Faux Hand-Carved Wood Bowl

This month on the Smoothfoam™ blog I shared this autumn project - I created a faux hand-carved wood bowl with a Smoothfoam™ half ball and DecoArt® Americana Decor® Chalky Finish paints.  Find the full instructions here.

Sullivans USA Gothic Goes Girly Macrame Bracelet

What does a Halloween obsessed designer think of first when she receives with a package of two lovely shades of pink Hebe Cord from Sullivans USA?  Why, SKULLS of course!  The result is this Gothic Goes Girly Skull bracelet.   Thinking back over my crafty past, I don't ever remember attempting to macrame - but after searching the web for easy to follow instructions I found great site that was able to walk me through creating this piece.  I went back to school at www.MacrameSchool.com!    Here's the link to the video tutorial that will walk you through the easy to follow instructions for what they call a "cool wave" or "snake" style bracelet. This project is part of a special Designer Craft Connection blog hop - Be sure to click the Designer Craft Connection button in the right column to see what the other participating Designer Craft Connection designers have done with their Sullivans USA Hebe Cord!

http://www.macrameschool.com/resources/bracelets/222-easy-wave-snake

Materials: 

Sullivans USA Hebe Cord - Two shades of pink
The Beadery pink skull beads - 10
Westcott Craft Titanium Bonded Non-Stick Scissors & Ruler
Needle
Duck Brand Tape (optional - but sure made it easier!)

I'm including a few photos to give you a close up of the steps in the video.  It took me a couple of tries, but once I got rolling, it was quite simple to do!

Smoothfoam™ Burlap Pumpkin Door Banner

Find the full instructions on how I combined Smoothfoam™, Rit Dye, BurlapFabric.com and Ad-Tech to create this dimensional pumpkin door banner here on the Smoothfoam blog! 

Beaded Spider - DCC October Blog Hop

It's time for the Halloween edition of the Designer Craft Connection blog hop!  Be sure to follow the link to the right to see what the other participating designers are sharing to add some BOO to your world! 

This beaded spider was a snap to create - I followed the directions in the most recent episode of When Creativity Knocks - We visited Crafted at the Port of LA and Mary Austin from Twisted Sisters showed us how easy it was to create these little bejeweled crawlers.  I couldn't resist whipping one up for myself!    Add a pin back, or make  a necklace for him to hang from as a pendant - or perch him on a pumpkin like I did for a little creepy fun.   

Materials: 

22/24 Gauge wire

Jewelry pliers

Black seed beads, black bugle beads, round glass bead for head

Connie Crystal blue bicone beads, large blue glass bead for body

Bead caps 

Follow the instructions in the episode below to create your own spider you don't want to squish!