7 Things to Make this Halloween

Today I thought I would share a round-up post of some ideas you can make for Halloween this weekend.  The recipes and craft projects are all quite easy to do, I've included some ideas using printables - which are great for last minute decorations or games as you can print them at home!  I would love to hear if you have any quick and easy Halloween diy projects - please let me know what you're making in the comments below!

Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

If you have been carving pumpkins and are looking for pumpkin recipes to try, these cakes are a delicious idea!  You can find the recipe here.

Halloween Cookies with spider web icing
I shared the recipe for these on Wednesday - I also included a tutorial on how to make a spider web pattern in icing.

Halloween Treat Bags

These Halloween bags are easy to make and great for filling with sweets and treats! I shared a tutorial on how to make them last year.  You could make them with coloured paper, or you could print Halloween themed patterned paper from my shop.

Carved Oranges

If carving a pumpkin sounds like too much hard work, how about oranges instead?  I tried these a few years ago - you can find instructions on how to make them, with a jelly filling, here.  When you've eaten the jelly you could put a little tea light inside the orange too.

Spider Web Games

I love the idea of playing Pin the Spider on the Web which Kristen shared on her blog; Ella Claire Inspired.  If I had children I would definitely want to make this up for them to play!  You could either draw your own spider and spider web, or print the free printables which Kristen shares.

Alternatively, how about making a spider web shape with washi tape on your floor and throwing bean bag 'spiders' at the web - scoring higher the closer to the centre the 'spider' lands.

Halloween Bunting

I made some late additions to my Halloween party printables collection, but they're available as instant download so you can print and make them up as soon as your payment has cleared.  To make the 'Happy Halloween' banner, all you will need is a computer, printer, paper or card and some ribbon to string up the flags!

Spooky Halloween Food Labels

I added some printable Halloween themed name place cards to my Etsy shop too, which you could also use as food labels at your Halloween party.  How about coming up with fun, spooky names for your food, such as Spooky Sausages, Creepy Cookies or Witches Fingers!

If you're looking for more inspiration, check out my Halloween board on Pinterest, where I've been pinning fun Halloween food ideas, diy decorations and more...

Follow Hazel's board Halloween on Pinterest.

Halloween Cookies - Recipe and Spider Web Icing Tutorial

Making spider web patterns in icing is a really effective way to decorate cookies and cakes for Halloween and they're actually very easy to do, children will love making these too!  Here is a recipe for making some simple shortbread biscuits, flavoured with cinnamon and spices as well as a tutorial on making the iced pattern...

To make the biscuits you will need:
9oz butter
2oz caster sugar
9oz plain flour
4.5oz cornflour
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon

To make the shortbread, first cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.
Sift the flours together with the mixed spice and cinnamon, then add to the butter and sugar.
Bring together the ingredients to form a dough and shape into a thick sausage.  Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or put in the freezer for 15 minutes if you are short of time).
Divide the sausage into 16 equal slices.  Flatten and shape each slice into a circle about 3 inches (7.5cm) across.
Bake in an oven at 170°C / 325°F / Gas Mark 3 for 30-40 minutes, until light golden brown.

Leave to cool on a wire rack, then you are ready to decorate them...

For the icing you need:
icing sugar
water or milk
black food colouring

Make up a batch of white glacé icing with icing sugar mixed with either some milk or water.  You want the consistency of the icing to be spreadable, but not too runny.
Make up a smaller amount of black icing by mixing black food colouring with your icing sugar and a little water.  Then put the black icing in a piping bag with a small round nozzle (if you don't have a piping bag make your own from a greaseproof paper or a small food bag with the very corner snipped off).

It is better to decorate the biscuits one at a time, as you need to make the spider web pattern before the white dries.
First, spread white icing over the biscuit, carefully spreading close to the edges.
With your piping bag, pipe 4 black circles which gradually get smaller in size towards the centre.
Using a cocktail stick, drag through the icing from the centre to the outside edge - repeat this to form the spider web pattern.  I found that 7 or 8 'spokes' looked best.
Leave to dry and they're ready to eat!

