Gift Box Templates

Making your own boxes for gifts can work out cheaper, and you can have fun personalising the shape, pattern and material too. My favourite is the box shown above which opens out really beautifully - and you can find the template here.

For more box templates, go here, here, here and here.

Ruffle Headband

I love this ruffled headband - so cute! - and it only needs very few supplies too.

Have a look at the tutorial here.

PS. Hope you all have a great Halloween!

Fancy Dress Costume Ideas V

Go here to see a how-to video for the Mad Hatter costume straight from Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' film (as shown above, on the right).

For some off-the-wall costume ideas, have a look at this collection.

Look here for some hilarious last-minute costumes...

And to see how to make a card skeletal claw, click here.

Retro Menu Board

This retro menu board looks like it belongs in a funky retro diner, and you can make one yourself from a corkboard, some red fabric, pink spray paint and old style letters like these.

Faux Wood Bookends

These hand carved bookends look fab and are very useful too.

They're simply made by making a block of plaster and carving into it to achieve your desired pattern and shape - so you can let your imagination go wild!

Elite Eight

The Elite Eight posts showcase eight of the best Etsy treasuries every Tuesday, so you don't have to sift through them all to find the hidden gems :-)

Halloween Lights

These Halloween lights would look so effective on your doorstep this Halloween - and the flameless tealights inside the paper bags will add a spooky, flickering light :-)

Ceramic Memo Tile

Click here for a how-to on transferring a memo form onto a plain ceramic tile. This would make a great gift - and you could personalise each one for your recipient!

Mini Pumpkins

I think these adorable little fabric pumpkins would look fantastic and homely in a wooden bowl on your mantelpiece - and you can see how to make them yourself, here.

Corsets

I bought a corset a couple of years ago because I love how they make your waist look smaller than it is (which is always good), plus it reminds me of pirates/wenches, which is a style I love (but wouldn't dare try in public!).

However, they are expensive, so if you would prefer to make one of your own, have a look here, here and here.

Scrappy Dappy Doooo!

I luuurrvvee this tote bag decorated with fabric scraps - it looks so handmade and expensive!

To see how it was made, go here.

Forgive the title...I can get carried away sometimes

Eggshell Surface Decoration

I love the crackle effect created using egg shells on this wooden box - really pretty!

Have a look at the how-to here.

Fabric Scrap Projects

This page has a list of 50 things you can do with fabric remnants, including the fantastic rag rug shown above.

Branched Bead Earrings

These pretty earrings are made from white and crystal clear seed beads and would be perfect for the frosty Winter. You can learn how to make them here, and it's a great way to start out making jewellery with seed beads :-)

Decoupage Bracelets

These funky 'shabby chic' style bracelets are made from blank wooden bangles with pretty paper glued in strips all over - which means it's cheap, and a great recycling project too!

Find the tutorial here.

Rainbow Eyeshadow

I'm waiting until I have some money so I can buy these amazing eyeshadow colours over on Etsy. I've always been obsessed by rainbow colours, and if I can have them on my eyes, then all the better!

If you want to know how to create rainbow eyes, then go here, here and here.

Chocolate Truffles

Truffles are a classic recipe, and totally scrummy. . . plus there are all sorts of different things to coat them in, including chocolate strands, dessicated coconut, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, chopped nuts or a dusting of icing sugar. Judging by the comments below the recipe, it's a definite hit!

Bird's Nest Earrings

This how-to shows you how to make these bird's nest earrings from wire and pearls, which are very popular at the moment.

Millifiori Pendant

This elegant pendant is made from flower cane, clay and organza, and it actually seems very straightforward to make - yay!

To make one yourself, have a look at the how-to.

Sofa Caddy

This sofa caddy tutorial has lots of clear photos (a must for me) and I reckon if you made this in a manly colour - maybe brown canvas? - it would make a fantastic gift for the man, and therefore ruler of the remote, in your life!

Clipboard Photo Frames

This is a fab way of framing and displaying your photos - by mounting your photo on mat and placing behind glass on a clipboard. I think it has a great original vintage look and it's easy to swap your photos around too.

Find the tutorial here.

