Make a Halloween Boo Pennant

boo-banner

Here’s a cute Halloween pennant project you can whip up in an afternoon that will get you spirited for Halloween. And it’s in my favorite colors…black, white, orange, and purple! Here’s how you make it!

Halloween Boo Pennant
Supplies:
Scribbles 3D Paint in orange, purple and black
Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Crystal Clear Tacky Spray
– white adult t-shirt or white cotton material
– large piece of paper (11×17) and pencil
– large piece of foam core
– X-acto knife
– Scissors
– Pinking shears
– Ruler
– Coordinating 3/8″ ribbon spools in colors of your choice
– Eyelet ribbon in orange
– pouncer
– paper plate
– felt in black and white
– 3/8″ dowel rod

How to do it:

1) On a large piece of paper, draw a triangular pennant shape with your pencil and ruler. Cut out the pattern.
2) Trace the pattern lightly with pencil onto your cotton t-shirt material.
3) Spray the back of your material with Tacky Spray in a well-ventilated area. Press onto the foam core and smooth out any air bubbles.
4) Using X-acto, cut out mounted material on foam core following the pattern you lightly sketched on.
5) On your paper plate, squeeze out orange Scribbles paint. Load pouncer and dab a couple of times on paper plate to remove excess. Randomly dot polka dots all over pennant. Let dry.
6) Cut out 3 3″ circles using pinking shears from black felt. Cut out 3 2″ circles from white felt. Use Tacky Glue to mount the two pieces to each other.
7) Draw dots and lines on the black felt as shown using the orange and purple Scribbles paints as shown. On the white felt, draw the letters B – O – O in a swirly fashion with Black Scribbles paint. Once dry, glue these three pieces onto the pennant.
8) Run the orange eyelet ribbon around the edge of the pennant with Tacky Glue.
9) Run the orange eyelet ribbon around the edge of the pennant with Tacky Glue.
10) Using Tacky Glue wrap ribbon around dowel rod. I first used purple up and sown the dowel, then wrapped orange around the dowel to create a fun barber shop pole effect.
11) Cut 3 different ribbons in 1 foot strips. Tie in a knot in the middle. Glue on top of dowel rod with Tacky Glue.
12) Using glue, attach ribbon-wrapped dowel to pennant. Let dry.

Now you have a fun and festive accent to take with you trick or treating or to display on your porch or by your pumpkin! Here’s a fun detail! I love how vibrant and funky the colors turned out!!

boo banner 2

Hope you enjoyed this little project!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. I linked this up at the following Linky parties!

Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrapup

Terrorific Tuesday 2010 Week 4

TT Week 4 2010

Another edition of Terrorific Tuesday has come and gone this year. I’d like to thank all the participants who made this year another smashing success!

Vanessa shows us how to make a Cute Felt Pumpkin in just a few minutes!

Get creative with Eileen Hull with her Pop Up Bat card. Super festive!

Glory makes a beautiful Autumn Wreath to hang on your door or wall.

Erika shares with us her cute Halloween bandana that her dog Sebastian loves wearing!

Cheryl Ball wows us with an adorable Jack-o-lantern Pin perfect for the season!

Sew a sweet Pumpkin Placement with Phyllis Dobbs!

Crafty Chica gets her glow on with this Sci Fi Senorita Head that is totally spooky!

Crafterella offers up some downloadable custom labels that are super spooky and fun!

Make a spooky Undead Terrorarium with Silvia Chenault.

Whip up some cute and quirky Moss Monsters with Missy at Marvelously Messy!

Kate Pullen offers up a fun Pumpkin Favor Box perfect to hand out at Halloween parties!

Get into the fall spirit with this Pretty Fabric Flower from Ann Butler.

Pattiewack crafts up some Mummy Barbies perfect for a haunting Halloween display!

Alexa a.k.a. Swelldesigner makes a bold Orange and black Mary Jane candy wreath, perfect for hanging or eating!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Glass Gem Dollar Store Candle Holder

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Here’s a pretty candle charger I whipped up in like 10 minutes! I thought it made the perfect fall candle accent and it used those pretty glass gems that I love! I bought some from Michaels in orange and black this year. I love how luminescent they are and how they glisten with the candle.

Here’s how you make it!

