Day 27 ~ Write 31 Days ~ Fast, Cute, Creepy Trick or Treat Bags

Every year, I try to give bags of candy that are not only filled with nice treats, I like to also have the bags themselves look cute.
Most years, they are made from paper lunch bags, sometimes, I use nicer, handled bags, but whatever I hand out, has to be something that the kids will remember. One year it was little plastic pumpkins filled to the brim with candy, they were memorable, but didn't hold a lot of candy...

I again go to my all time favorite, the napkin.

I love the tremendous amount of designs that are available in napkins, especially at Halloween. There are Jack-o-lanterns, spiders, ghosts, monsters of all sorts, and pretty fall leaves and colors.

I start by cutting out the design that I want to use, usually just the focal that can be added to.Leave the plies together when you cut, it will make it easier to handle.

Paint a swath of white with acrylic paints, it doesn't have to be tidy, or the same size as the design, and... this can be skipped, but... it does help the design on the napkin to show up.
Peel the layers of the napkin apart, leaving the top layer that has the design. Using PVA glue and a paintbrush, lay a thin coat of glue onto the white paint, lay the napkin cutout on the sack.

Smooth very gently with a dry paint brush, this part is very delicate, if the air bubbles are not large, simply push down o it, this will adhere the napkin to the bag. If they are large, try to gently push it to the side, or, you can use a needle to "pop" the air bubble, but really, if you just gently work it, the air will escape.

I like to paint around the shape in a variety of colors. black works well with the pumpkin. I don't paint the background black before pasting the napkin, because it will be dark, you want a vibrant orange color. 
 

Using a strip of the napkin works well, especially when you have a cute trio of Jack-o-lanterns!


An alternate method to using paint is to use the second ply of the napkin. When you peel the plies, lay down glue and lay the white layer down on the glue, smoothing it to relieve the bubbles. Let dry, then lay a thin layer of paint over the napkin... lay the cutout, printed layer on top, covering the white layer. This works well, and it saves having to use paint, but... I don't mind the paint, I actually like using it as a design element.

Using a stencil or a stamp, you can create cute bats, spiders, skeletons on the bag. I had leftover cutouts of bats, so I used them as stencils. With Black acrylic paint, stenciled in the bats flying above the pumpkin. I could stencil in a moon as well with yellow paint, but I have a few of the moon cutouts left over.  There are several types of decorations you could use for the bag, I used glitter to add a little sparkle, some holographic tape and a border of the napkin to add a little extra to the bottom of the design, and also added handles on some of the sacks.
The handles are made from plastic bags which  have been cut into two inch wide strips and braided, then hot glued to the inside of the bag.  Some of the bags have handles made from bright green raffia, knotted and looped through holes in the bags made with a hole punch. Quick and easy and the kids remember that you had something special for them!

Day 22~ Write 31 Days ~ Relaxing Brunch for a Sunday!

On Sundays, we like to really rest, I mean, put your feet up, kick back and do as little as possible, we go visit my mother, but that in itself is one of those, kicked back, resting kind of visits...

Recently, when my brother passed away, we truly did just kick back. I was so exhausted that I cancelled everything that we had planned and we just stayed home, literally hid under the covers all day, tried to not even answer the phone.but sometimes, we have other obligations. There are times when we have company, social functions or there is actually something going on for school, work, or clubs/band/orchestra/jazz band/ sports...

So, we have alternative plans as well.These are the days that I like to have some type of brunch to hold us over for dinner, or maybe not even dinner, maybe we will just snack for the whole day...

When you have a terribly busy day ahead, there  is little time to cook a large meal, so having leftovers to fill the need is nice, and for a family brunch, that helps a lot, to be able to use some things that you have cooked previously in the week to help fill the table and fill the tummies of your loved ones. 

Brunch is generally a combination of meals, breakfast/lunch, so that late risers can have breakfast and those who've been up can have lunch... I guess it came about in a very different manner than ours, but ours is nice. Just laid back, nothing fancy. I don't set the table, just put all the  plates, cups, cutlery, and food on the table, everyone helps themselves, and we may or may not sit at the dining table.

