Pumpkin Photo Holder

Happy Halloween! Hope you have a good one :-)

And this is a fun and quick idea for any leftover pumpkins you may have lying around!

The Last of the Halloween Tutorials

The following are some excellent Halloween makes which I've only found in the last couple of days, so I'm just listing them all here :-)

Carved Pumpkins

Spooky Halloween Mirror

Devil Shoes

Haunted Black Velvet Cakes

Cross Stitch Pumpkins

Charles the Plushie

I think this posh gent called Charles is rather dashing, and you can find out how to make him here.

Paper Bag Skirt

I love the fabric of this skirt, plus the funky style and easy peasy tutorial which you can find here.

Coolest Bird Houses

Click here for not only links to the best birdhouses available to buy, but also a list of tutorials which show you how to make (and decorate) one yourself :-)

Bottled Potions

These brilliant bottled potions could be displayed on a shelf or worn around your neck at Halloween - Click here for the how-to.

Felt Pot Holders

Find instructions on how to make your own pretty stitched leaves out of wool felt, which you can then use as pot holders, by clicking here.

Denim & Leather Bag

This fashionable bag looks really sturdy, and is made from heavy duty denim and leather. Click here for the tutorial.

Shadow Makers

These easy-peasy spooky shapes would make full use of the atmospheric Halloween lighting. Find the tutorial here.

Fashion Drawing

I've just compiled a list of the best tutorials for learning how to draw fashion figures, and you can find it here. I hope it's helpful for people who are interested in art and fashion :-)

Pancake Art

If something can make pancakes more fun, it's adding colours! And you can even make the most amazing 3D scenes using pancake pieces as seen in the video below:

Foam Hand

This fun foam hand could be personalised and used for gifts, sports games or music concerts, to show you are the number 1 fan! Go here for the tute.

Gross Brain Shots

Half ewwwww, half awesome, these shots with Bailey's Irish Cream 'brains' are perfect for Halloween - click here for the recipe.

Fabric Calendar

Head over to Design*Sponge for a tutorial on how to make this gorgeous fabric calendar, including pretty embroidery.

I'm Off Again!

I don't know, I wait years for a holiday and then 2 come along at once - and both to Italy!

Yup, I'm going to Italy again for a week (Sorrento this time), but don't worry - I've scheduled fill-in posts again so you won't even know I'm gone :-)

I'll be away for my birthday but back for Halloween, yay! Bye!

Party Turtles!

The pattern for these funny turtles (in hats no less!) can be found here.

Newspaper Taxidermy

Arty wall art made using chicken wire and newspaper - looks like great fun to make! Go here for the tutorial.

Zombie Barbies

A-freakin-mazing! I was never into Barbies as a kid, but perhaps this reincarnation will get me interested hah! If you want to see how you can make your own zombie Barbie garden for Halloween, click here.

Chalkboard Globe

There have been a few tutorials around which make use of chalkboard paint, but I think this one is the best, especially for a travel enthusiast. Very old school!

Go here for the project instructions.

Zombie Softie

Find out how you can make a somehow-really-cute zombie plushie by going here.

What is TtV Photography?

My favourite effect for photographs is the through-the-viewfinder (TtV) technique, which involves using 2 cameras to create a romantic retro look. If you're interested in finding out how to do this yourself, and how I got on trying to make a 'contraption' (sounds mysterious, no?), then click here for lots of info and photos :-)

No-Carve Pumpkins

Click here for a really easy way of decorating pumpkins with just tape.

Rag Rug

I think the colours and pattern of this rug are beautiful, and you can find the excellent tutorial for it, here.

Stuffed Fabric Skulls

These little fabric skull shapes can be painted any way you like, and I think this green example looks fab! Go here for the how-to.

Knit a Dog!

I think this project, which gives you the knitting pattern for your very own Jack Russell, is absolutely adorable.

Doily Spider Web

This tutorial uses a ready-made doily as a spider's web to nice effect.

Leather Bow Ring

This translated tutorial shows you how to make an adorable bow ring!

