Talk Crafty To Me Dedicated to all things handmade

Meet Harper. Harper is an adorably cute labradoodle with a fantastic personalized leash. This is a great project for you beginners out there, that takes less than an hour to make. Follow the easy steps on the Purl Bee and make your own personalized leash.

- Instructions here

Looking for some last minute Halloween decorations? Here’s a quick project I designed that you can download for free!

Print the pdf onto card stock, cut out the circles and thread them along a piece of ribbon or string. Feel free to use the pieces any way you like. Spell out “Happy Halloween” across your mantel, or sting individual circles from your ceiling. You could even shrink them down, attach them to toothpicks and use them as cupcake toppers! The sky’s the limit, so get creative.

- Download the Garland

The pdf contains 5 spooky illustrations, all the letters to spell “Happy Halloween”, and a few assorted patterns to break things up.

(p.s. feel free to send me photos of your finished garland!)

If yesterday’s handmade pumpkin ideas are a little too much work… don’t worry cause here are some super easy paper pumpkins. They’re kid friendly too!

1. The hostess with the mostess has instructions for this mod take on a paper pumpkin.

2. Laurie Flannery’s craft club spent an evening making these pumpkins.

3. This 3D pumpkin is made from strips of paper fastened together.

4. Turn ordinary paper lanterns it to pumpkins lanterns.

It’s always a little sad when that Jack-O-lantern you put so much work into starts to shrivel up on you. Here are some great ideas for handmade pumpkins you can keep forever.

1. Decadent Fibers’ needle felting kit, includes two needles, illustrated instructions, and custom-dyed wool.

2. Martha shows you how to make these decorative pumpkins from rope, and foam balls.

3. Etsy is a great place to shop for handmade holiday decorations, like this cute little pumpkin.

4. David Frykman has several Halloween inspired woodcarvings including this set of three pumpkins.

5. More pumpkins made with hand dyed wool over at Turkey Feathers.

6. Show off your basic wood working skills with these easy wooden pumpkins.

Not a fan of the messy pumpkin innards? Don’t have time to get your hands dirty? Or just plain don’t like to carve? Why not try one of these easy ‘carve-less’ pumpkin ideas.

1. Try painting your pumpkin white then use a stencil and some black acrylic paint. More examples.

2. Lace inspired. With spray adhesive, place a doily on your pumpkin and use a small stencil brush to fill in the pattern.

3. For a cheap but expensive look, use gold and silver leaf.

4. How about glitter pumpkins to bring a little sparkle to your party.

5. Use ordinary black upholstery tacks to create a pattern on your pumpkin.

6. Ok, so this one does involve a little bit of carving…. Drill holes or use a nail to punch holes in your pumpkin, then place flowers through the holes.

Not all pumpkins have to be spooky, or even orange for that matter. Check out some of these gorgeous pumpkins for a less traditional look. These would also be great for Thanksgiving decorations as well.

1. Use an electric drill in varying sizes to get a quick and sophisticated look. You can also use a hammer and small cookie cutters to create a similar look.

2. Get inspired by patterns around you. Use lino cutters to carve out an intricate pattern.

3. This autumn centerpiece uses a flea market chandelier turned upside-down. (You could also spray the chandelier black for a spookier display at your Halloween party)

4. Use woodcarving tools or small pieces of pipe to create a lace-like pattern.

5. This thorny pattern is inspired by antique chinaware.

6. Light your front steps or your living room, with a lantern inspired pumpkin.

Flickr is your friend when it comes to getting inspiration for your Jack-O-lantern. There are so many great pumpkins on there it can almost be overwhelming when deciding on a design.

Once you’ve decided on your design you can either free-hand it on to your pumpkin, or draw it out on a piece of paper first, then transfer it to your pumpkin by placing a piece of carbon paper between your design and your pumpkin, and then tracing over it (I’ve also done this without the carbon paper… just push a bit harder with your pencil and you’ll leave a slight indent in the pumpkin’s surface).

Read More…

Looking to add some decoration to your Thanksgiving or Halloween table? Martha Stewart has step-by-step instructions on making these candles from hollowed out squash shells. All you need is a couple of different sized squash, and some wax, you can even re-use the wax from old candles you have lying around.

And if you’re looking for more halloween ideas be sure to check out marthastewart.com for her Halloween Party workshop.

More Halloween goodness coming your way. Maritza from Soto Softies, has a fantastic bat pattern for sale on her Etsy store. A bunch of these strung from the ceiling would make fantastic Halloween decorations.

Not sure you’re ready to take on a whole softie? Why not take a start with Maritza’s free batty finger puppet pattern here.

Ok so today is October first and you know what that means… Halloween is only a month away! In honor of that, and to get your creative juices flowing here is a super cute costume idea for all you knitters out there with little ones!

Frog not your style? Alison Jenkins’ book Wacky Baby Knits, has all kinds of projects, you’re sure to find something to suit your tastes.

Check out the frog tutorial here