 3 sons, who bring over their friends, who are usually boys, and as mothers of boys know, even though the rule is no throwing balls in the house, something gets thrown, and Mom's expensive glass jars get broken in the process. I figured this out a few years ago after a trip to the Home Goods store to buy apothecary jars and other cute glass display jars was all for naught within 3 weeks of my purchases. I'd pretty much sworn off the idea of buying anything glass until they've moved out... UNTIL... I saw I saw homemade glass hurricane jars that you made yourself from the dollar store! They're everywhere, and I don't know how I missed it until now.

Supplies
E6000 glue (this will be the most expensive part of the project- I had some so I didn't have to buy new)
Glass candle holder- I got a votive (dollar store)
Hurricane jar (dollar store)

Directions
1. Remove the price tags from the bottom of the jars. Clean well. Rubbing alcohol works really well. 2. Put a dollop of the glue on the candle holder and put your jar on top. Hold it securely for a few minutes. 3. Add candy or whatever you want to put in there. Decorate with a ribbon (I haven't done this yet...) and you can use it for all seasons of the year.

Terra Cotta Mummies

I got the idea from Inspiring Creations. I tweaked it a bit because I liked the mummies being thicker in the middle.
Supplies 2 same size of terra cotta pots White Paint Googly eyes Strips of white material Hot glue/glue gun Black or dark brown ink pad Foam brush Directions 1. Glue together the lips of the pots and press together until dry. 2. Paint the pots white. Use a couple of coats, but they don't have to be completely perfect since you're covering them with the material.
3. Glue the eyes on the pots.4. Take a strip of the material and adhere it to the top of the pot and wrap it around, gluing every so often to keep it on. Make sure to avoid the eyes!5. When you're done with the material add some ink to it to make it look older. I used a black ink pad and a brown ink dauber to get the colors I wanted. (Here's one that I hadn't distressed next to the one that I had.)Display with your other favorite Halloween decor!

Halloween Wreath

I saw a picture of a cute wreath in a Woman's Day Magazine a while ago and decided that I had to make it. This project was actually pretty inexpensive. I already had the paint, foam sheet, glue and eyes. At the dollar store I found the wreath and the bag of balls. I got the bag of orange feathers from Hobby Lobby for less than $2, and the black pipe cleaners for less than $1 at WalMart. Here's my inspiration photo.

Supplies
12" grapevine wreath (you can do larger, just get more feathers)
1 bag orange feathers
1 bag of multi-sized Styrofoam balls
Black, orange and purple paint
Black foam sheet
Google eyes
Black pipe cleaners
Glue gun/glue
Craft tweezers

Directions
1. Paint the balls purple, orange and black. You may need to do 2 coats. Set aside to dry.
2. Put glue on the spine of the feather. Place it on the wreath, and press firmly to make sure it's on there tight. Continue until the entire front of the wreath is covered. (The directions in the magazine called for using an orange feather boa, but neither Hobby Lobby nor Joann had on in stock so I used the feathers. If you use the boa instead just do a small section at a time with the hot glue.)3. For the spiders- Cut out small sections of the pipe cleaner for legs. Press them into the balls and bend to look like legs.
4. For the bats- Cut out bat wings from the foam. Hot glue to the back and hold for a few seconds while the glue hardens.
5. For the pumpkins- Put a piece of green feather or foam onto the top of the orange balls to make pumpkins. 6. Using the craft tweezers pick up the eyes and put hot glue on the back. Place onto the balls.
7. Glue everything to the wreath and display.

Marshmallow Shooters Made from PVC Pipes

If you have a Cub Scout you have probably seen marshmallow shooters at some point.They also sell them at the stores, but they're so cheap and easy to make it's hard to justify the extra cost. These shooters are popular with kids of all ages. These are quick and easy to make, and I got supplies to make three of them for less than $7.

Supplies
1- 1/2" PVC pipe (They are 10' long so you'll have some extra pipe after cutting out the pieces you need.)
2- 1/2" PVC elbows
2- 1/2" PVC T's
2- 1/2" PVC caps
Hack saw or PVC pipe cutter
Optional- Spray paint or decorative duct tape

Directions
Cut four 4" pieces, two 6" pieces and one 8" piece. This is what it looks like when you've cut the one pipe and the fittings you'll need. Assemble according to picture below, making sure fittings are tight. This is how it looks when it's done. You can spray paint it or cover it with decorative duct tape to personalize them.

To shoot them place a marshmallow at the end of the barrel and blow forcefully in the top opening.

Halloween Subway Wall Art

After looking around blogland I found several posts with subway wall art. I had the supplies and decided that I could make one too. If you want to make it here are the supplies you'll need: scrap wood (mine was 10" x 24") or a piece of stretched canvas coordinating cardstock black paint Mod Podge Directions:1. Sand and paint the wood. Seal it with Mod Podge and set aside to dry as you do the next step.
2. I used my Cricut to cut out several words and pictures in various sizes and colors. If you don't have a Cricut you can cut things out by hand or use pre-cut embellishments from your local craft store. 3. There are a couple of different ways to do the next part... I ran my cardstock through my Xyron sticker machine and so I could place them on the board without worrying about the paper slipping. You can also just put some MP on the back as your adhesive and apply it to the board. 4. After that all you need to do is seal it with more MP on top. Don't forget to seal the sides! It dries pretty quickly. 5. Then if you used a board put a piece of ribbon or something so you can hang it from the wall. You're done!
The first two are my inspiration pieces, and the one I came up with is at the end.

