"Give Thanks" Sign

I wanted to make a Thanksgiving sign to hang in my apartment. I went to JoAnns and they had canvas' on sale for 50% off so I knew I had to make an amazing sign with such a great deal. I picked up three pack of thin canvas' and gathered the rest of my supplies from JoAnns and stuff i had on hand.

Finished product:

Supplies:

• 3 canvas'
• paint ( fall colors)
• paintbrushes
• small bouquet of faux fall leaves/flowers
• acrylic letters
• glue
• ribbon

Steps:

1.   Paint the first canvas' completely with a fall color. I mixed yellow and orange to achieve my desired color.

2.   After the background color drys, paint a tree trunk in brown on the canvas.

3.  Next glue three leaves from  the bouquet to the top of the tree trunk. Set aside

4.  Paint the other two canvas' with the color that you want the letter to be (I used brown) and let dry.

5.   Arrange your letters on the canvas' however you desire. ( I had to play with "Thanks" for a while before I finally made it all fit, so next time I need a bigger canvas or smaller letters).

6.   Paint over the entire brown canvas' (including the letters) and let dry.This will be the background color.

7.   Peel off the acrylic letters to reveal brown words.

8.   Next attach ribbons to the first canvas( with the tree) to all four corners with a stapler or glue.

9.   Connect the "Give" and "Thanks" canvas' to the one with tree. Use another piece of ribbon to make a hook to hang your sign.

10.  I then attached a flower i cut from the bouquet to the "Give" canvas.

mantle and entertainment center

I wanted to completely decorate my condo this year for Halloween, but I wanted it to be inexpensive and easy. I feel like i accomplished my goal and I can not wait to finish the rest of my condo.

So here is how I transformed my mantle and entertainment center :) Hope you find some great ideas for yours.

I started by adding garland that had purple lights already sewn in. I found the garland on sale at Target for $9 and had to get it.

I also picked up two glass vases at the dollar store and dripped melted red candle on both to make them appear bloody. After adding the fake blood, I put 12 ping pong balls that look like eyeballs in the vases and added them to my mantle.

I painted two candle stick holders, that I also picked up from the dollar store, purple and then with mod podge to make them shiny. I added those to my mantle with two red candle sticks.

I found two shiny, mini witch's brooms at Target for $2.50 each that  I put on the ends of my mantle.

I already had a set of skull lights that I purchased from a dollar store last year that I added as well.

I then put my EAT, DRINK AND BE SCARY sign that I made in a previous blog post to the middle of my mantle.

I then pinned a string of skeletons to the bottom of the mantle.

My fireplace is not actually useable so a decorative item sits in front of it. I moved it and thought it made my whole set up look bare. I decided to add some dollar store cob webs to transform my ordinary item into a Halloween piece that adds more to my mantle.

 I then found some creepy cloth from, you guessed it, the dollar store, that I hung over my nantle and entertainment center to make my condo extra spooky.

Witch Tutu

For my Halloween costume this year I was not buying one from the store. I am completely over paying $60 for about two feet of costume. I decided that I wanted to be a witch, so I made my self a tutu (which I love). Here is how you make the tutu, it is really easy and actually fun!

Materials

•  tulle- I used about 6 1/2 yards of black, 5 yards if green, and 5 yards of purple
• elastic- 1/2 inch thick, and I used black in case some showed through the tulle
• orange ribbon
• scissors

Steps

1. Cut a piece of elastic that is about 2 inches shorter than your waistline.

2. Hot glue the ends together.
3. Cut all of the tulle into strips about 3 to 5 inches thick. I think the variance of the width adds more flare to the skirt. The length to cut the tulle depends on how long you want the skirt. I wanted mine to my knees so i just doubled it (because the tulle will be folded in half)

4. Then put your elastic around something, like a chair, and begin tying slipknots of tulle.My pattern was two pieces of black, a piece of all three colors, two pieces of green, two pieces of purple, a piece of all three and lastly two pieces of black. To make the knot, stack the pieces together and fold them in half. Make an upside down U behind the elastic and pull the tulle though it.

