Are you ready?

Just a reminder that our annual Howl-oween Tricks and Treats Craftathon starts this weekend with tutorials commencing on Monday. Stop by and check out all the spooky ideas to get you in the mood for the month ahead. We've got a ton of variety lined up with a couple of spectacular guest posters. Check out their blogs for more fun ideas all year round.

Linda from Paper Seedlings 

A super creative paper crafter who is a regular at our weekly link party.

Holly from Two Kids and Tired Cooks

She whipps up tasty concoctions that would make anyone's mouth water.  

Can't wait to see what you all think of this year's batch of spooktacular ideas.

Craft on!
Anita

Calling all Howl-oween Crafters!

It's that time of year again that we look to you, the amazing crafting community, to volunteer to be a part of our annual

We are looking for a few good crafters to guest post for our 4th year of the craftathon.  You can do anything from scary snacks and creepy costumes, to trick-or-treating trinkets and disturbing décor.  Simple to complex, anything goes.  We just ask that it’s a you-original creation or at least a fresh take on an old favorite.

So if you're passionate about Halloween like we are, or if you just have a spectacularly spooky idea you want to share, here’s what you do. 

• Send a quick email to rhinestonebeagle@gmail.com letting us know you want to participate before September 27th with your name, a brief description of your craft and your blog url.  
• Then get started on your tute.  We will need you to have the finished post emailed to us by Sept 30th.  That way we have time to work out any kinks that may arise.
• Don't forget to take lots of pictures detailing your process and in true RB fashion if you have a dog please try to include them in one of your pics along the way.  We will also take any other animal friends in the pics if you have them, be they furry, scaley, feathery, or of the smooth hide variety.

 We will also be doing a special giveaway, just for the crafters that participate.  Who doesn't love freebies?!

Thanks so much and don’t forget to stop by for our weekly linky party, Doggone Dirty Craftin, every Thursday!

Craft on!

 Anita and Kelly

HTTC - Worms and Dirt

It's spooky, it's scary, it's.....yummy! Worms and Dirt seems to be that epic of halloween fun dessert. Its so easy to make, yet I always forget that part. It's also customizable: do you want whip cream ghosts, maybe gummy worms or hands, possibly cookie tombstones? Kids and adults alike can have fun with it, I know I feel like a sugared up eight year old when I make a big ole bowl of this goodness!

Worms and Dirt

One 18 oz pkg of Oreo cookies
One 16oz tub of cool whip
three pkgs of vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
fun items to add to the dirt: worms, frogs, tombstones, ghosts, etc...

I know, it's sad, but scrape out all of the cream fillings from the Oreos and then crush the cookies up well. Mix the pudding and milk in a large bowl, add in all the cool whip until blended. Stir in 2/3 of the cookie bits and mix again. Top with the other 1/3 of the cookie bits and add the fun accessories to make it as creepy as you want. Chill in the fridge for one hour and serve to your favorite goblins.

Sage may not be able to have an Oreo, but he does love a worm.

Keeping it Spooky,

Kelly, the Oreo ninja

HTTC - Puppy Super Cape

Wow, we are really here guys... we made it!!  Rhinestone Beagle!!  Whohohoo!  I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Christie, from Describe Happy and I am here with my lovely and rather furry assistants Sammy (the smaller white golden puppy) and Katie (the four year old blond golden) to help you get you Howl-oween hero on!!!

Has your pup (or cat) recieved a last minute invitation to a Halloween Ball and have nothing to wear?  Are you interested in joining a Halloween pet contest or parade and have no costume in sight?  Do you just like dressing up your dog maybe for the big game or no reason at all?

Well fear not... Super Sammy is here to the rescue!!  Ta, ta, ta, TA!!!

All you need to do is grab one shirt (that looks like it will cover most of your pet), a pair of scissors, and your model.  I am using one of Mr. Happy's old shirts in red for this demo.  And Sammy will be my model today.

Start off by petting your pooch on the head and assuring them you won't humiliate them (for long).  Then, cut the shirt in half around the seams seperating the front from the back.  You will only need one half to make one super cape.

Next, make a cut down the middle of the sleeve until about the point the neck starts on both sides.  