I like to make a couple of types of meats, a couple of entries like scrambled eggs and maybe pancakes even leftover tamales! Add a couple of extras, like fruit and some type of sweet like the pumpkin empanadas and that is a brunch
.

Pigs in blankets...
That's what my kids like. They have always loved this combination of dough and meat. I make them the easiest way, which is to use canned biscuits (I know, right? yuck... but, hey... they work great!) and canned Vienna Sausages (I know, right? YUCK! ... but they work... the only thing we use them for).

Drain the sausages, wrap a biscuit around the sausage, pop them in a 350℉ oven for 10 minutes, and there you have sausage rolls. If you are particular about the appearance, you can make them very neat and tidy, and brush the finished biscuit with butter to make them shiny, but... we don't mind the look of them.

A nice fruit salad is always welcome at our house, but so is sliced cantaloupe. I also like cheese, yes, for breakfast. A plate of  a variety of cheese slices is wonderful to add variety. Munster, cheddar, Monterrey Jack, and Swiss are good choices, but so is Fontina or Gouda, and even soft cheeses are nice. Maybe a Cream Cheese with bagels and a bit of smoked salmon... that's a nice meal in itself.

Covered butter dish, salt, pepper and Himilayan pink salt

Some home made quick bread is wonderful to add to the table, I love banana bread, pumpkin bread, any type of fast, easy bread to make.Slice it up and set a nice butter dish near, your family will love the treat!


When we are camping, I like to have fried eggs, toast, ranch style beans, cheese, tomatoes, or instead of fried eggs, I like cut up, fried venison sausages with scrambled eggs... and it is always brunch for camping!

Day 14 ~ Write 31 Days ~ Skeleton Fairy

Skeleton Faerie?

Yes, to sit in your wreath, flower arrangement, at the table setting, or hanging around, these are fun and fast.

I create fairies all the time, usually bright and pretty, flowing gowns and sparkly wings, but for Halloween, they seem a bit too cute, in the cutesy sort of way. I want something that is more Halloweenesque to use in arrangements.

So, here's the deal, there aren't really faeries... but if there were, would hey die? I mean, can you kill a fairy?  So my  hypothesis is that you would have faeries that just live on forever, their wings would be tattered, they'd waste away to nothing, and they'd be pretty scary.

Here's my version!


I like making these little skeletons, they are so very cute, you can use whatever you have on hand, I am using burlap today, but you could use organza the same or a very light batiste, maybe tea dye it to age the cloth.
You need a bit of wire, though you could use fabric stiffener, and have a nice result. I am using a very easy to bend 22 gauge wire, it is a nice mauve color, not brown and not pink, so it is going to kind of blend in with the burlap.

I've added some paint and glitter, but you don't have to use these, I just can't do any project without a bit of glitter!

I use a bit of dried gypsophelia, you can use any small dried flower you have. This could also be a silk flower, cut up into small snips. If you could find a tiny flower that is silk, it would work.

I am using a bit of hot glue, you could use PVA (white school glue) but I like hot glue for this... if you have a closed doorway that gets sunshine, think about using the PVA. Hot glue melts in doorways... ).

Other than these items, the skeleton in the size that is similar to these, I found these skeletons at the dollar shop, they were on a jute string to hang. I simply took them off the string, painted the eyes, nose and gave the teeth a bit of shading, and it was ready to decorate.

The wings are first. Hold the wire up to

the skeleton, make sure there is enough to start with to cover the center of the back. then start rough forming the wings. I fold over the wire and copy the shape. Unfold and you have two wings similar in size and shape. Leave the same amount on the end as you did at the beginning.

Florist tape, or use some flexible type tape (I'm using artist's tape, because I had it, but electrical tape would work as well, if you don't have any tape... you could wrap string around and hotglue it!

Cover the wings with burlap.

This is totally simple. Hot glue a bit of the wire wing, lay the burlap over it, leaving an overhang of fabric on all sides, cut roughly leaving a half inch around. Cover second wing.

Pull out some of the threads from around the wing. Tattered is what you are going for.

Cut a slit in the wing itself, snip some of the lengthwise threads, pull them loose, just leave them hanging.

