Halloween Projects

Jessica was going to be staying after school an extra hour yesterday for a class she signed up for and I decided to ditch any and all obligations to just craft with all that time I had. Oh I had such grand ambitions. And I made two things. Really?? Yep, just two. Two cute things mind you, but only two. Sigh. In the end it’s okay, because that’s two things more than I had when I started, right? Wanna see? Sure you do, that’s why you are here.

Here you go!

This is the first project that got completed. Notice I said got completed. I’ve actually made one of these before (but not yesterday) See?

Whoa…totally different looks, yes?

Yep, and I made a taller jar, too(way to state the obvious, Jeanne). I really kind of liked them. Well, except for the dang white ink I sponged on the edges of the shorter jar, thinking it would look as neat as the project that started this all. SVG Cuts Toil and Trouble Kit. I even ran out and bought the embossing folder with the spider webs, the last one they had at Hobby Lobby. I didn’t get to make the label though, when I made these jars. So, yesterday, my first thought was to make the label to finish off the jar and hopefully hide that ugly white ink, that I tried to hide by inking black over it. Actually I disliked that inked look so much, I decided to start ALL over again and make a new one.

Okay, so here is why I CASE (copy and steal everything) so much. I cut out black pieces for the new jar. Then I started to make the label as shown in the project picture. Only, I don’t have the same designer paper and I don’t want to buy it for this one little part of the project. So, I thought I’d use some Doodlebug Haunted Manor paper. It takes me time to figure out which ones to use. But I also needed some solid paper, that takes time to ponder as well.  I CASE so much because I have the most difficult time decided what to use when I don’t CASE.

And to try to be more efficient, I don’t need full sheets of paper to cut out the smaller pieces to make the label. I can cut smaller pieces and put them in different places on my 12x12 mat and cut all the different components at one time, thus saving time and getting this dang label made so I can move onto another project. Only….only….the actually cutting out the pieces didn’t match the placement of the paper on the mat…SIGH. I had to start that over again! Arghhh. So I did that over again. And a paper moved, so I did it again, and it moved and the whole lets get this done in one fell swoop wasn’t going to happen. I ended up putting full sheets of paper  on the mat and cutting little bits out of it.  Not much of a time saver when that happens, but in the past the idea has worked perfectly.

Okay, so I got all the pieces cut out, but now….the skeleton cut out doesn’t match the feel of the Doodlebug paper I’m using. It’s not cutesy enough. Ugh…I know that sounds stupid, but it also looked stupid. So….okay, I can grab a Cricut cart or two and try to find something to use. It took me a while to figure out just what might look better. I decide on the treats in Mini Monsters. Get all those pieces cut out and….wait for it…now the black that I cut out for the jar no longer matches the feel of the Doodlebug paper. Sigh… My neck is starting to stiffen up. It’s taking me hours to get this one silly little label made! LOL 

Instead of black, I’ve now decided on Hydrangea (from CTMH) and instead of spider webs, I liked the big dots on a Cuttlebug folder. And to give the dots some depth, I rub the inked sponge over the raised dots. Okay, I’m using cardtstock that has a white core and I don’t like the white showing, so I ink all the edges of the pieces I’m using to make the jar. But I’m not inking any edges white, so we should be good to go there.  Then I decide the candies need some twine, oh and some pop dots and several hours later, I’ve got my one project finished…

TA-DA!!!!!

Okay, so it does look really cute as a purple candy apothecary jar, if I do say so myself. But man, oh man, what a long drawn out process to get this one little project completed. And the jar doesn’t have any dang treats in it!!! LOL And you wonder why I took such a long creative break do you? This was exhausting and my neck hurts at this point. LOL It was kind of worth it in the end though, right?

But, a look at the clock said I still had some time left so I decided to make the witch shoe from the same kit. I initially cut out the pieces with black paper, but now that the jar is purple, black just isn’t cute enough. More decisions…and orange it is! DCWV solid paper from their Ghosts and Goblins stack from last year.

 

TA-DA!!!!

Well, not quite that fast. I had to watch the little put it together video the site offers to show you how to get the pieces to fit. It was pretty easy, but I wanted to be sure I did it right. I did tear the paper by the heel (made you look, didn’t it?), but I wasn’t going to cut another piece of paper at this point.

I didn’t want to take a picture of the shoe empty because how silly would that look? So, I grabbed some candy corn and poured them into the shoe. An empty shoe would look silly, but one with candy corn would look…smart???? I dunno, but there you go. I was going to fancy up that buckle, but at this point, I was D O N E playing with paper.

 

And here’s what I got accomplished.

Then I had to clean up the mess I made in creating these two relatively “simple” projects. It looked like a paper bomb exploded in the room! LOL

On a positive note, Jessica noticed these goodies right as she walked into the living room and loved them.

That my friends, made all the effort worth it! Amy doesn’t get home from school until about an hour after Jessica and I get home, so she got to see this in all its splendor first.  (Only I took the candy corn out right away. Didn’t want to leave them out…just in case any unwelcome guests manage to sneak into my house now that the weather is cooling down. We certainly don’t want to entice them in, either) .

In all honesty, I was done papercrafting after I got these two projects done. But I still had some time left before heading out to get Jessica from school, so I sat on the couch and worked on a yarn project. Which shall remain unnamed and unshown until  such time as I actually finish the project(s).

I really do enjoy papercrafting. I just always think I can get more done than I actually can. I wanted to make some cards yesterday, but obviously that didn’t happen. If you are still reading, thank you. I just wanted to share what really happens sometimes to get to the finished project.

Here’s hoping your papercrafting projects bring you much joy and happiness!

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