Glass Gem Dollar Store Candle Holder

What you need:
– Small glass gems (I used orange from Michaels, but you may also be able to find them in other colors at the Dollar Store).
Liquid Fusion® Clear Urethane Glue
– small candle charger from dollar store (mine was from Dollar Tree)

Instructions:
1. Well it’s pretty simple! Arrange the gems around the charger into the arrangement that suits you.
2. Glue the glass gems down using the Liquid Fusion. Let dry.
3. Light your candle and set inside!

Here’s some detail shots of the finished product!

glass gem candle holder

glass gem candle holder 2

glass gem candle holder 4

This project will take you beyond Halloween and into the Thanksgiving season! It would be pretty to make several for a coffee table or to adorn your holiday mantle!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday 2010: Week 3

terrorific tuesday 2010 week 3

It’s another week and another roundup of Terrorific Tuesday! I can’t believe this month has flown by so fast. There’s still time to get your craft on, though, and here’s some projects to inspire and get you in the Halloween spirit!

Use a 2-liter bottle to make a super cute Halloween cupcake dome with Pattiewack!

Glory shows you how to make Creepy Spider Biscuits with spider Halloween stencils and edible color spray!

Make a funky and functional Plaid Skull&Crossbones Skirt with Excell Crafts!

Vanessa and Erin team up to make Awesome Halloween Cookies in a Jar Crafts complete with free easy to download sticker and label printables!

Cheryl Ball shares her beautiful Embroidery Floss Acorns – the perfect fall accent.

Korinne whips up a spectacular Vintage Style Halloween Wreath on her Crafterella blog.

Make Glow in the Dark Jewelry Using Polymer Clay and Rubber Stamps with Kate at the Rubberstamping About.com page!

Learn how to make festive Pom Pom Pumpkins on the Marvelously Messy blog!

Paint a super easy Pumpkin Pin with Ann Butler to accent your fall wardrobe!

Be a hit at the costume contest with this Corpse Bride Costume by the Crafty Chica!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner shows you how to make a Snooki Painted Pumpkin inspired by the popular Jersey Shore Guidette!

Eileen Hull shares a Cute Halloween Bookmark project that will melt your Halloween heart!

Sebastian is faster than a speeding bullet in his Superman Costume featured on the Sew DoggyStyle blog!

Phyllis Dobbs wows us with this festive Spider Apron perfect for Halloween baking!

Silvia shows you how to make a No-Sew Fuzzy Monster Cuff – the perfect craft project for all ages!

That’s it for this week! If you are interested in playing in my fun Terrorific Tuesday roundup, e-mail me at swelldesigner (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll send you the details!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday 2010: Week 2

I’m back again to share with you another helping of Terrorific Tuesday Halloween crafts! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the crafty goodies that await!

terrorific tuesday 2010 week 2

Silvia Chenault turns a toy bat into an instant neckpiece (but will it bite your neck?)

Phyllis Dobbs shows us how to recycle a t-shirt into a really cool Halloween trick-or-treat bag!

Kate Pullen brews up adorable Paper Cone Witches!

Messy Missy makes a super spooky wreath with Duct tape!

Avalon Potter goes glam with her Halloween Masquerade Ball mask!

Patty Cappelluti goes bat crazy making this spooky bat door decoration!

Crafterella is a ghoul gone wild in her Ghoul Scout Costume. Download the custom patches she made for her costume!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner upcycles a Starbucks bottle into a swell Halloween vase!

Cheryl Ball delights us with yummy candy corn cupcakes!

Pattiewack upcycles an apple tray into a festive cupcake carrier. So inexpensive and easy!

Ann Butler crafts up a boo-tiful holder for your ATCs complete with a black cat!

Glory whips up a super fun and healthy pumpkin-inspired muffin meal for her kids. Love it!

Crafty Chica makes the perfect mask to celebrate Dia de los Muertos.

Maya in the Moment has some face painting fun with her little cousin and of course, hilarity ensues!

Eileen Hull has a ghostly good time creating this cute diecut necklace!