*If you want to use fabric stiffener instead of wire, do this part first, shape wings, snip threads, pull threads the when it is tattered, use fabric stiffener to shape the wings. Let dry.






At this point you can add a bit of paint with a dry brush, to shade the wings, but there isn't a set rule, if you don't want to, don't!

I like a bit of glitter, so a bit of brown glitter was used on the sides of the wings, and I put a bit of gypsophelia glued to the top of the wing.
Simply use the hot glue to fasten the wings to the back of the skeleton. If I were using this on the door or somewhere it would get hot, I'd use a bit of wire and wire it to the skeleton.
Glue a bit of burlap over the wing joint to hide it.

The head garland for the skeleton is just the heads of the gypsophelia hot glued down and then dotted with paint. I chose purple.

Day 13~ Fall Floral Wreath for your door

Making a Fall Wreath for the door.

What a welcome site it is to have a wreath on the front door, or any door for that matter. Nothing quite says that you are ready for visiting than flowers and foliage and a fresh brewed pot of coffee.

Fall flowers can be most any color, however, the traditional oranges, yellows and deep reds are thought of first. However, in recent years, deep purples and blues are used a lot. I love purple in arrangements, and have grown to like a deep or dusty turquoise in them as well. Royal blue is a color that is nice, and fits right in any arrangement, makes it pop with color.

I conducted a class on Fall arrangements that used a light yellow, not bright, but a pale, buttery yellow. The whole class thought I was crazy until they saw the colors together, and said, yes... that looks Fall!  So don't think that an oddball color that you have on hand won't work.

The colors of fall are varied, muted, vibrant, pale, and everywhere in between. Go crazy, add something you love, change the same old into something extraordinary.  Give odd color combinations a try., you might find a new favorite!

I'm using the basic orange, yellow, rust, purple, green and adding turquoise. I love turquoise, and I have a lot in my house. Varying shades, varying hues. I love them all. Never thought I'd use them in floral arrangements, but wow, they can make it pop out and come alive!

18" Grape Vine Wreath

This is an 18" grapevine wreath, I decided that I wanted the smoothest side to the back, I don't mind the front being a bit uneven, it will be covered over. Always measure your door, if it is larger than mine, you could use a larger wreath, but I think my door is pretty standard. 18" seems to fit just perfectly. If you would rather go smaller, that is great! There are 12" wreaths that make up really nice and don't use as many flowers!

22 gauge floral wire and heavy duty cutters

22gauge florist wire, cut in 3" lengths. You can leave it a bit longer if you think you might have a problem with twisting it, but if you use a pair of needle nose pliers, you should have no problem with even the shortest wire.


Various floral stems, I am using 3 large purple, three sunflowers, and three large red (not matching but all the same color) and one... yes, one large orange (this was an oddball that I had leftover, so I threw it in here). When choosing the focal flowers, the ones that will stand out the most, keep them in odd numbers (3, 5, 7, 9) since those numbers are pleasant to the eye. There are 7 stems of various fall foliage bunches, and 4 bunches of smaller fall colored floral stems. These are purple, orange and yellow.  There is also an organza and glitter butterfly on a clip. I chose a rust color... I thought it went well with the rusty colors of some of the leaves.
I am starting out with the turquoise in a garland of smaller roses.
I don't mind the placement too much of the garland, it is going to be in the background, and will not show more than the color of the flowers.  Use a length of  florist wire, shaped in a U, to tie the garland down every 3-5 inches so it will stay in place.

Start with one bunch of leaves, cutting the stems to 5 or 6 inches in length, weaving the stems into the wreath.  Add one focal flower(I think it looks nice to make small bundles of flowers and add them, like little posies, they look fuller this way)

weaving the stems into the wreath next to the leaves,  tie the focal flower to the wreath about an inch from the head, so that it will not shift.

If you are using this wreath, do NOT use hot glue for this step. Temperatures on a porch, especially if you have a glass outer door, can melt the glue. Even in Fall. Maybe your climate is cooler in the Fall than mine, but living in different places, I know that there are higher temps in the doorway than most people understand. This is why I weave the stems instead of gluing.

