A simple trick for a glowing pumpkin

That treat bucket of mine is glowing pretty brightly and I have an instant way for you guys to get that bright of a glow. I was at Dollar Tree a few days ago and saw some little lamps. They're pretty cool for $1.50! You light them up with either 3 AAA batteries or a USB A to USB C power cord. This lamp doesn't include either of those. You can buy the cord and a USB to wall plug adapter at Dollar Tree, though.

Something cool about this lamp is that it has three settings - cool light, warm light, and neutral light. You know, like the basic light bulb choices. You tap the top of it once to change settings. There's a dimmer feature on it too but I haven't tried that yet.

I would like the option to recharge the lamp with the cord and then have it powered for a while. You need to either have it plugged in or filled with batteries to see light. For my purposes, I don't mind having it plugged in, but there might be another time I'd like the lamp to be mobile without needing batteries. 

This is the cord I got at Dollar Tree. It's a perfect pumpkin orange, isn't it? 

I like these novelty cords with some little rubber design at the end. Usually, it's a tiny piece of food. You plug the cord into the back of the lamp, like this:

This is the actual plug adapter I bought at Dollar Tree. It has one USB port in it. You can't necessarily  expect to see these at the store on every trip. It's sort of hit or miss. Whenever I do see one of these, I get one.

I had this old Halloween treat bucket already, and the lamp fits inside of it perfectly. 

The cord just hangs over the back and plugs into the wall. 

I'm getting a good glow and I don't have to worry about real candle safety, having batteries run out, or needing to recharge anything. I know I could put a regular fake candle in there, but I just haven't gotten as much brightness out of those. 

So, if you already have a treat bucket, cord, and adapter plug on hand, this could be a quick and cheap decoration for you too! 🎃

A resting place for miniature villains

This year I finally got around to creating a mini cemetery! That's something I've been talking about doing for years. I think what kept me from starting was deciding on the materials to work with. I've seen some great little tombstones made from paper and wrapped around candles. That's maybe something to try in the future, but for now I decided to work with what you'd think would have been an obvious material: stones.

I found these little inspirations on a trip to the lake on my birthday. So that's a little over a month ago. Once the idea struck, I really got rolling with finding the perfect stones. Here they are, before being "inscribed".

So part one of picking a material was done. The next and very crucial part of this project was choosing the names that would go on these stones. Well, I thought it would be fun to choose some names from works of fiction. I thought about characters from my favorite old horror movies, like putting "The Wolfman" or "Dracula" on the stones, but something just wasn't clicking for me with that. Then I thought about some favorite books, but the names just seemed too unrelated for me. Then ZIP! I thought about that favorite old show of mine from back in the day: Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Well, that show provided me with instant and seemingly endless inspiration. I had more names than I did stones with that! Perfect. I thought of my favorite villains from the show and decided their names would make up my cemetery.

If you know the Brother Septimus character, you'll appreciate the eye on his stone and that piece of potpourri that very much resembles an eye in front of it. I tried to think of a symbol that was representative of these characters. Like the lips for the beautiful Ms. Valenti, who was very into her cosmetics.

Or the snake that is slithering across Jake "The Snake" Desmond's stone. I went really mossy and funky with Dr. Vink's stone, because he seemed like he could have moss growing on him! And I ripped some fuzzy plant stuff apart to put in front of his grave. Because I thought he'd have an overgrown sort of resting place.

For those of you who haven't watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? many of the episodes are online. So if you're curious, you could google some of these names and either see the characters or watch the episodes. Or you could check out this page where someone has organized all the Are You Afraid of the Dark? villains in alphabetical order:

Villains Wiki: Are You Afraid of the Dark Villains

If you click on a name, you can read about the character. Just a note, there are spoilers about the episodes here.

OK, so I had some stones and I had some names. Next I had to figure out a way to hold my little cemetery in place. I lucked out in finding the last of these signs at Dollar Tree.

Like with my Ofrenda project, this sweet family sign can be flipped to become the perfect size box to hold a cemetery! As you'll see in a bit, I painted the sides of it a dark green.

