Once You Pop Halloween Swap Finished!

Well, I finished my can, and it finally made it to my partner, cigarettesandvalentines! I'm describing each item on their own posts and linking to them at the bottom of this page. Hope you enjoy looking.

Here's a pic of everything together:


And, a link to the great gallery pics she took: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=265000.80

Items:
Paper Mache Witch Boot
Spider Beanie
Apple Shrunken Head
Franky, the Voodoo Doll Pincushion
Witch Cameo Pin
Holly Go-Frightly Necklace and Ruff
Pumpkin Necklace/Bracelet/Earrings
Knitted Candy Corn Pouch

There are some really awe-inspiring cans in the gallery! Definitely worth checking out Can't wait to get my can from cigarettesandvalentines.

Knitted Candy Corn Pouch

Of all the items for the OYP Halloween swap, this one took the most time and I was least happy with. The candy corn on front is polymer clay that I sewed on. The inside has candy corn lining. I used a metal dog comb that I pulled some of the teeth out of to knit the pouch using garter stitch with a black cotton crochet string. I knitted a single row of orange plastic bead into the knit just as an experiment. If you're curious about the comb knitting, see my other post about pick knitting.

Pumpkin Necklace/Bracelet/Earrings

Another item for the OYP Halloween swap, this jewelry set where the necklace is customizable. You can mix and match the pieces to wear in different ways.

Here are all the pieces together:

And, separate:

The pumpkins are made with polymer clay and have unique faces. I used lobster claw clasps to attach all the pieces together. All the other beads were parts left from dollar store necklaces I bought many years ago to rework. I was pretty happy with how this piece turned out.

Holly Go-Frightly Necklace and Ruff

This necklace was also for the OYP Halloween swap. I tried to make something that was a combination of a couple items in her wist but with a halloween theme. They can be worn together or apart and tie in the back with a ribbon.

Together:

Necklace

Ruff collar


Although it is difficult to see, I mixed some glow-in-the-dark clay in with the white giving it a faint glow under a blacklight. I also dusted the beads with white pearl eyeshadow before and after baking to give the pearly sheen. The eyeshadow sticks to the clay really well.

Witch Cameo Pin - polymer clay

Yet another item for the OYP Halloween swap, this is a witch cameo pin made out of polymer clay and hung from a pin back with a ribbon bow. I made the back out of black clay and pressed the cameo part into it. The gold rim is painted on. I cheated a bit on the cameo. To make the face I pressed a bellydance coin of a female into the clay. I then altered some features like the nose, which is a little sloppy, and added the hat. It is really hard to see all those imperfections until you antique it.

Franky, the Voodoo Doll Pincushion

Ever get frustrating at the sewing gods while working on that Halloween costume. Well, now you can take it out on Franky. He just hangs around on you upper arm from his elastic scruchy arms waiting to take all the curses you can dish out.

Franky was made for the OYP Halloween swap. I put a metal disc from the ends of those biscuit dough rolls inside the back to stop the pins from going all the way through. For the body we used an old pair of green jersey knit pants my mom had and some scrap felt hair.




We even put a pocket in the back to put your needle threader and other items.


My sis and her daughter are wanting one of these. If I get another made I will add pics in here.

Apple Shrunken Head

These are so fun and easy to make! However, you need at least 2 weeks to achieve success. I started this as the 1st item for the OPY swap, but it was the last one finished. As you can see inthe pics, I had planned to put it on a spring and have it jump out at her, but I ran out of room in the can. And, the hair was so thick it wouldn't slide out very well. I ended up removing the ugly spring underneath and just tying it to the lid.




To make one, you carve the face in the apple after removing the skin. Soak it in a mixture of lemon juice, salt and water for 24 hours. Then, you let it hang for 2 weeks or bake it on 200 degrees in the oven until it starts to dry. Once it is done shriveling and shrinking you can seal it and start decorating. The eyes I used are the same cat eyes on the spider beanie with the exception that I scratched off some of the paint and repainted it red to get the bloodshot streaks on the iris.

