DIY Dia de los Muertos Halloween Costume

Okay, I know that Dia de los Meurtos and Halloween are totally different holidays, but I wanted a quick and easy way to change up my skeleton costume from last year. 

Last year's costume.  Aren't I spooky? ;)

The solution?  Add a flowered headband!  It's actually really cute by itself, too :)

To make your own, you will need:

• Headband (preferably something without the shiny plastic)
• Fabric flowers (I chose hydrangea)
• Hot glue gun
• Skeleton t-shirt
• Skeleton mask or face paint

Snip off a bunch of your flower blooms.

Then, starting in the middle, add a dot of hot glue and press a bloom onto it.

Work your way out on both sides of the headband until the top is filled.

Then, add a few extra blooms to fill in.

Add some braids and skeleton extras, and you're set!

DIY Creepy Crawly Bug Tights

We can't all dress up in wild and crazy costumes on Halloween; sometimes jobs get in the way.  But, I thought these bug tights made a conservative way to work in some Halloween spirit even if you can't go all out.

You will need:

• 1 Pair of nude nylons.  Black works too, but the bugs will blend in more
• 1 Package bugs.  Found mine at the dollar store
• Black thread
• Needle
• Sharpie marker

First, put your nylons on.  Then, place the bugs where you want them and use a sharpie marker to add black dots to mark the spot.

Take the nylons off and thread up your needle.  Then, simply stitch the bugs in place!  I used a little stitch around four of the bugs' legs to keep them in place.  You'll have to do some maneuvering since the nylons aren't as stretched as when you're wearing them, but it'll work.

Finally, wear your tights with some heels and a pencil skirt.  Elvira's got nothing on you! ;)

DIY Pumpkin Bookmark

Remember when I showed you how to make heart shaped book marks?  Well, this is the same idea, but made to look like a cute little pumpkin instead.  It's so easy!

You will need:

• 1 piece of orange felt
• Tiny scrap of green felt
• Scissors
• Orange thread (or two strands of embroidery floss) and a needle

First, cut out two squares of the orange felt, about three inches squared or a little smaller.

Next, cut scallops from one corner diagonally across to the other corner on one square.  It should kind of look like a sea shell.

Use this square as a template to repeat the process on the other square.

Then, use your orange thread and a running back stitch to make a line from the point of one scallop to the tip of the pumpkin.

Repeat the process for every scallop on one of the felt pieces.  You don't need to do both pieces (yay, less work!)

Then, take a small, rectangular piece of green felt and sandwich it between the two pieces of orange felt so that it is sticking out the top.

Use a whip stitch to join the two pieces of orange felt together, making sure you add a few extra stitches to secure the green piece of felt.

And you're done!  Totally doable or what?

DIY Halloween Plaque

I've got another Halloween DIY for you all to try this weekend!  Getting fancy lettering like this is way easier than you'd think.  Trust me, it's totally doable!

You will need:

• Plaque (check out your local dollar store for good options)
• Paint
• Paintbrushes
• Pencil
• Fiddums Family (free font) print out

First, paint over your dollar store plaque (or whatever you've picked out as your base) with white paint.  Allow to dry completely.

While it's drying, work on your Fiddums Family print out.  You'll first need to download the font (see above for the link).  Then, in a Word document, orient your page to "landscape" and type "TRICK or TREAT" in the Fiddums Family font.  Adjust your font size until it matches the measurements of your plaque, then print!

Now, here is a fun trick that I learned years ago and use all the time.  If you want to transfer an image but can't trace it, you can scribble on the back with a graphite pencil.

Then, flip the paper over onto your plaque (dry by now).  Trace over the outline of your message with a pencil.  The pressure from the pencil tip will transfer the graphite onto the plaque, giving you a copy of your printout!

Fill in your outline with black paint.

Then, add some candy corn and pumpkins to the plaque and paint them in.

For a nice, neat outline on the candy corn, skip the paint brush and use a black sharpie instead!

Ta da!  Get ready for goblins!

DIY Spooky Skull Door Hanger

I feel like it's been forever since I featured a DIY... Is it just my imagination?

Well, this month, instead of a wreath, I've got a skull door hanger that is super easy to make!  To make your own, you will need:

• Large felt skull (I got mine at the dollar store!  You could also cut one out of a large piece of felt)
• Bag of assorted bugs and creepy crawlies (again, found these at the dollar store)
• Metallic silver spray paint
• Hot glue gun
• Ribbon
• Stapler

First, pick out the bugs that you want to use and lay them out on a protected work surface.  Spray them with your spray paint, and allow to dry.

Then, arrange them how you like on your felt skull and, using a low setting hot glue gun, glue them in place.  Allow to dry.

Finally, use a piece of ribbon to hang your skull by stapling the ribbon to the top.  I colored my staples over with a sharpie so it didn't stand out as much.

And you're done!  Totally doable, right?

Boo!

Spooky Spiderweb Nails

 

Trick or treat!!  Along with a super simple Halloween costume, I decided to don a set of more complicated fingernails.  Despite how intricate they might appear, the look is surprisingly easy to create.

You will need:

• Base coat (I used OPI)
• Black nail polish (I used Revlon in Stiletto)
• Grey nail polish (mine is L'Oreal in Greycian Goddess)
• Nail art pens in black and white (mine is Kiss brand, found at Target)
• Top coat (You can't go wrong with Seche Vite)

Apply your base coat and follow up with a base layer of color.  I did almost all black nails, with grey on my ring finger nails.

Allow the polish to dry completely.  This is super important; if you jump the gun, the nail art pens won't do much except smudge your polish.  Then, simply draw on your designs and top with a clear top coat!

Fortunately for you, I'm only showing my right hand (I'm left handed). The trickiest part of this all is drawing with your non dominant hand :)

Happy Halloween!