Candy Corn Halloween Earrings

Did you love candy corn as a kid?  I did and I still do! For me, it wouldn't be Halloween without candy corn so of course when I found glass candy corn beads, I had to get some.  I held on to the strand of candy corn beads for awhile before I decided to use some of them to make earrings.  They were simple to make requiring just gold filled ear wires, gold filled ball tipped head pins, Swarovski crystals, tiny white beads, and of course the candy corn glass beads.  The tools I used to fashion these earring were two small tipped pliers and jewelry wire cutters. If you can't find glass candy corn beads, I suggest you make your own candy corn with Fimo clay (sold at HM BFC)which can be baked to look very similar to real candy corn.  Also real candy corn can be painted with 1-minute UV-LED resin and hardened under a UV lamp to resemble real candy corn.  I recommend not drilling the candy (it will probably crack) but rather gluing on a gold filled bell cap to hang the resin candy corn from the earring wires.  I hope that you will have some safe Halloween excitement and create some fun Halloween jewelry for yourself. Have a candy corny kind of Halloween!

 

Autumn Fox with Halloween Treat Boxes

 As you can see the Autumn Fox and I are still busy and having fun making Halloween treat boxes.  Like the last set of boxes, these were made with an i-crafter die (Valentine Gable Box).  As with the i-crafter die used in the last post, this set comes with small dies to make labels and embellishments but I chose not to use them because I was making Halloween themed boxes. It was easy to use the pages in the Simple Stories 6x8 Faboolous paper pad to die cut out the boxes ( only two sheets needed per box) and hand cut the labels from pages within the pad.

                                                  

Fabri-tac glue and Heiko tape were used to assemble the boxes and simple thin ribbons were tied through the die cut holes.  I like the unique style of these boxes and the fact that they have adequate space for yummy treats. I had fun matching the papers to the labels contained within the Simple Stories paper pad.

For this box the ghost label was hand cut and iridescent glitter applied over the ghost image that was spread with glue.

   

This box was probably the most successful of the three boxes because the label fit well on the box with just a little trimming and the extra part of the label was adhered to the back of the box (not shown). The basic supplies for these boxes are very minimal and many boxes can be constructed from just the paper pad and and die set.  I hope you'll take the time to make some special Halloween treat boxes for the special little (or big) ones in your life. I know they'll always remember your generous handcrafted Halloween sweetness.

Halloween Milk Carton Candy Boxes

 I spied an  i-crafter Milk Carton Box die at HM Ben Franklin Crafts and thought it would make great Halloween Candy Boxes. Using papers from a Doodlebug 6x6 Halloween paper pad, I was able to make each carton from just two sheets of paper.  Some of the sheets in the pad had labels which I hand cut and attached to the boxes by using a tiny hole puncher and some skinny ribbon to tie the labels to the boxes. The i-crafter die set had parts to cut out a label and the word, 'candy' but I chose not to use them.  I had to measure and cut out the candy image panels before attaching them to the boxes with Fabri-Tac glue.  I also used Heiko double stick tape to join the sides of the boxes. At HM Ben Franklin Crafts I discovered a new extra skinny Heiko double stick tape which was useful for some of the smaller joints of the boxes.  These boxes can hold quite a lot of candy for some lucky trick-o-treater. If you get started now, I'm sure you can make enough candy boxes for your neighborhood ghouls and goblins!

                                       

Autumn Leaf Papered Box

On a recent trip to the east coast, I spied some autumn oak leaves that were just starting to change color.

They were so pretty that I had to collect and press them.  I knew that I would find some use for the multi-colored autumn leaves.  Once at home I decided to use them to decorate a few boxes.  Beginning with a sturdy L'Occtaine box, I covered it with a fibrous beige washi paper. This was easily done by laying the top of the box onto the washi paper and cutting around it leaving a margin of paper large enough to wrap around the box top sides.  Next glue (Fabri-Tac) was applied evenly to the top surface of the box and the paper was pressed onto it.  The sides of the box lid were then covered with glue and the paper pressed down so that there were four wings on the corners.  These wings were then trimmed closely to the box top corners.  The same thing was done to cover the box bottom.