If you like this Halloween idea, do come and look at my blog again on Friday - I'll be sharing some more ideas of things you could make this weekend!

Colour Inspiration #23: Autumn Blackberries

Today's colour inspiration is from a photo I took a few weeks ago.  The hedgerow looked so colourful with different berries and the leaves starting to change to Autumn hues.  I loved the look of these blackberries and thought they would be great for making a colour palette!

Spoonflower Contest - Microorganisms

Spoonflower are always coming up with unusual themes for their weekly contests - like this week's Microorganisms theme.  Researching and drawing viruses, bacteria and amoeba took me right back to Biology lessons at school!
The contest called for a small scale design (previewed as an 8x8 inch swatch) and I decided to create the pattern using simple line drawings with silhouette shapes of the mircoorganisms. I quite like the result and could imagine it being used to make purses, bags and accessories for biologists and science lovers.  I kind of like the idea of using the fabric to make a dress too, although I'm not sure I would be bold enough to actually wear something covered in viruses and bacteria!  Would you wear it - or make something different with it?
I sent off for a swatch of this design when Spoonflower had a free shipping day last week, so it will be interesting to see what it looks like printed.

You can see all the other entries to the Microorganisms contest (and vote for your favourites) here...
http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=327

PS. Thank you if you voted for my Octopus design in the Cephalopods contest!  It came 38th (with 243 votes) out of 333 entries.  You can see the winning design on Spoonflower's blog.

Painted Jar Flower Vase and Other Upcyling Ideas

I was recently inspired to make something involving flowers after discovering the online flower delivery company, BloomNation.  I love reusing things, so came up with this craft project upcyling old jars and turning them into something beautiful, which I could fill with flowers to decorate my home!

For this project I will show you how to colour jars with glass paint (which is waterproof so won't be washed off when you fill it with flowers and water!) and then embellish the jar with paint, lace and twine.  Decorated jars look lovely as home decor and if you're planning a wedding they would make great table centres too!

You will need:
Glass jars (washed!)
Glass paint (I used Pebeo Vitrea 160)
Nail varnish remover
Paint brush
An oven
Paper (copy paper is fine)
Craft knife
Sticky tape
Gold acrylic paint
Cotton lace trim
Baker's twine

First you will need to thin the glass paint by mixing it with nail varnish remover. If you want to just tint the colour of your jars add more nail varnish remover, or for a darker colour thin the paint with less nail varnish remover.
By mixing 'Oriental Green' with 'Laquer Blue' glass paint I made a lovely teal colour.  I also tried an ombre version with blue / green paint at the bottom of the jar, graduating to yellow at the top.  Have fun experimenting with different colour and patterns!

Paint the insides of your jars and leave to dry over night (in a dust free area).  Then bake in your oven for 40 minutes at 160°C / 325°F.

Once the jars are cool you can decorate the outside...
I created a star template (which you can download here).  Please note it is for personal use only.  If you would like to share the template please include a link back to this post (not the download link).

Cut out the stars with a craft knife.  Arrange the stencils where you would like them on your jar and attach with sticky tape, then paint the stars with the gold paint.  Carefully remove the stencils once the paint is dry to avoid smudging.

Then cut a piece of lace trim slightly larger than the circumference of the jar.  I secured the ends with a few stitches for a neater finish, but you don't have to do this.
Finally, wrap the baker's twine (I used gold sparkle twine) twice around the jar and tie with a bow.

I filled my new vase with some pretty white and yellow carnations.  I found the perfect spot to display the flowers in the hallway at the bottom of my stairs.  The table is a recent addition to my home, although it has been in the family a long time - my great-grandfather made it!

If you are looking for more inspiration on upcycling items for displaying flowers, I've been pinning more ideas to my Flower's board on Pinterest...
  Follow Hazel's board Flowers on Pinterest.
These are some of my favourite ideas:
Light Bulb Vases
Leather Trimmed Hanging Vases
Gold Painted Bottles

BloomNation support local florists across the US by showcasing their floral creations on their marketplace.  If you're looking for floral inspiration why not take look at their blog, Instagram or Pinterest pages?