Spider Beanie

This item, which was the first thing I completed for the OYP swap, didn't fit in the can. Well, it did before I made everything else, but here it is modeled by me:





I used scrap yarn I was given. The orange/black (acrylic?) yarn is kinda scratchy, so I put a thick fuzzy chenille type on the band around the head. The knit pattern was made on my DIY pen loom with a slightly altered rib stitch I learned online. I made the pom pom body, but the head is a store bought pom pom I had left from another project. The spider (cat) eyes were also bought for another project. Overall, I think it turned out really cute. It looks ordinary until you see it from the back staring at you.

My daughter didn't want to give it up, so I guess I'll be making her one. Probably pink/brown.

Paper Mache Witch Boot

To decorate the can for the OYP Halloween Swap I made a paper mache boot:


Note the Pringles guy JOL.


The can leg is removable and is a poison bottle. On it's label were the contents of the package inside. I didn't tak any pics of it finished, but my partner has a pic in the gallery images. Here is the label:





My sister came up with the idea to add what I'm calling "fiendship" pins to the laces:



To make the paper mache boot I used a large Frosted Flakes cereal box for the sides and some free newspapers I dug out of the post office trash cans by the mailboxes for most of the rest of it. (Yes, I was dumpster diving for them. It's usually only full of junk mail discarded when sorting mail, anyway, so :p.) I used a cut up toilet paper tube for the heel. Everything was held together with masking tape before I pasted the newspaper strips on. I glued it with wallpaper paste, although Elmer's glue watered down would work just as well. The paste that I used , which is a powder, I've had since 1991! That's some old paste! Worked like new! I can't believe I've hauled that stuff with me for this many years. Still have a lot left, too.

Anyway, here are some pics before I painted it:



I'll be posting each item separately and linking them all in my last post. To many pics for one post!

OYP Halloween Swap on www.craftster.org

I'm almost ready to send out my package to my partner for the Halloween OYP Swap!

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=260651.0

Gallery

A Craftster "swap" is when you make something for an assigned partner who in turn makes something for you. Our swap involves filling a Pringle's can to the brim with Halloween goodies and themed crafts. I'm having the most fun with this. I love crafts and Halloween! I will post a few pics here when I get it in the mail. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise just yet.

Bellydance Costume Progress

As embarrassing as it is, here are some pics I promised to put up of the bellydance costume I'm working on getting finished. It has been raining here and while I was getting photographed I was experiencing a nice cold mist on my exposed parts. Brrrr...

I'm repurposing my empire waist bodice I wore to faire. Currently, I'm experimenting and adding all the dangly things to my belt. As you can tell in the pics, the sleeves are removable and I only have one on. I had to make the piece on my stomach wide enough to hide my beautiful appendectomy scars. (The surgeon was a butcher, but I'm still alive and kickin' so all is good.)

Anyway, there will be a round flower thing on both hips (maybe with a turquoise jewel in center) as well as many hanging strings of tabs all around similar to the front. I'm probably ditching the overskirt seen in the first few pics.

Double knitting success

Well, here it is. I managed to double knit on my DIY loom. Yes it is really small and skinny, but I will be making a wider full-size scarf for my mom as soon as I get more yarn and finish my craftser swaps.



The blue and white was done with one peg spacers on both sides while the orange tighter knitted one was done on what is shown with only a bead spacer between the sides. I forgot to use an anchor yarn on the orange and it was difficult to pull out of the loom. Oops!

I will probably use long dowels instead of short pens when I make the wider scarf. I just wrapped more rubber bands around the horizontal pens to attach them to my existing round loom.

One note I should mention. The plastic bands I'm using, which were hair accessories, are starting to break when I try to reuse them. Seems they are only good for one use and then just snap. On the first use they are fine, but can't reuse. (Is this another modern example of "planned obsolesence" or disposable goods?) How weird. Anyway, I bought some actual "old-fashion" real rubber bands and will be trying them next time. They should hold up longer.