Thursday, October 21, 2010

papier mache tutorial


Recently I was invited to be a guest blogger for Parentella, a wonderful parent-teacher networking site. You can find my tutorial for making these cute little papier mache jack-o-lanterns on their blog: Papier Mache Jack-o-Lanterns [Parentella Blog]. And, while you're at it, check out some of my other kid-friendly crafts: Dawn [Parentella Blog]. The Parentella Blog has daily posts that cover all the hot topics for parents including education, socialization, schools and, of course, arts and crafts! Check it out!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

tower of jacks

Every year it seems I craft up some new Halloween decorations to get this little house decked out. Ghosts, a pumpkin wreath and now my tower of jack-o-lanterns. And this one was SO on the fly. I was at Target looking at decorations and they had all these $1 jack-o-lantern pails stacked so that they looked more fun than the actual packaged decorations they were selling. So I bought a few and added a few that have been hanging from the rafters in the garage from years past. Simply drilled holes in the bottoms of all but the top and bottom pails. Drilled a small hole in the back of the bottom pail for the cord and then strung some LED x-mas lights throughout. (My guess is that the LED will not emit heat... so the hot glue that is keeping them stacked will not melt and there is not a concern with having the lights inside the plastic.) Oh, and I used a black pail for the top as a way to keep the light in. I didn't want a spot light shooting out of the top. This was a 20-minute project. So satisfying to finish something so spectacular in so little time. My intention was to put it outside, but it is a very uncharacteristic Southern California day today. Rain rain and more rain still. But now that it's sitting here in the house, I kind of like it. We'll see if I move it or not.