No Carve Pumpkin Faces

After making these pumpkin faces, I realized they look a lot like the annoying orange.   The actual idea came to me when I was brainstorming different ways to decorate a pumpkin without carving it.  I think these pumpkins came out pretty funny looking.  My kids tell me they look creepy.  I guess that's a good thing since they're for Halloween.

This craft is great for all ages, child and adult.  Also, it only requires 4 items: a mini pumpkin, glue stick, scissor, and magazine.  Brief instructions below.

Cut out a bunch of mouths, eyes, noses, etc from magazines.  I found catalogs and makeup advertisements had the best selection of faces.

Play around with different combinations to make silly or scarry faces.   Once you figure out the face you want to make, adhere the pieces with a glue stick to your pumpkin.  I found a glue stick works best because it doesn't make the paper wrinkle.  It also gives you a little time to move the pieces around before they dry.

What do you think, silly or creepy?  Both?

So, You Want To Be a Comic Book Artist?

So You Want To Be A Comic Book Artist?

by Philip Amara

Today I want to share with you the book "So, You Want To Be A Comic Book Artist?" by Philip Amara.  What makes this book extra special for us is that my son got to have one of his comics featured in the book!  As you may know, my son likes to write and read comics so this is a pretty big deal.  If you have a budding comic artist in your life, I think you'll want to check out this book.  Here's why. . . 

So, You Want to Be a Comic Book Artist gives you solid tips on how to create, publish and market your own comics.   Specifically, you'll find chapters on, Starting a Studio, Illustration Tips and Tricks, Character Creation, Comic Book Scripts, Layout, Copy-Shop Comics, Self-Promotion, Portfolios, and Industry Info.  You'll also find in the book interviews with comic industry professionals.

What I like about this book is that Philip shares useful information that even adults can benefit from but a child can understand.  For example, he talks about specific jobs within the industry: Writer, Penciler, Inker, Letterer, Colorist, and Editor.  He breaks down what a comic is composed of: panels, gutters, balloons, captions, and title. This book gives the reader real applicable information to become an artist.

My son's comic

Want to learn more about So, You Want to Be a Comic Book Artist and the author?  Check out the sample pages at Beyond Words or check out Philip's Tumblr page.

One Cute Cookie

Today I want to share a little trick I use with cupcake liners to make my cookies look cute.  I don't know if anyone else does this.  I can't recall seeing this before.  Although, who knows, maybe there are hundreds of posts out there about it. But just in case, I thought I would share.

One of my favorite ways to display cookies is with cupcake liners.  I like that it makes them all uniform, perfect for a dessert table.  Plus, when someone goes to grab a cookie, they don't touch the rest of them. With little hands, that can be a very very good thing.

To wrap up a cookie, fold a cupcake liner in half.  Place cookie in center.  Fold left and right flaps back.  Super 

easy.

I made the cookies pictured above for a school fundraiser.  I know more and more schools are not allowing home baked goods for school events. I understand why but it seems such a shame.  I remember when I was in elementary school and there would be a cupcake fundraiser.  All the cupcakes would be displayed on a cart and rolled into each classroom. One would get to choose which cupcake they wanted.  I always liked the cupcakes with the fancy toppings (a.k.a candy). 

Curious, does your school allow home baked goods?

JELL-O Jack O' Lanterns

Just for fun I decided to whip up some pint size JELL-O jack o lanterns. It's hard to tell from the photo but this mini jack o' lantern is filled with jello.  What keeps the jello from spilling out is making it into a thicker texture.  It may look complicated but these mini jack o' lanterns are easy to make.  Directions below.

JELL-O Jack O' Lantern Recipe

Makes about 15 jack o' lanterns

Ingredients

2 3oz boxes of Lemon JELL-O

2 Cups Water

15 Clementines

Candied Ginger or Chocolate chips

1.  Slice top of clementine off.

2.  Run tip of spoon between edge of rind and fruit.  Slowly pry the fruit out while keeping the rind in tact.  This is surprisingly easy to do and took me about 30 seconds per clementine.  Save the fruit for a snack or serve with jack o' lanterns.

3.  If you have a hole at the bottom of your rind, you will need to plug it with a piece of candied ginger or chocolate chip point size down.  Make sure it will not float to the top when you pour your jello into the rind.

  4.  Boil 2 cups of water.  Add both packets of jello.  Mix till dissolved. 

Before pouring your jello, I recommend placing all the rind cups in a muffin tin with the top beside each cup (pictured above).  This way all your tops will match up.