Continue around the wreath, placing the focal flowers evenly around the wreath circumference.
Make sure to use the wire to tie the stems in place, even after weaving, you don't want them to fall out. 
You can add a clip on or stem of butterflies or a bird, fruit, pumpkins, or even a skeleton. 
I don't add ribbon but you can, if you have a fun or pretty type of ribbon, by all means, add that!

Finished wreath with added butterfly

Day 12~ An Abrupt Halt

 My blog posts came to an abrupt halt, even though I was still writing, I had not posted what I was writing... I suddenly had two blogs going, I wasn't posting either set, and felt that what I was writing for me didn't fit any blog that I write, and I really don't want to start another blog, but felt the need to write what I felt... but, neither was fulfilling my purpose for this Write 31 Days challenge, but yet they both did. 

I know that is a totally opposing statement. It doesn't make sense, but it is true.  I was still writing my blog for art, crafts and fun, but not posting because I didn't feel well enough to edit pictures, or try to make sense of the order they should be presented or fight with Blogger with posting the pictures... something that I took for granted would be the easy part of the challenge for me... because to me, most of the time at least, I have a hard time writing...

But then, the words were flowing for me. My problem was that I was very sick, still having to work, since I just changed jobs (and probably the reason I got sick, new germs) so I had to be there, or thought that I had to be there...By the time I got home, I didn't feel like looking at pictures to edit, I didn't want to do much, I was totally exhausted, nearly to the point of being cross-eyed!

 Since I have worked in this department at the college, every registration brings a round of illness. I am closely working with people and many are very sick but don't want to miss the opportunity to take the courses, so they come to school with a fever, coughing, sneezing, and... I get whatever they have. I get over that and boom!... we have another registration. 

So, I thought I was good for another week or two, since our registration is October, but had not taken into consideration that I would be offered this job, and all of a sudden, I am working in proximity to new people, some  of whom are ill, and boom! I'm sick.  So I'm running around, trying to figure out what it is that I am supposed to do in this new part of the department, and I'm running 101° temp, using cleansing towels, spraying disinfectant, and hoping I can stay far enough from students to keep them from getting sick. 

These seem petty worries, I know, in the grand scheme of things. I get sick, I get over it, and all is well. This time, it just hung on, I needed rest. All is well with the world. 

Monday evening I got a call that my brother had passed away. It was with warning, he had been in the hospital with pneumonia, he wasn't responding to drugs, and he was failing. 

I didn't get to go see him. I wanted to, but had been really sick, and totally exhausted, and I felt like if I went, I would spread the germs to everyone I got near. I don't think hospitals like people coming in coughing and sneezing to visit patients anyway. There is so much of a risk of contamination of other patients...I wish I could have felt different about going, but in the end, it was the right decision. I didn't go. 

Monday evening. 

I was pretty much in shock, even though this is the outcome that I expected. You tell yourself that you will be prepared, that you will know what to do and say for this occasion, and you just stand with your mouth open. 

I immediately thought about what I wanted to say about my brother, that I probably have not ever said about him. And the words flowed. All of a sudden, I had a new subject, a whole different path to follow, and I shared this with the sisterhood in a group that I have joined... and the reaction was all positive, and loving. Write... 

'Write from your deepest heart' was one of the quotes. I think that one is the one that I need to remember... Writing from the deepest place in your heart is where it needs to come from right now. It is a place that is in pain, but then again, it is in this calm state. 

I wrote about my brother a bit before, I think, though I can't find the piece. I am pretty sure that I have mentioned him a few times  in other blogs, and I guess I've posted a few pictures of him, though I hesitate to actually write about him... since he was always very private. He didn't want accolades, and he never wanted people to hold him up for any reason.

I thought about changing the series to just write about my brother, and as an extension, the whole family, but thought about it for a few days now, and it just doesn't seem right... that I change everything. I set out on a mission, I am going to complete that mission. So, I am going to write about him today, but only today... saying that with conviction is hard right now, I probably will mention again, but not write a whole article on him. 

 My brother Steve. The oldest  of my siblings. He was born to my parents during WWII. My parents met when my father was transferred to the army base where my mother worked in the PX. They fell in love, and were sitting eating pecan pie and having milk when the news was broadcast that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.  After this is when they decided to marry, quickly, since no one had a clue what would happen at that point. 

