DIY Glittered Candles

Halloween is here, so grab this opportunity to learn how to make glittered candles with dates on them.

You will need:

• pillar candles (of desired size and color) - these black ones are from Michaels
• Vinyl & electronic cutter to make stencils 
• Mod Podge and paint brush
• Extra fine glitter

You can make a "31" for Halloween, but you could also spell out other words for any holiday or occasion! The possibilities are endless!  Cut out a 3 and 1 to make a vinyl stencil and applied to to the candle. Make sure the edges around the number or letter are sealed.

Next apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the candle, making sure to cover the entire inner area of the stencil. You can work in small sections to keep it more controlled. Shake a generous amount of glitter over the glue, making sure to get every part covered. You can lightly press the glitter with your fingers to help it stick. 

Then shake, shake, shake and even lightly blow to remove excess glitter. Remove the stencil slowly and blow again to loosen excess glitter. You can fix the details with a Q-tip. 

Source.

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DIY: No-Carve Typography Pumpkins

What you'll need: 

• Chalkboard and gold spray paint
• Painter's masking tape
• Newspaper or cardboard
• Pumpkins
• Chalk
• Pencil
• Black Sharpie
• Typefaces

STEP ONE: Using your masking tape, tape off any part of the pumpkin you don't want painted. It could be the stem, or you can create designs like stripes or polka dots, or paint only half of the pumpkin. Next, place your pumpkins on a piece of cardboard or newspaper outside and begin spraying. Make sure you spray at least 10 inches away so you get a nice, even coat. You’ll only need to do one coat of paint. 

STEP TWO: Choose a beautiful typeface to design what you want to put on your pumpkin and then print it out at 100%. Place the sheet on the pumpkin and, using a pen, trace around each letter. When you lift up the sheet, there should be a clear indent in the pumpkin of where you need to chalk. Note: If you’re drawing with a Sharpie on an orange pumpkin, you can use contact paper behind your design to create a clear transfer.

STEP THREE:  Wait 30 minutes before removing any masking tape, then peel off gently. Next, use your chalk to begin to fill in the outlines. If you make a mistake, just use a wet towel or Q-tip to erase it and start again. 

You can also use a black Sharpie to draw your design. We created this half-painted gold pumpkin and drew a house number.

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Office Halloween Decor

I love decorating for Halloween, but figuring out a way to make my whole apartment look spooky is a little daunting. So I decided to make my desk at work look extra special this year, since I spend plenty of time there and I know my coworkers will appreciate it too. Here's what I did.

This work station is in our craft room so there is plenty of desk to work with. Here are the supplies:

Hanging skeleton
Skeleton silhouettes
Furniture clings
Wall clings
Decorative tape
Bat silhouettes
Happy Halloween garland

I used the adhesive foam dots which are included in the package to stick on the skeleton hands and the garland. The dimensional bats are hanging with a little bit of invisible fishing line and masking tape.

The wall clings create a spooky graveyard scene behind the desk. I love how the moon peeks out from behind the monitor! The furniture clings adhere great to the file cabinet so it looks like a happy jack-o-lantern. I used some double sided tape to put on the decorative "do not enter" tape around the edge of the desk.

The hanging skeleton is the perfect size to take my place in the chair.

He's a natural!

Here are some other fun work stations from around the office.

I hope your work space gets a little Halloween love this year!

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5 Creative No Carve Pumpkin Ideas

One of the most interesting things to do during Halloween is carving pumpkins. It can be dangerous, because it is necessary to use a sharp knife, but why not try some of these ideas that do not require carving? In addition, since pumpkins are not carved, they will stay longer in your home as seasonal decor.

1. String and nail art pumpkin
This thing was oddly therapeutic to make! It’s a really fun one to see come together once it takes shape. Put one of these little guys on top of it so it look like he is the one saying “Boo.” Read more…

2. Pumpkins and succulents
Try to use spell “BOO” with succulents. Read more…

3. Pumpkin with ribbon
This is so easy, but so cute. Read more…

4. Black & white painted pumpkins
Throw away the knife, and pick up a paintbrush to create these bold pumpkin designs. Read more…

5. Pushpin pumpkins
Creating pretty pumpkins without a carving knife isn’t hard with a few office supplies at hand. Read more…

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You Voted: How Much Do You Expect to Spend on Halloween

Traditionally, in the United Kingdom, Halloween has always taken a back seat to other holidays. However, in recent times it has absolutely catapulted in popularity. Most likely due to the wave of American television programmes being shown in the country which tend to really push Halloween.

