Pumpkin Carving Craft for Halloween

Halloween is a festival my daughter waits all year long. Apart from dressing into some interesting outfits each year she loves decorating pumpkin. Halloween is not a festival we used to celebrate growing up but now it has become a family favorite one. If you want to know more about Halloween click here. Like last couple of years we have made pumpkin craft this year's Halloween too. With the new addition to our family( my cute little boy) I thought we might not be able to carve one this time. Thanks to the enthusiasm of my 4 and a half yr old daughter and my husband, we finally did it. This time I also contributed to carving. My daughter is the happiest person in the house once it was done. We had the pleasure of the presence of my parents. My dad took pictures and my 2 month old son was in the audience too. Here's how we did it. 1. Design selection- by my daughter. 2. Cut the lid. 3. Clean the inside using scraping tool.

4. Tape the template. 5. Trace using crayon. 6. Take out template and carve using tool. 7. Place a battery operated light inside the pumpkin and place the lid.

The above pictures are self explanatory, however if any of you want to know more please feel free to ask.

Note-Since sharp tools are involved Adults supervision and participation is a must. It is advisable to use the tools meant for pumpkin carving. It makes the task super easy and it is safer too. For tutorials of other pumpkin crafts we have already done click here.

Spooky Scary Village DIY Halloween Decoration

This year Halloween was extra special as my daughter and my husband were all so excited and crafty about it. Really appreciate the effort made by my crafty daughter and hubby. I was all too busy preparing for The Craft festival I have to participate in. Though I did provide a helping hand here and there like handing the scotch tape or finding the paper or crayon.
It was fun to watch her talking to the Pumpkin Bat,Mommy's Pumpkin, Incredibles Pumpkin,Spider Pumpkin, Ghost, Scary village house (made from lego). She is reading stories to them since it was put on display. Halloween is over and she still wants her scary village and the people pumpkins that live there. It is going to stay for a while looks like.

Salient features:

-We have used the faux spider web for the first time. It was a learning experience to figure out how exactly it will become a web.

-All the bugs, bats etc from kids tube mini bugs collection (National Geography) were put to good use and they hang really well on the web.

-All toilet paper roll tube crafts made good decoration.

-Crafts done by my daughter at her friend's house made good deco too. You see the scary village has to have a tree (again a preschooler's imagination).
-Mega Blocks for making a scary tower.
-Lego blocks for making a cute little Ghost.
-Paper Crafts made at Preschool(Pumpkin, Owl, Fall wreath) all were there.
-Pumpkin paper Lantern.
-Dried and silk fall leaves.
-The different levels for better display were created using different size of cardboard boxes and covered with a halloween theme black and orange table cover.
-Lots of Scarecrow because we need lots as we need to scare more.

-Paper silhouttes for the window decoration of a really scary village made with black construction paper, white crayon and hand cut foams in the shape of bat, ghost, pumpkin.

-Paper Silhouttes of bat and witch too.Added later as it is incomplete without witch.

- The best an innovative idea I must say was using Humidifier to give the haunted effect from colored smoke. Covered the humidifier with white garbage bag and made eyes with foam stickers, toilet paper roll to make a chimney and the color from the disco ball added the haunted feel to it.

-All trick or treat containers found a place in this scary village too. Whether it is Green Monster from Happy meal from Mcdonalds or the famous pumpkin container.

- And 2 days before Halloween we decided, we should definitely have a carved pumpkin and here you go ..a smily pumpkin (Pumpkin has to be happy) was carved to welcome all our cute and scary guests for the little Halloween Party we had. We used a camping light lantern to light it as the LED tea light we had were not giving enough light and we were really running out of time to get one with more power.

And so on...many more little toys, incomplete yarn doll, cats etc.

I guess we will remember Halloween 2011 for a long time to come. Hope you all had a wonderful time decoration and trick or treating.

Crazy Incredibles Pumpkin Craft for Preschoolers

Like last year this year also we participated in the Pumpkin decoration activity for kids, organised by Michaels
My 3.5 yr old daughter was so excited for the event. She just could not wait for the event to begin. You have to buy the pumpkin and they will provide the supplies and parents or care taker has to help out kids.
This crazy pumpkin design is 100% her own creation. I guess she was actually inspired by the one they kept for demo purpose. But the color combination and the eyes are all her imagination.
She had a blast making this one. It took a long time but considering her age I guess that was expected.We were very happy to see her happy.

Supplies you will need:
-Faux pumpkin
-Self sticking Foam sheets-black and white
-Pom Poms different sizes, different colors
-Google eyes :Jumbo size
-Chennile stems or pipe cleaners
-Safety scissors
-Pinking scissors
-craft knife
-Tacky Glue
-Feathers various colors
-Pencil/marker

Step wise instructions on how to make this Incredibles inspired Crazy Pumpkin
1. On a self sticking black foam sheet draw the shape of the eye mask. Cut it.SHould be done by adults or may be Adult supervision if the child is used to cutting.