My father was eventually transferred to Louisiana, not long after my brother Steve was born, and life was tough for my mother and brother. It was terribly hot, humid and such a long way from home. My mother was young, had a new baby that was sick a lot, and she missed her family, friends, and eventually my father when he went overseas.  She took Steve and moved to live with her parents for the duration of the war.

When the war was over they settled down near where my father was from and two more siblings were born, all was right in the world, and they got along with my father working... but the promise of money and stable career saw another move for the family. Mom, Dad, and the three kids settled in a small town where my mother's sister and husband lived. 

When I came along, my oldest brother was graduating High School, and he was soon off to SouthEast Asia. A task he never questioned. Steve went, with bravery and courage. The kind of courage and bravery that came from growing up with my father, who was  adamant about being true to yourself and your country. 

I remember when Steve got leave at Christmas one of the years he was away, he was so dashing in his uniform and he seemed larger than life. He taught me how to tie my shoes that visit... Somehow, he had the knack for tying shoes. Or maybe it was the knack for talking to you in a manner that made things look and seem right. 

I had a lot of memories of my brother, but one seemed to be such a sweet thing now that I am grown and have had kids of my own. He was living in an apartment with one of his best friends from High School, William, they were both just kids, really, in their early 20s, they had this place together, a real bachelor pad it seemed. Steve was going to college and working at a local drive-in movie to earn enough money to pay tuition and rent, and have money to go out and woo women! 

Most of all, I remember how much he enjoyed taking us to the movie, such a treat for us, and Steve borrowed his roommate's car to take us for a ride around Dallas. That was amazing!  Riding in a convertible, was super fun, something new for us (my dad was old school and had very sensible vehicles) .

I had either a broken arm or had a cut hand, I can't remember which, since they were close around the same time, but I couldn't get my hand/arm wet, so my big brother helped me in the pool, held me so I could play around and not get my hand/arm wet.  In the Texas summer heat, that was amazing, 

A few years later, my brother married a wonderful woman he had met back home, who lived in a small town near our home. They had corresponded throughout his time overseas, and while they were both in college, and she seemed the perfect mate for him. She was brave and courageous just like him, loved the outdoors, cars and was very beautiful, inside and out. 


Over the following years, I saw a lot and a little of him. He and his wife started having kids and with jobs, and they were both still pursuing higher education, we just didn't get together as often. But when our father passed away, he kind of took up the role as the father figure in the family. At least for me he did. When I started driving, he provided a car for me. Gave me a job for the Summer months, and a place to live. Taught me how to work on cars. It was nice to have some cash to spend, something to do, and I felt like I was learning a lot. 

Surely Steve garnered a few extra gray hairs in the deal... But probably learned how to deal with his own girls from his experiences with me! His daughter was not much younger than me, and we kind of grew up 'together' but I went to college and got married and even though we got together some, it just wasn't enough. I felt like we were missing out on so much time. 


My younger brother passed away just one month almost to the day before my husband, and I had my husband to lean on then...
This time around, when my big brother passed away, I don't have anyone that close to lean on. My kids are such a blessing, and are a support.

But I have to say, I have been so very much at peace today. It was a very long, trying day, but it seems that it is all part of the plan, and all is right in the world. 

The preacher read the 23rd Psalms, Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil. I think that is very appropriate. I think that when we are faced with the evil, the fear itself sometimes, we should have courage because God is with us. God restores our soul and we are assured that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That should, in itself, give us hope and comfort for what glory he is in now.

Day 10~ Write 31 Days ~ Funny Fall Folder for School or Work!

When I plan a party or any type of event, there has to be some sort of organization to
my craziness, so folders have become my friends! I showed my larger three ring binder notebook, this is a folder that can fit into the binder. It has three holes that can be popped out, and it has pockets inside. I love the pockets, they can hold smaller paper, notes, or invitations. Best of all, the folder can be taken out of the notebook and taken with you to the store, work, or... if your kids like it, more than likely, it will go to school with them!

