Black Cat Pillow for Halloween

I've seen some really cute, I mean scary black cats out there in Halloween decor this season and I decided I could make an applique pillow to add to my own stash of Halloween decs.  I love the black cats with arched backs but I didn't want it too spooky.  I found a cute drawing online in a children's printable coloring page and used that as my template.  One evening of applique for the cat and the next day I added black borders to my square and a fun orange black cat print for the pillow back.  I found an easy tutorial with a great idea for sewing the back at a blog called Sparkle Power - you might want to check out her tutorial here.  She overlaps flaps so that its very simple to remove it. Love it!

Isn't she cute?  I'm not quite happy with her tail, but its been a couple years since I did any applique so I thought this actually turned out pretty well all things considered.

The pillow back is a Debbie Mumm fabric from Joanns.  My camera has mysteriously died so I am subjecting you to sad cell phone pictures.

I'm linking to these great parties - please visit them - there are some seriously crafty ladies here!

Candy Corn Love

It's October, it's officially Fall and the countdown to Halloween has begun!  As much as I love the spooky black and purples that have become popular for Halloween decorations, now that I am in Florida and its still hot, hot, hot I am finding myself more drawn to the sunshine colors of candy corn.  It doesn't feel like Fall here at all, let alone October. 

Look at some of these super sweet projects from all over the blog-o-sphere

A candy corn bunting tutorial from Tatertots and Jello

How about a wreath?  Lots of patience that paid off here!  This is from The Heaps

Some candy corn goodie baskets from Country Living Spooky Decorations article

And if you need a treat to eat, check out these Candy Corn Caramel Apples from I Heart Naptime.  I just found her blog recently & love it! 



Things have been crazy at work again, so I've been living vicarously through all the fun crafty blogs this week.  Hope to finish a project for myself soon!

Paper Pumpkin Tutorial For Fall Decorating

My niece and nephew are coming for a sleepover tonight & I thought we should do a fun Halloween craft. I recently saw some adorable pumpkins made with simple strips of scrapbooking paper on a crafty blog and thought I'd make something similar. I can't find the blog post though, so if you've done these in the past 10 days give me a shout and I'll give you the credit you are due!  I did a quick google search and there are several websites with variations out there using pipe cleaners, empty toilet paper rolls and all kinds of clever materials.

***ETA: I found her!  These were taught by Kat from Everybody Loves Raymond ... and Kat!  She has a tutorial up so click on the link and go over and give her some props.  Her's are very classy in black and white, but since I'll be making these with a 6 year old I stuck with the traditional pumpkin orange.  I don't know what blog etiquette is on making something you saw somewhere else, so if I should dump the tutorial part here and just leave up the pictures with her link, someone let me know!

For this project, you will need
- halloweenish scrapbooking paper (double sided looks the best, but its not necessary)
- small scraps of green paper
- two paper brads in a coordinating color
- a pencil
- scissors or a fancy cutting tool
- hole punch

They are super simple. Cut 8x8 halloween orange scrapbooking paper into 1 inch strips. You could use any size paper and you may want to create several different sizes to do a vignette or put in a basket or bowl.   Shorter strips will make a shorter pumpkin with a smaller diameter. 

For this pumpkin, I decided to use two sheets of 8x8 paper, and obviously got 16 strips.  I used craft scissors to make a fun edge on half the strips.  If I were doing it again with 8x8 paper, I'd make about 4 more strips to make it more full.  I wish I had double sided paper because I don't really care for the white showing through, but I didn't have any at work.  (Gasp - yes, I am at work!  Luckily I work for myself so I won't get fired!)  The paper I used for the leaves is double sided, and it just looks better.

Punch a hole into the center of each end of each strip. Try really hard to get the hole in the same place on each strip or you'll end up with a wonky sphere. Since I was using striped paper, I punched at the end of the first stripe, and was able to punch 3 strips at a time with my punch. Stack them up neatly.  Hopefully you can see through the holes with no trouble.

Cut out a leaf shape or two and punch a hole, then stack this right on top at one end.  To create the leaf, take a small square of green paper and fold it in half.  Trace and cut half a leaf shape in such a way that the folded edge becomes the center line of the leaf.  I did it this way so even if it was a goofy looking leaf, at least both sides were even.  I cut two sizes of leaves.  Having the fold line down the center of the leaf adds a lifelike dimension to it also.  Punch a hole in the center of the base of your leaves.  Cut a narrow strip about 6 inches long & punch a hole in one end.  Then cut down the center (almost all the way to the hole) to create 2 curlies.  Stack this strip in between the two leaves and place the three pieces on top of one end of your orange strips.  Put a brad into the holes at each end of the paper strips. You can curl the leaf tentacles around a pencil at any time.

Once your two brads are inserted, begin to fan out the strips.  As you work, they will start to create a ball. Its quite ingenious!

I wanted to do a test run before we make some tonight to be sure I know what I'm doing.  I'm not quite sure how to make them sit flat.  This guy is a little topsy turvy but I think he's terribly cute.  I'll be back later to show you what else we make tonight!

A linking I will go .... Check out the cute projects at some of these link parties!