Glitzy Sweater Pillow

I had an old white knit sweater that didn't fit any more and several broaches that I wear only occasionally. So without sewing a single stitch my shabby, not so chic bedding got a little more glamorous going from the following...

To this!

Here's how:
1) Turn the sweater inside out and use safety pins along the top to close the neck line.

2) Turn the sweater right side out again except the sleeves.

3)Stuff with a pillow and keep sleeves tucked flat in the back inside of the pillow.

4)Fold over open bottom edge and pin together with glitzy broaches. When your tired of this look just unpin, no stitches to undo!

Gone Batty!

I took a page from Martha Stewart's book and made these bat cutouts to decorate my front door. At some point I will add spiders and spiderweb silhouettes. It's just something fun to look at as we are coming and going.

Scared Stiff! (starched ghost)

Here is another fast, no cost Halloween craft. I used a cloth diaper (I had them laying around-they are great dusting rags) but other materials such as cheese cloth or old sheet would work too.

Step 1: mix 1 cup cold water and 1/4 cup corn starch in a small sauce pan.

Step 2: bring to boil and stir until a thick jelly-like paste forms.

Step 3: soak cloth in water and squeeze out excess water (the water will help the cloth to absorb the starch)

Step 4: in a bowl add the starch solution and cloth, cover cloth well with starch solution and remove excess

Step 5: lay fabric over object to shape (I used a vase with a bowl turned upside down) and allow to dry over night

Step 6: add on face with paint or permanent marker.

I think with would look great with a battery tea light underneath or hanging from the ceiling.

Witches Jars

Here's a no cost idea for Halloween decor. I took jars and vases that I had and added "witches ingredients". I used pulled apart cotton balls for "cobwebs", green yarn for "poison seaweed", and black paper cut in the shape of bat wings for "wing of bat". I printed out the labels on computer paper with a spooky font. I used brown watercolor paints (the kind my two year old uses) to age the paper and then tore out the labels to give them a frayed look. I attached the labels with scotch tape. It was simple and quick and required no purchase. You could use all kinds of things around the house to double as "witches ingredients" and add them to any container.