5. Continue the pattern all the way around the elastic

6. Then cut pieces of orange ribbon to tie into the skirt between the two black knots.

My Halloween Island

Just a few simple things can transform your living space into a Halloween house. I found a bleeding banner at the dollar store that I wrapped around my island. I then placed a black table runner, also purchased at the dollar store, in the center of my island. I covered it with left over plastic creepy crawlies and the creepy crawly candles I made in a previous post. So simple, but perfect for a touch of Halloween in my kitchen.

Halloween Wreath

Every fall I see so many cute wreaths in the stores to decorate your door on Halloween. But those store-bought creations usually come with a price tag that begs the question.. $40 for a Halloween decoration? That's crazy! This Halloween I decided to make my own door decor for half the price and I controlled exactly what it would look like. Here is a very easy tutorial on the wreath that will be hanging on my door all October long.

Final product:

Materials:

• wreath
• spider web
• plastic spiders
• flowers garland
• wooden or cardboard letters
• paint
• paintbrush

Step 1: Start with a wreath. I got mine from Michaels for about $10.

Step 2: Add dollar store spider web to the wreath, wrapping it around the circle.

Step 3: Wrap black flowers (or whatever else you desire) to the wreath, following the spider web. I purchased a garland of sparkly, black flowers from Michaels for about $5.

Step 4:  Turn wreath over so the side that would be touching the door is face up. Stretch more of the spider web across the back of the wreath.

Step 5: Turn the wreath right side up and add dollar store spiders to the web you created inside the wreath.

Step 6: Add your painted letters to your wreath by adhearing them with hot glue

Step 7: Attach to your door on October 1st and enjoy!

Halloween Centerpiece For Table

I went to Michael's yesterday (with a 40 percent off coupon that I got from their ad) and the majority of their Halloween decorations were on sale. YAY!! It was incredibly hard not to buy everything but I controlled my urges and only got a few things. I found some great things to make a centerpiece for my coffee table. I am incredibly happy with the result! :)

Here is the finished product:

The purple plate was less than $2 and everything else was at least 50 percent off. So not only is this an awesome centerpiece, it isn't that pricey to make either, especially with a 40 percent off coupon.

Halloween Dream Catcher

I am obsessed with dream catchers! I have about seven hanging over my bed and I even have a tattoo of a dream catcher. So I thought it would be a great idea to make my own dream catcher with a Halloween theme. It was my first time making one and it was even easier than I thought!This craft was also an inexpensive one, only costing about $10 to make and I got all of my materials at Hobby Lobby. Hope you enjoy making one as much as I did!

P.S. If you do decide to buy your materials from Hobby Lobby, you should go online before you go to print off a 40 percent off one item coupon! :)

Final Product:

Materials:
- metal ring- any size you choose
- Suede lace- I used black
- Feathers
- Foam spiders
- Decorative letters
- Hemp
-Super glue

also an extra set of hands wouldn't hurt

Steps:

Step1: Start with the metal ring and the suede lace and begin to wrap the lace around the metal rings as tightly as possible.

(This was the most difficult part of the project. I had to recruit my boyfriend to help me with this step. He held the beginning of the suede lace to the metal ring as I wrapped it, which made it so much easier to wrap)

Step 2: Once you have wrapped the suede completely around the metal ring, tie the two ends of the suede together.

Step 3: Use hemp to make the inside web of your dream catcher. Measure out about 5 to 5 1/2 feet of the hemp and make a knot on the suede ring. Make another knot about an inch and 1/2 to the right of the first knot. Continue to make more knots (about seven or eight) until you reach your first knot.

Step 4: Continue to make knots on the loops of thread from the first round of webbing until you have a small hole left in the middle. Tie off the hemp and cut off any excess.

Step 5: Cut two pieces of suede at identical lengths (about 1 1/2 feet) and one piece that is about three or four inches shorter. Fold the pieces in half. Loop the pieces of suede at the bottom of the ring (the shortest piece in the middle).

Step 6: Glue a feather to every other strand of suede hanging from the dream catcher and glue decorative letters to the rest (mine spelled out EEK)

Step 7: Glue the foam spiders randomly on the dream catcher(both the ring and strands).

