Happy Halloween 2013!

I can't believe that it's already Halloween! Babie would be 13 years old today. Time flies. Since it's about that time to start packing up all the seasonal stuff to make way for the next, I thought I'd give a last update on my last minute Halloween scores. I rearranged the apartment for my Halloween party, I might keep it like this for a while. Hammy got a new table to live on that fits Annabelle's giant tote litter box. I made this sticker for it just to send the message home...

The last occasional sale (the next one is next weekend already!) I found some pretty awesome cardboard things. 

The owl is embossed! I also picked up some repro Beistle and this guy below. He's got two faces. There were other blow lamps that I saw that were older and I liked more, but BJ liked this guy and I like when he finds things while thrifting because that means he's more likely to keep taking me!

I found a pirate jack pail sans handle. I don't think the twine is original to the piece, but who knows. I also snagged this big, deep orange lantern which worked! Both are from Arc's. Did anyone else notice that Halloween selections kind of sucked this year at all the stores? I'm glad I found these!

Since we found the table for Hammy to sit on, it opened up a spot in the living room where Annabelle's tote was setting. I hate decorating with litter boxes. Besides my ultra noisy neighbors whom I wouldn't mind falling off the face of the planet, that's on my list of reasons to move. And the silverfish infestation, and the lack of consistent water pressure and/or temperature, and the lack of heat regardless of being on the third floor, but mostly I hate my neighbors. That's another story for another day, though. Anyway, on the same shopping trip, we found this ugly little table that I planned to make cute. I see them at the occasional sales for big bucks, so when I found one for $4, I knew it was meant to be!

My dear friend, Miira, came to our Monster Mash bearing gifts from Finland. 

I framed the Little My post card and am still deciding if the plate will be used or hung. I need to do some serious cleaning of the studio before I decide where they will hang though. >_<

I didn't actually take pictures during the party, except for BJ's costume. I made him a top hat which you can see if you look at my Instagram. I should really become better about capturing the moments as they actually happen. So imagine the above picture with delicious vegan food. I made Gee Whiz from the Ultimate Un Cheese Book which was pretty good and put it on pumpernickel as well as a queso dip for the chips. I should post my most delicious recipe for pinwheels that I adapted from a recipe I got from one of my high school Spanish classes. (Does anyone else still have stuff like that saved? haha!) It is UH-MAZE-ING! I also made pickles wrapped in vegan ham and cream cheese. It was not a day to be on a diet. We did burn a few of the calories by playing Cards Against Humanity. It's an hilarious game and totally worth the hours I slaved cutting out the cards with my non-level Martha Stewart straight cutter.

Have a happy and safe Halloween, everyone!

Spoonflower Ghost Contest

I entered a design in the Ghosts contest on Spoonflower. Voting is now open- just click on the embedded link. The image above is a little clip of it and it is titled Ghostie Girl Falls in Love. I hope you'll all vote for me and pass it along to everyone you know! Thanks for all of your support!

Pyrex Love Bag

Here's the bag that I made from the Ruby Star Sparkle fabric! I made it from this tutorial and it was pretty simple for my first time ever making a bag. I got the wrong kind of interfacing so I didn't use any on most of the fabric; I wanted to just get it made since I found myself in the mood to complete the project. It took me about 4 hours to complete because my Singer Promise decided to keep its promise to always keep me frustrated. [I highly don't recommend this machine.] I also feel there may have been some paranormal foul play as the stitch length knob had been turned drastically from what I had it set at not two minutes before- and I didn't change it! I ended up spending a lot of time ripping out stitches as a result because it got all gummed up on the backside.

I decided to add a zippered pocket which wasn't in the tutorial, and I decided to wing it instead of finding a tutorial on how to properly install one. It turned out okay, but next time I might do a little research first.

I've found a wallet tutorial that I plan on making next with the same lovely fabric. Other projects on my docket are Christmas presents and face masks for this upcoming Black Friday. Apparently it's getting cold and staying cold. Bleh! >_< 

It has been another gloomy week here so I haven't had a chance to get any good shots of my so perfect pumpkin or our awesome occasional sale scores from this weekend. I think the occasional sale weekend is my new favorite weekend of the month. I'm just sad that the Halloween season is over for them. That just means that I can look forward to precious vintage Christmas ornaments next month!

Don't forget to pick up some Halloween items from my Etsy store!!!

Shop Update + Society6 Promotion

Hey everyone! I finally got my shop updated! Those of you who were lucky enough to get a swag bag can use your coupon codes until November 30th. Not only did I get my handmade shop updated, there is also an artist promotion happening over at Society6!