These folders, with really pretty, bright colors caught my eye a month or so ago, I immediately thought about using one for planning our Candy Giveaway Extravaganza, or more commonly known as Halloween.

These colors just holler out to me, I love the combinations, as you might know, from my use in floral arrangements, sewing, and even baking, I like to use orange and purple together, and lime green is just the right bit of color to make anything pop! I would also add in a deep turquoise color! lol. That's me.

One of the 'drip' papers turned pour painting

I could use this sheet of drip paper that I had left over from making some of the pour painted pictures (say that five times fast!) but I think I'm going for something a bit more
Halloweeny, so I'll use napkins.

Yep, napkins.
I have two types of napkins in over-abundance! I'll show you one folder made of each type.. I like the cutesy one, but then again....

 These are one type of napkin that I have in abundance, it is on the more macabre side, so I'll use some 'poison' jars that came off candy packages, leftover, from last year. A few eyes for good measure and a centipede. ribbon with spiders is a fun addition. I could use some plastic spiders as well, maybe some glitter, but for now, we stick to a plain version.

Before I get to the cute folder, I'll share how I created this macabre folder!

This is a shiny folder, so I used an emery cloth, just to scuff up the shine a bit, then I used PVA glue, spread around in the general shape of the napkin I used. The shape of this is square, so it was pretty easy, a thin layer will do, I kind of got carried away!

 Smooth the napkin down as evenly as possible, it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, but if there is writing like this one, you should try to smooth it so it is legible.

The 'bottles' were added next, the same as the napkin, but the glue was very dry. I could have used hot glue on this, but wanted to see how the PVA would do. As long as it was applied very thinly, almost dry, it worked fine on the surface. I liked this centipede, so I glued him on as well, and have these fun eyes that needed to be scattered around! This was fast and easy, should be used with a bit of care, since the extras can be squished... ewww... squished eyeballs...

Ribbon is nice, the spider on organza finished this off, but you could always add more ribbon or glitter, which I thoroughly intended to use, but found that it just didn't need bling!  The jars did, however need something more, I used the border of the napkin to cut a 'shelf' for two of the jars to 'sit' on. I thought it was good, so I glued it down.

  











Second Folder
These napkins are cute and I have a ton of them. We hoarded one year when we were planning a large get-together, and ended up not using that many, so I've used them every year since. I think we had allowed for 150 people, ended up with something like 75, so there was an abundance of paper plates, napkins, and cutlery. The cutlery went fast, it is nice to have extras, and black goes with everything, but the Halloween theme just isn't suited for New Years. 
I love to use these on other projects, and will share another tomorrow. For today, we need to have:
Paper napkins- printed with image that you like
Paper folder, any color, but I like to stick to a theme.
PVA glue (white school glue)
Paints- Acrylic- in matching or contrasting colors, and white
paintbrushes or foam brushes
cup for water
cup for mixing
glitter
ribbon
gemstones

Cut out the shape of the image on the napkin, leave the plies together so it is easier, once cut out,  you can remove the plies to leave only the outer, printed layer.

Paint a swath on the folder with white paint. It does not have to match the shape of the image, but can be literally a swath of about 4 inches, but make sure that it is wide enough so that the image you have will be completely over white paint.  Allow to dry completely. If folder is shiny, give it a bit of roughing up with a fine sandpaper first, then use a tack cloth to remove any grit and paper dust.

use a paintbrush to mix a bit of  1 ounce of PVA glue and a few drops of water. Paint over the area you would like to position the image. Cover the area well, but not excessively, lay the image over the glue, smoothing gently with your fingers or a piece of paper toweling.

Try to gently work out all air bubbles.  If you have one or two that persist to stay filled, which is unlikely, but you may have a bit of bubble problem, you can use the tip of a knife to pierce the napkin to allow the air out. Simply smooth down and it will fill with glue.

I allow this layer to dry very well, then use paint mixed with a bit of glue and water to paint around the edges of the napkin, and across the white swath that you painted. Use glitter while this layer is still wet, or wait for it to dry completely and add bits of glue where you want glitter specifically, then sprinkle with glitter and shake off excess.

I will post the pictures quickly, sorry about the delay.