Halloween Scissor Cutting Pattern

I've been working on a little something to share with you all. Since this is something you can make now and keep for next year's Halloween season, I'm going with the motto of better late than never! I was inspired by a fabulous scissor-cutting artist, Cindy - found here, an exhibitor at a local show and a silhouette pattern from the Better Homes & Garden Halloween magazine to create this:

Ta-Dah!! (Or as my daughter says, "Ta-Tah!!" She has no idea why I find this funny.)This is my own drawing/template, yours to print off and use to make your own Halloween scissor-cutting. Right-click on the template. Click on "Open Link in New Tab". You should be able to print from that image.Once printed, use as much or as little of the template as you like. You may only want to do the moon and the owl or the cat and pumpkins - enlarge if you'd like.

1. Cut the excess white paper away and tape to a piece of black paper. (Unless you want to make a white silhouette. Which I think gives this wonderful craft a modern look to it - however, I like the black for Halloween.) I'm not sure if this taping process is "cheating" in the scissor-cutting world, but I certainly didn't want to cut out the pattern, trace it with a white pen on black paper and then cut it again from the black paper. If you want to do that - knock yourself out. Seriously.

2. Use your exacto knife and tiny hole punch to cut out the small inner pieces and eyes FIRST.
3. Using fine tipped, sharp scissors, cut around the outer lines. Turn the paper, rather than your scissors to get a better cut. Sorry I didn't have the grass drawn on my original drawing, but I kind of pieced this together as I went.
If you are a novice, like me, you will want to cut the little figures and grass separately and just glue them close together onto your background when finished. (I'm pretty sure this is also "cheating".)

If your cuts are not perfect, don't sweat it! Perfectionists are chicken-$hits. If you are a perfectionist, I'm sorry, someone had to tell you.

4. Find an old black frame, use one ya have or get one on sale...this pattern fits just right in a 5x7 frame.

5. Pick out a sheet of colored or patterned paper and glue your cuttings down.

Ta-tah, you're done!

You might get inspired and draw your own little figures to match your little one's costumes. I made this magician and bunny rabbit for my friend who's boys are dressing in these costumes. I thought she was so creative making their costumes relate like that! Way to go, Amanda Carol!
Thanks for visiting and happy scissor-cutting! (Sounds better than happy scerenschnitting, don'tcha think?)

Fall/Halloween Decorating Done Cheap

You'll notice I lean towards fall decorations versus Halloween decorations. It all has to do with being lazy. That's the truth. Sad, but I know myself. I'd rather be able to leave things up through November than go through the whole process again on November first. A BIG thank you to Amanda who was so generous and thoughtful to make this fabulous FALL banner for me. I love it!(I was shopping the house and was encouraged to move something from one room to another {via the Nester}. This picture is usually in our bedroom, but I like its vibe for this season. Not sure its the right size, but whaddya think?)

This year I got a bag of various smallish pumpkins at BJ's for just $6.99. I love how they look on top of my urns, candlestick holders and mantle. Add a little reindeer moss and...instant, inexpensive fall decor.goblin is a sales find from Michael's

I buy my stuff when things go on sale - lots of times they are on sale before the holiday. I found these feathery picks half off at Hobby Lobby and they added some punch to a premade garland I already had and look terrific with this urn - gives it more presence up on that top shelf.I did have to wait until after the holidays for this cornucopia, though. It was originally $50 and went down to $10 - again at BJ's.
There are a few cutesy things I have for the kids including this wooden Halloween tree and the countdown calendar I shared with you here. I also put up tacky orange lights on the front porch the week of Halloween. Honestly though, they seem to enjoy the change of decor no matter if it's Halloween themed or not.
Thanks for stopping by and happy decorating!

Halloween Countdown Calendar

I love Target. Seeing those Dollar Bins right inside the doors thrills me. I know. Get a life, right? Today I found these fabulous Halloween letters stickers and it made me think I'd better share my Halloween countdown calendar with you all in case you want to make on and save your sanity - or at least a portion of it. How will it do that, you ask?

I don't think I'm the only one who gets tired of the same question every day, sometimes asked repeatedly throughout the day. "What's for dinner, Mommy? " I'm baffled as to why they still ask this. Being the Mean Mommy that I am, my answer is almost always "food". This started because I used to not plan ahead so much and I had no idea at that point. I'm getting a little better, but the question drives me crazy, so I still tell them "food". Well, "When is Halloween?' starts the split second a leaf turns orange or the chill in the air returns. This project makes a nice decoration, serves a purpose and the kids really enjoy taking turns taking the date off the calendar.

Here are some of the materials I used:
* old baking sheet * halloween themed papers * variety of number stickers * rub-ons * tags * acrylic paint * magnet strips with adhesive * greeting card * table-top easel to hold the finished product
I got my money's worth out of this baking sheet and knew I wanted to make this project, but any cheapie baking sheet you can find will work, too. I painted the edging and part of the front with orange acrylic paint. I didn't spray a sealer over it, but did put on two coats.

Next, I used manilla paper and measured out squares for the dates and smaller rectangles for the days of the week. I used rub-ons for my days of the week, but you may have lovely handwriting - me, not so much.Playing around a bit, I decided where I was placing different elements of this calendar. I came across a cute little 99 cent card with this kitty on it and wanted to use it. I know the kiddos will outgrow the cuteness eventually, so I placed magnets on the back instead of adhesive.

Once I knew where everything was going, I cut my black dotted paper to cover the baking sheet not covered by the calendar. I used a decorative edge punch on the black paper and glued it down. Glue down the "Halloween" (also came from the greeting card), the "countdown" and the empty calendar.

Now the fun begins! Dig into your stash of number stickers, decorative papers and all those crafting goodies I know you've got hidden somewhere. I used a bunch of metal tags and metal numbers made by Making Memories which I've had for years. Some shapes were just paper punched and stickers applied.I used a couple of button pins I think I found at the dollar store. I had googly eyes left over from another project and glued them on a slide holder. Anything goes!Once done, just cut pieces from the magnetized roll to fit on the back of the dates. I got my magnetic strip at Hobby Lobby.
Rather than look at a blank calendar much of the month, we opt to put all the dates on and take them off one at a time and place them in a little basket after dinner each day.

If you happen to not have a bunch of products, or much time, you can still make an easy version of this calendar. Go get some stickers from the dollar store and place them one at a time on a school calendar or family calendar the little ones can see and reach. Works just the same! :D Now they can look at the calendar and figure out how close Halloween is all on their own!

If you're in need of a creative jump-start, go to twopeasinabucket.com. You can find greeting cards, scrapbooking pages, photography and projects like this. I get tons of inspiration from everyone on there.