You can get FREE shipping until October 13, 2013 at Midnight Pacific Time! *Offer excludes Framed Art Prints, Stretched Canvases and Throw Pillows with insert.

They have updated their totes so they actually have designs covering the fabric. Totes cute, yeah? :)

Spread the word!!! [In case you didn't notice, you can now pin the images on my blog to Pinterest by hovering!]

Halloween House + Tomato Cage Ghost How-To

If you haven't already guessed, Halloween is my favorite and my best. I started decorating on September 2. I even had a few Halloween scores on Labor Day at Arc's! I always like seeing other people's decorations, so here's a look into my apartment and some of my hauls this year!

My first find of the year was this guy. I added the Shrek ears because they didn't really fit anyone else. I don't really know anything about him. There's a hole in the bottom and back like something that lights up, but it's made out of rubber.

I found all of the pails above this year. The first one was at Arc's Richfield, the other two were at a Goodwill in a St Paul suburb. Goodwill is way overpriced on everything and they were charging  $1+ for their pails which is retail! These are pretty old looking so it was worth it I guess, but for the newer ones? You can buy a brand new pail for the same price at Target and it doesn't have someone else's name scribbled on the bottom!

Both items pictured are Arc's finds. The pumpkin witch I found a couple of years ago, but the spider stand is from this year. She is even more delightfully creepy now.

Although I am obsessed with cats, I don't have a lot of cat themed Halloween decor. I had a good cat day this past Saturday. I found a couple cute paper lanterns. The vintage inspired 3D one was actually is someone else's cart and I hoped to myself that she would decide against it and I'd find it on a shelf, and that is just what happened! The pumpkin guy I actually passed on and decided I regretted it. He was still there the next day, so he came home with me. 

This isn't Halloween, obviously. As I crossed the Arc's parking lot, I said that I wanted to find a nice big Pyrex mixing bowl to make up for the bowl that shattered this summer. They switched things around again so there are a couple of different places that one can find Pyrex. This one was setting on a top shelf all alone wearing one of my favorite colors. 

When we stopped at the candy store on the way home from Redwood last time, I found a Wizard of Oz cherry cola. It wasn't my favorite, but the bottle is fun!

Since I'm finally done slaving away at my sewing machine for a show, I finally get to use it for pleasure! I bought a yard of fabric from Heidi Kenney on Spoonflower that she made for pillows. I picked up some fabric at the Salvation Army during our Thrifcation this summer which was just enough for the backs. I ran out of polyfil, so I could only get the cat stuffed for now. You can see the devil behind the bat pillow and the owl is on the couch. During No Coast Takes a Field Trip, I bought a yard of chevron to make a couple of envelope pillow cases.

I made the little pillows out of felt last year because Annabelle [the giant white creature pictured on the chair] claimed the couch as her own and I wanted pillows for her to get hairy that needn't be shared with anyone. She's over it.

These witches are some of my favorite decorations. I found the one on the right at a vintage occasional sale. It's Beistle. I also picked up the Beistle ghosts hanging on the wall a couple of pictures up this year at Arc's.

Here's a look around the rest of the apartment.

This ghost is another DIY. All you need is a tomato cage, white and/or sheer fabric (I used a curtain and a tablecloth from the thrift store) and a Halloween pail. My pail is a glow in the dark one from the thrift store. Assemble the pail on top of the pointed ends of the tomato cage and drape the cloth over and pin into place. Mine doubles as a cat bed if you ask them.

Shelf Liner Bat Tutorial

 

The sun is finally shining! The tutorial I've been promising is something that I made around five years ago when I was in college and had no money for Halloween decorations. I was really obsessed with Martha Stewart crafts and didn't even have any ink in my printer to do her printables. I decided to work with what I had on hand and that was extra shelf liner material and stretch magic string. At the time, I cut out the bats freehand I think, but today I have a pattern for you!

Supplies Needed:

Non-slip shelf liner

String

Pattern, printed + cut out (or you can create your own)

Scissors

Pins

First off, cut out your bats from paper. Otherwise you can move ahead a couple of steps if you plan on free handing.

Next, pin your pattern onto the shelf liner. The first time I made these, my shelf liner was the high quality kind from Target or somewhere. This time, I decided to get it from the dollar store. I would suggest getting the better quality stuff because the holes in the dollar store kind don't hold up as well to the cut design.