That’s it for this week! If you are interested in playing in my fun Terrorific Tuesday roundup, e-mail me at swelldesigner (at) gmail (dot) com and she’ll send you the details!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Simple Starbucks Upcycled Halloween Vase

Starbucks Halloween Vase 2

Here’s a fun and festive vase that jazzes up a plain ol’ Starbucks bottle. Admittedly, I swiped this one sitting in a parking lot. Yikes. Anyway, I think the little vase turned out pretty darn swell. And it’s super easy to make too (my kinda craft!!!)

Simple Starbucks Upcycled Halloween Vase

Materials
– Frappucinno bottle from Starbucks
– Aleene’s Tacky Glue
– Various crystals and Rhinestones
– Diecut paper strips in colors of your choice (mine are by Bazzill Paper Basics)
– Martha Stewart® Halloween Stickers
– Fine tip Sharpie
– Scissors

Instructions:
1. Cut strips to fit around bottle. Glue into place using Aleene’s Tacky Glue. Let dry.
2. Adhere goblin sticker and rhinestones.
3. Doodle on strips using Sharpie.
4. Fill with flowers (I chose marigolds) and enjoy!

Starbucks Halloween Vase

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. I entered this project into the following linky groups!

Halloween Cupcake Liner Wreath

cupcake liner wreath

Ever since my friend Cheryl Ball made some cute decorations for work using these adorable orange and white polka dot cupcake holders, I’ve been scheming up a way I can use them in a project! I thought a super cute wreath would be right up my alley. And with the help of a little sparkle and bling along with some festive Martha Stewart Halloween stickers, I think it turned out adorable. Here’s how you make it!

Halloween Cupcake Liner Wreath

Materials:
– flat wooden wreath ring
– 3 Large Cupcake liners in orange polka dot
– 14 Small cupcake liners in black&white and white&black (purchased at Michaels)
– Aleene’s Tacky Glue
– Large rhinestones (I used orange, yellow, clear, and dark orange/brown)
– Martha Stewart Halloween stickers
– Scissors
– Black spray paint
– Black acrylic paint or black spray paint
– foam brush

Instructions:
Photo by TiltShift Generator
1. Paint the wreath frame with black spray paint or using foam brush and black acrylic paint. Lay on newspaper to paint and let dry.

Photo by TiltShift Generator
2. Make cuts spaced out all the way around each cupcake liner. It will resemble a flower.

Photo by TiltShift Generator
3. Arrange flowers in place on the wreath ring to space out before you glue.

Photo by TiltShift Generator
4. As shown, glue black and white cupcake liners to 3 orange cupcake liners. Glue in place on wreath ring. Now add a dab of glue to the back of each of the black&white and white&black cupcake liners and press into place.

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5. Add a dab of glue to each of the backs of each rhinestone and press and place. Let dry.

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6. Press the Martha Stewart stickers into place and Voila! You are finished!!!

Here’s a cute detail of the stickers on top of the liners.

cupcake liner detail

I hope you enjoy this project as much as I enjoyed making it to share with you!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. I added this project to the following linky groups!

giveaways

Join  us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap   up           party!

Funky Junk's Sat Nite Special

Googly Eye Crafts revisited

5-easy-googly-eye-videos

5-easy-googly-eye-videos

This is repost from a couple of years ago that I wanted to reshare! I just love googly eyes and the instant personality they give! Enjoy!

I had so many ideas that I wanted to do today. Just in my ride home, I came up with ten terrorific possibilities, but in the mind of swell, you have to reel it in and stay focused. Knowing that I wanted to do a lot of ideas, I stuck to a theme and stayed within the lines of all things googly eyes. You may remember the googly eye choker that I did a few months back that was really well received. Well, I wanted to expand this idea and come up with some really fun and easy crafts that anyone can do…I’m going to share the basic idea of how to achieve these looks, but if you want more info, please e-mail me at swelldesigner@yahoo.com and I’ll give you more details…OK, on with the show!

To get the googly eye frame above, paint a $1 frame (I got mine at Michaels) with acrylic paint. Then use a craft glue like Liquid Fusion® to glue various sizes of googly eyes onto the frame. Print out a picture to fit the frame and insert it into the opening of the frame (If you notice, I used the Terrorific Tuesday mascot, my black cat Pixie). Glue googly eyes to the picture and hang. I got the idea to put googly eyes onto the picture from one of Jennifer Perkin’s (the Naughty Secretary) photos. Click here to see that creation.

