Halloween Silhouette Decorations

While I was making the Halloween Greetings stationary, I was struck with a brilliant idea. Why don't I make the same thing, but as a window silhouette?

Black cats

Victorian Steampunk Couple
You can tell they're steampunk, because I added gears and a compass and cool stuffage.

After washing my windows inside and out, I adhered them to the inside of the windows using Scotch tape.
I closed the blinds super tight, then placed tea lights behind them to back light them. Since I'm fairly certain construction paper is flammable, I used electric tea lights. In theory, when it's dark, the silhouettes should be backlit to stand out really well in the windows and should look pretty neat. Let's see if it worked...

It worked! It looks much better in real life, believe me.

This was super fun and super easy!

©2011 Pineapple Damask, All Rights Reserved

Hand Painted Halloween Shirts

After working on the Halloween Stationary, I still had an itch to do something crafty. I was planning on purchasing the kiddos Halloween shirts, but decided making them would be much more fun.

My chosen method was to hand paint their shirts. Since I am no Michealangelo (as we learned from my last post), I needed to keep it fairly simple and within the realm of my freehand drawing skills. So, I drew a simple black cat for big sissy (age 5) and a super simple spider for baby brother (age 3). I painted them with melted crayons and removed the wax when they were cool. Afterwards, I outlined them with a black marker.

Here's how they turned out:

Black Cat

The tail wraps around the shirt to the back.

Close-up of cat. I was trying to mimic cat hair with my brush strokes, but should probably have done them front to back vice top to bottom.

She looks calico! This was unintentional, as I was trying to get a vintage washed out look. I've also added splatters of purple crayon. This was to add some Halloween-y color and to cover up a few accidental splatters.

Spider

Close up of spider. Even though I painted it black, it is in fact a brown recluse. You can tell by the violin shape on his back! (When I said this to my husband, he accused me of being a dork.)

Detail of green and purple splatters for extra decoration (and to cover up a few accidents!)

A few things I learned:

1) Don't use cheap crayons. They bleed when you remove the wax from the shirt.

2) Melted crayons give off noxious fumes. Do this in a well ventilated area.

3) Don't use cheap paintbrushes. I bought some super cheap ones, figuring I would just throw them away rather than clean them. Those paintbrushes were the pits, and were the bane of this project.

I hope the kiddos love their new shirts :)

© 2011 Pineapple Damask, All Rights Reserved

Halloween Greetings

Unfortunately, my sewing machine and crafting supplies are STILL in storage. My husband and I are temporarily at a duty station for less than a year, therefore, we decided to get a very small place. I thought I would be able to sew, but there simply isn't any room! No room to iron or cut material, no room to draft patterns, there isn't even room for an ironing board. We might as well be in a cardboard box :(

I refuse to give up crafting completely. I have a scarf I started last year, which I need to finish crocheting for my husband (tunisian entrelac - that was a mistake!), so I guess I could work on that. I was about to pull it out of whatever box it's in, in storage, when an entirely new project took over my little brain.

As you may have noticed, Halloween is approaching. I usually buy cards for my loved ones, but browsing the greeting card section of several stores, I found that most were...uninspiring. Plus, who wants to pay $3+ for a piece of cardboard that will most likely end up in the bin when the holiday is over?

So, I made my own.

I used simple construction paper vice expensive cardstock. A 40 page pack of various colors was $1.99 at Target. A hobby knife was $5.00 at Micheal's. My own imagination and rudimentary sketching skills were the only other things I needed. Here's what I came up with:

From Halloween Stationary

From Halloween Stationary

From Halloween Stationary

From Halloween Stationary

They're not very intricate, because I lack patience, as my loyal fans already know from past posts. I don't want to sit, cutting out tiny designs for an hour.

From Halloween Stationary

This last one is for my husband. He's seen it already, and I suppose I didn't do a great job on it because even with the words, he still didn't know what it was. Here's what it's supposed to be:

From Halloween Stationary

In my defense, I was only quickly sketching it. I was also watching a movie about the Salem Witch Trials, so I was a bit distracted. Oh well, I never claimed to be a Michealangelo :)

Here's a hint, score and fold the paper before you cut it. It's much easier to do it first, especially if you have some intricate cutwork. I folded my paper in thirds so that they'll fit into a business sized envelope for cheap mailing. Oversized or oddly sized envelopes cost more than 1 stamp, F.Y.I.

Feel free to snag my idea, just let others know about me!


© 2011 Pineapple Damask, All Rights Reserved