Measure the shirt on your pet to determine how much length to keep or cut.  You can see I cut a large portion of the shirt from the bottom; save this piece for later.  A full shirt covered my 60lb golden Katie really well.  Sammy's needed to be smaller, because, well... she is pint size.

The top ties go around your pet's neck and you can tie it off gently.  I also shorted those (so Sammy couldn't chew on them).  I then tied the bottom half of the sleeves under Sammy to keep the cape on.  Again, don't tie too tight.

Here you can see the shorter ties in the front and under.  Sammy also looks a bit mummified here, ha!!  

I think she likes being super!  Her special power you ask?  I am guessing it's the power of amazing restful sleep.  Oh, and she can fly.

And here's a bonus idea.  Take the bottom piece of the shirt that you cut away.  Notch and rip it into three strips lengthwise.  Place in front of curious puppy who is going to try and chomp at them any second

Tie all three strips together with a knot at one end (after wrangling a strip from the curious puppy's mouth).

Braid the three strips and then finish the rope off with a knot at the end.  I also added a few knots in the middle for tugging grips.  Then, ever so gently place the bonus knot rope into the sleeping puppy's mouth and take a quick picture because the cuteness is overwhelming!!

Then, laugh a bit more as your dog is a) wearing a silly cape, b) doesn't seem to mind the rope placed in her mouth, and c) knowing you are going to share this with lots of friends as a part of Rhinestone Beagles Howl-ween Craftathon.  Pure blogging genius!!

From Katie, Sammy and I... have an Super Hero-like Howl-oween!!!

HTTC - Paper Plate Bat

Paper Plate Vampire Bat

You can't have Halloween without a few bats! Here's a fun easy paper plate vampire bat for kids to make.



You only need 2 plates to complete a bat, and you can make them the size of whatever paper plates you have.
I couldn't use black plastic plates because they were too deep for this project, so I used black spray paint to color the bats.
Supplies
2 Paper Plates, the same size
Black Spray Paint
Red & White Self Adhesive Felt, Craft Foam or Card Stock
Glue or Double Sided Tape
2 Brads
Punch
Scissors
Directions
1. Sketch a simple shape for a bat body on one plate.



2. Sketch 2 simple bat wings on another plate, using half of the plate for each wing.



3. Cut out the wings and body.
4. Spray or paint all 3 pieces black. Use 2 coats - allowing them to dry about 20 minutes between coats.
5. Cut out the face parts, using self adhesive felt, craft foam, or card stock.



Using white, cut 2 ovals for eyes, 2 triangles for fangs, and 2 narrow strips for eyebrows.
Cut or punch 2 small black circles for pupils. Or you can draw them on with a black marker.
From red cut a small drop of blood and a narrow mouth.
Use a red marker to put a bit of blood on the tip of a fang.
6. Place the face parts on the bat, moving them around until they look good. Glue or tape them to the bat.
7. Punch or poke a small hole near the end of each wing, and a hole on each side of the body, to attach the wings.



8. Color the top of the brad black with a black marker, and fasten the wings to the body.
Your paper plate vampire bat has movable wings to fly!



Make a hole in the top center of the bat to add a ribbon or string for hanging.

Go check out Noreen's website Crafty Linky for tons more projects for almost every holiday.

HTTC - DIY Witches Closet

Spook some delight into your Halloween celebration and add a Witches Closet! Our witch will be "boo-tiful" with her striped socks, glittery scarf, "gourd-eous" hat and flowy dress. She even has "spook-tacular" shoes and keys to the dungeon.

You can scare up a few tricks by having a witches closet too! However you choose to do it, use your imagination to spread the magic as you make the perfect Witches Closet for your Halloween fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I always seem to get bored of doing things the same way year after year and try to shake it up a bit. I took a bunch of stuff we already had, added a couple of new things and decided to make this Witches Closet. We have a "Witches Kitchen" so a "Witches Closet" just across the room seemed like a perfect addition.

(Click here to check out the Witches Kitchen")

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been on a quest the past couple of years to use up the supplies and other resources I already have and spend as little bit of money as possible.Top of the shelf has a hat, shoes, purple sparkley pet spider, and broom.

These are some of my mom's shoes. My parents died just a few days apart and I really miss them around holidays so I try to incorporate something of theirs in all my holiday decorations. These shoes are the centerpiece of this display. I made this hat a few years ago for a centerpiece. I have used it for several displays - works great in the Witches Closet. . Here is the tutorial for this hat.