"X" Marks The Spot

These corner bookmarks are a great alternative to the normal style, and these are magnetic too! To find out how to make one yourself, click here.

Slouchy Hobo Bag

I love big slouchy bags you can sling over your shoulder and pretty much fit the kitchen sink in, so this fun hobo bag made out of old t-shirts is going to the top of my make list!

Almond Pumpkins

I luurrrvve marzipan, and for me it's the best part of any cake, so these marzipan (or almond paste) pumpkins wouldn't last long near me!

Sunprint Fabric

Sunprint Fabric is sun sensitive fabric so that when you leave it in the sun, it changes colour. Therefore, you can put interesting shapes such as flowers and leaves on top of the fabric, leave it in the sun, and the fabric will be patterned with the silhouettes of the flowers and leaves - clever, huh?!

You can head over to Design Sponge to see how to make a cork memo board using the sunprint fabric.

Gorgeous Photos

Beautiful photos always cheer me up - especially if they are of places I want be - which is why these photos of the pretty British countryside in Autumn (my favourite season), plus these photos of clear sea, are so appealing to me :-)

For an amazing, regularly updated photo-fest, go to TheBigPicture for stunning shots, and lastly, for 'photos to refresh your mind', go here.

Painted Pumpkins

This website shows photos of all kinds of ideas for painted pumpkins, including painting them white as shown above, which I think looks very modern and funky.

If you would like to know how to create black pumpkins you can draw on, then have a look here.

Scary UK Days Out

In the UK, there are some fabulous Halloween events organised up and down the country, from ghost walks in Edinburgh to 'Halloween Flights' on the London Eye (where the pods are made into gruesome grottos!)

I've only been to London twice, but the Victorian history, Covent Garden and the spooky dungeons I love, but frankly those dungeons scare the life out of me when it's not Halloween, so I don't think I could take it in Halloween season - eek!

Find out what's on by having a look here, and make sure you don't miss the your local events - they look amazing!

Creepy Chic Decor

This page has a great collection of creepy decor, from baby head candles to a brain lamp!

Halloween Drinks

This post has some - interesting - drink recipes, perfect for serving at your Halloween bash!

Blood Puddle Pillow

The above 'Blood Puddle' pillow (from here) is a fun illusion for your Halloween slumbers!

There is no tutorial but it would be easy to make with red velvet and polyfill - OR you could add lots of 'drip' shapes to it and fill it with rice so they can look more realistic when draped on a chair or shelf!

Jar 'O' Lanterns

These jars are so cute and are made by simply painting jars with oil-based enamel paint. I think they'd be great for kids to go trick-or-treating with :-)

Transformer Costumes

If you fancy a mechanical challenge, you can make your own cardboard transformer costume - and if it's anything like the ones in the video above, you're bound to get some 'oooh's and 'ahhhhh's from your audience!

Click here for another video, or go here to see some mini transformer plans.

Sweater Pumpkin

Lovely pumpkin decoration made by reverse applique using yellow felt and an orange wool sweater, attached within an embroidery hoop. Looks so nice and soft, and you can find out how to make one here.

Papier Mache Pumpkin

STOLLOWEEN is an amazing website with in-depth tutorials on papier mache projects including scary pumpkins and spooky skulls!

Fancy Dress Costume Ideas IV

(From Flickr)

The following fancy dress ideas are from forum comments/suggestions, websites or my own twisted mind! Hope you find some inspiration :-)

- 'Half ‘n’ half costume' e.g. one half evil, one half normal / half good (angel) and half bad (devil) / half alive, half zombie / half good clown, half evil clown / half normal and half fancy dress.

- Toga with some lettuce leaves stapled on and voila! Caesar salad!

- Comic book characters – maybe fake plastic hair, orange face, cardboard clothes, cardboard speech/thought bubbles.

- Cat man costume = normal clothes with holes in and fur poking out + mud/dirt.

- Take something essentially good like Santa Clause, Easter bunny, Tooth fairy, the Queen, Ronald McDonald etc and turn them evil!

- Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz - make a blue gingham pinafore, white blouse underneath, hair in plaits, basket and stuffed dog. Best bit of all is the ruby slippers - cheap pair of red shoes, some red ribbon for a bow, pva glue and a tonne of red glitter

- You could go as 'wind' - stick wire through your coat so its gaping open/flying backwards, mess up your hair & gel it in the same direction, turn an umbrella inside out & make ur cheeks red for the "windswept/flushed" look

- A geisha girl - loads of blusher, red lipstick, hair up in a bun, a fan, kimono, white socks, wooden flip-flops & white face paint

- Doll - with wire in pigtails to make them stick out.

- Doctor who

- Raindrop - dress in blue with a fabulous home-made pointed hat and a bubble skirt

- A millionaire ( dress like the guy from monopoly board game)

- Pirate - 3/4 length baggy shorts - red, blue, black etc, maybe with patches or rips. A short waistcoat over a stripy jagged edge t-shirt, pirate patch, stuffed parrot thing on one shoulder, a sword on your belt, tousled hair, smoky/smudged eyes and nude lips, and either a bandana or pirate hat.

Or for a more feminine pirate, those pantaloon type frilly shorts, or a long jagged hem skirt, and a black or red corset over a loose white blouse (or something with sleeves that kind of sit on the tops of your arms, again, tousled hair, smoky eyes, maybe a sword or something with a skull and crossbones. Loads of bangles (golds or kind of tarnished looking metals).

For more on pirate costumes, go here and here.

- Circus ringmaster - Top hat, waistcoat, moustache.. plus a really big whip!

- Siren - Wear something a bit mermaidy looking but you don't have the confines of a tail and the nakedness of a bikini, perhaps a toga type thing with wavy hair and make all your skin a bit bluish.

- Rose from the titanic - Make yourself all pretty and ye oldy dressed use some glitter for frost, make your lips a bit blue and carry a bit of wood that you can pretend to float on.

- Dress as someone that most people at the party will know e.g. the host

- Tesco Value costume - wear a lot of white and blue with blue and red make-up and jewellery, and a stripey sign on your chest that says 'Tesco Value Costume.'

- Scarecrow - Over-sized flannel shirt, faded blue jeans with patches, rope for the belt and to tie the cuffs of your jeans and sleeves, stuff the shirt and jeans with plastic grocery (or paper) bags, and add a little bit of straw to hang out of jeans and shirt. Add a little bit of make-up.

- The American tourist: Guys loud Hawaii shirt, shorts (if weather permits), Large straw hat. Girls - bright loud dress, flats, big sun hat, straw bag. Don't forget to have a camera, and maps hanging out, and that look of being lost. Guys can use a tourist bag, (like you get from travel agents, and gals can use the straw bag for their treats.

- 1960s Hippy - Tie dye clothing, long wig, sandals, headband, anything with fringe on it (vests, purse...) light colored sun glasses.

- Old man: Dark trousers (cuffed), and jacket, a dress shirt, mans flat cap, walking stick. Grey your hair with dye, or dust with a little flour.

- Old woman: Old style dress, just below knee, knee-hi stockings rolled down a little, oxfords, large black purse, wig, headscarf.

- Nerd - Slick back the hair, grab some trousers that are too short, white shirt, white socks, loafers or lace up oxfords, pocket protector, with lots of pens, dark rim glasses (don't forget to tape the corner, or at least paper clip it) briefcase, or backpack for treat bag.

- Grapes - purple tights, purple (long sleeves) body suit, 12 purple balloons and a green felt hat. Balloons are pinned (by the tied off end to the fabric in a triangle shape, 3 on top, 2 in middle and 1 at bottom (on front and back).

- Black eyed peas - white top and trousers with black paper ‘P’s stuck all over and a black eye make-up

- 50's ('Grease' style) - Pedal pushers, a 50s style scarf around your neck, peep-toe shoes, tie your hair in a high ponytail and add another scarf as a hair accessory.

(Awesomely cute Colonel Sanders costume from here)

From this website:

- 80s Icon / New Romantic Male - For this you will need: Spiky hair (natural)/hair stuck up with hair cream, plenty of eyeliner, dazzling or dark lipstick, several stripes of varying colour face paint (alternatively one big white stripe Adam Ant style), frilly white blouse with long white cuffs (an extravagant dress suit shirt), tight jeans-which could be ripped, patterned old waistcoat, big black boots/DM's, attitude, come hither looks (optional - depends on previous two and quantity of alcohol consumed before leaving.)

