diy: mini halloween file folders

I've been setting up a few swaps on the bot and wanted to do one for mini file folders. A mini folder is my favorite way to package up a flat mail swap as it doesn't take too much paper and they look lovely when finished. Here are a few I have made using a variety of papers, come see!

I suppose there are a lot of videos on the tube but they tend to focus on specific measurements, and I'm not too good at that. That written, I'm going to post some pics of one way you can make a file folder using paper scraps. Some of the folders in the picture were made with 6X8 paper, one was made with a cut from a 12X12, and one was made with two pieces of paper to make it a bit larger,

Here are two pieces cut from a 6X8 piece of paper. I wanted to make the folder a bit wider so here I'm going to attach them together with washi tape both on the front, and the back. 

Trim the excess paper and fold the left side over until you are satisfied with the size of your folder-to-be. Trim any excess off, but leave a little so that you can both see the contrasting paper, and cut a file flap. Ta-da! now you get to decorate. 

A little washi tape down the side with a sticker completes the outside, and the inside utilizes one of the scraps as a belly band on the left where I have tucked in a few Halloween goodies, and on the right is a glassine bag with large Halloween glitter. Down below you will see a few other ideas depending on what you may have on hand. 

This wee folder measures 3X5 and is decorated with a handmade watercolor potion bottle and some trim from the dollar store. Inside is a small assortment of Halloween cut aparts and stickers. 

Limited on your Halloween supplies? This one was made from a sheet of orange paper, decorated on the outside with a handmade watercolor ghost, a few strips of black & white washi tape, and an old school  dymo "BOO!" Inside there a vertical belly band on the right with a Halloween cut apart, a printed cat image from a freebie site, and a watercolor leaf. On the right is another cut apart, print out, a scrap piece of paper with corners punched, and a paperclip with a wee bit of lace knotted on it.

The key is to have fun and use what you have. Keep your items inside the folder as flat as you can muster, and under an ounce and your mailing cost should only be $1.04! Happy Halloween! 

last minute Halloween garlands in three parts: part III

 

 These happy garlands were made with a pack of stickers, construction paper, and XL scallop punch, and my sewing machine (one vertical and one horizontal). Here is another batch your kiddos can do. If you do not want to jump on the machine or do not have one, you can use this method for creating the garland.

last minute Halloween garlands in three parts: part II

How about some squishy garlands? I used a needle and thread to create both the rat garland and the skeleton garland.

 

I imagined the rat (mice?) garland would be horizontal with the wee rodents scampering across the wall. Alas, the weight of the little buggers makes them spin and get all topsy turvy so they look more like dead rodents than squishy rodents. But if you hang them vertically the mostly behave themselves!

 

As for the skellies, I jabbed the needle through their squishy skulls with maybe a bit too much glee and wished I had picked up two packs instead. They make me think of this cartoon.

I've got one more batch of garlands coming up so get yourself a pack or two of festive stickers, an extra-large scallop punch, construction paper, and your sewing machine (or glue and twine).

last minute Halloween garlands in three parts: part I

Okay, it should be no surprise that I had meant for this bit of garland fun to be a week-long dealio to be posted before Halloween, so let's pretend that it was and that you love it all and will bookmark it or pin it for next year. Okay? 

I picked up an assortment of fun Halloween items from my local Target. Think squishy skeletons, happy erasers, stickers, etc. All of these items are easily garlandified by using tape, staples, yarn, a glue-gun, and/or your sewing machine.

 

 

Many of these are so easy, your kiddo can whip 'em up. That polka dot goodness up there? Those are treat bags. Simply fold the bottom  into itself, add yarn into the crease and tape shut at the corners. Gotta stapler? Use that instead...or stitch it up on your sewing machine.

Got a hot glue gun? Use it to garland-up a set of happy erasers. Be warned, I used a length of doubled thread and my garland became a tangled mess! Use baker's twine, yarn, or embroidery floss to limit the tangling. Trust me! Also, if your temps are on the chilly side, your erasers might pop off the glue.

scrumdilly diy: ten pretty pumpkin projects

*homemade pumpkin butter

*pumpkin spice oatmeal

*pumpkin french toast bites

*chocolate chip pumpkin butter roll-ups

*tiny pumpkin place settings

*chocolate chip pumpkin cakes

*chocolate chip pumpkin bread

*pumpkin spice magic pie

*thread wrapped decorative pumpkins

*diy pumpkin pie spice

day of the dead dollar store calavera

day of the dead dollar store calavera

I wish I had picked up more skulls but I only got one. All you need is a coat or two of white paint, I used acrylic, some sealer (mod podge works, seal after decorating) and some paint and sharpie fun. The flowers were added using a glue gun. Happy Halloween! 

day of the dead bed

My October bed was/is a tribute to Dia de los Muertos. The papel picado was made from painted newspaper and the comedy/tragedy masks were painted up by me. I picked up the blank masks from our local craft store. After a coat of white paint, I added black painted details. Once that dried I used paint pens and sharpies for the rest. A hot glue gun was used to affix the flowers and a bit of thread stitched through the two helped keep them together.  Here's a little collage to show ya how I did them.

