Cheap Halloween Decorations

Halloween decorations (or any decorations for that matter) are a want and not a need around our house. I have a few decorations I have picked up at the dollar store or thrift stores, but not much. I have always wanted to go all out and decorate for a holiday, but have never had the money. Well with a few dollars and a little creativity I was able to decorate my house for Halloween.

I made these pumpkins using this tutorial with a few changes. I used card stock instead of construction paper, because I didn't have construction paper and two because I think it looks nicer. I also liked that I could use different patterned paper instead of just plain colors. The other change I made is that I didn't glue the strips to the toilet paper roll I just glued the ends of the strips to each other (my strips were 1 in by 8 1/2 ins). The card stock wouldn't stick to the toilet paper roll very well but it glues to itself pretty good and then it made a nice little place to stick the stem in and the strips just held it there with no glue.
I think they are pretty cute and your kids can help you although my 18 month old lost interest after putting glue on 2 strips and she just wanted to put glue all over everything.
I am also in the process of making one of these ghosts and some of these bats.
Anther great and cheap thing to use for Halloween decoration is spider webs I bought a bag of spider web for a dollar and just hung them everywhere.
They go a long way I didn't even use half the bag. So with a little bit of spider web and using bits of fabric and paper I had on hand I was able to decorate for Halloween for only a few bucks. What are some of your strategys for easy cheap holiday decorating?

Card, Cards, and more Cards

Today is national card making day so I decided to post a bunch of cards I have made in the last year. Last year I was in Stamp Club with Stampin it up so most of these cards were made in those workshop and all of them were made with Stampin it up stamps. Hope they give you all a little inspiration for making your cards and don't worry there are still plenty of cards to post later on.

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!
I love these little backpack made by Rae and all the other things she makes. Made by Rae is one of my side links along with Grosgrain who is offering a guest give away on her blog of one of Made by Rae's backpack plus pattern I hope I win.

Soldered Jewelry

Tomorrow is my sister Baylee's 13th birthday. I have been wanting to get back into my crafting (if you noticed all the things I have posted lately are recipes or old projects) so this was the perfect opportunity. Awhile ago I got the stuff to try out soldered jewelry. The pieces they sell in stores was so expensive and I thought I could make them for cheaper. I know why they are expensive they aren't that easy at least at first. My first piece was a little 1x1 in square with an S in it for my mom. It turned out ok, but not how I thought and it took a lot longer then I expected and my neck was killing me by the end so I put the stuff away and with all the packing and moving haven't been able to try it since. This time went much smoother and turned out much better.
It isn't perfect yet, but I think the imperfections add to the character of the piece, or at least that is what I am telling myself.
My sister is into drama and loves to be in the plays at school. I think she can be a bit of a Drama Queen at times so the back has a little bit of a double meaning. I love how the back part turned out and I hope she will love it too. I decided to add a little more charm by actually adding a charm. I liked this zebra bead it reminded me of my sister for some reason. At first I didn't think it really matched, but then decided that I liked that it doesn't match it adds more flare and fashion.This one is a little bigger than the first one I tried it is 1x1.5 inches. I made it by cutting a 1x3 inch microscope slide in half sticking my paper piece in the middle. Wrapping the glass in copper tape and then soldering it closed. Happy Birthday Sister hope you like it and I hope you don't check this blog until you get the necklace in the mail.

The best banana cake ever

I am not a big Banana fan, but I love this bread/cake. I got this recipe from a co-worker in Iowa Carla who is amazing at quilting and I think she she should have her own crafty blog. I use to have her make it all the time especially when I was pregnant and the pregnant lady always gets what she wants.

It is also made in a bundt pan so if you are like me and went out and bought a bundt pan just so you could make the chocoholic cake then here is a way to get even more use out of it.
I made it into a little more of a dessert cake by adding a basic powder sugar glaze and added some bananas for a little decoration and to show that it is banana incase those at the party can't eat bananas for some strange reasons.

2 bananas, mashed
4 eggs
1/2 C oil
1 t. vanilla
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 yellow cake mix
Mix all together. Pour 1/2 into a greased bundt pan.
mix up:
1/3 C brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
Add to bundt pan and add remaining batter. Use knife to swirl.
Bake @ 325 for 1 hr

Soft Blocks

Here is one of my projects I made last christmas for my daughter and never posted, so since Christmas Season is just around the corner (if you are making all your gifts, christmas is just around the corner) here is an idea for a young child.

I 1/8 of a yard (4 in) of 4 in foam. 4in foam is like $50/yard which at first turned me off, but when you only buy 1/8 of a yard and use a 40% off coupon it only cost about $5 and I was able to get 6 4in cubes. It doesn't take much fabric to cover them so to save a little money I raided my mother-in-law's fabric scraps for some brightly colored textured fabric. I tried to get lots of different textures so the blocks could be used as a learning tool for my then 9 month old. To cut down on the sewing I cut a 4.25 in by 12.5in piece of fabric and 2-4.25in pieces of the same fabric then I sewed the pieces together in a cube shape leaving on seam undone stuffed my 4 in cube inside and hand sewed up the final seam.

How to dress up a cupcake

Sometimes I like to dress up a boring cupcake made from a boxed cake mix (check out the Cake Doctor for ideas) but sometimes I don't have time and I just wip up the cake mix and dump it into the cupcake tin. Well since I like to wow people with the stuff I make just a little I can't just throw some frosting on top and go where's the fun in that. So here is an easy way to dress up your cupcakes without spending to much time. If you don't have a cake decorating kit, but like to decorate you can get a basic kit from walmart for $10 (that is the it that I have). My favorite cake decrating tip is the star tip. I just covered the cupcake with stars added some sprinkles and people think you spent a lot of time and that you are supermom.
This are some cupcakes I made for a 4th of July BBQ. I tinted the frosting blue and added a little bit of red sprinkles and I got instant firecracker cupcakes.

THe fancy frosting job doesn't really make the cupcake taste better, but people seem to think they are the best cupcakes ever.