Fabric Headbands

Here is the first project that I mentioned earlier.
Supplies needed:
Scissors
3 coordinating fabrics. Choose one for the flower, one for the flower base, and one for the headband.
Find two cups (circle cookie cutters also work) of different sizes, one about 1/2" smaller than the other. They should be approximately 2"-3" in diameter. Paper- Trace the circles onto paper and cut out. Cut one of the larger circles from the fabric for the flower base. Then cut out 4 from the fabric for the flower. Cut the headband from the width of the fabric. I taper them on the ends. Button Needle and coordinating thread After cutting your fabric fold the smaller circles in half and then in half again. Place them in the center of the larger flower and stitch them on. I found that it was easier for me to stitch in a circular motion, close to the center. After you're done stitch your coordinating button in the center.Get your headband. You have a couple of options that I've used. The first one is to iron interfacing to the underside. The second is to layer it with a second piece of material with the wrong sides facing each other. That way when you tie your headband it has bright colors showing. It's just a matter of personal preference. The stitch around the headband, leaving about 1/4" raw seam on the entire thing. This prevents excessive fraying. (If you prefer a more tailored look you can sew under and then sew the pieces together.)After you've completed get your headband get the flower and stitch it on. I put it off-center. You're done and ready to wear it.I ran out of buttons for these last two, but it shows how I sewed the flowers on a bit better.

More Fabric Headbands

The brown headbands
The dark headbands
The pink headbands

The blue and purple headbands
The flowers before I sewed the buttons on and sewed to the headbands.

Burnt Satin Flowers

You need scissors, a hot glue gun, satin or satin-type material, a lit candle, hair clip and embellishments (like buttons or jewels).

Cut varying sizes of circles from your material. The great thing about this is that the petals don't have to be a perfect circle. They won't end up that way once you burn them so don't worry about it! Hold the edges in the flame until they start to melt. Don't hold it too long or it will catch fire! When you have the number of petals you want start gluing them together in the center. Add your embellishments to the center. Glue to the hair clip.

For variation use more than one color. You can also add tulle to the flower.

Decorating Flip Flops with Ribbon

Items you need:

2-3 different 1/4" - 5/8" coordinating ribbons or pieces of fabric

Flip flops

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Directions for tied ribbon flip flops:

Get your ribbon and flip flops. Decide which color you want to start with and tie it around the strap near the bottom. (I didn't pre-cut the ribbon.) I cut the ribbons at an angle to reduce the fraying. I only used 2 ribbons so I did every other one. Keep going until the straps are covered.

Covered straps: (Showing children's shoes. Adult flip flops coming soon.)

Choose your ribbon. If there's enough give, push down through the hole, fill it with hot glue and the end of the ribbon. If there's not enough give then just place a dot of glue at the very bottom of the strap, near where you foot goes. Start wrapping, and continue wrapping until the entire strap is wrapped on both sides. Place more hot glue at the end- the way you did when you started. Put a bow or flower in the middle where your toe goes.

Bejeweled flip flops:

Get ribbon with sequins or crystals and hot glue it on the straps. I added a satin flower with a jewel, but you can add whatever fits your style.

Homemade Pillowcases

A few years ago for Christmas my mother made all of the grand kids pillowcases. My youngest son loved his so much that he carried it around everywhere. I mended it several times, but it was literally falling apart because it was threadbare from overuse. I got 3 coordinating fabrics and got started. The finished size of a standard size pillowcase is 20" x 30". Cut the first material to 20.5" x 24.5". I cut the second material, which is the small strip in the middle, to 20.5" x 4". I cut the third material to 20.5" x 8.5". (This allows about 1/2" extra for the seams.)

Items needed:

1. 3 pieces of coordinating material: Piece A: 20.5" x 30.5", Piece B: 20.5" x 4", Piece C: 20.5" x 8.5"
2. Coordinating thread
3. Iron and ironing board
4. Scissors, cutting mat, ruler, rotating cutting blade

Directions:

1. Cut your material to size. Iron everything flat.
2. Fold Pieces 2 and 3 in half lengthwise and iron them flat. Iron a 1/4" seam on Piece A on the top piece.
3. Sew a seam along the ironed seam of Piece A.
4. Place Pieces 2 and 3 together and sew them together.
5. Sew that piece to the ironed seam on Piece A. Reinforce the corners with back stitching.
6. Iron everything flat then sew the pieces together.
7. Wash and dry and you're good to go!

Candy Corn Decorations

I saw a picture of some felt candy corn that a friend had made so I decided to do the same. This is a really simple craft to make if you have a sewing machine and basic sewing skills. (Mine are not much better than basic so if I can do it so can you!) The hardest part for me is always cutting the pieces out. And that's not even hard, just a little time consuming.

Supplies Needed:
Orange felt sheets
Yellow felt sheets
White felt sheets
Orange thread
Batting
Marking pen or marker
Scissors
Sewing machine
Pattern for candy corn (printed to desired size from computer)

Directions:

1. Cut out candy corn printed from your computer. Then cut along each color.
2. Trace each shape onto desired color of felt and then cut them out. Remember that these are double sided so you'll need to double the number you cut out. (If you want 5 total, then you'll cut out 10 total of each piece.)
3. Sew the three pieces together. I used the zigzag stitch so they would easily stay together.
4. After you finish sewing the 3 pieces together then get two complete candy corns and put them back to back. Using a straight stitch sew beginning at the widest portion on the end. When you're about 3" from your starting point start filling with batting. Finish sewing shut, making sure there is no gap.
5. After I finished sewing I used my scissors to trim around the edges to make sure they were even. Mine ended up being about 6" tall. If I made them a little bigger I would have gone around the edges with pinking shears.
6. Decorate as you will. I put mine in a jar. If you want to you could always sew coordinating ribbon on in loops and hang as garland. *Another option is to use the dark brown instead of the yellow for a twist on the candy corn. Use your imagination and have fun!