bake a little halloween cheer

Chocolate covered candy corn cookies! Hop on over to scrumdilly-do! for the recipe.

pumpkins were carved

The sister a-go-go grew some mighty nifty pumpkins this year. I think we had about a dozen in various shades of orange, pink & white. the nephew a-go-go carved a few for my Craft article and then one for school and since we still had more than a few left over we decided to festive up the place for any possible trick or treaters (which equaled two knocks on the door...more kit-kats for us!)The pumpkins had super thick skins and didn't stink like some squash are wont to do. Mine even had sprouts sproutin' away on the inside.Hope yer Halloween was happy! We chow downed on homemade black pepper & cheddar puffs and watched a sort-of spooky movie. What did you do?

latey late late

i know, but i have a handful of halloween goodness in my pseudo-shop. anyone care for some spooktacular decor?

**okay, i suppose yo ucould make your own as well. float over to the 'do to see how.

the mister makes our costumes

the mister rocks. he made our halloween costumes almost entirely from items destined for the trash/recycling bin. here's a peek at the process...

thirteen days of halloween: day 12

make a mix cd! jump into the halloween festivites with your very own play list. here are the tunes on my list...if you are in need of any of these i may be able to help you out...though, itunes is a godsend!

1.The Munsters Theme: Los Straighjackets
2.I'm the Wolfman: The Fuzztones
3.Dead Man Walkin': Josie Kreuzer
4.That Old Black Magic: Esquivel
5.Magic 8 Ball: Cub
6.Exquisite Dead Guy: They Might Be Giants
7.Witchcraft: Joe Graves & The Diggers
8.Lovely Creature: Nick Cave
9.Bloodletting: Concrete Blonde
10.Sukie in the Graveyard: Belle & Sebastian
11.Ten Horned Devil: Prince Arky & The Westerners
12.Human Fly: The Cramps
13.Ghost Dance: Truett & George
14.Devil House: Shonen Knife
15.Rigor Mortis: The Gravestone Four
16.Vampire: Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants
17.Devil in Disguise: Cannibal & The Headhunters
18.The Halloween Dance: Reverend Horton Heat
19.Dead Man's Party: Oingo Boigo
20.It's Halloween: The Shaggs

it's time for pumpkin bread

and no, i'm not going to get all super homebody on you and show you how to make your own pumpkin puree, not that i don't want to, i just have yet to do it and have no pumpkins available to mash up so we're gonna do this with a can. just don't tell martha or mary jane, okay?

i have a favorite banana bread recipe that i adore. i also adore pumpkin anything and my favorite pumpkin anything as you all should know by now are these pumpkin squares. they are fluffy light and soooo very drool worthy and they should be, they have two sticks of butter in them. two whole sticks. yikes! easy to forget when you can eek out those squares for a few days but sometimes, they are just sooo good (as in, you-don't-wanna-share-them good), you find that they sadly didn't make it to the next day. but then you remember that you bought the BIG can of pumpkin so you can make another batch but you find that you have no butter in the house unless you count the slightly gooey and crumb coated few tablespoons left in the butter dish in the pantry. yeah. not gonna work.

so, speaking from experience, ahem, i found that i still had some pumpkin left in the can and needed to do something with it. oh, twist my arm! and sure enough, i only had one stick of butter and two eggs left in the fridge, what to do? what to do? it was then that i spied my banana bread recipe clinging to the side of the fridge and thought A-HA! pumpkin puree was kinda like mashed bananas right? so i went for it and it was gooooood!

here's what you need:
*1 cup sugar (sometimes i use half brown & half white)
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1/4 teaspoon baking powder
*1/4 cup oil
*2 cups flour
*cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg, etc.
*2 eggs
*dash o salt
*chocolate chips, pecans
*pumpkin puree

okay, here is the annoying part, i have no measure for the pumpkin, it may have been a cup it may have been more or less. i don't know, i winged it. i tend to do that. it looked like there wasn't enough so i added a mashed banana as well and then, when the batter was too thicky-sticky, i added a couple of tablespoons of orange juice and whatever was left of the whipping cream that had been camping out in the fridge forever. it smelled fine, so don't worry. also, for the spices, i like my bread spicy so i just keep shaking those pour jars until i'm happy. my secret ingredient is black pepper.

set your oven to 350 degrees F and get cracking.mix your oil, sugar, eggs and pumpkin together and then add your dried ingredients. stir, stir, stir and add those chocolate chips and pecans (or not, it's up to you).pour everything into a loaf pan* that has been generously oiled & floured and top off with more nuts and chocolate. bake for about 45 minutes or until you can pull a toothpick out of the loaf and have it be dazzling clean. serve it up with a neutral beverage** and enjoy.*sometimes i find i have way too much batter for my loaf pan so i also bake a mini loaf as well. or you could use a bigger pan. it's up to you.

**my beverage of choice is unsweetened coffee with half n half. it is a very tasty balance to the sweet of the bread.

don't forget to listen to your halloween tunes while yer baking. it adds a wee zip to the experience. halloween tunes or doris day...