Halloween is now the third largest retail season after Christmas and Easter, with Brits likely to pay out £315-325 million on costumes, confectionary and pumpkins, according to Planet Retail.

Last week we conducted a poll regarding the household expences for this year's Halloween and here are the results:

It seems that our crafters know what's up and they will plan wisely their Halloween budget. But let's take a look on what's going on in the UK.

UK shoppers are expected to spend more than £300 million celebrating Halloween this year, analysts predict.

The influence of the US and the availability of a wider variety of spooky-themed products have contributed to a steady rise in Halloween spending over the last decade, according to the analysts.

Brits paid just £12 million for Halloween goodies in 2001. This year's estimate is significantly up on the 2012 figure of £285 million.

In the run up to October 31 supermarkets have been filling their shelves with Halloween-themed cakes and sweets and many now stock a range of fancy-dress costumes for all ages.

"The Americans might have popularised Halloween as a retail phenomenon, but when it comes to inventive and humorous costumes, no one beats the British."

"Halloween has moved from being just about pumpkins and trick or treating into a much broader social trend, influencing every aspect of retail, with e-books becoming the latest sector to benefit from the general public's October appetite for the spine-tingling and the macabre."

So, you can save up and choose this year's Halloween Gifts from a huge collection on our beloved MISI.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Info Sources: bbc.co.uk, Halloweenbusiness.com, money.aol.co.uk

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Halloween Milkshakes: 3 Ways

A halloween idea you'll love: ghost milkshakes. So cute! What a fun idea for dressing up a sweet beverage for a Halloween party. 

First melt 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips. You can do this in a small pot on the stove or in the microwave. Once the chocolate is melted, remove from heat and use a clean (never used before) paintbrush to create your design inside the glass. Allow this to set over night. Be sure to store them in a cool, dry place.

Now you can pour your milkshake into the prepared glass and you have a spooky ghost face! For my vanilla milk shake, I kept it simple by combining 2 parts vanilla ice cream with 1 part milk and blended until smooth. Add a little whip cream to finish the look.

You can create something vampire-themed. For these vampire bite milkshakes, you use the same chocolate-painting technique to create the bite marks. Once the chocolate is set, fill the glasses with the milkshake. Fill a plastic pastry bag with 4-5 tablespoons strawberry syrup. Carefully cut off the very tip of the pastry bag and insert it into the filled milkshake glass, aiming for the bite marks. Squirt a little "blood" on the bite marks and watch the syrup trickle down

Be sure to serve these immediately, as the syrup will continue to trickle down the side of the glass. A plastic pastry bag works best for this technique, but you could also try a small plastic ziploc bag if you don't have a pastry bag on hand.

This next one is very Goosebumps inspired: Monster Blood! To make your own monster blood, simply combined 1/3 cup light corn syrup and a few drops of green food coloring. To thicken you can left the monster blood in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Fill a pastry bag or squirt bottle with the prepared monster blood. Fill your glasses with milkshake, squirt a layer of monster blood around the inner edge and then top off with whipped cream. You can also use these candy frogs to garnish your monster blood milkshake. 

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DIY Frosted Garden Lanterns

Whether you’re planning a garden party or looking for a way to add ambiance to everyday, garden lanterns are THE way to add just the right twinkle of warmth and illumination to your outdoor space.

And when they’re this easy and fun, you may have trouble knowing when to say when.

Tools needed:

Glass jars
Adhesive-backed shelf liner
Assorted leaves
Pen
Scissors
Frosted glass spray
Sand
Candles
Wire (optional)

Trace the leaves onto the shelf liner and cut out with scissors.

Remove the paper backing from the shelf-paper leaf shapes.

Press them securely to the outside surface of the glass jars in a pleasing arrangement.

Spray, according to product instructions, all over the outside of the jars.  Allow to dry.

Remove the adhesive shapes.

If you want to hang your lanterns, cut a piece of wire the length of the circumference of the jar mouth plus some for twisting plus your desired handle size.  Twist wire around the mouth of the jars, below the threads.  Bend the wire over the jar in a handle shape and twist onto the wire on the opposite side of the mouth.

Fill jars about a third full with sand and push a candle into the sand to secure.  Wait for nightfall, and enjoy the romance.

More interesting tutorials from littlehouseinthesuburbs.

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