Step 8: Tie a small piece of hemp to the top of the dream catcher, making a small loop so it can be hung on the wall for Halloween!

Creepy-Crawly Halloween Candle Holders

This is a dollar store project all the way! Two cute, hand-made candle holders only cost me about $8... which would most likely only cover one candle at other stores. I dont plan on actually lighting these candles, even though they would smell amazing being pumkin flavored and all. Unfortuanltey they are a fire waiting to happen and I'm not risking it. But they look super awesome regardless of the no lighting policy :).

Finished Product:

Materials:

• 2 tall glasses
• 2 candles that fit in the glasses
• spider web
• a bag of plastic creepy crawlys (I found a bag that included spiders, centipedes, roaches , skulls and other weird bugs)
• a bag of plastic skeletons (I cut off the ligaments and heads)
• a bag of goggly eyes
• hot glue gun

Step 1: Drop your candle in the vase and put a small layer of spider web around the base of the candle

Step 2: Add your creepy crawlys, any way you choose.

Step 3: Hot glue the eyes in a strip across the top of the glasess.


How easy was that?

Halloween Signs

This Halloween I wanted a majority of my decorations to be inexpensively home made. For my first project of the season I made two signs to display around my condo. Hope you enjoy!

Here are the finished products:

Materials needed:

• Canvas(es) - I got mine from Michaels, they were buy one get one free.
• Acrylic letters
• Paint- any colors of your choosing.
• Paint brush
• Red crayon and lighter- if you want to add the dripping blood effect. (optional)
• Paint Pen (optional)

Cost : around $15 for 2 signs.

"BEWARE" SIGN STEPS
(beware: this craft is incredibly easy!)

• Step 1: Paint the entire surface with the color you want the letters to be.

• Step 2: After the color for your letters has dried, place the acrylic letters on the sign in the pattern you decide.

• Step 3: Paint the entire canvas (including sides and letters) with your chosen background color.

• Step 4: After the background color has dried, peel off the acrylic letters and reveal your Halloween term.

• Step 5: (Optional Blood Effect) Safely heat a peeled red crayon with a lighter and drip the wax down your sign (tilting the sign works best.)

"EAT, DRINK AND BE SCARY"

 

• Step 1: Place the acrylic letters for your phrase on a canvas.

• Step 2: Paint about 2/3 of the canvas (including sides and letters) with a choosen color.
• Step 3: Paint the other part of canvas (including sides and letters) with a different color

.

• Step 4: After the paint has dried, peel off the acrylic letters and reveal your phrase.

• Step 5: (Optional) I felt like the sign needed some glitter or something to make it pop but I only had a silver paint pen on hand so I colored only the bottom letters to make them stand out.

The Basics

My name is Kelli McDaniel. I just turned twenty one over the summer and have just begun my senior year at the University of North Florida and life is good. Besides the fact that I am still unsure of the career path I want to follow when I graduate in the spring, but hey, I have 9 months so ill figure something out. Im trying to make some changes in my life this year. I want to give more and take less. I want to put myself in a place where I am able to thrive and grow. Im trying to make plans now that will impact my life and future positively.

  I lived eighteen years of my life in South Florida, Jupiter to be specific (the city not the planet,) but I am enjoying being a current Jacksonville resident. I work as an educational aide at the Disability Resource Center on campus and I love it! The people are amazing and I am learning a lot about myself and others in the process. I have the two most incredible and generous parents in the world, seriously I do, and I was lucky enough to have an older brother to always help guide and annoy me through life. I’ve always felt that he was always more of a left brain thinker, while I am more of a right. I always have been creative, random and intuitive. When I was a kid I claimed to be in the Civil War and provided my listeners with details from the gruesome battles. And if I wasn’t declaring to fight for in a war I was changing my name to Halloween, Easter, or whatever else popped into my brain at the moment because Kelli just never sat well with me.

 I’ve always been a fan of the holidays, especially Halloween. This blog will be dedicated to an inexpensive, DIY Halloween (and eventually other holidays) filled with crafts, recipes, reviews, and all other things scary and spooky that go bump in the night. If you are struggling to revamp your holidays this blog will provide the relief you are searching for!