From this website:

- Bum - No, not just an attention-grabbing headline. The type of bum that hangs around on street corners, providing local colour. Perhaps there's some PC term for them; the 'inebriated unemployables'. Anyway, just get a tatty old hat (preferably a bowler), some kind of grubby shirt and waistcoat and scuffed old boots. The object is to make you look like the Little Tramp (a cross between Napoleon and Courtney Love). Now get an empty cider bottle, label ripped off and stagger into the party late. If you're lucky, people will talk for weeks about your sparkling wit and acuity. If not, they may think you are actually a bum. If this happens, take advantage of it; steal some cutlery and booze before you're thrown out.

- Alternative Haircut 100 - get a big blond wig into a coiffure, wear that Arran sweater that your gran knitted for you when you were ten and is still far to big, add a pork pie hat, tight trousers and deck shoes. Hey presto, Nick Heyward!

- Alternative 'Madness' band - This is a group tribute to those funny-loving 80's musical rascals, Madness. First of all, get a group of mates together and all wear the following: shades, pork pie hats, black suits; if a size too small, even better, white shirt, tight black trousers, white socks, black shoes, a black keyboard tie, (or other colour leather tie). Get some kiddies plastic instrument - sax, trumpet, guitar, etc

- Miss Print - Black leotard as a base. Newspaper folded into pleats to make a skirt, collar, cuffs and hat. A sash worn over the top declared 'Miss Print'. The finishing touch; an umbrella covered in newsprint and held as a parasol

- A Bunch of Grapes - wear green, blow up lots of green balloons and with help from a friend, use masking tape to attach the balloons all over your body. You are now a bunch of grapes. This outfit is extremely silly, but that's the whole point of it.

- Bellydancer - Start with a bra and bikini panties... something opaque, preferably satiny, black or coloured, not so tiny that you risk bouncing out or are uncomfortable being seen in it. Decorate the bra with rhinestones, glitter, fringe, braiding, etc. Be creative. It's good to use a hot glue gun; it's quick and it'll hold well enough for an evening, though it doesn't launder well. One thing to note, though: when pressing decorations into the hot glue, use cardboard! Hot glue blisters on your fingertips are not sexy.

Buy enough 1/4"- 1/2" flat elastic to fit around your hips. Sew or safety pin together, so it's tight enough to stay up without sliding, even if you do accidentally step on a hem. Buy enough lightweight gauzy or silky fabric (it needn't be very wide) to make it from your hips to ankles 4 times. Add an extra foot if you need to make a veil. Cut the fabric in half. Decorate 1/2 of each piece of fabric so it works with the bra, and fold over hip elastic with decorated side out, one panel to the front and one to the rear. If you're likely to get tiddly, it's not a bad idea to stitch the elastic in place, so you don't inadvertently lose your skirt if you (or someone else) steps on your hem.

Cheap rubber flip-flops (beach sandals) can be decorated same as the bra and skirt. Make a veil from a scarf or an extra 8-12 inches of fabric to cover the bottom half of your face. Use loads of black kohl eyeliner to paint on cat eyes. Let your hair go wild. Wear lots of bangle bracelets, rings, a jingly ankle bracelet, or toe ring. Remember that you're an exotic, treasured, object of desire, so play the part.

- Statue - Make a toga from an old white sheet. Wear flat sandals. Use white body makeup and/or the kind of spray paint that is made for hair and paint everything that shows, including the toga. Let yourself dry thoroughly before sitting. Don't get wet or you'll start to streak. (Be very careful about sitting on fabric or other materials which don't wipe off easily. Depending on the paint you use, it can be a bit of a messy costume.) And don't move. Or speak.

- Peas in a pod - Take a large amount of bright green carrier bags and fasten together to make a tube large enough to fit from neck to ankle, fasten green balloons down the front.