This floral foam from Dollar Tree was perfect for holding the stones in place.

I just squished them in there and they stayed put.

Although the foam was green, I wanted some plant-like material over the top of it. I ended up purchasing the last bag of this green potpourri from Dollar Tree. It was dyed a greenish color in parts, looked like spooky plants, and was labeled as  having a "fall leaves" scent.

Well, let me tell you, it smelled like... I don't even know. Overbearing cologne combined with Pine Sol? The funk was released as soon as I opened the bag. I should have smelled it in the store. At least I learned from this that dry potpourri can survive being washed. I washed it many times with vinegar and baking soda and watched that green dye wash away a good bit. After a couple days of it airing out on the porch, I didn't smell a thing.

Now that it's scentless, I like it a lot. There were all kinds of awesome shapes in the mix. My favorites:

I thought this one would look good holding a fake eye:

I happened to have some spare eyes that had fallen out of the center of some flowers, so in they went with the rest of the potpourri. Looks like a crazy moss monster, doesn't it?

Turns out they glow in the dark too!

So, back to the cemetery, I was then good to go! Here it is, pieced together.

From the top:

I took some photos of it at night, from inside a closet. I was trying to get that spooky lighting going with the candle.

I imagined this candle as a cemetery gate.

Try and imagine walking through this cemetery at night (of course being in scale to it yourself). Maybe you're carrying a lantern to cast this little bit of light over the stones. Crunch, crunch go the leaves underfoot.

I  like the way that snake shows up in the candlelight.

Remember those miniature pumpkins I got in the After Halloween Haul? Well, here's why I wanted them so much!

Aren't they just the perfect size? I already had a miniature truck full of pumpkins, so I was playing around with my miniature truck and gnomes. Maybe they're dropping off some little pumpkins at the cemetery? Or maybe they planted those pumpkins in there?

I've had this gnome standing in the cemetery because he's holding a shovel. I'd darkened the eyes on my gnomes and this one's eyes went goofy. I thought that expression made sense for a gnome working in a cemetery like this one.

Even though I made this cemetery and the characters are fictional, I actually spooked myself with the finished product. These names mean something to me and the thought of these characters together in a cemetery, even miniature, dead, and not real is pretty eerie to me.

Good enough to eat?

There has been one Halloween craft I wanted to be sure and make during this season. It was a craft I'd seen a few photos of online: a donut pumpkin!

Some of you might know that I've been looking all season for the perfect, donut-shaped pumpkin so I could make this creation. This is easier said than done. There are a lot of different pumpkin shapes out there, and for the most part those shapes are not like that of a donut.

After much searching, I was very lucky to find a little pumpkin at Dollar Tree! I was extra lucky because I think it was accidentally packed in with a shipment of totally different pumpkins. I peeked into an unpacked cardboard box that the Dollar Tree employees hadn't gotten to yet. Inside were plenty of yellow and orange pumpkins with flowers coming out of the top. Floating around with all of them was this little guy:

Looking at the image on the side of the cardboard box, I could see that no green pumpkins were included in this shipment. And I never saw another one through the entire store! So, lucky me!

My first step was to spray paint the pumpkin white. It looked almost like stone or ceramic at that point.

Next, I painted more or less the top half of the pumpkin pink.

Then I coated the pink part with this clear, glittery paint called "Disco Crystal". I thought it gave the pink "frosting" a subtle, glazed look. You can see what the paint looks like here: FolkArt Disco Crystal You can get it cheaper than this with a Michaels coupon, etc. I've used this paint on so many projects! It's great for sticking loose glitter on crafts too.

Which is just what I did! Now things were starting to look yummy.

But I wasn't done yet! Time for sprinkles! The "sprinkles" are actually little lines of puffy paint. Yes, I still have puffy paint like you'd use on clothing back in the day. It stayed good since the early 90s!

Mmm... I know better than anyone that this is plastic, paint, and glitter, but I'm still wanting to eat this donut! Never mind that it also has a stem.

With any luck, I'll find some more donut-shaped pumpkins so I can make a few more of these. I'll have an eye out for more during my After Halloween Hauling!