Halloween Bat Mobile

More subtle and chic than a lot of Halloween decorations, this bat mobile I think is actually quite sweet :-)

Burlap Wreath

This is a perfect wreath for Halloween and the Autumn months, and you can make your own by following these instructions.

Halloween Luminaries

Click here for a tutorial on turning glass jars into fun Halloween candle holders.

Watercolour Tunic Painting

Click here to see how you can turn a plain white tunic into a colourful statement piece with splashes of paint and some marker pens.

Floating Ghost

This is a really clever and effective design using starch to hold the cheesecloth fabric in a ghost shape - spooky! Go here for the tute.

Have a look at the rest of the site too for other brilliant Halloween projects.

Cluster Straw Lampshade

This fun starburst style chandelier is made from wire and straws - yes drinking straws!

Go here to see the how-to.

Jack 'O' Lantern TV

I don't know how many people are willing to spray their TV orange, but they might be tempted by this awesome tutorial, where a spooky pumpkin TV is made complete with fuzzy screen and white noise!

Megan Whitmarsh

How awesome is this soft and cuddly craft space!? Find more photos here.

More Halloween Fancy Dress Ideas

I have 3 more websites for you now: on Halloween dog costumes, Halloween party themes and an A-Z list of fancy dress ideas. I hope you find them useful!

Find Out How Your Customers Found Your Shop

If you have an Etsy or Folksy shop, or any other store which accepts Paypal payments, do you wonder how your customers found you exactly?

Well this page shows you how to ask your customer a question during Paypal payment to find out how and where they found your shop. And this tutorial on how to customize and brand your Paypal payment pages may also prove useful :-)

Sweet Resin Shapes

If you want to know how to make these fun and colorful shapes using resin, have a look here for a translated how-to.

Homemade Halloween Decorations

You can find my constantly updated list of Halloween decoration tutorials and ideas here, and it includes instructions on carving pumpkins into all kinds of funny designs.

Halloween Food & Drink

Click here for a large collection of the best cakes, snacks, meals and drinks for a Halloween bash!

Homemade Halloween Costumes

Click here for LOADS of homemade costume tutorials and ideas for the Halloween season, plus click here for fabulous fancy dress inspiration for groups of people!

Make Money With Cafepress

Cafepress is a famous company which allows you to design t-shirts and other products, and then if they sell, you earn a commission from the sale. I've had a Cafepress shop for a few years now and have made a bit of handy pocket money, but most of all it's been fun and a good creative outlet.

Anyway, I've written 3 parts of what will be a 4-part beginner's guide to opening a cafepress store, creating images, stocking products and promoting the store. I'm not being paid for this (I wish lol) but I thought it would be helpful to people out there who don't think they could make any money themselves. And seeing as I'm sure my readers are quite arty and creative, I thought it might appeal - just in case you've not heard of Cafepress before.

Here are the links to my step-by-step guide:

1) How to Open a Cafepress Shop Getting Started Beginner's Guide - Part One

2) How to Design and Tag T-Shirt Designs for Cafepress Beginner's Guide - Part Two

3) How to Add Products to Your Cafepress Shop Beginner's Guide - Part Three

4) How to Promote & Market Your Cafepress Shop Beginner's Guide - Part Four

Hope it's useful!

Etched Skull Glasses

Perfect for a Halloween party, these skull glasses are created by etching plain glass using stencils - go here for the how-to.

Denim Potholders

Go here for a clever project using the pockets of old jeans to create funky potholders.

DIY Lipgloss

Find a clear tutorial on how to make your own lipglosses, here (and an improved recipe here).

Halloween Make-Up

I've put together this page on make-up techniques for theatrical Halloween gore and special effects, plus pretty styles and kids face painting. Lots of tutorials and videos to hopefully inspire you to put in that extra effort this Halloween!

Pumpkin Face Mask

So it's the month of Halloween, which means I'm going to try and pack as many fun Halloween tutorials as possible into my posts this month, to make your Halloween the craftiest yet!

First up is a pumpkin face mask to make your skin lovely and soft - click here for the recipe.

Bottle Chandelier

Brilliant statement chandelier made using glass bottles - awesome for the kitchen!

Go here for the project tutorial.