- Dead Ballerina - you need a really great little black dress, white face paint, dark eyeliner, comfortable shoes that conform to your feet (don't do real ballet shoes; you'll be miserable. get something like them), stockings (preferably ones that all ready have runs in them), a bit of mud or dirt and some fallen leaves (which makes it a perfect costume for those autumn parties you didn't know about until half an hour before you were to arrive). Put it all together like you would expect: don the stockings, dress, and slippers. Add white face paint and dark eyeliner for lips, the hollow of your cheeks, and lips. If you have long hair, the classic 'ballerina' bun works well. Now - go get dirty, and be convincing about it. Take some straight pins and attach leaves to your dress, stockings and hair.

It's a bit obscure, I know, but great fun to watch people try and guess. And don't think it's just for the ladies, either. One of my male friends did beautifully with it.

Bat Mobile

To find the free pattern for the cute bat mobile shown above, head over to Jen Hewett's blog.

Halloween Make-Up

I always love doing people's face paint - it's so much fun! But I really want to try some of the gruesome 'special effects' type make-up too... however, I have yet to find a willing victim!

Have a look at this amazing tutorial list for elf ears, zombie make-up and customised vampire fangs, and also have a look here and here as well :-)

Glowstick Costumes

Glowstick costumes are possibly the most simple and ingenious of all costumes, because they are just so effective! You can buy pre-made ones, but I don't see why you can't just make a temporary one with glowsticks attached onto black clothes!

For more info, go here and here.

Monster Tote Bag

You can make this super cute monster tote bag using a plain, boring tote and this how-to.

Halloween Props

The following links are tutorials on how to make all kinds of Halloween props and fancy dress accessories:

Paper Claws

Mad-Eye Moody's 'Eye'

Paper Fairy Wand

Witch's Hat

Cardboard Helmet

Feathered Angel Wings

Articulated Wings

Werewolf Feet

Devil Horns, Bat Headband, Spider Shawl and Spider Glasses

Easy Fairy Wings

Spooky Terrarium

Great twist on the normal terrarium project - this tutorial shows you how to make a 'terrorium'. . .  complete with bare trees and skull piles!

Ghost Lollies

These are probably the easiest scary snacks you can make for your Halloween party - and they're perfect for kids to make too. Go here for the how-to.

Potion Jars

These spooky jars would make great Halloween decorations, especially if you put them on your mantelpiece!

You can put all kinds of things inside the jars, from gross toy eyeballs to handmade clay brains and dried food.

Fancy Dress Costume Ideas III

The following links lead to even more costume ideas - so you've got not excuse for not thinking of one this Halloween!

Dinosaur With a Cage

Gnome on a Toadstool

6 Fun Ideas

Ghostbuster

Beetlejuice

Quick & Unusual Ideas

10 Epic Halloween Costumes

Dalmation

Disco Ball Costume

Ladybird

Tetris

Tea Bag

Trainer Shoe

Where's Wally?

Spies

Sandwich

Rubiks Cube

Toilet Roll

Costumes for Kids

Umbrella Bat

Monk/Jedi Cloak

King Kong Gal

Yip Yip/Cookie Monster

Costume How-to's

Jenga

Headless Ghost

Duffman

Lego Man

Hobbit 1
Hobbit 2

After all, Halloween is where crafty types can really shine!
(Of course, if you are feeling lazy, you could just dress as a 'muggle' or pyschopath!)

Pumpkin Soup

Yummy looking pumpkin soup - perfect for a warming Halloween dinner! Great for using up any pumpkins you carve out too :-)

Bat Mobile

This bat mobile is such a cheap, simple and effective Halloween decoration to make - there really isn't any excuse not to make an effort to spookify your home this year!

Halloween Village

I love this whimical, Tim Burton-esque paper village, and you can make your own following these instructions.

MAKE: Halloween Tutes

The MAKE blog has a fantatsic list of Halloween tutorials from cool costumes to horrific make-up (see the make-up how-to for 'The Joker' below), and from garden decorations to spooky cocktails.

Giant Spider Web

This giant spider's web is the perfect decoration for your garden this Halloween - and all you need for the web is string and glue, and for the spiders you only need pipe cleaners - easy!