Once pinned, cut out the design and repeat until you have as many bats as your heart desires! After you're done cutting, simply put your string through the natural holes in the material- somewhere near the middle of the bat works, then hang from the ceiling fan, doorway, or wherever your home needs a creepy touch.

Cheap and easy! I'll be posting pictures of my Halloween decor and some recent thrift scores tomorrow. My shop update will be done this week for sure. I just need to take pictures and things for the listings!

Rainy Days

I know I said that I'd try to have a shop update and a fun tutorial last week, but gloomy, rainy days don't make for awesome pictures. I did finally make a bag out of the super cute Ruby Star Sparkle fabric and I love it! I'll take better pictures soon. The sun was out for about 5 minutes while we were driving to Ethique Nouveau for the vegan pop-up shop. I got a bag of gold fish crackers and a caramel almond joy. UH-MAZE-ING!!!

After that we headed over to the Walker for free first Saturday to see the Claes Oldenburg exhibit. If you haven't gone, you should go! I LOVE his art so when I discovered this exhibit was coming to town, I was there! I love food and food related art. His foods don't have faces, but giant plush food is always appreciated here! I didn't bring my real camera because I didn't know that photography was allowed, so I think I'll go back. If you're strapped for cash, remember the Walker is open late on Thursdays and FREE from 5-9pm courtesy of Target. If you've been to the Walker, you know that the gift shop is like a gallery all its own. BJ bought a Tokidoki blind box kitty cactus and got the bandit just like we wanted! I bought a bow ring in my most favorite shade of pink and considered getting a yummy breakfast blind box, but decided to save some excitement for my next visit. 

Let's hope the rain breaks soon so we can get on with Halloween crafts!

That's the Way It Goes

This past Saturday was the Fall Festival. I spent two months getting ready for it. I looked at the forecast, it said 40% chance of rain so I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't. Staying true to the trend of events in my life, I got sick on Monday. I did everything I could to get rid of the cold as fast as possible. Then my baby Roscoe got sick. Unfortunately, pigs don't show their sickness until it is too late because they're prey animals. We took him to the vet and gave him antibiotics and force fed him hoping that he'd get better. Since I had made the commitment to do the show and I'd spent so much time and money getting ready for it, and because vet bills are not cheap, I made myself pack up the car and make the journey down to Redwood. BJ's mom cared for Roscoe while we were gone for less than 24 hours. I really didn't entertain the idea that he might not be here when we got back. 

We walked into the apartment and greeted everyone, then I went to look in on Roscoe and he was gone. September is not kind to me. Now I'm left trying to take my own advice, struggling with the guilt of not being here in his time of need, and knowing there was nothing that we could have done to save him. Now my little Hammy is alone without his best buddy. I don't know how long it is going to take before I'm used to seeing only one piggy in that big old cage. I'm going to miss Roscoe begging for carrots every night without fail, his big lips, messy hair, and sweet eyes. He was a little guy who stole a big piece of my heart.

So was is worth it, not being here? I don't really know... It rained most of the day, it was freezing, and I heard it was the worst year for sales. That being said, it doesn't really make me feel any better about having low sales myself. I had free cupcakes to entice buyers, and I had a hard time selling those. I didn't even tell anyone they were vegan! Only two people who took one bought something and one of them was my sister. When did people stop using proper etiquette and good manners?! It was a running theme throughout the day. Everyone should always remember to be kind and treat others the way they want to be treated. You never know who is struggling with a no good very bad day and shouldn't strive to make it worse- even unintentionally.

I guess it just wasn't my crowd... I firmly believe that if an event is called a craft fair that it should contain only 100% crafted/handmade items- not catalogue party booths. I spent a lot of time and love from concept to creation and that should be appreciated for what it is actually worth. 

I'm officially two for two with rainy days! I need to find indoor venues. At least this time I got to borrow a tent from my brother that was actually waterproof and no one had to duck to enter! There is always a lesson learned with each experience.

I finally got around to making a design for Spoonflower. I'm super happy with how it turned out and only wish that I had ordered more than a yard! The link is directly to my shop if you'd like to purchase some for your own projects! In addition to my own fabric, I also ordered a couple of Heidi Kenney's- the Halloween party that I've wanted to buy since she first put it for sale, and the vintage Halloween pillow yard that she has up special until Halloween. I'm excited to finally get around to all these projects that have been on the back burner!

Sorry about all the dreary posts lately, that's just the way it goes for me this time of year I guess... I'm hoping to do a shop update on Etsy with the stuff that didn't sell within the week, as well as a fun Halloween decoration tutorial, so check back!