2. Similarly on a black self sticking foam sheet draw the smile of the pumpkin.Cut it.
3. On a self sticking White foam sheet draw pointed crazy teeth and cut with pinking scissors or normal scissors are also fine.
4. Use tacky glue to stick pompom. For the rest of it normal glue is also fine.
5.Stick the feathers, google eyes etc.
6. For the crazy curly hair, roll the chennile stems or pipe cleaners on a pencil or marker and take them out.Some kids need Adults help to do this till they get hang of it.
7. At the end of the curly hair, just insert a little pom pom of contrasting color.
8. To insert the chennile stem hair, use something pointed to make hole, like pointed scissors or craft knife. Adults should make the holes and let the kids insert the hair.

Use you imagination to make it more crazy or different crazy. The possibilities are endless.
Have fun. Happy Halloween!!.

Tips:

-Use tacky glue in moderation. Works really well with little amount and sticks pretty quickly.I loved this one as kids get frustrated when things take time to stick.If you take too much tacky glue it will take longer time to dry and hence does not serve the purpose.
-For making hair, little kids might get tired, Adults please help them. Little hands get tired pretty quickly.

Spooky Spiders on Pumpkin

Aren't these spiders SPOOKY !! These crawling spooky spiders on the pumpkin make a perfect centerpiece for Halloween. A great Halloween craft that kids can make.
My daughter thinks they are real Spiders. She says mommy they are so Scary. Well, this is what we want on Halloween. So really happy how this turned out.
Let us all make it this Halloween.


Supplies needed -

For one spider
-Craft Pom poms balls black 2 no.s
-Chenille stems black standard lengths 2 no.s
-Chenille stems black 2 inch piece
-Craft Glue
-Scissors
-Google eyes (optional)

For Pumpkin arrangement

-Craft Pumpkin also called carvable pumpkin

-Spiders 3 no.s



Step by Step Instructions -

1. Refer the pictures to make the spider. Take two pom poms and glue them together.
2. Cut the chenille stems such that you have four equal lengths.
3. Hold these together and using the 2 inch piece of chenille stem tie them together
as shown in the picture above.
4. Now using glue stick the pom poms you prepared in step 1. Let it dry.
5. Make two more spiders following the steps 1 to 4.


Now take the craft pumpkin and decide where you want to place the spiders. Hold one spider in your hand and carefully insert the spider legs in the pumpkin. Since chenille stems have wire inside they are so easy to insert in the craft pumpkin which is usually made of styrofoam or similar kind of material.

Similarly decorate your pumpkin with more spiders. Your spooky spider pumpkin arrangement is ready. You can use it as a centerpiece or as part of a big collection of pumpkins and other halloween crafts.

Happy Halloween !! Happy crafting.


Tips

-Parents supervise younger kids while using scissors.

-If you think your child will pull the pom poms you can secure it better by sewing instead of using glue. They are more sturdy this way.

- Use different colors of chenille stems to make spiders more attractive. Let your child use his imagination.

-If your child loves google eyes on every craft he makes, you can use them on spider as well.

Origami Bat : Wall Piece for Halloween Decoration

After I made the Owl wall piece using the Origami technique, I felt like creating more of the kind. With halloween round the corner it made me all the more excited to do this. Here comes the Spooky Bat wall piece. I must say this is much easier than the Owl and they look great together.

Supplies I used:

- Origami paper (double shaded not mandatory though) 7"
- Foam sheets (self sticking): Brown, Glitter-- Red,Silver, Green
- Scotch tape

Follow the steps in the pictures below. Refer to basic techniques for origami discussed in previous posts.




Add eyes and mouth to the bat. Hang the Bat upside down as they are usually hung upside down. Use a dark blue background to depict dark sky. You can create the background with moon or flowers too. It is all upto your taste.

I have used Silver background to make the Halloween series as a set.They make lovely wall decorations for my kiddo.Here is a picture of the set.


Happy Halloween to all. Have fun.

Origami Owl : Wall piece for Halloween Decoration

Creating this cute Origami Owl as a wall decoration is lots of fun. It is an interesting activity for a little older kids. If you have tried origami earlier it is a bit easier. You can refer to earlier posts for little simpler origami ideas.
However, for Halloween it is a must try.

Supplies required:

- Orange Origami paper 6"
- Self sticking Foam sheets Brown,Black and Glitter green, Glitter silver
- Craft Knife
- Black Card stock for background

On a clean hard surface fold the orange origami paper as indicated step by step in the picture. It is important to make folds in one go as the paper is usually a bit fragile. I have used Melissa Doug Origami Paper.

