Bag It Up

Don't throw away that plastic Halloween candy bucket this year.
Even if you only paid a buck for it, here is a clever way to use it all year long.

Put it under your kitchen sink or in your pantry to hold grocery bags.
I think I've counted before and I'm pretty sure you can fit at least 50 bags in there.


You'll have to eat all the candy first, of course. ☺

To make this Candy Pot that Bridget made for a previous Halloween:

Materials
orange paint, gold paint, yellow paint
foam brush
clay pot (any size)
black sharpies (one .5 point & one regular)
raffia

Paint pot orange, let dry. Paint yellow stripes (I did 5) around pot. Paint gold stripes slightly on top of yellow ones. With thin sharpie make squiggly lines down left side of stripes.


Draw on face and color in with regular sharpie. Use thin sharpie to make stitch lines around eyes, nose, mouth. Make a raffia bow and hot glue on side. Fill with candy :)

SPOOKY TREE

I had this plan to go hunting in the woods for the perfect branches to make a few Halloween trees. Well, I ended up only having to look as far as down the street and around the corner.
This beauty was sitting at the end of someone's driveway, waiting for the garbage man. I just so happened to be driving the truck that day, so it was all meant to be.



9 cans of black spray paint later.


And here it is all decked out with orange lights, which I decided not to use after all my hard work. It looks better with the spotlight behind it.

This outdoor Halloween decor was featured on Martha's website a few years ago. Marilyn tried it first, then Jill and so I had to do it too. The plans are here.

Here's how it looks in the daytime to give you a better idea.




The sunlight captures the wood-grain but they look really cool at night. My neighbor said when he goes for a walk at night, his dog thinks the cats are real. ☺

The plans are really easy to follow. The only change I would make is to use black spray paint instead of brush painting. It's much faster and way less messy.
I got my lantern at Big Lots for $6 and the broom at Walmart for $2.50 (it was brown, I painted it black).

Pottery Barn Knockoff

Busy week but here's a little goody from Bridget who is gearing up for Halloween.
We all love Pottery Barn, but why buy it when you can make it?
This is Bridget's take on the Halloween Banner from the Kids Thanksgiving issue.

Supplies:
felt squares-for each letter you need 1/2 of a square and 1/4 of another square
scraps (or 1/4 yard) of fabric
wonder-under
tacky craft glue
jute string
stencils (I made letters from my computer using "IMPACT" font/400 size text, print them on card stock, cut them out)


Decide what you're going to say (Halloween, Trick-or-Treat, Boo, Give Thanks, Noel, etc.) and get the colors and amount of felt you will need. Trace letters backwards on "paper" side of wonder-under.

Iron bumpy side of wonder-under to wrong side of fabric, then cut out letters.
On 1/2 pieces of felt, hand or machine stitch 1/2-inch seam; this is to allow the jute string to go through.
Glue 1/4 pieces of felt onto 1/2 pieces of felt. Peel paper off letters, and position one on each felt pieces, with gluey side down. Cover felt and letter with a piece of paper and iron until letter adheres to felt (If you don't put paper between the felt and the iron, the iron melts the felt). Repeat until all letters are done.




Measure out how long you want the string to be. Tie one end in small knot and attach a small safety pin, thread letters through, using safety pin as guide.