I decided that I wanted to waterproof my box so I applied 1 minute UV-LED resin to both the top and bottom of the box. I did a little of the box at a time using a small LED light to cure the resin. (Both the resin and light are available at HM BFC).  The resulting box was waterproof but shiny and the washi paper became translucent so that the outer surface of the box became quite yellow.  To correct the look of the box, I decided to try spraying on a Krylon matte finish.  It worked!  The box is now more natural looking (matching the leaf and washi paper).  The box is still yellow so next time I make an autumn leaf box I will use a white or beige box.  Also I will skip applying the resin and just spray the papered box with the matte finish.  So what am I going to do with my autumn leaf box?  Well, of course I will use this one to house the acorns gathered with the leaves. Other leaf boxes will probably be used for gift giving. Next, I have a plan to convert the acorns into jewelry! I love Autumn! 

Halloween Ghost Card

Even before I knew that my grandson was going to dress up as a ghost this Halloween, I purchased the Whimsy Ghostly Greetings 4-1/2 x 5-1/2 stamp background, the Whimsy Grunge Ghosts Quick Card Fronts, and Whimsy Scary Night Word Die Set. To begin the cards, I stamped the Ghostly background using the Versa Mark Dazzle ink onto each card front.    

Next I sprinkled on Ranger Holographic embossing powder before heating the cards with a heat gun.  The result is a barely visible but somewhat spooky holographic image over the ghost and pumpkin scenes.

I hand drew in the eyes for the single ghost because for some unknown reason he was missing some.  In the pack fronts were two cards of Halloween greetings which I cut apart and affixed the words to my cards.  The decorated card fronts were then attached with double stick adhesive to kraft paper brown card blanks.

Inside the cards, I attached with glue the words cut from black card stock.  Over the words I flicked on some opalescent white ink. These cards were super easy to make and hopefully they will add to the spooky delight of Halloween for the recipients. Happy Hallooooweeen!!!!

Tokidoki Decorated Recycled Container

I was extremely excited when I discovered a giant pack of Tokidoki origami paper.  The sheets inside the pad of 250 pieces were multi-colored, pastel and black/white.  I just KNEW that I could use the papers for more than just folded cranes, boxes, etc.  I decided to cover a saved cardboard cookie cylindrical container (with a metal lid and bottom) with the Tokidoki paper and UV light resin.

I used Fabri-Tac glue to adhere the colorful patterned paper to the outside of the container.  Because the sheets were smaller than the whole surface of the cylinder, I had to piece them together.  The colorful and busy design of the paper made it unnecessary to worry about the designs not matching up.  For the top knob of the container, I used one sheet of paper to fold an origami ball shape (similar in construction to the crane so it was not too hard for me). This origami ball was glued to the recessed cover of the container. Using my finger as an applicator, I spread the 1-minute curing LED UV resin (available at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) over the top of the ball. I gradually spread the resin and cured it in sections over the paper ball. I also poured some resin and cured it in the well of the cover.

Next, I spread more resin (with my clever finger applicator) over sections of the papered container and cured it with the UV light ( purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts).  (The small light is very portable, lightweight  and has an automatic 1 minute shut off.)  I think this project turned out amazingly well and will be an attractive, colorful, reusable receptacle for goodies/small gifts.  I have plans for making other origami Tokidoki resin crafts.  Small folded boxes or tiny dishes can be easily coated with resin to become waterproof.  I think resin coated Tokidoki origami folded animals would be delightful as key chain charms or jewelry.  Just think of the possibilities of what you can create with these simple supplies.  Give your creativity a boost and have fun making something unique!

 

Autumn Gnome Gift Bags

Since I still had two more Hawaiian Airlines snack bags, I decided that they would make wonderful autumn gift bags because of their rustic color and woven handles.  It was easy to die cut a moon with a small circle die and then stamp on a sentiment.  I rubbed some brown ink along the edges of the moon to highlight the texture of the card stock. Originally, I planned to use some gnome stickers from my stash but they were MIA so I ended up using my Hero Arts gnome stamps.  Simple Copic pen coloring and fussy cutting resulted in some adorable gnomes to position upon some colorful autumn leaves purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Every year the store has a nice assortment of autumnal items so I'm sure you can find just what you want.

This bag is similar to the first one except for the leaves which are real stained, laser cut wood pieces.  Although not as colorful as the ones on the first bag, these leaves do add a lovely woodsy texture.

Since the backs of the bags also had  logos that needed to be covered up, I used my oval die  to cut out a piece of textured card stock to make a label.  Some Autumn sayings from a Hero Arts stamp set were used and the bags were done.  I plan to use these bags to spread some Autumnal joy by filling them with homemade edibles. Making Autumn goodie bags will brighten up your day and bring happiness to the recipients. YUMMY!