Striped headband with Googly Eyed flower
googly eye button flower headband
I wanted to create a fun accessory that would be something a little different for Halloween. I painted this headband form and sealed it, but you can also wrap it with ribbon and glue gun it if you’d rather have that look. On my version, I actually wrapped Rainbow Tape around it, but you can also wrap ribbon if you want. On a large button, I placed a medium sized googly eye in the center using Liquid Fusion. I then glued several smaller googly eyes around it to complete the look. I glued it off to one side of the headband and voila, I have a super cute googly eyed flower headband!

Googly Eyed Pumpkin
googly eye pumpkin
I purchased really small faux pumpkins at Wal-mart for a dollar. I glued on googly eyes in two different sizes with Liquid Fusion (yes, it was intentional-ha ha) Using a liner brush, I brushed on the features with acrylic paint in black (you could also use a permanent marker if you didn’t have paint) I added in additional hair and eyebrows and put on a bow for a completed look. This is really quick craft especially for little hands.

Googly Eyed Charm Necklace
eyesee you
I actually created this last year, but I thought someone would perhaps enjoy it for Halloween accessorizing. I painted a 1.5″ wooden disk with acrylics, then used E-6000 to adhere the mini googly eyes on it. I left a small hole at top for drilling. I then mixed up some Envirotex Lite to coat the charm following packaging directions (lay your charm on wax paper for this process – trust me on this one). Let dry for several days, then use small drill to drill into resin and disk. Thread jewelry cord through disk and it’s ready to wear! All eyes will be on you!

Googly Eyed Choker
googly eye choker
Another fun idea to try is this choker. I cut a piece of felt about 1.5″ inch wide and the length to be shorter than my neck diameter. I then added ribbon clinch clasps at both ends. Using jump rings and chain, I made a final closure at the end. I then used Fabric Fusion Glue to adhere the googly eyes to the felt. I think this has a whimsical gothic feel to it. This could also be made into a wrist cuff or headband if you are so inspired.

And finally, probably the easiest of all the googly eyed crafts…

Googly Eyed Earrings
eye earrings You simply adhere large googly eyes to earring post blanks and let dry. You can also add the googly eye to a ring blank or brooch pin for a wearable conversation starter!

On a final note, if you go to Flickr and type in googly you can see all kinds of cool and creative pictures and inspiration. It is really worth a look. And if you notice at the top of the matching results, you can change it to be most relevant, most recent or most interesting. Most interesting is the way to go in this search!

Hope you had fun with the googly eye crafts. I know I did.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Projects of Halloween past: Pumpkin Man Box

pumpkin man box

Here’s one of my fave Halloween projects I created two years ago that I wanted to repost. I love Vintage Halloween and making this box was so much fun. I love giving inanimate objects life! I just think he is too cute!

I wanted to create a fun vintage-inspired piece for this installment of Terrorific Tuesday. A little while back I was in a local gift shop and saw a very similar design on sale for $50 for a small papier mache box. I guess I always think that it would be so much easier to make such a thing, so I did! And I wanted to share it with you. So it is vintage-looking, but I still think it has a current flair…the perfect way to bring your vintage and modern Halloween decorations together. Here’s how I made it:

Supplies:

– Medium papier mache box (6″x6″x3″; mine was purchased at Wal-mart)
– small mini plastic pumpkin (also purchased at Wal-mart)
– Americana craft paint in Bright Orange and Snow White
– Craft Twinkles paint in Orange and Crystal
– Rainbow tape 1/4″ wide tape in black (or thin cut strips of black electrical tape)
– 12×12 sheet of black scrapbook paper with silver star design (purchased at Joann’s)
– 1 small glitter disco ball
– one small piece of shiny white or silver plastic garland (2″ long)
– black Sharpie marker (medium tip)
– 3/8″ wide dowel rod (4″ long)
– black rick rack
– 1 sheet 8.5″ x 11″ white printer paper
– glue gun with glue sticks
– craft glue
– scotch tape
– foam craft brush
– liner brush
– computer with printer
– scissors
– ruler
– pencil

