Halloween Treat Bag Tags

To make my Halloween treat bags even more special, I decided to make some spooky tags to tie onto them.  I started by die cutting the black card stock paper with a Little B tag die.  Next, I cut a piece of printed burlap ribbon to fit the tag and attached it with 3 in 1 Fabri-Tac glue.  For the bottom of the tag, I cut a piece of Whimsy printed card stock (black and white stripes) to fit and glued it down. Onto the striped paper I adhered some Martha Stewart and Stiko stickers. (I've had the Martha Stewart stickers in my Halloween supply box for years but I'm sure that you can find suitable stickers at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.) The final touch for the tags was to attach unique yarns to make the tags even more special. Okay, time to bake the treats to go into the bags which will be tied closd with these cautionary, spooky tags.  I love the scary fun of Halloween...don't you?

 

Stretch Bead Bracelets

After seeing Joy making stretch gemstone bead bracelets on Joy of Crafting, I decided to give it a try. It was amazingly easy and fast to make the bracelets and I couldn't resist making a bunch.  I used turquoise, amazonite, amethyst, and agate beads. 

I also made two glass bead bracelets. The one on the left was made with African glass beads.  The colorful candy-like glass bead one was made for Halloween.  The only problem I had with the construction of the bracelets is knotting the elastic cord.  I wanted to make sure that the knots were secure so I did double surgeon knots but then these knots were bulky and hard to hide between the beads.  Doing a single surgeon's knot and G-S Hypo Cement was a better solution for the completion of the bracelets.

There are so many gorgeous beads for sale (especially at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) so your bracelet creations are limitless.  I hope you'll give this easy craft a try and make yourself some beautiful, fun jewelry. I know that you'll be unable to stop your bracelet production after making just one...like eating potato chips...hahaha!

P.S. I used both .7 and 1 mm stretch elastic for my bracelets.  I feel that the 1mm is sturdier but the knots are bigger and harder to hide. For smaller beads .7 elastic cord is easier to thread through.