If you are a Halloween addict, you've come to the right place. If you're anything like me, you have to refrain from setting up the Halloween décor in August because you don't want to be that person, but when September 1st hits, anything goes. I blame my mom for my Halloween obsession. After all, I was an October 1st baby and the birthday treat she always sent with me to share with my class was a tray of her delicious homemade jack-o-lantern shaped sugar cookies with orange frosting and chocolate chip detailing.
Halloween will be here before you can say, ‘BOO!’ I thought it would be fun to create some cute Halloween crafts, gifts and party favors this year using the printable Haunted Halloween package from Anders Ruff. I called upon one of my favorite crafty side-kicks, Vivian Kerr, to help me scare up some inspiration for your little ghosts and goblins. Anders Ruff’s printables make it so easy! A big thank you to Andrea Pasion Photography for beautifully capturing our spooky projects.
We have come up with 25+ SPOOKtacular projects to share with you. Today's post will be projects 1-12. Stay tuned for Post 2, for the rest of the projects.
PROJECTS #1-2: Altered Candy Bar Wrappers
Need a fast treat that is ‘too cute to spook’? Grab a couple of your favorite candy bars (we used the large sized Hershey bars, but any sized flat bar would work) . Print some of Anders Ruff’s coordinating digital papers, treat labels & tags. Add some scraps of ribbon and recreate this look in minutes! (The Haunted House is a Paper Bliss sticker set.)
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PROJECTS #3-4: Altered Beverage Jars/Carrier
We love projects that involve using recycled materials. This is one of our favorites. We had our friend save her Starbucks Frappuccino bottles & lids for us. Creating these cute bottles is easy. Wash & dry the bottles thoroughly. Add a coat of black spray paint to the lids. Fill with various Halloween candies. Use any of the adorable Anders Ruff beverage wraps, or trim the treat wrappers down to size and secure to the bottle with strong adhesive. (We like Stampin’ Up’ Sticky Strip.) We also added some raffia, a tag and some coordinating papers from AR’s collection to complete the look. As you can see from the picture, we also refashioned the cardboard Starbucks drink carrier by covering it in coordinating paper & reducing the AR letters to decorate the front!
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PROJECT #5: Altered Paint Can
Mini paint cans can be filled with all sorts of ghoulish delights and are easily decorated using printable elements from Anders Ruff’s Halloween collection, scraps of coordinating ribbon and fabric.
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PROJECTS #6-7: Pumpkin Lantern & ’TREATS’ Banner
Re-create the pumpkin lanternsby tracing a leaf pattern on one of the green AR printable papers. Add a green chenile stem vine (twist around a pencil to get the corked look) and a brown chenile stem. Simply print out the TREAT sign, mount on black cardstock, punch holes and add ribbon or twine to hang.
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PROJECT #8: Trick or Treat Tote Bag
Vivian designed and sewed this adorable trick or treat tote bag. Don’t you just love the bat she printed from Anders Ruff’s Halloween collection onto iron on fabric transfers?
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PROJECT #9: Altered Gum Case
Easily transform an inexpensive pack of gum into an adorable Halloween favor. (Here we used Extra Dessert Delights brand gum, in an Orange Creme flavor.)
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PROJECT #10: Altered Tic-Tac Box
Who knew a scallop punch, circle punch, a button and a few elements from AR’s printable package could make an ordinary box of Tic-Tacs look so fun?!
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PROJECTS #11-12: Halloween Push Up Pops
We love coming up with unique ways to display desserts. How fun would your Halloween dessert table look with push up pops, cake pops, suckers and more coming out of coffins lined with styrofoam? Or, use the coffins to house other frightening treats. (We spray painted coffins, lined them with coordinating AR papers, topped the coffin lids off with AR’s darling treat labels cut to size and displayed our orange ice cream push up pops inside.)
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Check back for Part 2 of our spooky projects!
VENDOR CREDITS & RESOURCES {for Parts 1 & 2}:
– Jennifer Carver & Vivian Kerr: Styling
– Anders Ruff Custom Designs: Halloween Printables
– Andrea Pasion Photography: Photography
– JoAnn Fabrics: fabric for aprons/chef hats/tote bags, paper-mâché coffin boxes, pumpkin lanterns (from Martha Stewart kit), sucker sticks, buttons, craft foam (for lining coffins)
– Michael’s: raffia, Halloween ribbon, jute/twine, cellophane bags, mini paint can
– Stampin’ Up: craft punches, cardstock, Snail adhesive, Sticky Strip, gold thread
– Wal-Mart: black spray paint, glossy photo paper, Avery full-sheet sticker labels
– Cash & Carry: glassine bags
– JB Prince: push up pop containers
– IKEA: metal tins
– Party City: candy, suckers
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