Instructions
1) Paint bottom of box Snow White and lid Bright Orange. Let dry.
2) Cut off 18 strips of Rainbow Tape in 2.75″ lengths. Space out about an inch apart around entire bottom of box.
3) Using foam brush and Craft Twinkles paint in Orange, paint entire top of box. For bottom of box, paint with Craft Twinkles Crystal. Let dry. Apply another coat of Twinkles for extra sparkle if desired.
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4. Freehand design for face with pencil on pumpkin. The pencil wipes off easily, so if you make a mistake, you can just wipe off. I based my face design on vintage artwork like these vintage diecut German pumpkin clowns. You can find tons of faces on flickr to base your design on by typing vintage + halloween + pumpkins in the search engine.
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5. Outline pencil design with Sharpie marker. Fill insides of eyes and teeth with liner brush and Snow White paint. Let dry.
6. For paper collar, measure our 2 strips of black star paper 2.5″ wide. Accordian fold each strip in approximately 1″ folds. I used skotch tape to connect the star side together at the ends. I then flipped it over, applied a layer of glue and pressed into place to create a seamless looking design.
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Once the entire collar was dry, I cinched and taped the middle section together with several pieces of tape (it wasn’t pretty, but it did the trick).
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7. Using pencil, find and poke through center of box top for dowel.
8. Place collar direcly in center of hole on top of box and use glue gun to secure into place.
9. Download striped hat image.

Cut out and cut into design like a “pac man” type shape.
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Form into cone (I actually had to refer here to shape my cone). Use glue gun and secure into place (or skotch tape if you do so fancy).
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10. Paint cone with Crystal Twinkles. Let dry.
11. Glue rick rack along bottom of cone. Also take string out of disco ball ornament and glue ball into place at top of cone. Then glue garland securely under bottom of ball. Glue gun onto top of pumpkin head (placing slightly tilted on top).
12. Poke bottom of pumpkin with pencil. Insert dowel inside.
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13. Punch dowel through collar and into hole in papier mache box. It will be snug (as shown here).
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Voila! Your finished. 🙂 Now display your vintage inspired piece proudly!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Over 35 Swell Halloween Projects Compiled!

Over the past few years, I’ve created a lot of crafts, especially Halloween crafts! There’s something about Halloween and the fact that it’s a bit funky/silly/spooky and subversive that I connect with. I love that it is a time that people get to express themselves in a different way and just have fun!

I wanted to compile all these projects for you to enjoy over the Halloween season. I know I’m already starting to think about my Halloween craft projects and I’m betting you are too, so enjoy these ideas and check back to my blog for more inspiration and ideas in the next couple of months leading up to Halloween!

halloween 13

Dollar Store Candle Charger

Snooki Halloween Pumpkin

Twilight Cupcake Stand

halloween 14

Candy Corn Cupcake Stand

Cupcake Wrapper Wreath

Upcycled Starbucks Vase


Simple Halloween Button Earrings

Decopauged Halloween Tissue Ornaments

Deviled Egg Halloween Costume

halloween 14

Green Slime Lantern

Easy Halloween Ribbon/Button Bracelet

Spooktastic Halloween Pennants


Simple Halloween Button Earrings

Decopauged Halloween Tissue Ornaments

Deviled Egg Halloween Costume

Glitter Boo Banner

Mini Grim Reaper Glitter Trinket Box

Bewitching Plaque

Halloween Pennant Cupcake Picks

The Easiest Halloween T-shirt you’ll ever make

A Halloween Costume Masterpiece

Easy Stripe and Polka Dot Pumpkins

Dark Shadows Photo Frame

Vintage Halloween Character Ornaments

Halloween Sticker Crafts

Frightfully Funky Feather Wreath

Polaroid Pumpkins

Breast Cancer Awareness Pumpkins

Halloween Swirly Doily Purse

Halloween Spooky Swirl Vase

Fun and Funky Halloween Doodle/Star Earrings

Veggie Head Halloween Party Idea

Halloween Composition Notebook

Diva Witch Canvas

Ribbon Fascinators

Glow in the Dork Wall Hanging

Pumpkin Dip

Black Cat Pendant

Doodle Pumpkin

Polka Dot Treat Cups

My Octomom Costume

Halloween Cup Labels

Bloody Pumpkins

Cute CD Cupcake Stand

Halloween Cupcake Picks

More projects coming soon!