Spoonflower Contest - Cephalopods

The theme for this week's Spoonflower contest is Cephalopods.  I wanted to keep my design fairly simple and chose to focus on one animal; the octopus.  I thought that their long flowing arms really lent themselves to creating a decorative design filled with swirling patterns.  I drew just one version of the octopus and flipped it to create the pattern, then added in hand drawn swirls to fill in the gaps.  I got carried away playing with colours for this design, before choosing the version above to enter into the contest.  I love trying out different colour combinations with designs, there are so many options though it can be hard to know when to stop!  I was really happy with how the design turned out, so I plan to add it to my shop what ever happens with the results for the contest.  I think I will send for samples in a couple of different colourways, I just need to make a decision on which ones!  Here are 4 more versions - which ones are your favourites and you think I should add to my Spoonflower shop?

If you would like to see the other entries to Spoonflower's Cephalopods contest (and vote for your favourites!) visit this page here: http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=325

September Review

The weather has been so good recently it's hard to believe it's Autumn and October already!  Here's a look back at some of the things I did in September...

New Designs...

I had fun coming up with new designs for Halloween printables, and released 3 new products in my shop (scrapbook papers, digital stamps and an invitation design).  Here's a peek at my sketchbook...

The other new designs I worked on in September are still a secret so I can't show you these yet - sorry!

Spoonflower...

I entered 2 Spoonflower contests - 90s Nostalgia and Ditsy Lizards.  Thank you if you voted for my Ditsy Lizards design - it came 72nd out of 240 entries (with 137 votes). Spoonflower always have such varied themes for their contests which are great for inspiring new designs.  I would have liked to have had a go at their State Fair theme, but unfortunately didn't have time to enter that week.  I have added drawing fair ground rides to my to do list though (which is getting very long!).

When Spoonflower recently had a free swatch day I sent for a sample of my Botanical Sketchbook design.  It's printed on their new Poly Crepe De Chine fabric; a sheer, light weight fabric featuring vibrant colours and a delicate drape.  This sample shows just a small part of my design, which is now available to buy on a variety of fabrics as well as gift wrap and wallpaper from my shop.

Blog...

I shared a tutorial on how to make a Halloween card with my new printables last week, and I'm preparing more Halloween ideas to go on the blog in the next few weeks.  I'm also preparing a new sewing tutorial, here's a sneak peek...

Baking...

It was National Cupcake Week (14-20th September), which was the perfect excuse (as if any was really needed!) to bake and eat cupcakes with my sister.  We went for rainbow coloured cake mixture, decorated with butter cream and sweets for a sugar overload.  Generally, I do like to cook / bake healthier things though!

Social Media...

I'm still working on my goal of learning to use social media better.  I'm planning on joining Instagram soon, something I've been thinking about doing for a while.  As I'm more of a visual person I think it might work well for me. Apparently Instagram is the fastest growing social media network, which is encouraging and it was interesting to see BBC Breakfast talking to the co-founder of Instagram this week too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34399089  Do you use Instagram?  Which social media network is your favourite to use?

Before joining Instagram I want to get a few other jobs ticked off my list first, like updating my website which I'm in the process of now.
I've found lots of inspiring articles on Pinterest on using social media, business tips and ideas on how to be more productive (which is particularly useful!).  See my Pinterest board on business, blogging and social media tips here:

Follow Hazel's board Tips - Business, Blogging & Photography on Pinterest.

I'll finish off September's review with some photos I took of the "supermoon" and lunar eclipse.  Since the event is rare, and won't occur again until 2033, I thought I would make the effort to wake up in the early hours of Monday morning (around 3am) to watch it.  We were fortunate to have mostly clear skies so had a good view of the Earth's shadow crossing the moon and the moon turning red/orange...

I was only using a compact digital camera, so didn't get the best photos, although I did manage to get some better shots of the moon the following night...