The After Halloween Haul! 2015

It's time for the annual After Halloween Target Haul! This time it will be Target, Michaels, and Walgreens for the most part, although I did find a few random Halloween goodies here and there at other stores. During October, I was eyeing the store shelves, planning my attack for after Halloween when this stuff would go on sale. What's funny is that at that time I wasn't tempted by much of anything at all. In fact, I wondered if I'd even have a haul to share this year!

How surprised I was to see all this great stuff unearthed after Halloween. It must have been buried or too small for me to notice before. The only things I'd seen in October and were considering were the little bottle cap stakes from Walgreens and the cute jack-o-lantern towels from Kohl's.

So you know how these sales go. Over the past week, the sales have gone from 50% to 70% to 90% off! Some of these finds were only 10 cents. Get on over to Target and see what's left, because when I was there I ended up with a whole basket full of stuff for 10 to 20 cents!

So, let's start with what I found at Target...

Another cool looking pumpkin for the collection. This one I scored for only 60 cents!

Little orange milk cartons which I think could make good treat containers for The Witch Party:

I'm not sure what to do with these felt stickers. There are scrapbooking possibilities.

They could also look cute stuck on the corner of a picture frame.

I haven't opened this package of stickers yet. It looks like there are quite a few on these rolls. They appear to be all different.

A little wood house that came with paint to decorate it with. I think this will look cute lit up with a little candle inside.

A felt pumpkin pen that will probably end up stuck in with a floral arrangement. 

This light bulb was $1.00, so it was worth the risk. I figured I'd like whatever color it ended up being.

It claimed to be purple, but it was actually more of a bright magenta. Very pretty!

In a lamp:

I think that color of light could also be neat for Valentine's Day.

Some cute treat baggies that could go with a Halloween or Day of the Dead theme.

It's sort of hard to see what they look like when they're layered in a package like that, so I just stuck a white sock in one so you can see the skull.

Have you guys seen those metallic temporary tattoos they've come out with? There are so many pretty ones out there. I actually adhered some gold ones to a few vases recently, and they turned out really well! I haven't tried any on myself yet. I thought these witchy ones were pretty cute. They might also end up on a craft project.

Some black chalkboard gift tags. They could go either way as far as being Halloween themed, but they were with the Halloween stuff and marked down to 10 cents.

A black crow hand towel embroidered with gold thread.

It would be difficult to tell what this tray is without the picture I left on it. This could be used year-round in my opinion. It looks like a chalkboard tray, with that "Boo!" shown on it. There are so many chalkboard covered things now. I don't know if you've seen those chalkboard markers at Dollar Tree in different colors, but they work well. They're for when you want something more precise than actual chalk.

Orange burlap ribbon that works well for fall in general

This is how it looks on one of the urns.

Bakers twine. I see this on crafts all the time, so hopefully I'll be able to think of some way to incorporate this into a project.

Raffia and jute twine. Like the baker's twine, this should be good for some craft project. 10 cents each!

A roll of crepe paper streamers

There were lots of stickers marked way down. Each of these sheets were 30 cents.

Fuzzy spider stickers

Glittery bat stickers

This is another one of those products that may or may not be Halloween related, but it was with the other stuff and marked down to 30 cents per pen. They call these white markers "galaxy markers". The gold one was just labeled as a metallic marker. I have no idea why the white ones are called galaxy markers, do you?

I just gave the markers a try and was really happy with how they write! You get a nice, fine line. The white galaxy marker gives a chalkboard look and the metallic marker is like a fine point sharpie. What a steal for 30 cents! I should go back and get more if there are any left. They were up in the front with that stuff that's normally $1.00 to $3.00.

The galaxy marker what "Justine's" is in and the metallic marker is the "Halloween".

You can always use a bunch of this black cloth. This black gauze is sort of like the "creepy cloth" I've been using.

I was so pleased to find this wreath marked down 90% to $2.00. I'd been eyeing it on an earlier 50% off sale and then found it at another Target shoved up high on an otherwise empty shelf. Woo-hoo! It's fun to get an amazing deal on something that's related to fall in general. Then you can use it right after you bought it.

