Transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving

Here's a simple way to transition decorations from Halloween to Thanksgiving...

Many of us decorate with gourds, sugar pumpkins and small pumpkins at the start of fall and Halloween, after all they are beautiful on their own and a great, natural way to decorate all the way through Thanksgiving.

But what if you want to switch it up a bit? With a little metallic paint you can embellish your gourds for a chic, new look!

Make your gourds last longer by keeping them outside until Thanksgiving day, then bring them inside to decorate the table or other places where your guests can enjoy them.

Inspiration: DIY Halloween Party!

Halloween is just a few days away, and if you're like me, you might feel like you waited to long to plan a festive halloween party... but thats just not the case!

Searching through Etsy you can find some fantastic crafters and designers with PRINTABLE diy party packages for those of us who may have waited too long to plan a party "from scratch".

These printable party packages are extremely affordable, because you are purchasing digital files from the artist to then print your own decorations, candy labels, cup cake liners, candle wrappers, and craft projects to keep your guests entertained!

These digital files come with instructions for what other materials you need, which most often are just a color printer, 8.5" x 11"paper and some scissors.

Check out some fun packages featured below, or search Etsy yourself for a different theme... its not too late to throw a fantastic Halloween party!

Trick Or Treat Halloween by FrogPrincePaperie

Printable 3D House by GoMakeMe

Halloween Glam Party Collection by tomkatstudio

Huge Halloween Package by shindigparties

Halloween Party Favors and Toys by FantasticToys

Black and White Halloween by Artwolf

Day of the Dead Party by happythought

Inspiration: No Carve Pumpkins

Check out this great article with tutorials for a bunch of no carve pumpkins at realsimple.com! Now you can have a great looking doorstep without all the mess, and in some cases with less time.

Use these ideas as is, or get inspired to think out of the box and come up with your own no carve solutions!

All photos are from www.realsimple.com

Tuesday Tutorial: Halloween Plant Markers

I’ve seen a few Etsy sellers use similar techniques for traditional plant markers, and decided to do a quick version for Halloween decorations!

Materials:

Old silverware

Newsprint of other lightweight paper

Black fine point pen

Colored pencils

Outdoor glossy varnish

Glitter paint (optional)

Paintbrush

Instructions:

1. Trace your silverware onto the newsprint. This way you know how big to make your designs.

2. Draw and color Halloween themed images within your traced outlines. Simple images work best—ghosts, pumpkins, bats, etc. If you don’t want to draw your own images, try using clip art or stickers.

3. Rip your images out, crumple them up and flatten them back out again. The torn edges and wrinkles will give an old, weathered look.

4. Use your paintbrush to apply varnish directly to the silverware where your image will go. Press your paper image down on the wet varnish and apply one coat of varnish on top. You might have to hold the image with one finger while you apply the first coat so it doesn’t move around. Let this first coat dry until tacky.

5. Apply glitter paint to selected areas of your images, if desired. Let dry.

6. Apply second and third coats of varnish. Let the second coat dry to tacky before applying the third.

Once the third coat is completely dry, you are ready to decorate your garden, potted plants and anywhere else you can find to stick these things!

Feeling ambitious? Create a silverware graveyard! Make all your images headstones, coffins, zombies & ghosts then arrange them together in one area.

As always, I’d love to see photos if anyone tries this project for themselves! Just post links to the photos below…