5.  Pour jello to the top of clementine cup.  Place in fridge.  Let jello set up.  It took about three hours for the jello to set up.

6.  Carve out a face with a pairing knife.  Place top back on.

I discovered if you place a flashlight behind the clementine they light up just like a jack o' lantern.  This might be a fun way to serve or display the jello. 

Origami + Ribbon = Oribbon

Photo credit: Kamigu

Sometimes a craft product comes along that's so unique, so inspiring, it stops me in my tracks. Today that craft is Oribbon.  Oribbon is a strip of sticker ribbon that's scored so you can easily fold it into geometric shaped ribbons.  The ribbons can then be applied to gifts and such.  Below is video so you can see the craft in action.  Tell me what you think.

Vintage Halloween Votive

Hope it's not too early for one little Halloween craft post?  I've just had the holiday on my mind lately.  My son is already suggesting costumes and I've been thinking about what craft I'm going to have the kids do for our school carnival.  So needless to say, that's lead to a lot of ideas such as these Vintage Votive Candles.

This craft was inspired by Fellow Fellows' houses by night.  They're pretty much constructed the same way only they're Halloween images instead of houses.  I'm just going to share brief instructions on how I made them.  If you need a visual, check out Fellow Fellows' blog.

Supplies:

Glass candle votive
Tape
Scissors
Vintage Clip art - The images that work out the best have a good about of white space in them.  The clip art I used came from The Graphics Fairy blog.  Here are the links for the Raven, Owl and Girl Witch.

Directions:

1.  Print out images on standard printer paper.  You might need to adjust the size of an image depending on your votive.

2. Cut image out and wrap around glass votive.  Tape paper together in the back.

3.  Add a tea light.

*Never leave candles unattended.  The paper can get hot.

 Another idea would be to use haunted houses or grave stone photos/illustrations.

The Simple Things

Have you seen The Simple Things Magazine yet?  It's by the publishers of Mollie Makes and it just came out September 6th.  I'm always inspired by the Mollie Makes magazine and blog so I can't wait to see The Simple Things.  The Simple Things is described as follows, "It's about slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of enjoying the company of friends and family and making simple food for simple gatherings".  Sounds pretty good to me. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Back to School Desktop Wallpaper

In the spirit of back to school season I thought I would share this cute desktop wallpaper by Naho Ogawa.  You can get the free download on Naho's site.  Naho is a freelance designer living in Tokyo an has a delightful site worth checking out. Some of her work includes designing illustrations for Anna Sui.  She also has a daily life blog you might enjoy.

Thank you Naho for letting me share your illustrations.

Kaleidograph Online

Have you heard of  Kaleidograph?  It's a design pattern toy for kids and a design tool for adults.  The toy comes with  a set of  geometric shapes that can be stacked to make unique layered designs.  Well, I was poking around the Kaleidograph site when I stumbled upon the online version of the toy.   So of course I had to test it out and I must say it's very therapeutic. So if you need a little distraction or inspiration, stop by site.  But I'll warn you, it can be very addicting.  Let me know what you think.

Screenshot of online Kaleidograph

Kid Craft: Star Necklaces

Over the weekend I was organizing my craft supplies when I came across a bag of wood stars.  Ironically, the stars were given to me from someone who was cleaning out their craft supplies.  Instead of passing them on, I decided to make something with the stars, washi tape star necklaces.  Coincidentally, I was also able to put to use some of the rayon crochet string I was given as well.  Love when that happens.

Supplies:

Wood Stars Discs - Can be found at the craft store

Gold Paint - I used Elmer's paint markers

Jewelry bails - Can be found at the craft store

Washi Tape (a.k.a. Japanese Masking Tape)

Rayon Crochet Thread - Could be substituted for any string or jewelry chain

E6000 Glue - Can be substituted for an extra strength glue

1.  Start with a wood star.

2.  Paint the entire star gold, let dry.

3.  Add washi tape.  You could also coat the tape with a glaze if you wanted.  I tried it both ways and preferred it without the glaze.  I liked the matte finish better.

4.  Glue bail to back of star.  You'll notice I glued the bail upside down.  I did this so the bail would not show in the front.  You can position the bail to your preference.  You might prefer to glue it so it shows in the front.

Add a string of your choice and you're all set.  Since I was working with string, I didn't bother to add a clasp.  I just tied a basic knot at the top and made sure the necklace was long enough to slip over my head.

*Craft Tip - If you're using old string that has kinks in it, you can iron them out.  Same goes for ribbon.  Just make sure you have your iron on the right setting. Synthetics can melt easily.