Spooktacular Halloween Tree

Last January I found this black mini Christmas tree on clearance at Target (for something like $2.50).  I immediately snatched it up with the intent of making a Halloween tree this year.

Here's my top secret recipe:


Add 1 part orange lights

 To 3 parts cute little ornaments (from Jo Ann fabrics)

Encourage Munchkin to mix well

And top with one teensy witch hat

Violá - Happy Halloween Tree!

I think it looks absolutely spooktacular ;)

I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick, Running with Glitter, One Artsy Mama, Dittle Dattle,

I {heart} Garlands

Happy Thursday!!  Ever since I made a spring rag garland, I've been in love with garlands hanging on our mantle - they're just so festive!  So of course I had to make a Halloween one.  I started out making a felt candy corn banner but it felt a little sparse:

So I added some 'weeny rag treatment in between each of the candy corn:

Soooo much better :)

As for a tutorial, I don't really have much of one :( 

• I free hand cut a rounded triangle out of a file folder then cut it into thirds (for each color).
• Then lots of felt cutting (I used one sheet of each orange, yellow and white) to get fronts and backs for 8 candy corn.
• Using a 8 ft length of ribbon, I pinned all the felt pieces together, sandwiching the ribbon between the front and back of each lil corn.
• Using my sewing machine, I used a zig zag stitch to connect the pieces then straight sewed around the perimiter - you could also zig zag the front and back seperately then join them together (I was just going with the fastest, not neatest method).
• As for the rag part - The pieces cut were approximately 4 inches long and 3/4 inch wide.  I didn't want them to be completely uniform, so some pieces are a little longer/shorter/wider/thinner (I cut everything with scissors)  The fabrics used were mostly cotton with a sheet of sparkly felt, orange netting and a few spools of halloween ribbon.

Along Came a Spider...

Happy Wednesday!  Here's a ridiculously simple and tiny addition to my Halloween decor:

I've seen them all over bloggyland and I love them!  Here's what I used:

• a tiny Dollar Store frame
• some black scrapbook paper
• one spider ring (ah ah ah ah)
• Modge Podge
• gorgeous aqua glitter - I bought a sampler pack of superfine glitter from JoAnn's for about $4

I'm sure this is completely intuitive, but here's the steps anyway:

• snip off the ring part with scissors
• lightly coat the top of the spider with Modge Podge
• cover liberally in glitter
• lightly coat the bottom of the spider with Modge Podge
• cover liberally in glitter
• go back and touch up any spots not fully coated in glitter
• let your glittery spider dry
• glue the spider onto the scrapbook paper (I used hot glue for instant gratification)
• frame you little 'weener decoration

Sure, I know aqua isn't a traditional Halloween color but it just pops off the black paper, especially in the evening!  I might make a few more to 'ween-o-fy a few more spots in the house :)