This is my witches broom that has bling!

Click here to see more details about the broom

On the pegs are metal star, trick or treat bucket, sparkly scarf which any self respecting witch has to have, witches in sign, striped sox, cape and dress.

I had an old metal star that wasn't being used and some scraps of Halloween scrap paper. I made a pattern of one of the points, cut 5 different patterns and glued it on. The keys I ran a pattern from the print artist program and glued it on the back of some sparkly paper left over from Christmas gifts last year.

The dungeon sign ws made on print artist as was the date tab. Then I tore the edge of the Dungeon Keys sign and used distressed ink on both. This sign a made a couple of years ago and thought this is the perfect spot for it. I used to hang in near the broom and a pair of shoes near the front door - it looks great in the closet here.

______

Thanks for letting me share! Please visit my Halloween Blog at Buckets of Halloween Ideas

Costumed Canines: Nutty Irony

I know its awful of me to dress my dog up as her arch nemesis but I couldn't resist.  Maybe it will just give her a squinny perspective to add to her hunting tactics.  Sorry Sadie but you're adorable.  Thanks for putting up with my crazy ideas.

Craft on!
Anita

HTTC - Skeleton Wreath

OK I’m in love with Halloween and swore last year that I was going to do the house up big so all the kids in the neighborhood would come trick or treating at my door.  I’ve been doing pretty good, with the final touches going up this weekend, but my door looked pretty bare.  I decided to add a Halloween wreath but one that wouldn’t be too creepy to scare the super little trick or treaters I hope to get more of this year.  Here’s what you’ll need.

Supplies

Felt 

White - 3 sheets 

Purple - 2 sheets

Neon Green - 1 sheet

Dark grey - 1/2 yard (I bought this off the bolt since it needed to be wider than the felt sheets you get from the craft isle.  It was on sale at Joann for 2.75 a yard.)  

Grapevine wreath (any color)

Black spray paint

Black embroidery floss and needle

1 piece of white tissue paper (like for stuffing gift bags)

Glue gun with plenty of glue sticks

Scissors

Pruning snips(optional)


1.  First you’ll need to spray paint your grapevine wreath black.  This takes a couple passes because of all the nooks and crannies.  Do this first so you can go back and add coats or let it dry while assembling the rest of the wreath.

2.  To print out the skeleton template click here and download the file.  Feel free to resize the template if you have a larger or smaller wreath.  This guy fit nicely in my wreath that has a 11.5” opening.

3.  Go ahead and cut out all the individual paper pieces and plug in your glue gun so its ready to go.


4.  Pin each of the skeleton parts to your felt making sure you have enough room to cut out 2 of each skull, jaw, shoulder/collar bone and ribcage and 4 arm bones.  

Trace your templates onto the felt and cut them all out.

5.  Now we are going to hot glue the like pieces together.  So line up one felt ribcage on top of the other, lining up the edges and glue them to each other.  You are basically doubling the thickness of each template piece.  Repeat with all the other pieces but make sure you don’t add glue where your teeth are going to be.  Trust me on this one.  You should end up with two arms and one of everything else.

6.  Watch the video to learn how to sew the teeth gaps onto the skull and jaw bones.

7.  Take your tissue paper and place it under your dry wreath.  Now trace a circle around the inside opening of the wreath.  This will help you line up your skeleton so you know he will fit inside your wreath.

8.  Measure the diameter of your wreath from outside edge to outside edge.  Now cut two squares from your dark grey fabric with all four sides in that length.

9.  Take one of your dark grey felt squares and start laying out your skeleton on it the way you want it to look on the inside of your wreath.  Feel free to cut the neck down as I made it long on purpose for this adjustment step.  Periodically place your tissue paper template on top to make sure he will fit how you want.

10.  When you’re happy with your skeleton layout glue down all the pieces.  Use liberal amounts of glue as it will help stiffen your felt and make it more stable on the inside of your wreath.
Now trim the grey felt around your skeleton leaving a border.  Mine was about 1/2” all the way around.  Don’t forget to leave tabs at the top of his head, ends of arms and bottom of ribcage so we can attach him to the wreath later.  