To make the folds little easier fold the paper in half horizontally and unfold, then fold is vertically and unfold and then fold and unfold both diagonals too. Make crisp crease in every fold. This will make the rest of the folds easier to make.
Now with the square paper and the white side up. Fold the paper diagonally so that you can see the orange color now. Refer the picture.Next step is to lift the corner and do the squash fold. You get a square as a result. Turn and repeat the step.



At step 5 keep the resulting square as shown and fold the left and right sides of the top layer at the center you get you have a diamond shape. Turn over and repeat the steps. Fold the rest of the part also as shown.



Now lift the top layer so that it opens up. Follow the crease and keep pulling gently till the left and right sides meet at the center. Refer to the picture. Make a good crease. Turn over and repeat. Now lift the tip and fold it half way as shown. Flip and repeat.



Fold the left and right sides towards in such a way that it still remains a diamond shape. Turn and repeat on the other side too. The are two free pointy ends which we will use to make wings. Pull out this free end gently and away from the body. Refer the picture. Do this for both free ends.


To make the head fold the top part half way and then fold the tip again to make the beak. For making feet fold around 1/2 inch both in the front and in the back.


Once the Owl is ready cut out the branch of the tree as shown in the final picture and some leaves. You can use your imagination and create a scenery. You can add some flowers too.

To give it a framed appearance I have used Glitter silver self sticking foam. Foam sheets are easily available in craft stores like Michaels or even in Walmart.

The fabulous Origami Owl wall decoration is ready. Enjoy Halloween to the fullest.

Spooky Bat and Owl for Halloween using Yarn

Halloween is nearby and here's a spooky yet cute craft idea for Halloween decorations. We will be making a bat and a owl using yarn pom poms. Kids would love to make this project but will need some supervision.

There was an earlier post on making a spider with yarn pom pom. Here is another way to make pom pom using yarn. This one takes little more effort but is neater than than the previous one. Refer the picture below for step by step instructions( Click the image for a bigger pic). Start with cutting two circles out of a cardboard. I used cereal boxes :). Cut smaller circles at the center of both these cutouts (like a doughnut). The diameter of outer circle determines the size of the pom pom.

Place both the circle cutouts superimposing each other and wrap the yarn around them. Then using scissors cut the yarn along the circles edges between the two circles. Take a small piece of yarn and tie it between the two circles. Cut the excess off and remove the circles. Your pom pom is ready.This is the basic step for our craft project.


The supplies required for this Halloween themed project :
- Black yarn
- Foam sheets ( black and orange)
- Glue and Scissors
- Wiggle eyes
- Cardboard
- Transparent cord ( if you want to hang the decorations) and needle

For the Bat :

Make two pom poms using black yarn for the face and body of bat. I used 1 inch diameter and 2.5 inch diameter for mine. Cut out bat wings and ears using the foam sheet.Attach the smaller pompom on top of the bigger one. Glue the wings to the backside. Add wiggle eyes and a spooky bat is ready to be used for Halloween decor. You can place these bats at multiple locations in your house, near plants, on bookshelves etc as is. If you want take the transparent cord and using a needle , thread it through the bottom of the bat to make window decorations.
The effect is the best with multiple bats suspended at varying heights.

For the Owl:

Make two pom poms using black yarn for the face and body of bat. I used 1 inch diameter and 2.5 inch diameter for mine. Cut out owl feathers and feet using the foam sheet.

Attach the smaller pompom on top of the bigger one. Glue the feathers on the front. Add wiggle eyes and feet and beak cut from foam sheet and the cutest Owl is ready to be used for your Halloween decor. You can place these at multiple locations in your house, near plants, on bookshelves etc as is.

If you want, take the transparent cord and using a needle , thread it through the bottom of the bat to make window decorations. The effect is the best with multiple Owls suspended at varying heights.


You can also make a combination of Owl, bats, and the spooky spider for your decorations. I am sure you will enjoy making these creatures as much as the kids :). Happy Halloween!

Lovely Pumpkin -Nice Halloween Gift

I had bought this Cast Iron Pumpkin Candle Holder few days back. We had to go to a friend’s House warming ceremony. I thought it’s a good opportunity to make this cast iron candle holder a little bit more appealing. Season being Fall, got an inspiration to decorate this.

It was Sunday morning and I had sometime to spare and my baby and hubby were sleeping. I made a small flower arrangement using two orange colored rose and few maple leaves and few berry twigs and within few minutes this lovely arrangement was ready. I packed it nicely and gave it to my friend who was really happy getting some handmade gift.