A close up. The leaves are glittery burlap and are on wires you can bend, so you can sort of rearrange parts of this wreath.

Walgreens

This is one of the few items I'd been eyeing in early October and was happy to find after Halloween. It's a big bottle cap design with a glittery spider on it. The bottle cap is on a stake that I think would look nice stuck in a potted plant.

I pictured this one outdoors for some reason. Only 19 cents!

This might be my favorite Walgreens find. I did not even see these "vampire bite" tattoos during October. Aren't they pretty? You're supposed to be able to stick them on yourself - so you can look like either the vampire or the victim. You could stick one by your mouth or two on your neck. But I plan to probably use these for craft purposes, like I would any regular rhinestones.

This glittery e.l.f liquid eyeliner was in with the Halloween stuff, which I found surprising. Maybe the thought was that this could go with a fairy or angel costume. Anyway, I'd been eyeing this for everyday purposes earlier. It is so pretty under eyes! It gives amazing sparkle and really stays in place.

Leaf clings that nicely can be used through Thanksgiving. I'm holding them up here so you can see how the light goes through them. They'll probably go on a mirror, though.

Aldi

I was a little surprised to find any Halloween stuff leftover at Aldi. This bright spiderweb, complete with six spiders, will probably make some good filler in a vase. This was 25 cents.

Kohl's

Here's another of the few items I was admiring through October and actually found on a shelf yesterday. Kohl's had a lot of cute and overpriced  towels. This set of two towels was a little over $4.00 even now! And that was at 70% off. So that tells you that they cost a little too much earlier. Still, they're super cute and $2.00 a towel is fine. After finding stuff for under a quarter, it just seems like a lot!

Michaels

I'm starting to see Michael's as just as good a place to go shopping after Halloween as Target! They had so many great little things. This Happy Halloween sign is probably going to end up outside my little gnome door with some rocks I've painted to look like pumpkins.

Some cool chalkboard labels

Random crinkly stuff that can look cool inside of jars, vases, etc.

How cool are these little coffins? You fold them up to make treat boxes. This is another thing that could be good for Day of the Dead.

An adorable little skull bracelet which I'll probably wear year-round. This was 20 cents.

A glittery "moon dust" box that I think could work well for holding Halloween jewelry.

This tricky little burlap banner is actually a "kit". And not just in the way where you string it yourself. You have to either punch holes in it or somehow bend it back over the string and glue it down. I don't know what to do with it. Any ideas or experience with this sort of thing? Luckily it was cheap!

Cute little jack-o-lantern ribbon

A beware sign that will probably end up standing in front of that little wood house after I paint it. It's about the right size.

Pier 1

There was a tiny bit of Halloween stuff leftover at Pier 1 yesterday. I don't know what kind of selection they had this year, because I didn't make it in there during October. This bracelet is good for Halloween, Day of the Dead, or everyday wear.

Marshalls

I saved my most exciting find for last! You remember that cool witch mug someone brought as a gift to The Witch Party this year? Well I found a companion for it at Marshalls. It was buried under some stuff and had a toy stuffed in it. It was one of those times where you don't know why you looked somewhere, but you're glad you did!

I just couldn't have been happier to find this. It's the haunted house version of the mug. So there are silhouettes of spooky old houses, tombstones, ghosts, and trees. Here they are together:

And inside, one says Witches Brew and the other says Trick or Treat. One has little stars and one has little crosses around the inside edge. I'm thinking the little crosses are supposed to be like the little tombstones outside the houses.

Looking at these photos, it occurred to me that the "Trick or Treat" message probably goes with the series of houses. Like how the kids would be going to each of these spooky doors.

So there's this year's haul! I guess I didn't have to worry about not finding anything after all. :)

I've been enjoying seeing what you guys have found after Halloween this year. So far, we've all found different stuff! Let me know if you guys have experience with any of these craft materials or have some ideas on what I can do with them. You'll probably see some of this stuff in a new form around next Halloween!