11.  I wanted an added layer of the grey felt to reinforce and stiffen my skeleton more so glue your skeleton down on top of the other piece of dark grey felt.  Once again be liberal with your glue.  This time I left another border but it was only 1/4”.   You can see all four layers below.

12.  Here’s where we are going to cut out your happy halloween letters.  I just free hand drew the letters but if you’re not comfortable doing that just print out some in block lettering that you like.  I drew mine on a piece of scrap paper and then went over it with a black sharpie.  This is so your letters will show through to the other side of the paper.  (I always like to trace things on the back so if I make a mistake I don’t ruin a whole piece of felt.)  This way all your letters are already backwards and ready to be used as a reference.

13.  Now take your green felt and cut out 14 squares measuring 2” X 1.75”.  I make squares first so I know all my letters will be the same height.  Now draw your backwards letters onto each of the green blocks, making sure the vertical edge is 2” long, and cut them out.

14.  Glue your green letters down onto one of your purple felt sheets, leaving room in between letters, again being liberal with the glue.

15.  Now cut them out, leaving a 1/4” border of purple around the green.  Just like the skeleton I repeated this process with the other piece of purple felt for added rigidity and support, but I didn’t add another border the second time around.  Here’s what you felt letter sandwiches should look like.

16.  Cut out two small circles from scraps of your green felt and glue them down for the skeleton’s pupils.

17.  Next we will glue your letters down to the grapevine wreath.  I always like to start words in the middle so I know they won’t end up lopsided.  That means the 1st P in happy and the O in halloween will line up in the middle of the wreath.  Its also helpful to prop up your wreath so you can see things better.

18.  Last step is to glue your skeleton to the back of your wreath attaching it with glue at the tabs you left on the edges.  Make sure you use lots of glue.  We don’t want your skeleton falling off in a light breeze.

TADA!  Now you have a fun, festive and friendly door decoration to add to your halloween arsenal.  The bright colored felt was a plus too cuz you can read it from farther away.  

Happy Halloween!  

Craft on!

Anita

HTTC - Wire Wrapped Spider

Hello and Happy Halloween to all you Beagle buddies out there! I'm so excited to be here today sharing a little bit of Halloween magic.

My name is Wendy and you can find me crafting away my days over at Craft Goodies...

I am thrilled to be included in this group of Halloween-loving ladies but must make a small confession-I HATE being scared!!!

So yes, I am one of those lovers of "cute" Halloween goodies because basically, I'm a total wimp. 

My project isn't the spookiest but it sure was a lot of fun and best yet SUPER EASY!!!

Here's what you'll need to make one yourself:

A large clear holiday ornament

thick craft wire *16 gauge

(I used a thinner wire on my first attempt and while do-able it was a lot harder because the wire didn't hold it's shape as well as the thicker stuff)

wire cutters

Get started by twisting the end of your wire through the ornament topper to keep it in place:

From there, start wrapping the wire around and around the ornament-like making a ball of yarn!

Top too bottom, side to side, keep going until it's as covered as you like it.

Once you're done wrapping the wire, snip the end with your cutters and tuck it around another piece of wrapped wire to keep it in place.

Next cut 8 long strips of your wire to make the legs. Mine were about 24 inches long. Thread the end of the wire under the wrapped wires and pinch in half. Then Twist the two ends together tightly to  form a leg. Do this 4 times on each side of the ornament:

Make the head by forming another smaller ball of wire. I wrapped the wire around three of my fingers to get a good size started and then just kept wrapping until I liked the size and shape. Again, just like you would do to make a ball of yarn. Clip the end when you reach your desired size.

Cut another small piece of wire and use it to "tie" the head to the body.

Bend and shape the legs. You can use your cutters to gently pinch the folded ends tighter to hold the legs in a more "crawly" position.

Tie a length of thread through the ornament hanger and dangle your new little friends where they'll definitely get noticed:

Not to creepy, right? My girls think they are pretty awesome!

I still have a few left over ornaments and am thinking it would be fun to color the ornaments a bright shade of red or green before wrapping them...see, I'm slowly edging toward scary.

Thanks so much Rhinestone Gals for having over, and Beagle friends, don't be shy-

drop by Craft Goodies any time for a visit.

Until then have a wonderful, SPOOK-tacular HOWL-oween!!!

Happy Crafting.